Black Currant

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teaspoon
Water: ~8 ounces hot spigot water
Tool: make your own paper teabag
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes (using Steep.It)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: FRUITY!
Steeped Tea Smell: fruity, black tea
Flavor: smooth black tea, hints of fruity
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: fruity
Liquor: translucent orange-brown

I won these teas in a contest that was run by Dan on Steepster that was great fun, and got me tea prizes! Dan will be running the contest monthly, so keep an eye out!

I am playing a game with the samples, this was morning roll #4

Next time I think I should add sugar. It’s a good fruity tea, but an afternoon tea not a wake you up tea.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/06/georgia-tea-company-loose-leaf-black_18.html

Rating: 2/4 leaves
2=Acceptable, if it were free or there were limited other tea options

I want to thank Kristin for this tea! This is (so far) my 2nd favorite Currant Tea. This is flavorful without being chemical or fake tasting. The aroma is pleasant without being over the top. It’s juicy but you can still taste the black tea, too! Backlogging from the weekend…

I like this tea. The black base seems to be of high quality. It’s not bitter at all and it has some earthiness in the smell. The flavoring is nice, but tastes more like peaches than currants… it’s almost like a mix of peaches and raisins. I like it more and more as it cools.

I think this would make an excellent iced tea and will try that sometime later this week.

Teeny Tiny TTB Round 2

Another fruity black tea. This one is definitely the dregs of the package, and the leaves are extremely broken. There are small pieces of something lighter, perhaps flower petals? Dry scent is surprisingly strong and sweet. I pulled the basket out about 15 seconds early, just because I was worried about it getting bitter due to the broken leaves.

The steeped tea smells sweet and jammy – perhaps a combination of blueberry and blackberry? (I admit, I’ve never had a black currant) The flavor is extremely light, for both the base tea and the black currant, probably because I kept the steep on the short side. At least it’s not bitter! The black currant that is there tastes nice, and kind of reminds me of blueberry with a slight herbal note. Not bad, even if it came out a bit weak.

From TTTB:

There weren’t many black teas in the box so its stay with me will be brief. I pulled this one out and honestly didn’t expect much, since so many tea boxes get their flavors all in a wad due to bad packaging.

I was really surprised how strong the currant scent was when I opened the (double bagged) package. It was really inviting!

The first cup was really good. Nice black base, strong currant flavor – but not too strong. The second steep was really astringent though, and doesn’t taste much.

TTTTB

I really wish I liked this tea…but the flavour just hits a wrong note with my palate. It comes across rather generically fruity and – although not unpleasant – just doesn’t bring me enough joy to even finish the cup.

Backlog:

Georgia Tea Company nails the black currant flavor on this tea … and I like that it doesn’t overpower the flavor of the rich black tea base. A moderate astringency. Tangy and slightly sweet with hints of raisin.

Not an artificial currant flavor, it has that tart flavor that I’d expect from a currant tea. I’m not usually a big fan of tart, but, this IS a black currant tea, so I expected it here, and it isn’t too much. Somewhat reminiscent of wine. Nice.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/09/black-currant-flavored-black-tea-georgia-tea-company/