Has anyone else ever left fruit teas sitting in an infuser after steeping, for so long that they go moldy? (2 days is all it takes in the summer.) It gets this unmistakeable, rotty smell. Quite gross. Same smell happens if you have a matcha latte in your travel mug and forget to wash it for a day or so. All this to say… this tea very very unfortunately smells exactly like the aforementioned smell. Immediately when opening the packet, I was hit with it and it made me quite sad. I think it’s the sarsaparilla root? And I think I’ve had 1 or 2 DavidsTeas with a similar resulting aroma (and gave them very negative ratings).
Decided to be brave and brew it up. Now my house house smells gross :/ Also braved a sample, and while it does taste better than it smells – kind of creamy with the same flavour, though muted – I cannot get over the fact that it smells like decomposition to me. Blech.
People who liked this
Comments
_ oh my word. Aroma is one of my favorite parts of tea. Good on you for still trying it!
I haven’t actually had this happen, but I’ve been forgetting cold steeping teas in the fridge for a week at a time and have been worried — but so far, so good!
Yuck! I’d be very disappointed if a tea smelled like that.
Skysamurai – Yep, aromas are big for me too. I was just really curious whether the taste would have any redeeming qualities – and it did, but definitely not enough to overcome that smell.
Courtney – I don’t think I’ve ever had a tea go bad in the fridge, surprisingly. However, sometimes cold-brewing for too long brings out unpleasant flavours/too much hibiscus or pithy citrus.
Leafhopper – Definitely disappointed. The two other reviews on here are much favourable, so I would guess that this is just a strong aversion to sarsaparilla as opposed to an issue with the tea. Now, how to rid myself of it…
Out of curiosity, do you like rootbeer or other drinks that contain sarsaparilla?
Roswell – I enjoy regular root beer (and cream soda) and 52teas’ root beer teas. I also enjoy wintergreen (gum, lifesavers). I don’t know that I’ve ever tried sarsaparilla specifically, or noted it as an ingredient in teas before, but I wouldn’t have expected to hate it so much!
Also, I looked back and apparently it was DT’s Cherry Cola that I hated; I actually liked Root Beer Float. Neither contained sarsaparilla though.
Also also, I put my (finum) infuser through the dishwasher after this tea, and it still smelled bad so it’s back in for round two. I’m starting to question if there’s not something wrong with my batch (although I think I’ve had some particularly pervasive mint flavours in my infusers previously too).
Hmm, interesting. Most modern rootbeer is still made using either sassafras or sarsaparilla, which is why I asked. Why knows though; taste is weird sometimes. shrug
_ oh my word. Aroma is one of my favorite parts of tea. Good on you for still trying it!
I haven’t actually had this happen, but I’ve been forgetting cold steeping teas in the fridge for a week at a time and have been worried — but so far, so good!
Yuck! I’d be very disappointed if a tea smelled like that.
Skysamurai – Yep, aromas are big for me too. I was just really curious whether the taste would have any redeeming qualities – and it did, but definitely not enough to overcome that smell.
Courtney – I don’t think I’ve ever had a tea go bad in the fridge, surprisingly. However, sometimes cold-brewing for too long brings out unpleasant flavours/too much hibiscus or pithy citrus.
Leafhopper – Definitely disappointed. The two other reviews on here are much favourable, so I would guess that this is just a strong aversion to sarsaparilla as opposed to an issue with the tea. Now, how to rid myself of it…
Out of curiosity, do you like rootbeer or other drinks that contain sarsaparilla?
Roswell – I enjoy regular root beer (and cream soda) and 52teas’ root beer teas. I also enjoy wintergreen (gum, lifesavers). I don’t know that I’ve ever tried sarsaparilla specifically, or noted it as an ingredient in teas before, but I wouldn’t have expected to hate it so much!
Also, I looked back and apparently it was DT’s Cherry Cola that I hated; I actually liked Root Beer Float. Neither contained sarsaparilla though.
Also also, I put my (finum) infuser through the dishwasher after this tea, and it still smelled bad so it’s back in for round two. I’m starting to question if there’s not something wrong with my batch (although I think I’ve had some particularly pervasive mint flavours in my infusers previously too).
Hmm, interesting. Most modern rootbeer is still made using either sassafras or sarsaparilla, which is why I asked. Why knows though; taste is weird sometimes. shrug