Friday 19 December 2014

Northern Tea Merchants: Strawberry Tea


Firstly, I'd like to apologise for the lack of photos of Northern Tea Merchants Strawberry Tea. After an evening of camera and tea mishaps, I gave up the ghost and decided to use a photograph of Northern Tea's lovely shop instead!

I've long been a fan of Northern Tea Merchants. The quality of the tea is marvelous (and quality means EVERYTHING) and there is no doubt that Northern Tea are passionate about tea.  From their superb Keemun tea, which is a plain black tea but which is so beautifully pure, to their Apple Keemun, Northern Tea oozes quality and good value for money.

I really did like their Apple Keemun. Even my mum, whose taste in tea is - simple - really liked it. After her saying for the hundredth time "that smells nice" I actually made her a cup and it went down really well! My mum tends to like the idea of fancy tea's, but when it comes to the actual drinking quite often said tea's are not a hit, so it was with reluctance that I used some of the precious tea to make a brew and mum loved it.

So, one evening, I decided to do what I love doing the most, browsing for more tea's, and I stumbled upon Northern Tea's lovely looking strawberry tea and decided to, without much hesitation I must add, to treat myself to some.

There is nothing nicer then receiving a parcel from Northern Tea. Their packing is made from a wonderful gold material and you feel like Charlie Bucket when he won the final golden ticket in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory. But not only is the packaging made to look nice but it really does keep your loose tea nice and fresh if you don't have a spare caddy lying around.


(Example of Northern Tea's packaging, though not actually containing strawberry tea!).

I have a strange relationship with strawberries. I cannot eat real strawberries, they make my lips swell, but I love anything strawberry flavoured, so knew this tea would be exactly my thing. 

I will freely admit that it didn't take much time from delivery to the tea brewing in the infuser. Upon opening the packet the gorgeous smell of strawberry wafted from the packaging and it's mouth watering. In fact it really reminds me of the strawberry creme chocolate that you get from a box of Roses. Utterly wonderful and I couldn't wait to drink it.

The strawberry tea contains a large leaf Chinese tea as the base and it's a wonderful, solid tea, which brews to a lovely coppery colour. In addition the tea also contains strawberry blossom and strawberry oil as the flavouring.

I left this tea to brew for around three minutes and there is nothing else quite like the luxurious strawberry aroma. It makes the infusion time almost agony as the minutes slowly ticked by.

This tea is very unique because I will admit that I've not come across many strawberry black tea's. Mostly strawberry comes as a fruit tea, and quite often mixed with other fruits such as mango or raspberry. As I much prefer the robustness of black tea rather then fruit tea it's quite nice to be able to enjoy both the flavour of strawberry and the strength of a black tea.

I was not disappointed with this tea in anyway. First of all it warmed me up after being in the cold and I was grateful for that, but the taste of the tea is just out of this world.

The strawberry flavouring is delicate and tasty. It's subtle and could easily be overpowered by the tea but the two work hand in hand, which says a lot for the blending of the tea. I love how the strawberry leaves a wonderful aftertaste when you've finished the tea. It's really hard to describe. Scrummy would be one world, luscious could be another. But it's certainly indulgent and is a great replacement for chocolate or biscuits if you're cutting back. It has a satisfying sweetness to it which is brilliant at hitting the spot when you just need something sweet - this tea feels like a treat.

Aside from the flavouring, the actual base tea is smooth and has a chocolatey taste to it which works so well with the strawberry. It's a refreshing tea to drink so would be perfect to take in summer time too.

And, the tea is a real thirst quencher, too. I was speaking to someone only recently and they said that tea can't be a thirst quencher unlike, say, water or coke. I disagree. It really is.

Addictive could be another word used to describe this tea. Within a few minutes the kettle was boiling ready for the second cup.

I re-infused the tea three times and it held it's flavour really well. Naturally, by the third infusion the tea was far weaker but you could still taste the strawberry and it was still enjoyable.

This is an ideal tea if you like fruity flavours but prefer the oomph of a black tea. Much like the apple tea, the balance of tea and flavouring is perfect, and I'm sad to say but you just don't get that in tea's produced for supermarkets.

It's with tea's like strawberry tea and apple tea that Northern Tea come into their own because they just seem to get the blending right every time.

I would highly recommend this tea. It's gorgeous, satisfying and just perfect.

And whilst you're at it, why not try their equally indulgent Chocolate tea. It is nearly Christmas after all ....




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