Steeped Tea’s Pineapple Orange Cooler

Pineapple Orange Cooler by Steeped Tea
Fruit Tea / Flavoured
$8.00 for 50g

I received a bag full of Steeped Tea samples via a craft swap that I participated in, this is one of those samples.

20160510-steepedteapineappleorangecooler1

First Impressions

Pineapple Orange Cooler has an interesting smell to it. It reminds me of roses, citrus, and hibiscus. I had two sample tea bags/triangles, so I popped them both into my tea pot. I opted to do this because the triangles are less than half-filled with the tea (it didn’t seem like much at all!). The tea itself has nothing that is actually from the tea plant – the ingredients are dried apple pieces, rose hip, natural dried orange, hibiscus petals, and natural flavours. While oranges may be par of the ingredients, pineapples are no where to be found. I also can’t smell pineapples either, so I’m curious about how this tea will wind up tasting. I really like pineapples, which is why I picked out this one to sample next.

Preparation

The directions provided on the sample are to steep for 4-5 minutes in boiling water, which is exactly what I did.

First Taste

20160510-steepedteapineappleorangecooler2

The tea steeps to a really nice dark pink, thanks to the hibiscus petals. It has an interesting smell to it – the fragrance has a hint of orange and a lot of the hibiscus floral notes to it. The taste is very interesting – there’s a tartness to it that I attribute fully to the hibiscus. It’s almost sour, it’s so tart. I don’t particularly find that it tastes like pineapples, but it does have some citrus notes to it. I don’t particularly like this tea when it’s hot, so I allowed the pot to cool before trying it again.

At room temperature (and with ice!), Pineapple Orange Cooler is quite refreshing. I still don’t taste the pineapple that’s allegedly in here, but the light citrus notes mingling with the strong hibiscus taste is quite nice.

A Second Cup?

I generally do not resteep herbal/fruit infusions, it never tends to end well – this was no exception.

My Overall Impression

2cups-2

I thought that Steeped Tea’s Pineapple Orange Cooler was just okay. I’m really disappointed that there wasn’t a stronger pineapple or orange presence in this drink. There was no pineapple to be had in the ingredients, in the smell, and in the taste. There was some citrus notes, but it could have been stronger, that’s for sure. I think that the Pineapple Orange Cooler works amazingly well as an iced tea, and I would definitely recommend having it cold. While it is tasty, I don’t think it’s something that I would want to necessarily keep a stash of in my tea collection, there’s other (better!) fruity drinks out there and the lack of pineapple is a bit of a sore spot since I like pineapple.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Steeped Tea’s Earl Grey de la Crème

Earl Grey de la Crème by Steeped Tea
Black Tea / Flavoured
$7.00 for 50g

I received a bag full of Steeped Tea samples via a craft swap that I participated in, this is one of those samples.

20160405-steepedteaearlgreydelacreme1

First Impressions

I’m a sucker for Earl Grey tea, it’s one of my favourites and I love it. Steeped Tea’s version has very few ingredients – black tea, cornflower petals, and natural flavours. I get the slightest hint of citrus when I first smelled the tea. This may be due to the fact that it is allergy season and I’ve been having the sniffles lately. But overall, it smells like Earl Grey – a hint of citrus, a hint of vanilla, the black tea base does come through, which is promising!

Preparation

The instruction that came with my sample state “steep 2-3 minutes in boiling water” – I couldn’t find steeping directions via the Steeped Tea website.

First Taste

20160405-steepedteaearlgreydelacreme2

I steeped my sample tea bag for about 3 minutes. The result is a deep mahogany that is clear. This Earl Grey de la Crème smells decent, I don’t really get a lot of citrus from it at all though, which I feel like I should. The taste has a bit of astringency to it, definitely has a pucker feel to it. It has a touch of creaminess to the tea even without added milk or cream, but the vanilla isn’t as strong as I like. It’s a pleasant cup of Earl Grey, but the lack of strength behind the bergamot is a bit disappointing.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep my Earl Grey de la Crème teabag and wound up with a weak cup of black tea with little to no bergamot taste to it at all. I would say that Earl Grey de la Crème is good for only one steep.

My Overall Impression

2cups-2

I thought that Steeped Tea’s Earl Grey de la Crème was just okay. I’ve had really good cups of Earl Grey before, and really good cups of Cream of Earl Grey. This is not one of them. If you hadn’t tried an Earl Grey with a stronger amount of bergamot flavouring, you might like this one. I think it could be improved upon with some sweetener, maybe some cream, but I think the lack of citrus is disappointing. It’s not a terrible tea, but it isn’t the best I’ve had and it’s certainly not something that I would want to keep a stash of at home.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.