Country of Origin: China
Leaf Appearance: small, dark and slightly curled
Ingredients: black tea, tomato pieces and sage
Steep time: 5 minutes
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: ceramic teacup and mesh infuser
Liquor: deep reddish brown
Savory teas have become very popular lately so I wasn’t too surprised to see one in my June shipment from +Handmade Tea. I love that Handmade Tea provides sample tins of the individual ingredients because it gives me a chance to really experience the unusual ingredients that they use. The tomato had a very interesting flavor all by itself. It wasn’t quite brothy or soupy but it had an almost fruity sweetness. The aroma of the sage was very strong. Thankfully the taste was a bit of mellow. It provided just a bit of vegetal spiciness. The base black tea was an excellent Yunnan with rich earthy notes. It complemented the tomato and sage perfectly and lent a pleasant astringency to the blend. The tasting notes mentioned that this blend works well as an iced tea so I will definitely be trying that shortly. Just as I was typing this review it dawned on me that the name seemed a bit odd. A quick Google search revealed that part of the scientific name for tomatoes, lycopersicum, means “wolf peach” and it comes from German werewolf myths. If you haven’t already seen it, you definitely need to watch +Caleb Brown‘s video below. He is the mad tea scientist behind Handmade Tea. This time around he made tea out of mealworms!
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