Good Earth, Sweetly Twisted

Good Earth Description:
Keep guessing from the first sip to the last mouthful with Sweetly Twisted™. Starting out sweetly enough, this tea takes a tangy left turn to an unexpectedly refreshing place, sending your taste buds on an impromptu getaway. Hope you have some vacation days left.

Ingredients:
Hibiscus, black tea, rosehip, lemon peel, chicory root, natural flavor, sweet blackberry leaf, lemon oil,  licorice root, natural vanilla flavor with other natural flavors, citric acid, steviol glycosides (stevia).

Sample provided by Good Earth

My Review:
Good Earth has so far been a fun break from the 'serious' teas. I like that I can find this brand locally, though it takes a little effort to find all of their different fusions.

As has been the case with all of these teas, the box contains 18 tea bags each packaged in an individual sealed envelope to maintain freshness. The majority of this brands offerings contain slightly more than 2g of leaf. I applaud them for giving us enough leaf to make a real cup of tea.

Opening the envelope releases a scent that is familiar and yet I can't quite figure out what it is I'm smelling. This brings to mind some type berry flavor.

Pouring boiling water into mug, brings about a quick transitioning of the water from clear to deep red. Aw oh, hibiscus. I looked at the ingredients and hibiscus is first on the list. My wife loves it. Me not so much. Good Earth has proven themselves worthy of my continuing on with this cup. I also notice blackberry leaves in the ingredients which explains the aroma and the box graphic suggesting a berry connection.

The aroma is berry and a pleasantly vanilla.

The name of this tea describes the taste pretty well. It hits you with an immediate blast of stevia/licorice root then turns suddenly to tart hibiscus.

I let my wife taste it. She said it certainly doesn't need sweetener. She thought for a moment then added the taste "wasn't bad". That's as close to a detailed review as I ever get from her. My opinion, this one is not for me. I did not enjoy the tartness of the hibiscus and I did not enjoy the strong bitter stevia aftertaste. The stevia reminds me of saccharin. Sorry Good Earth, but its true we can't like them all. If you enjoy hibiscus and stevia, have I found a tea for you.    

You can find Good Earth Sweetly Twisted at your local grocer or direct from Good Earth.