This is such a fun tisane! After multiple steeps and trying this tea many different ways I have really come to appreciate this sweet, tart, savory, drink! I got it just in time for summer too as this is going to make a killer summer drink!

Now yes, it does have hibiscus, and yes it is indeed tart, especially in the first steep, however as the delicate yet sharp hibiscus fades the other flavors of this tea are only ripening!

I have to admit, there are a number of things that turned me on about this tea when reading about it. First Merlot, I used to love, absolutely love a quality Merlot, however, I have not had a sip of alcohol for years now, it’s just too dangerous for me with my health conditions. Then the sage, oh sweet wonderful sage, I grow tons of it in my garden. Actually, it grows itself now and has went from a mild-mannered plant in a small area of my garden into wildly taking over an entire section of my yard, but I love it and there it will stay.

Then, well, blueberry, I do enjoy blueberries. The hibiscus, I can take it or leave it, I don’t mind it nearly as much as some people do, but I will attest to the fact that I feel it is over used in this tea and this tea would have perhaps been yummier without its intensity, or at least with a reduced level of its inclusion!

Then again, as I had said the hibiscus does tend to fade quickly so maybe the line of thought was that if it were not as inclusive by the second steep would be non-existent and not do what it was meant to do in this tea in the first place. That which I believe would be to give this tea a sour like flavor of a wine. Not sour as in vinegar, but just that dry snap of a tart you get from a wine. After all, I am not the blender who won first place for Best Herbal Tea in the North American Tea Championship in 2011, no, that would be Tea Forté for this very tea!

What Tea Forté says about Blueberry Merlot:

Steeping Guidelines:  Steep for 5 minutes, 208°F - For stronger flavor, steep longer.
Ingredients: organic rosehips, organic hibiscus, organic blueberries, organic sage, natural flavors, organic cornflower blossoms

Oh did I mention this tea is organic?

Blueberry Merlot is part of Forté Teas Skin-Smart line which has something to do with tea making your skin beautiful. I won’t get into that but you can get more info regarding this line and others offered by Tea Forté on their site.

Now as I had mentioned at the beginning of this review, I tried this tea many ways. The first steep I had it straight, no sugar, no cream, etc. It was good but face puckering tart almost. Second steep was much smoother, the hibiscus was easing off. Half way though this cup I added sugar, I use sugar in the raw, I think I over did it, adding just a touch makes this tea a lovely dessert tea but you can easily go overboard making it like a blueberry jam with a mellow sage cooling effect on the after taste.

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing but it was just too much of a kick in the blood sugar for me so I added water and steeped a little longer. Yes this is a forgiving tisane, then once I had it level with a balanced amount of sugar, I added some milk. Now it was like a blueberry cream pie!!

The sage did get a little muddled down in the mix though but hey I had put it through its paces! Now I am at steep three and while it is a lot less flavorful, and the hibiscus is all but a faint memory, I am going to ice it down and enjoy it outside in about an hour! Talk about versatility! So many ways to enjoy this one, and while it is not exactly Merlot, I did find myself giggly and acting silly while having fun playing around with this tea!