Blueberry Merlot

This is pretty good. I am looking forward to the second steep to see if the hibiscus plays down a bit. I don’t mind hibiscus as much as a lot of people here do. I kind of like its tart goodness but in this cup I really want the merlot to come out more. The sage makes a nice presence both in aroma AND in taste.
You get sage then blueberry but then the hibiscus comes in and wipes it all out – its just a little too much hibiscus.
Will update once I do my re-steep.

Enjoying a surprisingly strong second steep of this today. It is not as tart as yesterday (less hibiscus) and I find the blueberry flavour is more out to play. The sage is still fairly strong, but supportive of the blueberry.

Also, unrelated but I have noticed today that my tea has been bothering the heartburn I have been enduring for a few days. Has anyone else ever noticed this? I’m assuming it’s a reaction to the hot liquid rather than anything else. Stupid heartburn, making me question my tea…

Another random tidbit to carry on my theme of things I only have one cup of!

This smelled delicious as soon as I opened the little packet. It’s fruity, sweet, and herbal all at the same time. The tisane itself is gorgeous to look at. Colorful dried berries, pink rosehips and hibiscus, purple-blue cornflower petals, and pale green sage all mixed together. But of course, I’m a little wary about the hibiscus. That stuff tends to shout over everything else.

It brews up to a pretty, dark magenta. Tart fruit is most present in the aroma, as well as something kinda lime-ish, but you can really smell the sage, too. I love the scent of sage. The flavor is mostly blueberry, and milder than what I had expected from the smell. Then, of course, along comes the hibiscus to smother the other ingredients. The sage is present, thankfully, but not as strong as I had hoped. There’s also this odd flavor that I can’t place. It’s sort of like citrus. I know it’s not the rosehips. Anyway, I’m not liking this too much, though it seemed promising in the beginning.

This tea does a magnificent 180 when cold steeped. So much better. Blueberry comes to the forefront, the sage isn’t dominating, and the hibiscus isn’t so bad.

Really, it was the overpowering sage before that just made it too gross to drink hot. It works so much better cold, and it’s very refreshing. So, the rest of the sachets will be used for cold steeping then.

This tisane smells incredible dry, and it filled my kitchen with the most lovely blueberry pie smell as it steeped. At first sip, I get the blueberry flavor I’m looking for… but then I taste the sage. Sage and rosemary are tricky spices for me. I like them only when used in very specific savory dishes. The sage overpowered my pallet, and then it was as if two sage and hibiscus bullies beat the delicious blueberry flavor right out of this tisane for me. I’m not a hibiscus hater but I do have to admit that the bitter finish was too much even for me.

A big thank you to Tea Forte for this sample. This flavor just wasn’t for me. However, I have high hopes for the three other samples I still have to try.

Ok back to this one since it looks like I can post now, This was pretty good I couldn’t have it cuz of hibiscus but Lance loved it so much I had to make it as iced tea for him. It tastes much better iced, Lance said it is fruity and refreshing and it reminds him of cool aid lol :-)

I had stashed this tisane away to “save it for last” (that is, the last of the five teas in the herbal retreat collection) and it ended up getting misplaced – and I couldn’t find it for quite a while. I’ve been re-organizing my stash, though, and I came across it today, so I decided it was about time to try it.

I really like this. Sure, I would rather it be lighter on the hibiscus (but I say that a lot when it comes to fruit tisanes like this), but, what makes this one so unique is the sage. It gives the cup a savory element that I’m really enjoying. Nice contrast.

First, I’d like to thank Tea Forte for sending me this sample.

I found this tea to be very tart with a taste of blueberry in the background. I can tell why they call this a merlot. Being a wine drinker, I can taste hints of that merlot sort of flavoring. As for accuracy it is what it says it is. However, I do believe adding sweetner to this tea would actually enhance its flavor. I would imagine that the tartness would be deminished and the blueberry flavor stronger. Unfortunately, I usually don’t sweeten my teas and I didn’t make an exception this time either so as is this is not something for me but have high hopes that it can be worked with and as a result be more palatable.

Well, it smells like blueberries and merlot but I’m seeing The dreaded H word….eeeeeek!

I was careful of NOT putting in too much loose leaf in the infuser and I didn’t over infuse! This seems to work nicely…it’s smoother that I anticipated and I’m glad! I’m thinking this will be better iced! It’s not bad hot but think it would be better cold. I can taste the cornflowers more than I thought I would which isn’t good, bad, or indifferent…just something I picked up on.

I liked the smell of this tea, it’s sweet and fruity and reminds me of blueberry pie or cobbler. Sadly the sweetness is mostly confined to the smell and right as I take my first sip I can pick out the tart hibiscus. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as horribly sour as some blends (I’m looking at you Stash’s fruit teas) but it’s still kind of unecessary as blueberry isn’t normally a tart fruit to begin with. There is some actual blueberry flavour there too, thankfully, but I’m not really feeling the sage and mixed with the tartness of the hibiscus it gives the tea a bit of an acrid, unpleasent flavour.

Sorry, this one isn’t a winner.