I was feeling a little offish the other day and decided that a new tea would be just the thing to lighten my mood. There is only one shop nearby that sells loose tea and the choices were limited, so while I generally avoid fruit flavored teas I decided to give this one a shot.
The tea in the can is quite pretty. The calendula petals are a striking contrast to the dark tea and its a real shame that the tea does not retain the same appearance once steeped. But flavor is the game isnt it?
The aroma of the tea was a little off putting at first. The mango scent is quite heavy and overpowers any tea fragrance but it was not an artificially fruity scent so I took that as a good sign.
I brewed per package instructions with about two teaspoons for my cup and the water slightly less than boiling. The package says to steep for 4 minutes. I think my first cup was more like 5 minutes.
The tea had a very fruity aroma brewing and I was afraid that the flavor would be too fruity. But I was pleasantly surprised by the lightly malty tea peaking out from the very natural flavor of ripe mango. The mango flavor was fresh and sweet and not at all cloying or overwhelming.
The big surprise for,me though was the body of the tea. The tea had a slight viscosity that was fun to roll on my tongue without being thick or heavy.
As I said, im not,much of a fruit tea fan, and maybe it was my mood, but i really liked this tea. I only did 2 infusions which was almost too many as the second cup lost much of the tea backdrop, but the remaining fruit flavor became more developed,and took on a slightly spicy quality that reminded me of persimmons and a hint of cinnamon.
overall the tea was lightly sweet and really did not require any sweetener at all. I prefer hot tea but this seems like a good choice for iced tea too. There is no astringency at all and should keep,quite well.
I highly recommend the 180 185 temp. I made a another cup with boiling water and the tea turned bitter…still drinkable but not as enjoyable.
