This is a beautiful tea: long spears of green tea (which appears to me to be either Bancha or Sencha leaves) with a plentiful supply of dried raspberry bits. Those pieces of raspberry provide a great deal of color to the brew as well, immediately upon pouring the hot water over the leaves, the liquid began to turn a lovely pink. I found the aroma of the tea to be just as charming as the color; it smells like fresh-picked berries that are still warm from the sun.
The raspberry flavor is well defined in this blend, right down to the slight sour pucker. The only thing that’s missing is the seeds that get caught between your teeth! Since that is one thing that often keeps me from eating raspberries, I rather like that about this tea.
Frontier Co-Op describes this tea as:
Whole leaf green tea with numerous bits of whole raspberries. Sweet tart and fresh flavor and pucker.
While this tea is not overwhelmingly tart, I do think that a little bit of sweetener helps to soften the edge a little bit. I chose to add a drizzle of raw honey to the tea, and found that it complimented the tea very well.
I recommend steeping this tea a little longer than you would customarily brew a green tea – and at a slightly lower temperature – because the flavors need that time to develop fully. I find that without the extra time, the green tea flavors taste a little washed-out, but just an extra minute or two really brings the fresh, slightly sweet green tea notes to life.
It’s cold outside, so I chose to drink this tea hot; however, I think it would really make an excellent and refreshing iced tea. The bright flavors of this tea seem to really exclaim “Summer!”
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Recent Comments
"When I was a kid, in the middle of winter, my friend Penny and I eachbought a quart of ice cream, skated to the island in the middle of our lake and ate them. Soooo good and soooo naughty. It keeps us young to be naughty sometimes. I would just go for it an enjoy!"
marlena said, in reply to Better Belly Blend from Two Leaves and a Bud on August 30, 2010 at 12:35 pm
marlena on:
Better Belly Blend from Two Leaves and a Bud
"Well, as someone who has tasted a lot of chai tea, I can attest that this really is not very similar in taste to Chai. Chai tends to focus on the spices, whereas this tea’s focus is on the orange, with the spices being very gentle and more of an accent to the orange."
liber-teas said, in reply to Harvest Orange Spice from Octavia Tea on August 25, 2010 at 11:00 pm
liber-teas on:
Harvest Orange Spice from Octavia Tea
"How fun! I love drinking tea so I love that you have a whole blog related to reviewing them. One brand that I really love that I don’t see on your list is the Portsmouth Tea Company. When I lived in Boston I used to buy lots of their teas and they were oh so unique. They had some really great fruity and floral blends. It’s interesting that..."
Kelly said, in reply to Harvest Orange Spice from Octavia Tea on August 25, 2010 at 11:25 am
Kelly on:
Harvest Orange Spice from Octavia Tea
"Haha!! My co-worker told me that she purchased this tea after having purchased the Matcha Latte at Seattle’s Best, and her and another co-worker purchased this because they believed it was what was served there. She stated to me today that “it didn’t seem the same exactly…it felt like their was something..."
The Tea Guru said, in reply to Matcha Latté with Honeydew from Tazo Tea on August 20, 2010 at 8:55 pm
The Tea Guru on:
Matcha Latté with Honeydew from Tazo Tea
"I’m not absolutely certain, but I believe that this is the concentrate that Seattle’s Best coffee shops use to make their matcha latte. The lattes I’ve enjoyed there were sweet with a definite melon flavor… and I have noticed that they sell other Tazo teas there. If it IS the concentrate that they use… I am..."
liber-teas said, in reply to Matcha Latté with Honeydew from Tazo Tea on August 20, 2010 at 8:47 pm
liber-teas on:
Matcha Latté with Honeydew from Tazo Tea
"I Love this tea!! This flavor is my favorite. I am so addicted to it! Thanks
"
Betsy said, in reply to Raspberry Earl from Zhena’s Gypsy Tea on August 20, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Betsy on:
Raspberry Earl from Zhena’s Gypsy Tea
"Steph: Thank you for your information about the naranquilla. I didn’t find the flavor to be very tart at all – which is what I would have expected from the combination of lime and rhubarb. Perhaps the maraschino sweetened it up a bit and made it much more peach-like. It reminded me a bit of candied apricots or peaches."
liber-teas said, in reply to Easter Tea from Dammann Frères on August 19, 2010 at 7:42 pm
liber-teas on:
Easter Tea from Dammann Frères