Black Cherry Tea — Black Tea, safflowers* and natural flavors.

The ‘cherry’ in this tea, must come from the ‘natural flavors’ as there aren’t any actual cherries in the blend. Though the tea blend itself does look rather fetching. The slight pinkness of the safflowers contrast nicely with the dark tones of the tea leaves.

I steeped this tea for 5 minutes using boiling water, during which time the scent of cherries got consistently stronger. I am a big fan of cherries, so scent wise, it is right on the money. As for taste… whatever cherry ‘natural flavor’ they are using isn’t cutting it. It kind of tastes like the cherry flavoring that medicine sometimes has. The black tea they are using as
the base for this blend is fine, but the medicinal-like cherry flavoring ruins it for me. And beyond adding some visual stimulation to the blend, I am not sure what the safflowers are doing. Personally, I would have rather they used dried bits of cherry in the blend, as it would have had a similar visual effect as the safflowers, while most likely tasting better then the flavoring they are currently using. Not a fan.

Overall Rating: 1  1/2 cups

*Medical Alert: Those who are pregnant or nursing might not want to consume safflowers. See my Tea Advent Calendar — Day 6 for more details.