I lost track of how many steeps I got out of these leaves. Although the first steep was exciting (there’s always something special about that first sip of a new tea), I think either the third or fourth steep was my favorite: I felt it had the best balance in the taste of the leaves and the tartness of the cranberries.
The flavor and scent are consistent with my expectations of a cranberry oolong. The mix I scooped out today consisted of predominantly tea leaves with a wee fleck o’ cranberry. I am excited to see how much the taste of this tea can vary depending upon the tea leaf/cranberry ratio.
One question for others who have this tea: my pouch has at least 2 large cranberries mixed in that I tried to crush (but instead it just squished, and is now looking at me all deflated and smooshed). I contemplated taking them out, cutting them up and tossing them back in, to ensure a more even distribution of the ingredient, but I’m not sure if there is a reason that I should just leave them whole. I really don’t want to mess with a good thing, at the risk of doing damage. What has worked for you?
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From what I understand, things like fruit and flowers in a caffeinated tea don’t really add much flavour so they are there more for aesthetic reasons. Most of the cranberry taste is from oils that are added. Can’t remember where I heard that from, but I think it was on the discussion boards!
@Indigobloom – Wow, I had no idea. I have so much to learn about teas. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Cheers!
Indigobloom— thank you for the info!!!! I too was curious about that for some of my blends. :)
My pleasure, I’m still a noob myself so am happy to share info where I can! :D
My belated suggestion would be to cut them up. They probably retain more flavour longer when whole, but for infusion purposes, they’re probably best in smaller pieces. I’ve also heard that mostly, fruits in teas on’t contribute much flavour, but cranberries are pretty potent, so I’d bet that they do add some flavour here.
From what I understand, things like fruit and flowers in a caffeinated tea don’t really add much flavour so they are there more for aesthetic reasons. Most of the cranberry taste is from oils that are added. Can’t remember where I heard that from, but I think it was on the discussion boards!
@Indigobloom – Wow, I had no idea. I have so much to learn about teas. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Cheers!
Indigobloom— thank you for the info!!!! I too was curious about that for some of my blends. :)
My pleasure, I’m still a noob myself so am happy to share info where I can! :D
My belated suggestion would be to cut them up. They probably retain more flavour longer when whole, but for infusion purposes, they’re probably best in smaller pieces. I’ve also heard that mostly, fruits in teas on’t contribute much flavour, but cranberries are pretty potent, so I’d bet that they do add some flavour here.