Tisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Honeybush

Where to Buy:  52Teas

Tisane Description:

If you are not familiar with strawberry-milkshake-drinking, red-licorice-chewing Walter Bishop, you have been missing out on a great science fiction show. Personally, I think Fringe jumped the shark shortly after it started. I thought they had a great opportunity to have a new show like the X-Files, but in my opinion, they squandered it by focusing entirely on one very convoluted story arc. Having said that, we have several customers who are fans, and our friend LiberTEAs actually approached me about a Fringe-themed blend some time back. So here we have it. Caffeine-free (because I really don’t think Walter Bishop needs caffeine) honeybush blended with real freeze-dried strawberries and organic flavors. This is a delicious treat. I can totally imagine Walter sipping and enjoying it, with or without mind-altering substances added to it.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

Fringe is my absolute favorite show on television.  Or perhaps I should say it was my favorite show on television, since the week that this tea was released was the week of the series finale.  I was so sad when I found out that this last season would be the final season.  While I do agree with Frank from 52Teas when he says that the show “jumped the shark” and it could have been so much better than it was, there was one thing that redeemed this program for me, one thing that made me watch every week:  Walter Bishop.

Walter Bishop is absolutely my favorite television character of all time.  There are many great television characters, but very seldom does one character come along that manages to make me both laugh and cry as much as Walter Bishop has … and sometimes I would be both crying and laughing during the same episode.  John Noble portrayed Walter Bishop so brilliantly.  If Fringe did not have Walter Bishop, I probably would have stopped watching some point during season 1.  I mean sure, Joshua Jackson is nice to look at and all, but … at some point, this series would have lost me without John Noble’s dazzling portrayal of the mad genius Walter Bishop.

So, before the final episode, I wrote to Frank at 52Teas and told him that he needed – got that?  NEEDED! – to create a tribute tea for my beloved Walter Bishop.  What flavor to choose?  I mean, Walter Bishop has quite a sweet tooth and loves his licorice, his coffee cake, his cotton candy (blue, not pink!) but who could ever forget his search to recreate the perfect Strawberry Milkshake after his favorite ice cream shop closed? A strawberry milkshake flavored honeybush tisane seems the ideal tribute to Walter Bishop.

I brewed this tisane and allowed it to cool before drinking it, because, I wanted to experience it chilled.  I mean, milkshakes should be cold, yes?  And it is really good.  The strawberry flavor comes through during the sip – sweet with just a hint of tart, and the tartness lingers into the aftertaste.  I don’t notice a lot of ice cream/milk flavor until I get toward the finish … and there I notice a sweet, creamy, milkshake-y kind of taste.  This taste also lingers into the aftertaste … this definitely has a strawberry milkshake aftertaste.

My only complaint … is that I taste too much of the honeybush here.  Granted that seems a weird complaint, given that this IS a honeybush tisane.  And any time I am tasting a flavored tea, I want to taste the tea base, right?  But, I think that the nutty flavor of the honeybush gets in the way of the strawberry milkshake flavor just a little bit during the sip.  The aftertaste is more strawberry milkshake than the sip.

But this is a minor issue, because I don’t exactly MIND the flavor of the honeybush there … I just want to taste more strawberry milkshake.  This is really quite tasty … and it is indeed a fitting tribute to my beloved Walter Bishop.  Thank you, Frank!