Juniper Tonic

Cold Brew!

I was unsure what to expect from this tea given the very long ingredient list and Gunpowder green tea base. It felt like it might be one of those cases where the blend could suffer from having too much going on.

It’s not something I think I would feel comfortable calling an “instant favourite” but I did like it more than I had expected, and I think it was a lot more cohesive than it could have been. The juniper was always gonna be the biggest selling point for me so I’m glad I could distinctly taste those pine notes. I wish they’d leaned in harder to that, but it was there and I’m happy for it. I think the biggest mistake in the blend was the licorice root. It was very lingerly sweet and coating on the palate and I feel like it might have been there to sort of soften what was otherwise a more abrasive herbaceous and spiced profile.

I can see where there would be people thankful for that, however I I wanted the cutting menthol and pine notes of the juniper and this sweetness softened that too much for my liking. I think I’d have preferred having more forefront ginger and other spices and the coarseness of the green tea over that sweet finish.

I can see this being the kind of tea where steeping it hot would result in a completely different spread of flavours though, so I look forward to experimenting more in the future.