Mango Tango

SIPDOWN! In case you’re counting that’s 248…finally starting to feel like i’m getting close to 200 again, mostly because unless i place an order tonight, there are no other orders coming my way until May….just lots of swaps. lots of lots of delicious, wonderful, exciting swaps. which will of course temporaily increase my cupboard size with their samples of goodness…and probably get me to place another order when i fall in love with a tea. eesshh…and so the circle of life continues :P

BUT! this tea! Tried it as a cold brew and the word is YES. Not too sweet but just mango-ey enough to delight my senses. I didn’t share any with my other half because i wanted ALL THE TEA. So this is likely going on my shopping list for the summer. whee! Thanks again Terri!

This is so yummy! When I was flavoring teas way back when, I had a Mango flavored tea … and it was even called “Mango Tango.” But, that’s where the comparison really ends, because this is different!

It isn’t just mango, but also passion fruit. And the addition of the passion fruit essence makes a big difference. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my Mango Tango, it was very mango-y, and absolutely delicious (if I do say so myself), and while this doesn’t taste the same, it too is quite delicious!

This is sweet, luscious and absolutely delightful to sip. The flavors taste true to the fruits, and the black tea is brisk without being too intrusive on the flavors. A really nice balance of tastes.

The Tea Spot is currently hosting a contest! Free tea for a year! Yes, that’s right. Now through the end of the year, you can enter by liking them on facebook, and filling out their short (very short!) entry form on their facebook page. A double entry can be earned if you answer the question “what inspires you” on their facebook page.

No, I don’t work for The Tea Spot, I’m just an avid fan!

Man, it seems like forever ago that I ordered these Tea Spot samples. It was in fact not too long before I went out of town and I didn’t get a chance to try all of them before I left. This was one of them that was still sealed; I’m always on the lookout for good mango and/or passion flavored black teas, and this happens to be a mango & passion black.

The dry leaf has that sweet, tart, candy-ish mango and passion fruit aroma that so often accompanies these teas. It really reminds me of a mango hi-chew, if you are familiar with those candies. Steeped, that sweetness in the aroma disappears and it’s all tart, tart, tart. I had high hopes for this one, but I’m afraid it just doesn’t live up in the taste. It lacks the roundness and depth of the acutal fruits, and there’s a weird mustiness in the aftertaste on some sips. The black tea is at least not bitter, but that’s about all I can say about it. I think the fruit flavors come out more as it cools, so I definitely plan on cold steeping the rest of this sample.

what a fruity way to start the day! and jeez do i need it.
(start work rant) my boss is on vacation and my office counter part is out sick. so i am all alone and deadlines are quickly approaching. i CANNOT POSSIBLY get everything done that i need to.
sigh.
i have moments of motivation followed by a feeling of defeat. and i can’t seem to stay focused.
being so busy also means i don’t have time to really write tea notes as i would like to. but i am tasting all the swap samples! it’s something to look forward to while i am feeling downtrodden. (end work rant!)
i like the scent of the brewed tea a lot and the cup was very easy to drink. i have the leaves saved at home for a second steep! and i’m looking forward to it.
thank you Shelley_Lorraine! thank you.

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend! Too bad it’s over, eh?
I spent most of the day playing a gig at the local Schnucks grocery, which was both fun & profitable. I drank:
Bolder breakfast (teaspot) with my breakfast before leaving home
China Breakfast at the gig (I think it is Numi)
Chai @ the gig, made with canned coconut milk I brought from home, LOL
The gig went great, I sold several CDs (www.harpsinger.net).

When I got home I made a cup of Mango Tango. The dry leaf smells bright, with mango & passion fruit. The tea tastes bright & fruity as well, & a little on the astringent end. It is a tea that I have to sweeten to enjoy, which I did with stevia. I would enjoy this iced, unsweet.

When I made a face and said that I didn’t like the tea I was drinking (Wild Monkey Masala) my beloved didn’t say, “Well let’s go for our run then.” (Though he’d have been within his rights to say so since we are late getting out today.) Instead he said, “Pour it out and have something better. I’ll wait.” I saw Cecilia’s review of mango tea and immediately thought that the Mango Tango would be a good way to drive out bad tea feelings.

Mango Tango is such a happy tea! Even the leaves are beautiful since they’ve been brightened with little yellow flower petals. The tea itself brews up into a sweet, fragrant liquor with a smooth ceylon black flavor peeking through the mango and passionfruit curtains. Now I’ll be able to run happily.

Slept in today to make up for the lack of sleep I’ve had all week. It was the week after spring break and it seemed like all the “catch up” I did during the break was in vain. I’m so glad I made it through though, barely!

Enjoying a cup of mango tango with my brunch-time breakfast. It doesn’t taste so strong of mango or passionfruit as it smells, but the flavoring does have a lovely effect on the tea. It is sweet (as if I added plain sugar to it) and not too bitter. The flavor definitely mellows out the black tea’s usual bite.

EDIT:
I’m not liking this tea so much as I did at first. It still smells wonderful and the taste is largely as I described it before, but the last two times I had it, i noticed an unpleasant aftertaste.

backlog-

Thanks, Shelley_Lorraine for this. I’ve been drinking a ton of iced tea lately. This was really good as an iced tea. The black base was tannic and complimented the fruity flavors well. I tasted both mango and passionfruit, but the mango was slightly stronger. Naturally sweet. Both my sister and mother seemed to really enjoy it, so I’ll have to make another pitcher.

Tea note #99… last of the double digits! :)

I just received this package yesterday and decided it would be a nice morning tea. It smells divine in the packet… fruity and almost peppery at the same time.

205/2.5 min – It still smells fruity, although since I had it on the Breville with the timer, I forgot that it was there and it had cooled considerably. I took a sip of my cold tea and thought, hmm, this is an excellent tea for icing! So, I dropped some ice in and confirmed it. Excellent. It’s fruity, but you can still taste the black tea. It’s mellow and not at all bitter, which is lovely. I like the taste of the mango, which, while not as real tasting as some other mango black teas, is not overly sweet, either. Plus, it has my cat’s name in it (Tango), so it has to be a winner, right? (No. Okay. It’s still good on its own merit.) ;)

I love this tea for getting me going this morning. If you brew it strong, it still does not overwhelm you. (I accidentally let it steep longer than I should have.)

The mango taste is quite addicting, and my friends love it too when they come over to visit.