Tea Forte
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So ‘Crimson Nectar’ was the third tea from Tea Forte that I tried, and the first that had a real noticable flavor. That’s the good news.
Now the bad.
Ugh. Hibiscus. It makes tea such a bloody bright red (actually, it’s more of a cough syrup red, not so much the red of blood, which turns rather brown as it is exposed to the air…but I digress, in a rather gross direction) and it tastes gross. Sharp. Thin. It stabs my tongue.
As you may have guessed, I don’t care for hibiscus one bit, and it is the dominant note in ‘Crimson Nectar.’ There’s also a taste of orange’s acidity, and a strange sweetness to the aftertaste. It’s like cake frosting, that aftertaste, a buttery vanilla that I don’t think occurs naturally anywhere on God’s green earth. It’s a heavy synthetic finale.
The teabag actually smells rather nice. I would totally buy a candle with this scent to burn. But ugh. What a shrill, shrieking cup this tea makes.
I have to admit that I am quite fond of the format of Tea Forte’s teabags. The cute little pyramid with the leaf poking out of the top…it just looks so cute!
After steeping for five minutes, I pulled the teabag out and set it aside. The tea is not as dark as I expected – a rich amber color – and smells heavily of cinnamon. My mouth is quite wimpy so I immediately set out to get a couple of ice cubes to add to the brew before my tasting.
It’s very light…I mean, I can barely taste anything but the cinnamon and the slight astringency of the black tea. Maybe the faintest hint of a citrus. I popped the tea bag back in and will let it steep a little longer; hopefully that’ll force some more flavor out.
As I’m waiting, I’m considering the source of this tea. My brother gave me a box of assorted Tea Forte flavors, but I wonder if it’s an old box? I’ve only tried two of the teas so far, this one and White Ambrosia, but the flavor’s been miserably weak on both blends. Maybe the teabags are just ancient and that’s the problem…
After steeping for another five minutes, the orange flavor comes out a little stronger but this is still dominated by cinnamon. I can smell cinnamon; I taste it when I drink…so I guess if you want a cinnamon tea, this is the way to go. It’s a little sweet and it makes the back of my throat tickle a little.
This is spicy and warming, but it just isn’t as…exciting as I hoped it might be.
Man, that teabag is cool looking, though.
Preparation
I’ve had this issue with Tea Forte’s tea as well. I chalked it up to having bought them someplace where they were probably stale. Love the tea bags, but as for the tea, eh!
Are you sure they don’t have a ridiculously small serving size or anything? Maybe they only have enough leaf in there for 4oz of water or something like that.
Actually that’s not so much ridiculous…I just drink large quantities of tea.
Hyrulehippie – that might be it, now that you mention it. There’s no size mentioned on the packaging, but I was using a rather tall glass (not a pot) and maybe it was just too much water for it.
I always find their tea in the tea bags they make to be too weak no matter what. I’m beginning to think they are catering to women who want to throw cute and fashionable tea parties above everything else.
But you can get better flavor out of their loose teas. I think.
The description of this tea sounded wonderful. From the package:
“A fine white tea seamlessly melded with vanilla and slices of coconut.”
Unfortunately, the execution is pretty weak. The little pyramid teabag is cute, but I’m not convinced it helps the tea steep any better than a regular tea bag. The brew itself has no flavor, and I can’t even smell the white tea, let alone taste it. It’s like drinking slightly dirty water – doesn’t taste pure, but it doesn’t have any discernable flavor. There’s a heavy aftertaste of coconut and cheap vanilla.
I guess if you’re aiming for a ‘seamless’ integration of flavor elements, this achieves the goal because no individual note can be detected in the tea. But man! The aftertaste feels very heavy and sticky in my mouth. It’s almost gross.
not sure if i brewed this too long, but just tasted, well, grassy and just gross
Brewed 5 min. 1Tsp raw sugar. Hot.
I taste the Ginger but not only is the ginger being dulled by the other flavors it is turning into a muddy mess.
This is not a clean tasting tea. To me that means it is not blended very well because good blending means that the flavors compliment eachother and stand on there own within the confines of a cup. An example of good blending is Tea Forte’s African Solstice where the fruit and vanilla can both be clearly tasted but also combine well together.
This is not a good ginger tea because of the muddy flavor profile and lack of balance.
Steeped 6min. 1 Tsp raw sugar. Hot.
Berry front. Vanilla finish. Very mellow, pleasant and smooth.
Non medicinal which is awesome considering that berry flavor teas usually taste medicinal to me.
I have a cup set from tea forte that holds 4 ounces instead of 6 and the explanation on the package said that there dessert teas specifically would brew in the smaller cups better to enhance the flavor. I’m strating to think that all of the teas from tea forte would brew strong pleasant cups in less water.
I’ll give that a shot with the next cup.
This was narrowly a thumbs-up based on the presentation portion not the taste. It always plays out the same. The practical side of me dislikes the excessive packaging but let’s face it – I’m always hooked when I see it brewed. A clear glass cup with the narrow silk Tea Forte pyramid reaching up to the sky is truly a work of art. The Flora blend produces a beautiful color but the vitamin C taste from the hibiscus of this blend was too acidic for my taste.
Overpriced, perhaps, but the taste is exceptional. I can’t find it anywhere in the UK, although I can find some of the other Tea Forte blends (their green teas, specifically). One normally doesn’t think of pairing jasmine with a black tea, but Ceylon is light and sweet enough to carry it off.
Apparently Vanilla Extract (as well as Vanilla Bean) has Calcium in it. So…does that mean if you are craving vanilla flavoring you are craving calcium??? Not sure. Perhaps. Especially when I am not one that usually like vanilla flavored things. It’s not that I don’t like vanilla it’s just not that I ever say…WOW…I really like Vanilla…or ever chose vanilla over other flavors first, ya know!?
Anyhow…I am drinking this now…it is pleasant and mellow and hints of vanilla. It’s nice.
Sweet and Spicy blends scare me sometimes…usually it’s either too spicy OR too sweet. As I steep this the cinnamon scent is pleasant. The coloring is a nice black tea color. The taste…OMG…they ACTUALLY got it right!!! Tea Forte blended the sweet and spicy together beautifully! Neither is overpowering and it’s very nice going down. Good Job, Tea Forte! I applaud you!
Okay…so check out my previous note on this one for more details…additional details…sour, tarty, fruity this time around but with a little bit of a smoother ending. I’m not going to lie…it freaks me out that it’s a purple-grey color at first! LOL – It ends up being stereotypical Hibiscus color tho.
The real reason I am drinking this is to re-use the pyramid packaging! I found I can use 3 of them to create a base and/or template for doilies
Before steeping smells like a light Apple-Raspberry-Honey Blend. While Steeping it morphs into a typical raspberry herbal tea scent with a few undertones that are barely noticeable. Color is a Purplish-Pinkish Color. The longer you steep the more Orange Peel Scent you can smell and it pairs nicely with the Apple and Berries. I was a little afraid of this as the coloring and scent progressed as I am not usually into fruity herbals. It’s probably one of the better fruity herbals I have tried so far. I don’t think I would buy it in large quantities but I am glad I sampled it. I bet it would be better iced. A notch above average.
Received in a sample gift set from my mother. Prior to steeping it smelled like mint, chocolate, and a woodsy type scent. After steeping it was more like a smoked cocoa mint but less woodsy than before the steep. The coloring is a light brown. The taste is slightly bitter but not bad. I think it’s from the coco attempt which isn’t well known while tasting but the mint is nice – again not over powering but moreso than the coco. There’s a malty taste in there as well…can’t quite put my finger on in…all-in-all it’s a fair attempt at something different…I think I will give it a thumbs up.
