Many years ago, before I found myself impassioned by tea, I used to think (not unlike many others, I am sure) that “Orange Pekoe” referred to a flavor as opposed to the size of tea leaf.  And this tea blend is exactly what I would have expected an “Orange Pekoe” tea to taste like.

The flavor is very pleasing – a bold, brisk black tea – with the fruit flavors taking on a smaller role.  The main characteristic of this blend is the full-bodied tea.   It is strong.  There is a nice amount of astringency to the tea (which is probably brought on by not only the tea but also the sanddorn berry), leaving the palate feeling pleasantly clean after taking a sip, with a lingering aftertaste of sweet orange and just a twinge of tartness, which I am assuming belongs to the sanddorn berry.

The Tea Haus describes this tea as:

Ceylon Orange Pekoe, calendula flowers, safflower, organic orange peel, sanddorn berries, natural orange flavour. A Tea Haus creation!

Area: Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

In reading through the ingredients, I came across something I had never heard of before:  sanddorn berries.  After doing a google search, I learned that the sanddorn berry is also known as the Sea-Buckthorn Berry.  Here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia about the Sea-Buckthorn Berry:

The sea-buckthorns (Hippophae L.) are deciduous shrubs in the genus Hippophae, family Elaeagnaceae.

Sea-buckthorn berries are multipurposed, edible and nutritious, though very acidic and astringent, unpleasant to eat raw, unless ‘bletted’ (frosted to reduce the astringency) and/or mixed as a juice with sweeter substances such as apple or grape juice.

Read more about the Sea-Buckthorn here

Generally speaking, I don’t consider Ceylon to be a particularly strong, brisk or bold tea, it tends to be a smoother tasting tea that takes very well to being flavored because of its rather mild characteristics (as opposed to say, an Assam or Nilgiri, which tend to be a bit more vigorous) however, when paired with the sanddorn berry (or sea-buckthorn berry), it becomes much more bold, and the astringency is more apparent to the palate.

Some people may find that a bit “bitter” or off-putting, but I do not.  I do use some sweetener in this tea; it brings out some of the bright orange notes that might be otherwise hidden by the sharper flavors in this blend.  However, I do not add milk, I feel that it would not pair well with the pungent berry.  Some lemon might be a bit too tart, but, perhaps a slice of orange would work well, and help highlight some of the citrus flavors that are already present in the tea.

The second infusion is just as lovely as the first, also, so be sure to get all that you can from your leaves and brew them a second time!  This makes for a very good, intense tasting morning tea – a great way to start the day, especially if you need something to awaken the palate and get you going!