Berry Kiwi Colada

Before reviewing this tea…I hate my internet!! I had this whole review written up, and now it’s GONE!!! :( Onto to the tea….

So when I saw this tea in the store I thought to self: berries, kiwi, colada!! What’s not to love? I should have realized that this was a warning that berries + kiwi = SOUR (squared).

I tried this as both a hot and cold brew. The hot is SO SOUR!!! almost to the point of being undrinkable (although I did finish it).

The cold brew is a “little” more drinkable…but not by much. The cold brew reminds me of the unsweetened KOOL AID from my childhood. I decided to add sugar. After adding sweetener (what a surprise…NOT!!) it tasted like KOOL AID with added sugar.

Luckily, I don’t have much of this left, and will be able to finish my sample of the KOOL AID type tea, but I will not buy this again. If you don’t like sour…don’t bother…it definitely has the ‘Pucker Factor’.

They forgot to mention in the ingredients that it also contains prickly pear. Funky is the best way I can describe this tea. It’s not an undrinkable funky but I don’t think I would buy another cup or any loose leaf of this tea. It is very flavorful; almost to the point that my mouth feels overwhelmed. I drank it cold perhaps it would be better hot.

Sometimes I really hate my life…. why? because I get a fantastic tea like this one…. try it… end up having to use my epi pen…. because there are mangos in it.. WHY!? does BERRY KIWI have to have mango in it!?!?!?!?!? .. LOL…. I really liked how sweet this one is, while also having a little bit of bite… I would have liked to have gotten a better idea of what this tasted like… but unfortunately I had to stop my throat from closing up hahaha

I steeped this awhile ago and while waiting for it to cool, started on a quilt and completely forgot about it.

So… impressions of it at room temp:
tart, lemon flavor is a bit more prominent, strawberry & raspberry notes distinguish themselves a bit more and it has a “crisp” after taste. I’m also tasting a bit more apple.

This is so tart I can barely taste anything outside of hibiscus. Not my cuppa. Prefer it cold, for sure.

I like it cold and I like it hot. Overall, I just like it. Has a bit of tang to it.

The dry mix is full of all sorts of things, such as dried pineapple, rose hips, hibiscus, coconut, and some kind of dried leaf. It’s very fragrant and fresh-smelling. I can smell the strawberry most of all.

The taste is very tart and almost has a waxy quality to it. I steeped a little longer this first time around so maybe that is part of the reason it’s so tart. The honey helps to tone it down and actually make it into a nice cup though. I do like it. It has kind of a tropical feel to it and almost tastes like hard candies.

Tried this with a friend. We had it iced and I added some sugar water to it just to sweeten it up. The kiwi was extremely present in my cup, as well as a strawberry after taste. Tried it hot at first and it was quite bitter, may have been too concentrated. Nevertheless, awesome iced tea, wouldn’t drink it hot though.

Alright this tea has some very low ratings. I understand; the bitterness, the tartness…it’s not good. I really only like this tea when I add it to an oolong or a black tea to add some sweetness. The coconut is unnoticeable, but the sweetness it adds to any kind of unflavored tea is really great with a little bit of sugar. I added 1 tsp of monkey picked oolong and 1 tsp berry kiwi colada to my cast iron and it’s wonderful. If you’ve put this tea on the back burner, give it another try :)

Was a very nice tea, but not my favorite. I will definitely finish the tea I have but may not order more. True to taste, but the flavor was more present in the aftertaste. Haven’t tried hot, but was okay iced.