Melon

This tea loose smelled like overly sweetened pink bubblegum… I think they were going for a honeydew melon, and missed just slightly.

Sadly, the smell was the best thing about this tea. It doesn’t taste like plain tea, but doesn’t necessarily have a flavor, either. It tastes mostly of bitterness and liquid sugar. I had high hopes for this one, but sadly don’t see myself finishing the packet.

Dry this smells like a refreshingly tart underripe melon. Interesting just how different it is from Butiki’s Cantaloupe and Cream while still resembling melon.

Brewed, this seemed odd at first, not resembling melon in smell or taste anymore. There’s some tannin and that bit of bitterness most Culinary Tea blends have if you aren’t very mindful of steeping briefly (I may start brewing them all at a slightly lower temperature and see what happens). But as it cooled down a little the melon came back, and the whole thing turned a little more luscious and silky. Not bad. I don’t think I’d brew this hot very often given the deluxe silkiness and creaminess of Butiki’s but I’m definitely going to save this to ice (which is recommended right on the website). It really does have an authentic melon flavor coupled very tidily with the taste of black tea, making it an ideal midday iced tea choice. Bet it’d go great with summer meals.

If it wasn’t for the “this screams iced tea” possibilities, I’d rate this significantly lower, but really, it’s for sure one of the better CT blends I’ve tried all around. It’s an interesting combination of sweetly refreshing real-fruity with pick-me-up brisk generic black tea flavor, and unusual in that there’s more flavor in the swallow than the settled nose (how often can you say a flavored tea tastes better than it smells?!).