I very rarely review fruit infusions on the blog. Not because I dislike them particularly, but because I enjoy tea with more "body" so to speak - black tea's in particular.
But, sometimes, it's nice to shake things up a bit. Today I really fancied something nice and fruity and remembered that my friend Rebecca had sent me some samples of Taylors of Harrogate fruit infusions so today thought I'd try their Spiced Apple infusion.
According to Taylors website the blend has been created in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens, who are based in Kew. The tea is available to buy in Tesco's and Waitrose and from the Royal Botanic Gardens giftshop and online store.
Spiced Apple is obviously a apple flavoured tea but what spices are contained? Well quite a few and they all pack a mean punch. We have star anise, cardamon, cinnamon and a very fiery ginger root. Quite a exotic mixture of flavours.
From the very first sip to the very last, this makes for a superb drink. The apple is so gentle and very sweet indeed. If it were not for the spices it possibly would of been an over sweet infusion but working in conjunction with the spices the sweetness is much welcomed. The apple flavouring tastes very fresh and is a brilliant tea to clean the palate. And despite the addition of all the spices, the apple is a flavour that is very prominent which is brilliant.
The spices are well blended but are quite fiery. It's much more spicy then I had anticipated - and I loved it!
The very obvious spice that you can recognise is the ginger root. It's quite strong but it works very well indeed with the apple. Second to the ginger is the lovely smooth familiar sweetness of the cinnamon - a spice that works exceedingly well with apple. (I've recently reviewed Apple and Cinnamon from teapigs and those flavourings worked really well).
But what I really, really liked was the cardamon. When you take a sip of this tea you instantly recognise the flavour of apple and cinnamon - and of course the ginger. But the cardamon is brilliant because once you've experienced those flavours you get one very final, but very strong kick from the cardamon and it dances on the tongue for some time afterwards. The cardamon makes each sip last that bit longer. And I just love how alive it makes your tongue feel.
If you like your fruit infusions with a extra something, or indeed, if you like your drinks to give you that snappy kick then this is a perfect blend for you. It's by no means a typical - or boring - infusion. It's a incredibly satisfying and refreshing blend and if you want a change from your normal tea then this could be a good tea for you.
And why not try it as a iced tea in the summer. This is bound to impress at a party or BBQ. It's a very versatile blend and a tea that has many different sides to it.
As I sit here, ten minutes or so after finishing the mug of tea my mouth is still jumping for joy. The cardamon is still very present and it's great fun. I really enjoyed this tea.
Don't be fooled by the very simple (but effective) packaging. This isn't a quaint fruit infusion that blends in with the hundreds of other fruit tea's available. This has something really different about it,
On a cold winter's morning this will get you up and going. On a summer's day, as a iced tea, it's cooling and refreshing.
Why not try this wonderful fruit tea? It's certainly memorable.
No comments:
Post a Comment