This tea has more than cherries going for it – the orange peel and hibiscus (see ingredients) add notes to the flavor. I would describe this kind of cherry more as “tart” than sour, but that’s what people call it. I enjoyed it both hot and iced without any sugar or sweetener, but I think probably many people would want to add a bit of sugar to this – and it does make it taste even fruitier!

The combination of black tea and green tea makes for a lower-caffeine blend than black tea alone would be, and the fact that so much of the dried mixture is fruit and flowers means that a spoonful of the dried mixture will have even less caffeine than unflavored tea. So it’s a good choice for later in the day, afternoon or evening – refreshing, but not likely to keep you awake for hours.

Teavana says about this tea:

A rich and flavorful blend of black and green tea sets the stage for an orchestra of flavor. Sour cherries stand out as the soloist in this sweet and sour symphony of tea. This tea in particular is perfect iced or delicious hot. It’s your choice.

This tea offers the health benefits of black and green teas. Among other things, studies show this tea will help boost your immune system, avoid certain cancers (EGCG), regulate your blood sugar, lower your cholesterol and promote healthy skin, teeth and bones. It is a great, healthy choice that also has vitamins and minerals from the added fruit. This tea has approximately 10-15% the caffeine a cup of coffee would have.

Ingredients: Black tea, green tea, hibiscus blossoms, apple bits, sour cherries, orange peels and safflower blossoms.

Didn’t really taste the safflower blossoms or the apple bits, but they do make the tea attractive! The cherry taste is the strongest – and stronger than the tea taste, at that – if you only steep this for 1-2 minutes, as Teavana advises, you may not even taste the tea itself, just the fruit. I tried steeping it a bit longer, 3 minutes, as one would any regular leaf tea, and found that even then, the fruit flavor was stronger than the tea flavor. The tea was also good for a second steeping – still fruity, though milder; let it steep a bit longer and add a bit more sugar to enhance the flavors.

I would have to add two little notes to this: first, please note that the health benefits claimed in the description have not been evaluated or endorsed by the FDA – drink it for the flavor; if there really are health benefits, that’s a nice side effect. Second, remember each time you’re scooping out a spoonful of tea to reach into the middle and get both leaves and fruit bits; otherwise, all the fruit rises to the top of the bag, and you wind up with your first few cups being all fruit, and the last few only tea leaves.