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I bought this from Mariage Frerès, but since they are always so weirdly coy with their descriptions, I’ll quote The Cultured Cup: “Cocada de Colombia, our newest tea from Mariage Frères, is an organic Colombian black tea flavored with toasted coconut. This tea is named after Cocada, the traditional coconut candy found in many parts of Latin America” … “A dark-colored, medium bodied tea generously sprinkled with toasted coconut” … “A creamy flavored tea with a suggestion of coconut sweetness” … “Instead of adding milk to this tea, consider adding coconut milk. It will greater enhance the tea’s delightful tropical flavor, as well as its natural creaminess.”

So. Yes. I do love coconut, though I sort of feel like it’s the embarrassing boyfriend of flavorings. Blame Thai food! Before I had Thai food, I never liked coconut, and now I’m all heart-eyes emoji. However! I’m still not down for sickly candy sweet coconut flavors! I think this one is handled quite well, a nice, light, “bright” lightly coconut-perfumed tea that feels very warming, cozy and refined to me — definitely not WOO PIÑA COLADA TEA PARTY TIME Y’ALL at all. :P

I’m experimenting with amounts and steeping time. For this, I used almost 4 grams to 300 ml water at about 95C, steeped for maybe 2.5 minutes.

Pleasant tart berry beverage, nothing stands out to me in particular. Like many others, I didn’t perceive a creamy element in this … until the very, very, very, very last two tiny siplets, when I did detect an interesting creamy note (I think). I suppose what little dregs there were in the bottom of the cup actually contained a bit of the yogurt cream-like ingredient. Maybe next time I’ll leave a bit floating in the cup as an experiment. For Science!

Not rating because it’s my introduction to rooibos, so I don’t really even have a baseline for comparison. I must say, though, that having now had a few cups of this, I think rooibos is just not my thing. I’m not fond of the woody (not even woody — twiggy? bark-y? hamster shavings-like?) flavor. I’ve loved drinks like barrel-aged oaky wines and peaty whiskies, but to me that’s an elegant complex flavor intermingling with another interesting, assertive, contrasting flavor, whereas the rooibos just seems flat, one-note, like something you’d grudgingly drink to sort of remind yourself of tea if you couldn’t have tea … like WWII rationing or something. Apologies to rooibos lovers!!

Tasting as one of a sample pack, and, frankly, to wash the taste of an earlier tea I did not like at all out of my mouth, and I have to say I like this more than I expected. I agree that it is somewhat reminiscent of a fruit leather / fruit rollup sort of flavor and very tart. If you like hibiscus, this is like a gentler, more nuanced, deluxe hibiscus blend. I can see wanting this when I have a cold, for a bright, clear, tart flavor that I could probably still taste even when stuffed up and a nice warming sensation … or on its own or mixed with other flavors for an iced drink or berry-lemonade on a hot day. If I had it, it would not go unused, but it’s a bit pricey for me to spend just to have on hand. Something I might keep in mind, though.

I’m not numerically rating this tea, because it’s entirely possible part of the problem is me and my untrained palate, but having said that, wow, I find this intensely unpleasant, as though I heated up some water that dirty dishes had been soaking in, and drank it. This was part of a sample pack, which I brewed according to package instructions, and am now noting to remind myself: “no, self: you do not want to ever order this in the future.”

Marking this to come back to later, because I’m a little confused right now. Tried this three or four times (already beginning to forget, which is why I need to keep track!), and had such different reactions: One was, “Wow, so delicious; definitely need to order more”; one was “meh, this tastes like flavored water”; one was “this seems bitter (?), which is not at all how it tasted when I tried it a couple of days ago.” I don’t think my quantities or brewing techniques were markedly different all those times. Mysterious!

I don’t love assertive bergamot, so I’m not a big straight-up Earl Grey fan, but I use this to make my version of a “London Fog”: double strength tea leaves in half mug of boiling water, steeped for 4-5 min; heat and froth milk and add to fill mug; add 1/4 tsp good vanilla, and sugar or sweetener to taste. Mix, sip, and swoon. Such a gorgeous treat!

Just a quick note, so I can keep track of my thoughts trying many different new teas these days. I love this one. I’m not a big bergamot fan, so classic, straight-up Earl Grey is not really my jam. This is a lovely, fruity variation that still essentially reads “Earl Grey” to my palate, but without the unwelcome bitterness/astringency. I plan on keeping this one on hand unless/until I find an even more pleasing sibling-of-Earl-Grey suitor.

NOSTALGIA, omg. In my youth in the US, this and some Celestial Seasonings herbals were the only easily available variations from Lipton’s Yellow bags, and oh my, did I feel fancy and deluxe sipping this. In fact, it’s what finally brought adult me, now living in Europe, to begin to discover the world of tea. I’ve always been a coffee person, as in “okay, I’m awake; bring me my bucket of coffee, please,” but in a reminiscent mood on a recent romp through the internet searching for a place where I could buy CC without paying an arm and a leg in delivery charges (which I have not yet found), I began to discover what is out there these days, and easily available from my keyboard … which led to some minor binging and eventually brought me here, to learn the ways of the tea-wise. I still want my Constant Comment, though, even though I have a lovely little pile of trufact gourmet teas to enjoy now. One does not forget their first love so easily! :) #wistful

This was a surprising one. It’s interesting to try samples without reading full descriptions, and oddly, the first impression I had from this was “melon” — which is not a flavor I usually want or look for outside of actually eating the real fruit … but I found this delightful. Okay, now I get that this is strawberry, but to me it does not scream strawberry. I do get the creaminess, unexpected (to me) in a green tea, and the fruitiness, which don’t necessarily seem that compatible in my mind (creamy, fruity … green tea??), but for me it really is nice, and I could drink it all day because it’s also light and refreshing.