Elderflower & Apple

Sipdown! (26 | 242)

Another swap sample! I used two teabags for one 16-ounce pot.

I’m quite enjoying this as an evening cuppa. It’s crisp and slightly tart apple, with a suggestion of red fruits from the hibiscus. The elderflower pokes its head out at the end of the sip and adds a mellow effervescent finish. I can maybe taste a tiny hint of creaminess from the vanilla? Not much though, and happily I can’t taste licorice root at all.

It’s nice to see an apple-based fruit tisane that doesn’t have any spices in it. I can imagine this being wonderful iced as well.

Day 14 of the Whittard advent. I’m getting there; possibly by tomorrow I’ll be caught up.

This one apparently contains liquorice, which is my nemesis, but it’s muted enough that I can’t really taste it. I noticed it a little at the back of my throat by the end of the cup, but I can live with that. It wasn’t in my face from the first sip, at least.

There’s lots of sharp green apple (nice!) but not a lot of elderflower. I want more elderflower. This is actually okay for a fruit tea, though. I’d definitely drink it again.

This tastes a lot like this Persian apple rosewater drink I made once, though brewing a pitcher of this is much less work. I get a lot of apple and rose and not so much elderflower, which is a little disappointing since I’m a massive fan of elderflower everything. It’s still very nice, though—especially for an herbal—with a lot of sweetness from the licorice root and a bit of tartness from the hibiscus (though not very much). Still, it doesn’t compare to Fortnum & Mason’s Elderflower Green, one of my all-time favorites. I’ve only tried this one iced, since the flavor profile just seems like it works better cold to me.

I’m back!
Had a lovely time in London and bought lots and lots of tea.
I didn’t buy much in Whittard’s except for Assam Hazelbank (my favourite Assam, the one stolen from me, now back in stock in Whittard’s – woot!) and this little fruit infusion, bought on a whim. I love elderflower, I like apples, and this infusion smelled like delicate sparkling apple and elderflower cordial, not like an overly sweet, artificial concoction of gunk.
I also bought a nice iced tea infuser bottle from Whittard’s, so when I came back to a balm 30 degrees C, I unpacked the lot and brewed a batch.
Heaven in a cup.
It tastes just like it smells – delicate, sparking, refreshing, and tasty. The undertone is apple, while elderflower takes the high notes, and none overpower the other.
I’ve brewed three bottles of this already, and I just can’t stop sipping it. I really wish that I hadn’t just bought one bag of it.

Another tea that I purchased today, it’s been a while since I had an apple tea in stock. This was only £2.50 for a small tin so I thought it was worth a try. As my last pot of tea tonight I chose this blend to try, being caffeine free I thought it would be perfect, I was not wrong. The smell was beautiful, sweet yet crisp apple drifted up my nostrils and lingered with a flower breeze. Very fresh and fragrant, certainly a pleasant welcome to the blend.

After steeping I took a sniff and again was met with a wonderful apple scent with a hint of herbal flowers in the back, only a touch and still remaining fresh.

In flavour this tastes strongly of rose which was unexpected but all the same is very nice. Behind the rose is apple which lingers in my mouth and turns into a lightly perfumed, herbal, concoction. It’s sweet but also a little sour when the apple flavour kicks in, and while the after taste is strongly elderflower (which feels oddly refreshing) it remains sweet and pleasant.

Honestly this was not what I was expecting…but in a good way. I thought this would be another standard herbal/fruit tea but the quality and freshness of this blend has surprised me. Husband is also a fan which says a lot as he usually dislikes herbal blends.

Very happy with this tea, I will definitely be trying it in my new cold steeping flask :)

I made some iced tea with this a few days ago, and finally tried it after it steeped today.

Unfortunately, I feel like I botched it. The website does say to use 1 tsp per cup of liquid, and I used twice that to make sure that it was able to be diluted for iced tea.

However, even iced and diluted, this doesn’t really work for me. The rose and elderflower flavours are really strong, and it feels like I’m drinking a cup of perfume. Adding ice didn’t help. Adding huge bunch of club soda even after the ice melted helped, but not as much as I hoped. It just doesn’t taste sweet and fruity enough.