I bought several samples when I had afternoon tea at The Whistling Kettle a few weeks ago, and I’ve been slacking on trying them all. This one was a no-brainer for me, I love cherries and figs, especially in tea! I don’t see many pieces of fruit in my sample, maybe a couple. The leaves are smallish and jet black. The smell is very strong, and it’s mostly tart cherry.
The steeped tea smells very good – it’s a mixture of sweet and tart cherry with a little bit of fig. I confess, I didn’t know what an acerola cherry was, so I looked it up and apparently they’re quite tart. Hm… This actually came out a teeny bit bitter, but it’s not bad enough to keep me from drinking it. I guess this one needs either a lower temperature or slightly shorter steep. The flavor here is really good though, in fact it reminds me of my favorite cherry tea from Dammann Freres. The cherry definitely dominates, though I can taste the fig as a sort of rich syrupy sweetness in the background. It’s nice as a supporting flavor for the rich cherry.
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Cherry, Dried Fruit, Fig, Sweet, Tart