This one doesn’t seem to have gotten much love on Steepster. This is another my wife picked. I thought strawberries and cream – yummy. Then I read the ingredients. I have had one black currant tea before this. Granted it was bagged but it was Ahmad who I normally trust to give me a pleasant bagged experience. I did not like it. I seldom like hibiscus in anything.
Then I opened the lid and sniffed. Hey this may not be so bad. Yeah it is rooibos but it smells like vanilla and cherries, or blueberries, or maybe grape. I never could decide. Doesn’t matter as none of those things are actually listed as ingredients.
I steeped for 5 minutes in a Finum basket using boiling water. The brew is dark like coffee but as you tilt the cup it looks more purplish red. That amused me. The white chocolate forms some scum on the surface that doesn’t hurt anything except the aesthetics.
The first sip was pleasant but much lighter than I expected. I added sweetener and the change is spectacular. I’m just going to quote my blog post on this rather than coming up with something new:
Once sweetened this came alive. The black currant and the hibiscus combine to give a taste that I can’t nail down but drifts between blueberry, cherry, and grape. I do taste just the slightest tartness but honestly it works here. This is creamy, probably from the white chocolate. I do taste the rooibos but it is not the main note. It adds to the overall mix with a touch of spicy sweetness.
I think I can best sum up my perception of this blend by telling you that I went into this review not expecting much from these ingredients. I thought, I’ll try to keep an open mind but will settle on just getting through it. I ended up gulping the last half of the cup down and can’t wait to have another. Surprisingly delicious.
OK, its me live again. This is one of those times when experimenting really paid off. You wouldn’t have a issue with adding a little salt to your supper, if it needed help bringing out the flavor, so don’t be afraid of a little sweetener when it is needed.