75

From this weekend during the Steepster freeze.

Usually I make fruit teas cold brewed and drink them ice cold, but for some reason tonight I had a strong craving for a deeply fruity hibi tea, warm and deliciously puckery and tart, the sort of red cup that is the nightmares of the majority of Steepsterites. Found this sampler in my stash and brewed a small pot of tea.

I got this back in 2018 and notice the ingredients on their website are slightly different than what is on my packet, but not by much… the description does say it uses “seasonal berries” and the main difference I’m seeing is my packet lists raspberries which is replaced by elderberries on the current website ingredient listing. So I’m not sure if the blend itself has just been (slightly) updated, or if the difference is a seasonal one and has to do with whatever time of year it was that I happened to have ordered back in 2018. In any event, I don’t think there is going to be much difference to the flavor.

This is a deeply red pot of tea, that smells divinely fruity. Has that lovely thick mouthfeel and sweet-tart berry flavor I was craving so deeply. I think I’m mostly getting a blueberry flavor, but the tanginess of blackberry and currants, and a bit of that warm and thick fruit punch flavor from the hibi base. I can barely make out a hint of sage toward the end of the sip, but it is very subtle (I wish it was popping just a bit more).

Came for warm red berry tea, got warm red berry tea. Nothing particularly different or special about it, but it ticked the box exactly for what I was craving. Not recommended for the hibiscus-aversive or those that don’t like drinking tea that resembles a mug of blood.

Flavors: Berries, Blueberry, Fruit Punch, Fruity, Herbaceous, Hibiscus, Sweet, Tangy, Tart

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML

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Bio

Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

Contact Info:

Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

Location

Idaho, United States

Website

https://teatimetuesdayreviews...

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