Wanna get fresh and fruity? ;) (Twinings Strawberry and Mango)

Member Name: leanne8686

Product:	Twinings Strawberry and Mango
Date:	25/01/09 (189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: tasty, good for you, cheap

Disadvantages: none

I have a strange head (I can hear you all saying 'tell me something I don't know! lol) On occasions when I have headache nothing takes the pain away quicker than a cup of coffee, othertimes caffeine gives me headache! And so for these days I try and drink more caffeine free drinks, I can't stand the taste of decaff coffee or tea so try and stick to herbal teas and rooibos tea.

To me, most herbal teas taste the same most of them having apple as the main ingredient as it's a cheap fruit but this one actually tastes like the flavour suggests it should! My mum bought me this last week and it's quickly become a favourite.

Even more of a test, I'm full of cold at the minute and it still tastes nice to me, a rarity with any food or drink when I feel rough!

Packaging
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The tea is in a pink box (the same colour as in the pic above) but the design has changed since then, the fruit on the front of my box is a proper photograph not a sketch; it shoes some juicy looking strawberries and slices of mango along with a little white flower. 'Twinings' is written across the top in a metallic gold band, underneath this it says 'Fresh and fruity' (I believe the other catergories of Twinings herbal tea are 'A moment of calm' 'Revive and revitalise' and 'Cleanse')
The flavour is written below: Strawberry and Mango.

It also tells me the box contains 20 teabags and the product is naturally caffeine free, containing nothing but natural ingredients.

On the back of the box I am given a description of the tea, I couldn't word it better so I'll tell you exactly what it says:
"An exotic, deliciously refreshing infusion"
'The sweet, aromatic taste of mango is balanced by subtle hints of strawberry in this tropically inspired infusion. With a rich yet refreshing taste it has a satisfying, rounded quality.'

The mini range which is 'Fresh and fruity' is inspired by truly mouth watering fruits and berries' we are told on the side of the box.

The tea
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The box is easy to open, the lid flips open like an ordinary tea box and the teabags are inside joined together in pairs. They are square and the leave mixture inside looks dark pink. As soon as you open the box you can smell the strawberries, they smell sweet and gorgeous!

The teabags need to be carefully torn apart as you only need one for a cup, I put my tea bag in a cup, poured on boiling water and left to infuse for 3 minutes as instructed by the 'directions for use'. You can also add honey for a sweeter taste; I think half a spoon sweetens it sufficiently as it quite a sweet tea on its own.

The water instantly turns pink and the scent gets stronger; the strawberry definitely overpowers the mango in this combination.
In 3 minutes, the water is dark pink; I always leave the teabag in my cup as I drink as I like it quite strong.

The taste test
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As I said this actually tastes as you would expect, the taste of strawberry is predominant but there is a slight citrusy tang which is the mango coming through. It is quite sweet but then the main ingredients are sweet fruits so what else would you expect? It's a natural sweet taste though, not nasty artificial sweeteners. I still like to add a bit of honey especially at the minute as it soothes my sore throat!
I really enjoyed this, its refreshing but still warming,

You can also drink it cold by leaving it in the fridge for an hour or pouring over ice, I think in summer this would make a lovely drink for a hot day (if we get any of them this year!)

Ingredients
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Hibiscus, orange leaves, natural strawberry flavouring (10%) orange peel, natural mango flavouring (7.5%) rosehips, liquorice root.

And that is all, no apple which surprised me as many fruit drinks/bars are pumped with apple as a cheap alternative to other fruits!
All good ingredients, naturally healthy and tasty!

There are only 2 calories per cup, a trace of fat and a trace of sugar.



There are loads of flavours in the Twinings infusions range so I'm sure you'll find one you like. At the minute Sainbsburys have a half price offer on many flavours; this one unfortunately isn't in the offer but only costs 90p at full price.

Summary: my favourite herbal tea so far!