Raspberry Royale

Wednesday Dec. 29, 2010
2nd Steep of the Day.
Bigelow’s Raspberry Royale.
This Is a Super rich profound raspberry Flavor.
Just the Right Black Tea presence, not to overshadow the Berry.
Bigelow got this one right ALSO. (is there a Bad Bigelow).
Keep on Steepin

Had a cuppa this at Fran’s for our first annual Toronto Tea Party. De and I asked for cups of tea with the bag on the side and proceeded to steep our own teas from my tea wallet. This was one of my options (I haven’t stocked it with looseleaf yet, just quick bags) and it just plain looked good.

It was great! The flavors weren’t lost in the food, nor did they overwhelm the meal. The raspberry was present enough to make me happy and it didn’t have that hibiscus pop of hatred….erm, tartness. I accidentally let this one steep forever and it didn’t get bitter on me. All in all, this is one I’d reach for again.

I got this in a fantastic care package from a friend of mine today. I was feeling especially lazy when I got home from work – short-staffed tonight, and lots of work to do. (Although I did really well today – picked up others’ work and sold more than the storewide quota for passes just on my shift alone! Not bad, with reviews coming up…) And then I came home and found a huge box for me on the table!

As much as I wanted to like this tea, I really didn’t. The directions on the packed said steep 1-2 minutes, so I followed those directions for the first cup I had. I could hardly taste it. The second cup, I added a bit of sugar and left the teabag in as I drank, and it still basically tasted like hot water with sugar. The smell is vaguely raspberry and I taste a very light black flavor, but it’s hardly there. Sad, because the dry bag smells great!

This used to be one of my favorite bagged varieties. I guess it still is… I like that lack of tart, that HIBISCUS that many fruity teas tend to have. This is bold and hearty, with a twinge of raspberry. I added some sweetener, to enhance the flavor.

…

OK, OK. I added it because I have a sweet tooth. You caught me!

-Standard teabag.
-Teabag smells strongly of very sweet raspberries. Tea liquor aroma is almost earthy with a small scent of raspberry.
-Tea liquor is a medium clear brown.
-Slight raspberry flavor with a bitter finish.
-Best with sweetener.
-Fair tea. Very bitter and little raspberry flavor. Sweetener takes away most of the bitterness.

This is a backlog from yesterday’s lunch at the conference. I’d been asking for a carafe at hot water for each of the meals the hotel’s catering staff has served us. At dinner on Wednesday, I drank Raspberry & Vanilla tea that I had brought, and had left the wrappers/bags on the table.

When I started to ask for hot water for lunch yesterday, the server (turns out the same one from the night before) said that she’d be right out with a pot and some tea bags before I could even get the question out. She brought me hot water in a real teapot, not just a coffee carafe, some bags of the hotel’s generic black and decaf teas, and one bag of this. “I saw you had some raspberry tea yesterday. This one’s not decaf, but I thought you might like it.”

Well, even if I hadn’t liked it, this tea will now always have a special meaning to me. Turns out that I did quite enjoy it, and will definitely be investing in some so I can brew it under better conditions (I know it brewed for over 3 minutes, but how much longer than that I’m not sure). Loved the taste of the black tea, and it was just lightly raspberry. Add to that the fact that she went out of her way to take care of the oddball in the room (out of 100+ people, I was the only hot tea drinker), and it was one of the best cups/experiences I’ve had in a while.

hotel tea. serviceable.

Twelve years ago, I was not kind to this tea. Gave it another chance and brought some for the work tea party cache because it is a particular favorite of an office friend.

Tastes change. I think what didn’t impress me back then is what I’m liking about it now: subtlety. It hints of raspberry instead of slaps you in the face with tartness. That same trait is what changed my mind about a St. Dalfour bagged black cherry that’s now an easy-steep office standard for me.

One caution: a lot of Bigelow flavored teas recommend a really short steep—just 1-2 minutes. I had an unexpected office visitor at the time and let this go just slightly to the bitter side. Other than that, it’s a nice change of pace.

I like this, any berry seems to go well with tea, this is no exception. The raspberry is centerstage but not overpowering. Like peanut butter and chocolate, the flavors of the tea and berry compliment and create something new. It will be good to compare this to other raspberry flavored teas in the future as a baseline.

Ok, the raspberry flavor in this is great. Not quite as strong as I’d like, but I went with the packet’s instruction of 1-2 minutes. I think this would have done better with a longer steep time. The black tea’s taste is there, but it’s faint, more in the aftertaste once the raspberry fades. Anyway, l like this and would definitely drink it again if I had more. It also makes me curious about raspberry tea in general.