Organic Bramblewine

2020 Advent Swap – Day 6

My roommate brought this home for me. It’s an in your face tart tea. It reminds me more of a black tea, kind of misleading on the label.

I saw “tart” and immediately knew my husband would love this one, so I split the cup with him. I, on the other hand, am not a huge fan of hot hibiscus so I poured my share into a mason jar and put it in the fridge for later. Looking at it now through a clear jar, it’s not as dark red as I expected from the hibiscus. It’s more of a coral color, very pretty. I’m having it chilled with breakfast – tacos! – so it’s very cooling next to the salsa. The flavor is light – I can taste the hibiscus and that familiar gradual build of the licorice root at the end of the sip. It’s not too overwhelming, thankfully. This doesn’t come across to me as a green tea, more like an herbal, but I also don’t drink a lot of green teas so that could be due to my unfamiliarity. It’s refreshing due to the light flavor, but not something I would likely reach for myself. I’m glad to have tried something new though – thanks, Devon Bartholomew!

I adore this tea, my mom had a box a while back and I tried it. After reading other reviews and agreeing with the fruity taste when I find it again I’m thinking I should definitely try it chilled. I like roobios teas and love how they make me feel so refreshed and this one was no exception.

Tastes like sour jam. Not bad, but not my cup of tea.

I received this tea as a gift a good while ago and have made it several times without reviewing. It’s certainly not something I’d buy for myself due to the rooibos content and the sheer LOAD of hibiscus.

When steeped, it’s what you’d expect with a hibiscus tea. A bright, cheerful magenta. Very pretty! I made it iced and had to sweeten it – it’s pretty dang tart otherwise. The flavor makes me instantly think of Starbucks’s Berry Hibiscus Refreshers. There is a nice berry flavor that goes along with it, but it’s on the lighter side and kind of blends with the tangy hibiscus.The green tea aspect might as well not be there, but the rooibos… It doesn’t let itself be forgotten about. It leaves that aftertaste I hate so much in my mouth and nose with every sip.

Like I said, this isn’t something I’d get again, but I won’t mind finishing it over ice on hot days. Also, I’m not tasting wine at all. I think they just call it that to sound fancy.

The green rooibos was the appealing part for me. I’ve never tried it before.

I sniffed the dry bag and had a mini panic attack— surely they wouldn’t DARE put stevia in this tea! I reread the ingredients and breathed a sigh of relief. It’s just naturally sweet from all the fruit.

The hibiscus somehow doesn’t make my lips pucker with disgust! It’s a miracle. I taste lots of cherries and jam, and even a echo of wine in the aftertaste. Not bad! I’m starting to reconsider Tazo.

Overboard Traveling tea box

Hot this was weird and really hibiscus-y, but cold, it is really nice! I steeped per the instructions on the back of the bag (175 degrees, 3 minutes), tried it warm and just thought “oh, no no” and carefully poured it into a glass to be put in the fridge. It actually kind of reminds me of my Tealux Angel Falls Mist. Definitely drinkable unsweetened. I can’t even taste the licorice! Total win. Definitely claiming the last 4 bags of this!

Overboard TTB.

This is quite a good hibiscus tea. It tastes fruity and not as tart as most of them are. It’s naturally a bit on the sweeter end. The most prominent taste is definitely hibiscus, but it is tempered by some jammy berry notes, and an underlying herbaceous taste. I notice that this blend doesn’t contain rosehips, which is unusual for a hibiscus tea. The flavor is a bit different because of that. I can’t taste the licorice at all, which is great news since I really don’t like it, especially in fruit teas. I think the only reason I might hesitate to buy this, is because I mostly try to avoid caffeine and I like plenty of hibiscus blends that don’t contain green tea. It’s a nice variation on the theme, though.

I don’t know why I keep brewing hibiscus blends hot when I already know I usually only like them cold….not rating this till I’ve given it a fair chance. I will say that I picked up cherry in this, which made me happy.

Because of the cherry/berries, I’ve been wanting to try this chilled. Because of the green tea, I’ve been hesitant to cold steep or prepare this as sun tea. Hit sort of a happy medium; gave it a 20 minute start in the sunshine, then removed the bags and chilled it. Little rock sugar (just a teaspoon to a quart) to chase off the bitterness and it’s mighty nice after a bona fide hot day of mowing and puttering.

The mowing, inadvertently and unfortunately, displaced a couple of adorable baby bunnies the size of Twinkies who have spent a good bit of the day quivering in the flower bed. Can’t seem to convince them that the abode of El Puma, the serial rodent killer, is not a prudent place for them to take shelter. Anybody want to volunteer for the Rabbit Relocation and Protection Program? I could ship them to you in a shoebox…

This is surprisingly good. Considering how red it brewed up I was worried but it’s actually pretty sweet. The fruit flavors taste exactly how they’re supposed to, and some of the licorice and other flavors come through in the end of the sip. Much better than I expected.