Goldenberry

This is an herbal tisane with apple pieces, candied papaya, hibiscus, lemongrass and natural Goldenberry (?). It was a nice departure from the usual hibiscus-heavy blends, but rather on the sweet side due to the candied papaya. It was slightly dry and astringent, but not tart as many tisanes can be. There was a small hint of lemongrass but very faint. I prefer no added sugar so would not get this again, but it was a nice relaxing cuppa for those who like their blends on the sweeter side.

S&V Advent Day 21
This was fruity and tasty cold without much tartness. I would have guessed this to be apple flavor, maybe a hint of pineapple. The cold resteep was smooth as well!

I skipped a few days in the Simpson & Vail advent, mostly because they were uncaffeinated blends and I was intending to drink them that night and forgot.

This was pretty good, not super tart and full of hibby which tends to make a lot of herbal blends taste alike to me. It was fruity and didn’t need sweetening at all for me. I don’t think I need to purchase this, but I would happily drink it again.

Simpson & Vail Advent 2025 – Day #21
I never even considered ordering this one for some reason, maybe because I have no idea what a goldenberry is… but it’s good! It’s a decent fruity tea with NO hibiscus. It’s sweet, but from the candied papaya. The goldenberry is from Peru, which might be why I have never seen it listed in tea before. Though the description said it would brew up a light pink color, mine was yellow. Maybe my sample missed any of the listed hibiscus? I would say the flavor was probably more sweet papaya and candied pineapple, as the goldenberry was only added flavoring. But maybe these fruits taste similar… I would definitely drink this again though.
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Cold steep!

The last one from my S&V fruit infusion order. I think this particular blend needs to steep a bit longer, because it’s a little bit weak, but otherwise it’s quite good! Definitely my favorite of the order. I’m not sure how to describe the flavor really, it’s mostly sweet with a bit of tang, and I can taste the pineapple mentioned in the description. Otherwise it just tastes fruity and nice.

I think I may try mixing some of the other blends, since some had a lot of hibiscus and some could have a used a bit of tang. But happy to have tried them all! I don’t think I would reorder any of them, since I much prefer the ones I’ve tried from Tealyra and Harney.