Cheery Cherry!
Tapi's colleague at work gifted us a box of the
Twinings Cherry Black Tea. I have always
associated cherry with tart medicine, like the
paediatric cough syrups we grew up hating as
kids.
Despite my aversion to cherry, I somehow find myself tasting a cherry something every now and then. Usually, it is a cherry chocolate in an assorted bag I buy once in a while. I avoid it for days until I have exhausted all other chocolates in the bag and then hesitantly eat it, half eschewing, half chewing and then concluding that "it was not THAT bad"
So when we got this blended tea gift, I was obviously disinclined to try it. I knew then that if I got around to drinking it, I would be savoring something really special. For one, it was not available anywhere in the world except in Disneyland, Florida. My obvious suspicion on hearing this fact was that it had something to do with the terrible taste of cherry and a majority of grownups in Disney are whacky anyway (consider just the fact that they think Disney is the ideal place to by tea). Then, the colleague who gifted us the box of tea said it was way better than any other blended tea she ever drank, and she herself is a connoiseur of blended teas. This fact alone made it tempting but it still deterred me from trying because I am generally skeptical of blended teas, except in loose form, unless it is cold or citric. That said, I must also admit that lately I have bumped into a lot of good herby green and black teas.
After much introspection, I decided to leap into the cherry breach and try this one. After all, I had nothing to lose!
So Tapi and I made ourselves a cup each and sat in the living room. The intense aroma of the tea, was quite unfavorable, it screamed cherry and Benadryl. At the count of three we had our first sip. I have to say, it is the BEST blended tea I have EVER tried. It is sweet, light and wonderful, and now with the cherry smell it has a playful quality (and THAT was totally unexpected).
I am now eager to try different versions and think I might be able to find a non-twinings brand and other loose tea forms of cherry tea that I might enjoy. I am aware that there is a good chance that I might not like them as much, but there is also a chance that I might find one that's truly gourmet!
