I'll become a convert yet! (Twinings Raspberry and Echinacea)

Member Name: cmh4135

Product:	Twinings Raspberry and Echinacea
Date:	07/12/05 (164 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Taste and smell are amazing

Disadvantages: Supermarket bought bags are not tagged if bought as a single flavour

Having just returned from a weekend at a health spa I was feeling “good” and decided that I would try and cut down on my caffeine intake but I fancied a hot drink and do not like decaffeinated products. At the back of the cupboard I happened upon a singly-wrapped fruit tea. The problem with fruit teas is that that promise so much yet often fail to deliver so it was with some reluctance that I decided to try this offering: Twinings echinacea and raspberry tea.

Making fruit tea could not be easier: boil some water and add it to a mug, pop the tea-bag in and leave it to brew for 5 or so minutes. One of the mistakes I used to make with fruit teas was not leaving the bag in for long enough. I like my regular tea weak and so my natural reaction used to be to get the bag out as soon as possible. That really doesn’t work for fruit teas and you should really leave the bag to steep for at least 5 minutes.

During this five minutes the liquid in the cup has turned a wonderful deep pink, almost cerise. The smell which was apparent from the moment the bag was added to the water still persists: a wonderfully heady smell of summer fruits, sweet, yet not sickly.

It’s at this point that my dreams are often shattered. Fruit teas just don’t seem to be able to live up to the wonderful fragrances that they give off when it comes to the taste. Often I am reminded of the taste of overly weak, cheap cordial. Not the case here. The flavour is good and strong, matching the summer smell beautifully. The first taste hit is clearly raspberry – a good solid flavour that does not taste artificial in the slightest. This is followed by a curious flavour, not strong but blending with the fruit. I can only really relate this taste to the taste that is behind the mint in Ricola herb lozenges, or perhaps the taste that is left in the mouth after a particularly good herb salad. Sounds strange, but it works.

Unlike some, there is no dry taste left in the mouth after the tea has gone. I find that many of the London Fruit and Herb Company teas leave a dry almost tannin-y taste and Twinings are often no better, their cranberry, raspberry and elderflower infusion being a particular offender!

Having discovered that this was a fruit tea that I could enjoy I discovered that I was able to obtain it at work from our canteen. On the second time I tried it I sweetened it slightly with a little honey. This served to bring out the fruity flavours even more and I would heartily recommend just a little honey. Don’t be tempted to try sweetening it with sugar however. I found that when I did it turned into a sweet hot cordial, rather like too strong hot ribena. Not nice.

One other little tip – don’t be tempted to be a cheapskate and use one teabag to do more than one cup! I tried this and it doesn’t work. The second cup will not turn a vibrant pink – rather it turns a dirty yellow colour. Much of the flavour is missing too and the drink becomes far more herbal. This could be due to the fact that there is only 1% raspberry in the tea.

The tea itself is widely available from major supermarkets and retails at under £1 for 20 bags. Note, however that if bought as a single flavour rather than in a selection pack these bags do not come with a string and tag attached to them but are just regular teabags. This is a slight disadvantage as you cannot “dunk” the teabag in the same way as with a string and the temptation is to squeeze the bag as you remove it – this destroys some of the subtle flavour and can lead to the tea becoming cloudy or gritty towards the end. I also find that the material that the bag itself is made from is not as high quality and the tea does, as a result, get a little more gritty towards the end. Selection packs, catering packs (as found in hotels and free samples) come with tagged bags allowing you to dunk to your hearts content!

The tea can be drunk cold although you will miss out on the assault on your olfactory organs if you decide to drink it this way!

I would heartily recommend this fruit tea. It’s not a nasty tasting offering that promises so much more than it delivers. You never know, the echinacea may also help you stave off that cold!

Summary: For once a tea that tastes as good as it smells