Tea Series Challenge: Day 4

Hello and Welcome to Day 4 of the Tea Series Challenge!

Today’s tea is a bit late since I had a family obligation this morning and did not want to lose my memory of the tea before I could write this post up.

For my afternoon tea I went looking through my sampler boxes looking at herbal teas.  I try to only drink black tea or green tea in the morning, but also, after yesterday’s slightly disappointing green tea, I just felt like an herbal tea.

A few days ago one of my nephews, who is into tea, had talked about liking a blend called “Blueberry Merlot” that had been in his tea advent calendar.  I thought it sounded really good and was excited today when I realized that it was in one of the boxes.  I’m not sure if it’s exactly the same since I don’t know which company provided the advent calendar tea, but I was nevertheless excited to try it.  

I know, I shouldn’t drink yet another tea I’ve gotten my hopes up about but clearly I’m an optimist, at least  when it comes to tea.  The description seems to think I should also be an optimist, labeling the tea as “An award-winning herbal with sweet berries and savory sage.” 

Let’s see how it did with the ratings for today:  

Appearance/Color

Today’s mug has a brown glazed interior so the liquid looked brown.  I’m not sure I have more to add to that so moving on . . .

Aroma

I’m not sure I have a good way of describing the aroma.  I would believe that part of it is blueberry but it doesn’t jump out as blueberry to me, and the same is true for the merlot or sage.  It smells good, I am just having a difficult time separating and labeling the different aromas.

Flavor

This is one tea where the flavor is more than the aroma.  I have a tendency, or a bad habit I suppose, of leaving herbal tea bags in the tea while I’m drinking it.  Naturally this leads to an increase in flavor intensity.  The sage merlot flavor is very clear, while the blueberry is subtle but present.  Again, a well-balanced blend of flavors.

Body or Mouthfeel

This is a little thicker-feeling than the green tea, at least to me.  It shares some of the fullness of merlot as well, though without the addition of alcohol.

Astringency/Structure

This tea is a bit on the bright side for me.  It’s not bad, just very present and a bit herby.  Despite the blueberry, I would not describe this as a fruity tea.

Aftertaste/Finish

The aftertaste is a bit more blueberry, but again well balanced.  I am left with a mix of flavors.

Conclusion

I agree with my nephew; it’s a really good tea.  Perhaps I would not be as big a fan if I preferred white wines, though I’ll be honest and say that I hardly ever drink any wine at all.  That said, it was a very good tea, especially for a cold, wintry day.