Apple Crunch Black Tea

A few cups of the warm comfort of Irish Breakfast later, and I’m ready for something new. Let’s see what Tropical Tea Co.’s next offering brings us eh?

The in bag smell is a very sweet apple flavoring with a hint of cream. It initially tastes far more like apple candy than actual apples. The resulting liquid is a light/dark middle ground, reminding me of copper and deep blood oranges. The brewed leaves hit the nose first with the familiar black tea smell, and follow with a much more natural apple smell that quickly gives way to hints of cream. Apples and cream, unsurprisingly, are what comes through in the taste. In a rare turn of events, I didn’t add any milk and sugar here, and I’m glad for it. The apple taste is a far more subdued sweetness than say the monks blend I’ve got. The creaminess really just negates my desire for milk. The taste even mimics a bit of that full mouth feel I love in adding milk. I’m sure I’ll try it with milk and sugar eventually, but it’s natural taste really adds the qualities I look for in those items anyway.

Well, upon first blush, this smells kind of but not strongly apple-y. It’s still very hot so perhaps the smell will come out more when it cools down. I’m not sure why there is the word ‘crunch’ in the title because it is not a word I think of when I think of tea, but according to the other tasting notes, this will taste of apples and cream.

Tasting it now, there’s definitely an apple flavour to it, which is nice. The apple flavour is what gets noticed first and it is the strongest flavour. I don’t pick up much ‘cream’ but I’ve never been good with that concept and I add milk to most of my black teas anyway so that might be part of it. This seems like a very ‘thin’ tea to my feeling. Not much substance to it. I like it okay, but I wouldn’t make a purchase.

Thanks to Jackie T for trading this to me.

This tea smells lovely, but after steeping, it doesn’t hold up to the lovely smell. It ran a tad bitter without tasting all that fruity. Then, I did something else after it cooled down. I reboiled the tea (without the leaves). I did this several times throughout the day and I feel almost blasphemous in saying it. Each reboiling improved its flavor. It made it richer and notably more robust. I toned it down with a little German Rock Sugar from Teavana. This is one of those teas that I prefer the second, reheated cup to the first freshly steeped one….which is the case as well with other Tropical Tea Company teas I own.