Upcountry Maui Blend

My mother and stepfather just got back from Hawaii on Wednesday. I asked them to keep an eye out for any Hawaiian Tea while they were there, but this is the only one my mother came across. (I also got two jars of honey and a bunch of macadamia nut foodstuffs, so I’m not complaining!)

I usually don’t like anything with hibiscus, and this is no exception. It reminds me somewhat of the one hibiscus tea I do like (Tazo’s Passion Tea), but it doesn’t have enough sweet fruitiness to balance out the sour of the hibiscus, rosehips, and the lemongrass. This is going up on the swap thread to give away…

Haha. I definitely just published this note and then immediately changed my mind. I’m going to keep this and give away the Tazo. I’m liking the non-sweetness of this as it cools, and I think it would be great with some orange slices to give it a touch of sweetness. Also, these teabags are a much more convenient size for me, as it is doubtful I will ever want to drink the 2 quarts of tea the Tazo bags make.

Made it through 2 packages of this herbal tea by cold brewing it. The last 4 bags tonight went into a glass pot for the house. Compared to cold brew, the body is much fuller when brewed hot and the flavor with more depth, though it tastes almost exactly the same. Tangy rosehips and soft floral-woody cinnamon are the big players. Hibiscus definitely takes the background. Herbal notes weave throughout. A bit of lemongrass in the aftertaste. We’re all enjoying it.

Received two tea bags from derk, so I took one of them and brewed. Thank you derk!

Unfortunately, I don’t know if I steeped it too long or too short, all I noticed was hibiscus and nothing else. It was kind of tart, flat and bit watery as well.

That said, “nothing to write home about”. Bit sad about that; hoped fro msome interesting flavour profile but.. nothing of it. Nevermind, maybe it will be better next time.

Apparently it’s a bit of a CharlotteZero night today. This is another one that i begged her to try, mostly because it’s from HAWAII and well the likelihood of me getting to try many things from places far away is slim. I’m super glad that i did now. This is a really tasty non caffeine blend. I’m trying to finally take 5 mins to relax before bed and this is helping a great deal. I just wish i could place the smell. it reminds me SOOOOO strongly of something…except when i think about what, it slips away from me.

I could’t tell you what this tastes like either tonight. it’s fresh and fruity and just downright exactly what i needed right now. And it’s a marked difference from my other tea that i’m drinking which makes me giggle..though i couldn’t tell you why.