Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Teas
Where to Buy: Harney & Sons
Tea Description:
Breathe in the sweet aroma of Caribe, a light fusion of green and black teas enhanced by tropical flavors. The exotic tea mellifluously fuses hibiscus, guava, coconut and strawberry, accented with marigolds and cornflowers. The first sip tastes of green tea, trailed by an impressive array of fruit and floral surprises, revealing endless tropical notes tucked into each sip. A favorite for many, Caribe is an inventive and exotic blend softened into a serene escape.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I really, really need to start checking up on teas before I try them blindly without knowing a little bit about them. Case and point: this Caribe blend from Harney & Sons, which is a blend of black and green teas. I thought it was a straight black tea blend with no green tea … so I brewed it as such, using boiling water.
Fortunately, this tea is pretty forgiving, because I didn’t get a scorched green tea leaf taste in my cup – no bitterness, no foul or off taste. Just deliciousness.
I noticed the hints of green tea and guava right off the bat, with a earthy black tea that provided a solid background of flavor. After a couple of sips, the strawberry notes really came through nicely, and this became a tea that was mostly about the strawberry! Nothing wrong with that, I love strawberries!
But that doesn’t mean I couldn’t taste the tea. The black tea is … quite obviously … the strongest tea note of this cup, but the green tea is certainly noticeable. I find myself wondering how this tea might have tasted with a slightly lower brewing temperature … if I would taste more green tea flavor, how the strawberry and guava would present themselves … but of course, I only had enough for one pot of tea, and so, I’m left to wonder. (Fortunately, if curiosity gets the better of me, Harney does offer this in generous loose leaf sample packages for just $2.00!)
The coconut is not a well-defined flavor, I notice more of its texture than its taste here, providing a slick coconut texture that is supple and slightly creamy. And I’m glad to say that the hibiscus does not have a strong presence in this cup either … it does offer a slight tartness to the overall cup, but this seems to accent the berry notes quite nicely. The floral notes are faint to this cup as well, but, the flower petals certainly do add charm and color to the dry leaf.
Overall, not a bad cup of tea. I enjoyed the combination of flavors, and the way they presented themselves. If you do get around to trying this one, and have a chance to brew it at a slightly lower temperature, do let me know how it fairs! I’m interested to know!
