52Teas, Mango Flavored Black Tea (Iced Tea Series)

52Teas Description:
Approximately 1.2oz. (Yields one gallon)

Ingredients: Premium Indian CTC tea, natural flavors.

My Review:
This tea is not listed on the 52teas website or in their archives, at least I did not see it there. I have no idea how old it is. (I believe it may be three years old) I got this in a mystery box of teas sent by someone reducing their stash.

I like to keep a record of everything I try. You never know if this will show up again. I also wanted an excuse to use my new dorm fridge I put in my den. If I had a microwave and a day bed, I'm not sure I would ever have to leave, except to get more tea.

I was under the mistaken belief that the sealed pouch contained a giant tea bag. So I rather carelessly started to tear it open, when to my surprise CTC started spilling out everywhere. It was really only a tiny amount but it made me stop and pay attention.

The leaf is a very fine powder. It is so fine in fact it looks like the dust used in many tea bags. Not all dust is created equal. This is unadulterated premium Indian tea. I used half the envelop in my press. Man that looks like a lot of tea. I steeped the leaf four times using 16oz of boiling water each time - the limit of my press. As a batch would finish steeping, I poured it into a half gallon container until with the fourth it was filled.

The result was a half gallon of beautifully ruby red tea. I should have tried some hot but instead I poured the brew into four 16oz glass bottles, sealed, let it cool a bit, then placed in the fridge. Its aroma was lightly mango.

The next day I removed one of the bottles to sip/chug as needed. Maybe this sample is just to old. The result is definitely mango but weak. Now that may be all most people want from an iced tea. My heritage thinks iced tea should be made strong enough to walk off on its own. I almost never add sweetener to iced tea, though I almost always do add it to hot tea - probably quite the opposite of most people. After tasting, I did go ahead and add some to this.

With sweetener this is more lively though still not my style. If I take a big chug it does fight back a little. The mango lingers pleasantly in the aftertaste. Assuming this tea is not so old as to have lost its flavor, then I would say this is a mild and enjoyable iced tea. Not my style as I want big flavor in an iced tea. However, it could be this is just too old and nothing I said represents how this tea tasted new.