A sample from Miss B! I remember reading loads of reviews of this tea back in the summer, and based on those it was probably one of the recent David’s Teas that I was most interested to try. The flavour concept seems reasonably unique, too. I used 1.5 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it approximately 4 minutes in boiling water. I spared myself the painful debating this time, at least. The liquor is really pale – clear and sort of yellowy, except that there’s a slight oily scrim on the surface. The scent is sweet and very reminiscent of melted sugar while it’s still clear (well before it starts to caramelise). I suppose that gives it at a decent hard candy vibe, so I’m encouraged so far.
To taste, this really is as candy-like as I imagined. It has that sweet, clear-boiled sweet flavour that’s basically sugar and glucose syrup. There’s a mild fruitiness underlying – it starts off tasting very much like strawberry, but there’s a definite sour cherry-like tang at the end of the sip. It’s by no means strong fruitiness – the “hard candy” aspect is front and centre at all times. I can see why people are comparing this one to Jolly Rancher, and it does come across a little like that – for some reason I want to say that it reminds me of the watermelon ones most of all, although there’s no melon flavour to make me think that. There’s a slight wateriness in the aftertaste, so maybe that’s what’s doing it.
I quite like this one. It’s like liquid lollipop. It reminds me most of all of those huge red candy rock dummies you can get at the seaside, or at the fairground. I don’t find it too cloying or over-sweet, maybe because it’s not that strong a flavour. It’s the right side of the line for me. I’m glad I got chance to try this one!
I agree, this kind of reminds me of a watermelon jolly rancher. Or a mix between a cherry and watermelon jolly rancher.