Fusion Tea Room, Tropical Tulsi

From Fusion Tea Room:

The subtle refreshing taste of tulsi is complemented with the tropical flavors as papaya and orange peel to come together for one pleasing blend. The experience begins as the aroma stimulates your sense and calms the nerves. As every Indian home is not complete without a tulsi plant growing in the garden, no tea collection can be completed without this amazing life sustaining herbal tea.

The dry leaf smells a bit like clove but there is no clove listed. The ingredients are Tulsi herb, papaya pieces, apple bits, rosehip peels, orange peel, and flavor. This is a caffeine free herbal drink and not technically tea by purists standards. Tulsi is known as holy basil in India where it is quite commonly grown in family gardens. I gently stirred the contents of the bag up a bit before pouring out enough to brew. The tulsi pieces are small and appeared to settle at the bottom of the bag. I got a good mix this way.

I used 2 tsp for 12 oz of water and steeped for 7 ½ minutes. The liquor is yellow and a lot of the fruit pieces float on the top so a strainer of some kind is necessary when pouring into your drinking vessel. I used a French press and a mug. The aroma is pleasantly fruity and mainly of orange, with the other fruit pieces less dominant in the mix.

The sip is a lot different than the fruity scent suggests. It is slightly tart with the interesting taste of the tulsi lifting up in mid sip. The aftertaste still seems to be lightly clove to me. The taste of the tulsi is a bit difficult to describe. It is both familiar and different at the same time. The best I can do is say it is a pleasant taste. I can pick out the orange and apple influences. I believe the tartness is probably the rosehip. What I am not certain about is the papaya. I believe it adds a touch of sweetness but this is not what I would call a sweet tea. It is just a hint.

This is masterfully blended, which has been true of all the Fusion Teas I have tried. I think for me the downside is I tried it after the Super Fruit Sencha. That one is like a roller coaster ride of fruity goodness. This is more of a porch swing drink in comparison. It is very good but lacks the flash the name suggested to my mind. I recommend it if you are looking for more of a laid back, not too sweet, caffeine free, sip. As with most hot drinks, I think the cooler this gets the more flavor it develops. An interesting cup.

Sample provided by Fusion Tea Room. First time customers at the time of this writing could get 10% off their first order.