The blackberries aren't cross any more... (Twinings Wild Blackberry and Nettle)

Member Name: SueMagee

Product:	Twinings Wild Blackberry and Nettle
Date:	11/02/06 (614 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A fruit infusion which taste superb.

Disadvantages: Not as widely available as it ought to be.

It may be that I’m getting old (well, I am, I know) but I can no longer drink coffee or even tea in the quantities that I managed ten years ago. They contain caffeine and this acts on the central nervous system to increase the stress hormones in the blood. I can’t relax properly and sleep is almost impossible. I suffer from mood swings – and so does everyone around me. There are, of course, de-caffeinated drinks but I always find the taste disappointing when compared to the original.

For many years I’ve drunk Twinings’ Wild Blackberry and Nettle Infusion. It’s naturally caffeine-free which means that I can drink it at any time of the day without it affecting my sleep patterns or mood. There’s also no added sugar and as an unsweetened mug of the infusion comes in at only four calories I don’t mind how many drinks I have in the course of the day.

I like the packaging. There’s nothing there that I can’t recycle. It’s simply a cardboard box containing twenty teabags. The cardboard will compost or recycle and the used teabag goes into the compost bin. It’s easy to open and closes sensibly for storage. There’s no cellophane wrapping to end up in landfill and nothing superfluous. Twinings have various ethical and Fair Trade initiatives and whilst there’s no suggestion that the ingredients in this infusion are Fair Trade they do seem to be a company that tries its best.

It’s very easy to make. Pop a teabag into a mug – or if you’re posh and use a teapot, allow one teabag per person. Add boiling water and leave to infuse for two to three minutes. Older boxes suggested an infusion time of three to five minutes, but I find three minutes to be about perfect. If you want the full effect serve it in a white mug. The infusion will be pink and then gradually turn into that dark red that wants to be purple when it grows up.

The aroma is pure blackberry. I’ve had a cold this week but I could still smell the infusion from several feet away. It almost takes over the room. Of the other ingredients – hibiscus, rosehip, orange peel, liquorice root and strawberry flavouring – there isn’t even a hint. That blackberry is a thug. Blackberry leaves and blackberry pieces make up 11.2% of the ingredients, but 100% of the aroma.

The taste is not pure blackberry though. My first thought is always of the rosehip syrup that I was given as a child, but without the sweetness. Next comes what I can only describe as the red berry flavour. It’s the taste of a mixed fruit summer pudding with just a delicate hint of liquorice. There’s a taste there that reminds me of Christmas – that’s the orange peel. The nettle comes through as a slightly peppery aftertaste. It’s a robust flavour too. With other brands I’ve sometimes resorted to drinking the tea with the bag still in the mug (disgusting, I know), but that’s not necessary here. This is not an infusion that smells better than it tastes, as so many are.

I find the mixture sweet enough for my taste, but then I drink both tea and coffee black with no sugar, so it might be that it’s not sweet enough for everyone. It can be sweetened with honey or sugar, but never, ever add milk. In summer I make up jugs of this to have as a cold drink – just make it in the normal way and allow to cool. I’ve also given it to children as a cold drink, although I have added a little honey. My most indulgent use for it is as the liquid when I bake tea bread.

I look and feel better when I drink this regularly. Being caffeine-free it counts towards all that water I should be drinking everyday, whereas normal tea and coffee don’t. Nettle has a natural cleansing effect. Because of my cold I’ve just about doubled my consumption of this over the last week and I’ve been in the annoying situation of feeling under the weather but having people telling me how well I look!

The price is reasonable. In my local supermarket the regular price is 99p for a box of twenty with occasional offers of two boxes for £1.50. I’ve never bought a box with a use-by date less than a year away and it’s usually more like eighteen months, so it’s possible to stock up and have a supply of delicious hot or cold drinks for less than 4p a mug. Not all supermarkets stock this tea – I’ve been unable to find it in the local Tesco or Sainsbury, but if your supermarket stocks the Twinings range it might only need the nudge of you asking to get it on the shelf.

Boxes of the infusion currently on sale are now described as “Blackberry and Nettle” rather than “Wild Blackberry and Nettle”. The ingredients are exactly the same and I can’t spot any difference in the taste of infusions from the new boxes. It could be that the blackberries have got over whatever it was they were cross about or an acknowledgement of the difficulty of sourcing sufficient wild blackberries to ensure a continuous supply. Either way, it tastes good.

Summary: A refreshing drink, hot or cold.