Review of Buccaneer blend loose tea from SerendipiTea.

I recently received a sample of this tea blend and have really been enjoying it. The Buccaneer blend contains Fair Trade certified organic black tea, chocolate, coconut, vanilla and rooibos. The first aroma that I noticed upon opening the foil pouch was the toasted coconut, with a little hint of vanilla and chocolate and the kind of citrusy fragrance of rooibos. When brewed and served hot, the flavor of the tea blend changes slightly; I thought it tasted mostly of toasted coconut and rooibos, and couldn’t really taste the chocolate and vanilla. On a second and third brewing, the chocolate and coconut are very much in the aroma, but the vanilla is still hiding behind them, I suspect. The black tea flavor wasn’t there at all for me, and I had to look at the tea leaves themselves to make sure they were there. Sort of disappointing for me, as I expected the black tea to make the blend taste more substantial. On a second and third brewing, I detected the black tea as a faint presence behind all the other stronger flavors, but not as a distinct flavor in itself. I tend to want my tea – even flavored tea – to taste at least a little bit like “tea”, but I may be alone in my preference. All in all, still a tasty blend, which can withstand 2 infusions per serving. I’m not sure this blend is one of those that tastes equally good as a hot beverage and a cold one; I drank some both freshly brewed and after it had cooled, and I prefer this blend hot, definitely. The chocolate flavor really needs the heat in order to have a presence, I think. But as a hot drink, with a flavor of the tropics, the Buccaneer blend is a good one.

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