The Necessiteas have carved out a niche for themselves as providers of unusually flavoured teas. This novel blend combines apple pieces, hibiscus, rosehips, kiwi pieces, strawberry pieces and natural flavours. Visually, the blend is dominated by the large amount of apple pieces. The other ingredients are easily all discernible though – except for the natural flavours of course! The overall effect makes for a colourful, granola-like blend. The pungent aroma is close to a store-bought strawberry shortcake's: sweet and intensely scented with berries, maybe a little too much so to seem entirely natural.

Following the directions printed on my sample's package, I infused a teaspoon and a half of tisane in boiling water for 5 minutes. The pretty watermelon pink liquor is gently scented with a fruity aroma. I'm not sure I would peg it as strawberry kiwi per se, but it has believable tropical berry tinge to it. Predominantly sweet and floral, this is a very gentle, relaxing drink. The rosehips do a good job of providing both a sweetness and a flowery sophistication. The fruit flavours are surprisingly subdued and subtle. In fact, this tisane lacks much of the tartness that I associate with fresh kiwis and strawberries. That's probably a good thing since many fruit blends are ruined by an overabundance of hibiscus. I steeped this tisane a second time, just for kicks. After 10 minutes or so, some fruit flavour does peek through. It's pleasant enough but not in any way memorable. As with most tisanes of this ilk, there's no harm in leaving the blend to steep indefinitely.

Initially the strong scent of the blend made me cringe, thinking that this tisane would be really strident and tart in flavour. I've had bad experiences with heavy-handed blends from the Necessiteas before. This time though, the results reside completely at the other end of the spectrum. Gentle and subtle, this may in fact disappoint those looking for more definite strawberry and kiwi flavours. Otherwise it provides a pleasantly sweet, soothing tisane. I can imagine that it would make a good iced tea as well, provided that it was steeped long enough.

— To purchase The NecessiTeas Strawberry Kiwi, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular tea, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.

Sophie Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Sophie's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Sophie.

---