Fortnum & Mason Tea Advent Calendar - Day 8 Elderflower Strawberry and Rose Infusion

 Shame on me - I forgot to write up my review yesterday!




Alright, so when I read the name of the tea - I was NOT excited.  I'm not the biggest fan of either Elderflower or strawberry in my teas.  The whole thing sounded like it was going to be cloyingly floral and possibly horribly sweet.


I made the cup according to the directions and added no milk.

My first sip was like wrapping my mouth around a flower field.  Dear GOD there was SO MUCH FLORAL!!!  I nearly coughed.  It was overwhelming.  However, I learned my lesson well from Andrew Zimmern and his show Bizarre Foods - mainly that you can't judge anything from the first taste because often that first taste is your palate and your brain getting shocked away from the expectations your eyes and nose have given you.  The SECOND bite/taste is far more accurate.  So, I took a second and third sips - and the floral tamed (thank god).  After the third sip, I think I was getting the actual flavor of the tea and honestly, it was mostly apples.  The start fragrance before the sip is all elderflower, the top note is all apple, the mid note is hibiscus with the added sweetness of a peek of strawberry, and the end note is rose and rosehip with the aftertaste going back to the elderflower.


Final thoughts: it wasn't a bad cup, but it was too floral and too sweet for me to buy for myself.  Still, I can see it being a big hit at a garden party.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fortnum & Mason Tea Advent Calendar - Day 2 Jade Oolong

Image
 Day Two of the advent calendar and what did we get? Jade Oolong!  As good as the assam blend was yesterday, I was excited to taste the quality of today's oolong.  I had high hopes. So, I made myself a cup according to the directions -trusting them on the temperature and the timing. All in all, it's not a BAD quality oolong, but I've had better and it didn't compare at all to yesterday's cuppa.  I think the thing that cut into my enjoyment of the oolong was that this one had a sort of grassy flavor on the end note which persisted a bit into the after taste.  Because of the grassy end note it took me longer to get through the cup - so by the time I was ending the cup it had cooled.  I have to say, I'd really enjoy this as an iced oolong with a bit of added sweetness.
Read more

Tea Review: Vanilla Almond Spiced Chai by Trader Joe's

Image
 This was in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's, and well, I love me a good chai.  Loving a good chai means that I am eternally on the hunt for good chai blends, which means I pretty much have to try nearly every chai that I come across because you never know when it is that you're going to find THE chai blend that is perfect for YOUR palate.  As such, I picked this up for a taste test. Now, the large print advertises this as a chai - but if you keep reading the bottle, the smaller print bills this as a protein smoothie, and honestly that's far more accurate.  "Protein smoothie with chai tea, almond, coconut cream, and an exotic spice blend" is how the entire label reads.  Texture wise, this is DEFINITLY a protein smoothie.  It's thick in that nearly melted milk shake sort of way, and it has a coarseness to the texture that utterly betrays the presence of the chopped up almonds.  There is also the not quite dissolved powder sensation that you get with an
Read more

Tea Forte Advent Caledar: Day 15 - African Solstice

Image
  Oh joy - a rooibos. Ok, so sometimes rooibos can be tasty.... sometimes - but more often than not I lump it in with honeybush as a sad weak tea substitute that only makes me crave a real cup of tea.  There are some exceptions - I have a lovely rooibos blend in my regular stock called Party in the Jungle which is a delightful cup, and my friend Brian used to stock an absolutely FABULOUS rooibos chai with spicy chili in it that I could not get enough of - but those are the exceptions and not the norm when it comes to rooibos for me.  This name - African Solstice - tells me NOTHING.  Time to look at the write up. Ok... now I'm full concerned.  Rose is such a strong flavor in tea for me.  Rose without a black tea to balance it... I would be tempted to skip this blend entirely except my roomate's girlfriend is down for the weekend and she likes florals.  So, I know if I don't like this, I can pass it on to her and she'll enjoy the hell out of it. The color was mild - about
Read more