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takgoti was trying to pressure me into buying a new wallet but when I stood strong, she settled for forcing me to try this tea. ahem Right.

She did send this tea to me though so yay for takgoti! And I can’t stop sniffing this because it smells so. Freakin. Good. Creamy and red-fruity and sweet and rich. Before I knew what it was, I couldn’t quite figure out if it was cherry or strawberry or grenadine that I was smelling – just something red-fruity and creamy. Once I found out what it was, I only learned that it was most likely none of those. But it still smells similar. So I’m having some in my strawberry cup in honor of the unnamed red fruits in this tea.

As I poured hot water over the leaf, I was able to fully identify what it smelled like to me. Strawberry syrup. No, no, not strawberry syrup. Strawberry topping. On a cheesecake. The husband is a cheesecake master and he has made some homemade topping before for one of his vanilla cheesecakes. That’s what this smells like. It makes my mouth water.

There’s no way the taste can match the smell. No way. So I’m a little scared to take my first sip, not wanting to be disappointed… And I’m actually not disappointed! This is different from the smell – it doesn’t have the strong creamy, rich vanilla note. But the berry note is spot on. Sort of like eating the strawberry cheesecake and then having a bite that is just one of the strawberries from the topping with no cheesecake or significant amount of syrup. It’s not as sweet or as decadent as the previous bites (or in this case, the smell) but it’s still really good and yummy.

The berry flavoring is very smooth and natural tasting. No nasty aftertaste here. And it leaves a bit of fresh-berry-ish-tart on the roof of my mouth after a swallow. Part of me wonders how this would be with a little sugar or milk and another part of me is scared that it would be way too rich. But that’s not to say that this tea needs to be sweeter. Because it’s got a good berry-style sweet thing going on that I would hate to mess with. It’s got a nice body to it – not a light, thin feeling tea. Not super-thick for me, but respectable.

And my cup is empty. That was fast. I might have been a bit enthusiastic in my sipping. But what can I say? This tea is good!

ETA: Second steep @5:30. The flavor is lighter but remarkably consistent with the first steep. Maybe a little cleaner tasting? But not by much. Still very nicely fruity. And zero bitterness so I imagine it could go even longer without oversteeping.

#2: And just because I was curious, third steep @ 9mins. Okay, the flavor is fairly weak now but surprisingly true to the first steep still with still no bitterness. I think a 4th steep might be pushing it a bit (unless I steeped it for 20mins or something).