Black Currant by Chai Castle
Black Tea / Flavoured
$12.50 for 100g
Chai Castle has provided me with Black Currant for the purposes of providing an honest review.
First Impressions
Black Currant came to me in a cute resealable black sample-size pouch. The label very clearly tells me everything that I need to know about the tea – including the varying sources of the black tea used in this blend (very handy to know!). Chai Castle also sent me samples of their retail packaging – some lovely matte black resealable bags with coloured labels.
Black Currant has a beautiful aroma to it. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten black currant fruit before, but I have had black currant candy (so good!), and this pretty much smells like candy to me. There’s a nice sweet aroma to it, and I can pick out the individual ingredients in the blend. Black Currant consists of: black tea (Ceylon, South India, China), natural flavour, black currants, and black currants leaves.
Bonus fun fact, Chai Castle is a local company! Chai Castle is based out of Maple Ridge, which is part of the Metro Vancouver area.
Preparation
Chai Castle recommends steeping Black Currant in 100°C (212°F) water for 3 to 5 minutes. My initial steep of Black Currant was for 4 minutes.
First Taste
Black Currant steeps to an almost burnt orange colour. There’s a nice fruity sweetness that wafts up from the steeped tea that is really quite inviting. On first taste, I found that there was a good amount of fruity notes while I could still make out a slight robustness from the black tea base. I found no astringency or bitterness when I steeped Black Currant for 4 minutes. The balance between the black tea and the black currant is quite pleasant. I found the fruit provided enough sweetness that I don’t really think that it needs any additional sweetener. I had this tea hot, but after cooling it down I had popped in a couple of ice cubes and found it to be quite delicious as well.
A Second Cup?
I resteeped Black Currant twice. I found with the first resteep, the flavour was lovely and very similar to the initial steep. I found for the second resteep, the flavour wasn’t quite what I was hoping for. As per my usual, I add an additional 30 seconds for each subsequent steep. I would say that Black Currant is good for one more steep.
My Overall Impression
I loved Chai Castle’s Black Currant. I really enjoyed the fruity flavour and thought that the flavour of the black currant really comes out well with this black tea blend. It’s both delicious hot and iced, so it makes for a versatile tea regardless of the weather. I would definitely recommend resteeping it once to get all the flavour out of it since it’s so tasty!
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