Clipper: Pure Green Tea With Strawberry

(Photograph sourced from Google)

Whilst on my recent Norfolk soujourn, I forgot to pack my trusty Floatea, so, I had to pop down to the local supermarket. As I browsed the shelves I picked up a box of Twinings Earl Grey and stumbled across Clippers Pure Green tea with Strawberry.

Now, I will admit I have had a less them smooth relationship with Clipper.  I have previously reviewed their St Clements Infusion and though I held up quite a bit of hope it lacked somewhat, so I was surprised that my eyes were drawn to this tea. Probably because I love strawberry flavoured things, and because there were only ten envelopes in the pack thought I would give it a go.

The tea comes in tea tents (otherwise known as temples or pyramids depending on what brand you buy)

The brewing instructions were to use water off the boil and leave to infuse for a few minutes, which I did. The aroma of strawberry was really pleasant. It was strong, too, and quite mouth watering. When you are on a perpetual diet, as I am, sometimes the very thought of having something so sweet is lovely and this was a very fragrant tea. The tea brewed to a light green hue which was attractive to look at.

The day I tried this tea was a day when we were suffered a mild amount of flooding in the garden of the accommodation. Well it was acutally about 9 inches deep, so, after a period of extreme panicking I decided to go with the flow, sit on the decking and watch the water slowly sink away.

Taking my first sip of this tea I was surprised that I liked it quite as much as I did. I've never really been Clippers biggest fan as though their tea's are not horrible, they seem to lack punch and be extremely underwhelming.

Initially, the strawberry flavour came through and it was really lovely and strong. The tea tastes as though it's bursting with fruit and full of flavour. And I was really impressed.

The green tea was the strongest of the flavours and was quite astringent. Worrying that I had perhaps left the tea to brew for too long, I brewed a second cup, timed it perfectly, and it still came through as rather bitter. Following tea instincts, I made a third cup and brewed it for a minute and no longer. Though the green tea was less bitter, the strawberry also lacked flavour too.I gave up after that, and decided to just accept that this tea had a bitter tang, and got to quite enjoying it after a while!

However, despite the bitterness, this wasn't too bad a green tea. (Perhaps adding a bit of sweetener will help combat the bitterness). It certainly is a massive improvement on their St Clement Infusion as it's flavoursome and has a nice texture to it. It's not bad for a mass produced green tea. The strawberry flavour works well with the green tea. It makes a really nice change because most of the flavours added to green tea tend to be citrus based.

This was certainly one of the better Clipper tea's around. Though I don't think I'll ever be one of their greatest fans, they have produced a reasonably decent blend here, and their packaging is really pretty too.

As I said in a previous review, what I do like about Clipper is they make mini packs of their tea, which contain ten temples. This is a fantastic idea because it allows you to try a blend without having to purchase a full box, and a lot of tea lovers I know have commented on their frustration of buying a full box and wasting half of it. I myself, when trying Twinings Lapsang Souchong, barely managed to drink a quarter of a cup leaving 49 teabags untouched!

I would honestly say that this tea is worth giving a go. As long as you are very careful on how long you brew the tea, and don't mind a slightly bitter taste to your tea (and I know several tea people who like the bitterness that comes with some green tea's) it will make for a very pleasant cup of tea.