Flavour: Papaya Lime
Ingredients: Apple (52.5%), carrot, hibiscus, papaya (8%), sweet blackberry leaves, chicory root, natural flavouring, natural lime flavouring (1.5%)
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: This. Smells. Awful – like rancid feet. The taste is surprisingly okay, though. In fact, it is significantly better than the aroma. It’s like lime squeezed on papaya – sharp, a bit tart, and somewhat sweet. The main issue is there’s that lingering citric acid dehydrating feeling from the flavouring, which makes the drinking experience unpleasant…not to mention the fact that you have to smell it each time you bring the cup up to your mouth. There may be people out there who enjoy this, but we won’t be buying it again.
Best time of year to drink this: Probably summer
Best time of day to drink this: Maybe afternoon
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]]>Flavour: Apricot Jam Tart
Ingredients: Apple, apricot (20%), carob, rosehip peels, white hibiscus, rooibos, natural flavouring, sweet blackberry leaves, mullein flowers
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: You can probably guess what we thought of this one, but we’ll write up the review anyway. For whatever reason, while it’s hot, the aroma of this blend can only be described as ‘apricot feet’. If you let it go cold, though, it transforms into something sweet and pleasant. The flavour is also sweet…and, sadly, really artificial, despite the ingredients list claiming the flavouring is ‘natural’. And although we should be tasting fruit and herbs, there’s almost no flavour other than flavouring…which isn’t even really apricot. It’s really yuck…especially when drunk hot. The fakeness lingers. We have no idea where all the other ingredients are in the mix. We could almost get the carob, but that was about it. And when we let it settle and cool, it was just bland. We have no idea why anyone would want this one, especially such a large box. It takes ages to get through these T2 cubes, so if you don’t like the blend…well, you really won’t like it by the time you hit the bottom of the box. This is an AVOID.
Best time of year to drink this: Please, just don’t
Best time of day to drink this: Never
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]]>Flavour: Spellbound Cider
Ingredients: Ginger, apple, white hibiscus, pineapple bits (pineapple, sugar), roasted chicory, natural and artificial flavouring, cinnamon, orange peel, sweet blackberry leaves, allspice, black pepper
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: The smell is bleeeeech! It’s so stringent – a horrid orange with an artificial something, and some pineapple sweetness. And it tastes as good as it smells. You do get used to it, but that flavouring ruins everything and leaves an oily feeling in your mouth. Fighting to be tasted is a trace of cinnamon and apple with a slight kick from the black pepper. It’s very sweet (sugar), there’s a hint of tropical fruit…and then it’s just yuck all the way. It could be really interesting, maybe even nice, if not for that artificial flavouring. It’s not an ‘avoid’ exactly, but we definitely won’t be buying it. It had potential and they just spoiled it with chemicals. Not for us, thanks!
Best time of year to drink this: Um…really, no idea. Autumn, probably.
Best time of day to drink this: Evening?
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]]>Flavour: Mulberry Ripple
Ingredients: Apple bits (apple, acidifier: E334), mulberries (8.5%), raspberries, natural and artificial flavouring, orange blossoms, rose petals, marigold petals, bamboo leaves, jasmine blossoms
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: This one smells soooooo good – sweet and fruity, like mulberry with raspberry ripple (exactly like the name promises). The flavour is initially overwhelmingly sweet, but then tart and, unless you brew it and brew it, quite watery. But it’s pleasant. We wondered if it would be nice cold, and the answer was no – keep it hot. Make it strong, too, because the taste is so subtle and it needs to be drawn out more. Then, it’s lovely. We’re just puzzled over what the bamboo leaves add to the flavour….
Best time of year to drink this: It’s intended for Christmas-time
Best time of day to drink this: Evening, after dinner
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]]>Flavour: Eggnog
Ingredients: Black tea, sweet blackberry leaves, natural and artificial flavouring, hazelnut brittle (sugar, hazelnuts), nutmeg
Caffeine Factor: Caffeinated
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: Interesting! It smells sweet and biscuity, due to the hazelnut brittle – and a bit like custard, for whatever reason. The taste is reminiscent of caramel cream, but with a bitter aftertaste due to the black tea. We had divided opinions on this one: Ginger loves it and Tulsi doesn’t. So it’s not going to be for everyone, but we think anyone who does like it will love it.
Best time of year to drink this: It’s intended for Christmas-time
Best time of day to drink this: Afternoon, particularly after a meal
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]]>Flavour: Christmas Breakfast
Ingredients: Black tea, ginger, cinnamon, natural and artificial flavouring, vanilla, nutmeg
Caffeine Factor: Caffeinated
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: It smells deliciously spicy, but not too strong. The flavour is similar. It’s like a mellow chai – because chai can be quite intense. This blend achieves the perfect balance of spice and sweetness. The vanilla is subtle, making the blend softer. It doesn’t taste artificial, despite there being flavouring in the ingredients list. Overall, it’s warming, soothing and pleasant, and it’s such a shame that this isn’t available throughout the whole year!
Best time of year to drink this: Anytime
Best time of day to drink this: Anytime
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]]>Flavour: Frosted Fruitcake
Ingredients: Rooibos, cinnamon, apple, ginger, natural and artificial flavouring, dates, fig, orange peel, sultanas, chicory root, liquorice root, star anise, red currants, cloves, white pepper, marigold blossoms, vanilla, rose petals, rhubarb pieces
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: Yeeech! All those ingredients, and all we can smell is ‘artificial’. There’s no fruit aroma, no spice…nothing, really, but ‘flavouring’. The flavour is no better. There’s a hint of fruit (sultanas, mainly), drowned in artificial vileness. Tulsi couldn’t even think of a way to put it into words, other than ‘undrinkable’. Ginger wasn’t quite as put off by it but still didn’t see the point, when there was almost nothing there to taste. We both agreed it was dehydrating. We’re marking this one an AVOID.
Best time of year to drink this: It’s intended for Christmas-time…but no
Best time of day to drink this: Just don’t!
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]]>Flavour: Creme Brulee
Ingredients: Black tea, natural and artificial flavouring, hazelnut praline (sugar and hazelnuts)
Caffeine Factor: Caffeinated
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: The aroma is very subtle – like black tea and a hint of something sweet but very mild…and, we’re sorry to say, artificial. The taste is similar. It’s black tea…and something we couldn’t put our finger on – something that’s barely there. It then leaves an artificial, grimy texture on your teeth. It doesn’t taste like creme brûlée at all – more like a non-descript flavour with an artificial aftertaste. It wasn’t any better with milk, either. It’s not awful, but we won’t be buying this again.
Best time of year to drink this: Anytime
Best time of day to drink this: Morning / afternoon
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]]>Flavour: Hot Choc
Ingredients: Black tea, cocoa husks, cocoa nibs (16.5%), natural flavouring, sweet blackberry leaves, cocoa powder (5%), chocolate chips (2%), chocolate drops (cocoa mass, cocoa butter, sugar, cocoa, emulsifier E322, soy) (2%), mallow petals
Caffeine Factor: Caffeinated
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: That’s quite a strange combination – chocolate, tea…and flowers. It smells chocolatey and floral, two things that mix on Valentine’s Day but maybe not so much in a drink. It tastes a little like black tea, but with a strong planty flavour, possibly from the blackberry leaves. It’s pleasant enough, but you need to add so much of the infusion to get anything out of it. It’s a misleading name, too, because the overriding flavour is plants, but with an artificial chocolatey aftertaste. It’s not bad but we can’t see the point in spending so much on this one.
Best time of year to drink this: Anytime
Best time of day to drink this: Morning / afternoon
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]]>Flavour: Crazy Good Cocoa
Ingredients: Cocoa Husks
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: Unknown
Price Range: £7.50
Cups Per Box: 40 (approx.)
Review: It smells…chocolatey! It tastes…chocolatey! But not sweet, because it’s just the cocoa husks and no sugar. It’s mild, but earthy and full-bodied. It’s really pleasant on its own, albeit slightly bitter because that’s what cocoa is like without sweetener. It’s a great one to add to other blends, to give that extra oomph. It makes for a gorgeous coffee substitute in the morning – but without the caffeine factor. There’s just something about the flavour that fits the job and makes it a great pick-me-up at any time of day. We really like this one – and we really like that there is just one natural ingredient.
Best time of year to drink this: Anytime
Best time of day to drink this: Anytime
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