Black Currant Black Tea

I meant to record a tasting note for this a while back and I see I never did. I must have been distracted. Probably had some rejection slips pop into my mail box which sent me scurrying to find another market to send a story to. ;-)

I’ll have to go back to it and write a more in-the-moment reflection, but the good news is this is a memorable tea. Even without having tasted it in three months I remember a thick mouth feel and a really nice currenty raisiny flavor over a mild and tasty black tea base. More later, but I didn’t want to leave this one naked. It’s cold out there.

I saw TeaEarleGreyHot has been drinking Harney & Son’s Black Currant tea recently, and it reminded me I’ve also been drinking that flavor as of late, albeit the one from Simpson & Vail.

The black tea base is pleasant and not entirely overpowered by the flavoring. It has a nice brassy edge without being too tannic, with some more subtle autumn leaf undertones. The aroma of the tea is a really lovely mix of fruity and floral, and the black currant flavoring is very nice; I always forget how grapey it tastes when I haven’t had it in a long time, and I’m really digging that particular flavor note lately. I get a grape-forward berry fruitiness that is sweet enough to smooth out the rough edges of the base black tea without being so sweet as to be cloying. Just the right amount.

This has been pleasant as a morning cup, straight-up with no additions, but also made a great batch of iced tea, as well. I prepared my iced tea by brewing 7g of leaf in 500ml hot water for 3 minutes, straining, mixing with an additional 500ml cold water, leaving it to cool on the counter for a few minutes, and then popping it into the fridge to chill overnight. I wanted a stronger, more tannic flavor so I opted to chill a hot brew preparation rather than cold brew, but I bet it would be tasty cold brewed as well. Something about that grape note just really jives with me for too-darn-hot summer weather.

S&V Advent Day 7! I’m not generally a fan of berry black teas, especially ones with such a straightforward flavor direction. However, I’m happy to say that this is enjoyable! I like it best at room temperature with milk and sugar. The fruit is bright, juicy, and authentic. It goes nicely with the black tea. Very smooth.

Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 7

I enjoy black currant, but for some reason I’m never enthused by the idea of it as a standalone tea flavor. I don’t know why, because I do really enjoy it. I guess I find single-flavor teas sort of boring? Unless it’s a really unique flavor.

This is lovely though. I think it’s the right amount of flavoring, and it’s the classic black currant with a balance of rich, syrupy, and deep berry with a side of tang. To be clear, the flavor itself isn’t tangy, as in tart, but I guess I find black currant to have a tangy element. If that makes any sense at all, lol! The base is pretty boring, smooth and a bit earthy.

On to Bonne Maman! I was really excited when I saw today’s Wild Blueberry-Maple Syrup Spread. Tasting it plain, I could definitely detect the sweet mineral quality of the (true) maple syrup, and a pleasant woodiness. However, when I ate it on my toast, I would’ve thought it was plain blueberry jam. Tasty though! It was a bit too sweet plain, but I think the bit of salted butter on the toast brought out some nice tart notes.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDSfsg5yuwp/

Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar: Day 7

Ribena tea! Hehe. I enjoy black currant as a rule, so I was happy to see this one after yesterday’s bubblegum nightmare. (I exaggerate — it wasn’t that bad.)

Back at my first Real Job out of undergrad, I had an officemate who turned me on to Twinings’ Blackcurrant Breeze, so I kept a box of that at the office for a pick-me-up. It’s been a while since I had the Twinings version, but I think S&V does a slightly more muted take on the flavor profile. It’s lightly fruity, with juuust a bit of something floral? I would prefer a deeper, darker flavor, but this is fine.

Advent Day 7

Not a black currant fan (with the exception of Ribera). It generally has a cat pee quality that I just can’t get past. This falls into that category. Bleh.

Sipdown

I drank the remainder of this iced yesterday while doing some light house cleaning. I had this as a hot tea during work on Friday, but I assumed it may have been better as an iced tea, so I cold brewed the remainder for Saturday. The hot tea had more black currant/berry flavors, while the iced tea had lesser berries, and more black tea base. The black currant allowed the tea to sweeten naturally, but it was less noticeable as an iced tea.

Not bad tea with deep taste

I received a sad e-mail from S&V today – Jim Harron, Sr. passed away a couple days ago. I didn’t know him, but appreciate what the Harrons have done with Simpson & Vail – one of my favorite tea shops and a small business too! So I wanted to sip a cup of tea today in his memory and appreciate that S&V exists in the world.
Some have recently wondered about Black Currant teas – I have never actually tasted real black currants but I know I have had some dismal black currant teas before with awful flavoring. This is not one of them – almost a floral flavor with the fruit. Now if that fruit is black currant, I can’t say. But knowing that S&V usually has accurate flavors, this probably tastes like black currant.

Amazing Taste!!!