Pineapple Pop Herbal

I have had this unopened pouch for over a year. Somehow it got pushed to the back of my tea drawer and I forgot about it. I decided to go through the drawer and organize my teas and that’s how I found this one.

I don’t hate it. I don’t love it. Unlike red rooibos, this brewed up pretty pale. That was surprising to me, but I suppose green rooibos is like that. The flavor improved as the cup cooled. I don’t think this will be a go to evening tea like my good earth sweet n spicy or peppermint herbal tea, but it’s drinkable.

There, is that damning it with faint praise?

Day 7 of the Plum Deluxe herbal advent. The dry leaf smells candy-sweet, which had me worried that the brew would be overly sugary. Thankfully, it’s just the right level of sweet. There’s a bunch of fruit in here (apple, mango, apricot, etc.), but all I can taste is pineapple. Maybe apricot if I’m reaching. I’m perfectly happy with that, because this is just a nice, juicy refresher. I’m sticking the rest in the fridge and going to make a tea soda with it!

For the July sipdown prompt, “a pineapple tea.” Prepared cold brewed.

Maybe it’s the cold preparation method (I just haven’t been feeling warm tea at all lately and didn’t even try it that way) but the pineapple flavor is really weak. Mostly I get a tangy citrus overtone, particularly an herbaceous-leaning one with the lemongrass melding with the green rooibos. I get a little pineapple toward the end of the sip, but it certainly doesn’t “pop.”

It’s not a bad iced tea, but it isn’t what I was expecting. I’ve had hibiscus-heavy fruit teas that had a much stronger pineapple flavor than this, and I thought on the milder green rooibos base the pineapple was sure to shine. I may try sweetening/carbonating what I have left in the fridge, but at the moment I’m underwhelmed.

This tea is pretty weak flavored. I get a very faint fruity flavor that’s not even really distinguishable as pineapple. Meh.

I somehow feel like I’ve had this tea before somewhere else. The first time I had it, the base was a little too nutty to work with the fruitiness. I must have brewed it differently the second time because I didn’t experience that again. It’s not clearly pineapple, just lightly fruity. It’s pretty weak, so I guess it needs to be overleafed. Yeah, this one was just disappointing all around, weak and boring. I mixed the rest of the package with some other teas to make a giant pitcher, which is the most pleasant way I’ve found to drink this.

Thanks so much for the samples, Plum Deluxe!  A pineapple no-caff blend I can stand behind!  It seems a simple blend, but not really anything I’ve come across before.   Plenty of pineapple flavor here.   The base is green rooibos which is rare enough, then plenty of fruit.  I’m surprised that there is also apricot and mango mentioned in the ingredients because it really only looks like pineapple or apple.  I like the simplicity of the pineapple I’m tasting anyway.   I’m also seeing rosehips in the ingredients but the brew was actually the color of pineapple, so I don’t think any rosehips made it to my infuser.  There is also lemongrass and orange peels mentioned, but again I’m not tasting them.  It’s 100% pineapple.  On first sip I was inclined to add sugar, which I never do, but I will definitely try that at some point!  A tasty, refreshing, unique blend!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled  // 10 minute steep