Commercial iced tea: Wendy's Green Tea

I drink bad tea so that you don't have to.

While on a recent road trip, I stopped at Wendy's in need of something to drink.  Wendy's black iced tea is a perfectly acceptable caffeine delivery system.   Given that I had few other choices while in the middle of gorram nowhere, it seemed like a reasonable stop to make.

But -- and there is always a "but" isn't there? -- I didn't want too much more caffeine that particular day, because the insomnia has been kicking my butt of late.  So I ordered Wendy's iced green tea.

Don't.  Just Don't.   Learn from my mistakes and never let this swill pass your lips.

To begin with, it was way too sweet, in that artificial bug juice sort of way that stops being appealing about the time one hits puberty.   After the sweetness smacked around my palate for a bit, the cloying, almost chemical, aftertaste kicked in.  I wanted to scrape the roof of my mouth to get that taste out of it.  There was nothing natural about this concoction and certainly nothing remotely connected to tea.

Tea tasting: Tea Forte's Blueberry Merlot

After some deeply disappointing tastings of late, Tea Forte's Blueberry Merlot herbal tea is a nice return to form.   It's got a rich, rounded blueberry flavor, quite fruity.   Adding honey brings out the richness of the flavor, but might make it overly sweet to some people.

I don't know where the merlot comes in.  I don't taste anything wine-like.  I suppose the aroma might have some wine-like qualities if you went looking for them.  This is not a disadvantage, in my world.

Tea Tasting: Republic of Tea's Downton Abbey Estate Blend

I admit, my first cup of Downton Abbey Estate Blend disappointed me deeply.  It's grown on me since then, with some careful handling.

Downton Abbey Estate Blend is essentially a combination of Earl Grey and vanilla: black tea, bergamot orange oil and vanilla.   By all rights, this should work for me, right?   On the first up, it Did Not Work.  I accidentally let it steep past 5 minutes and, unlike most other kinds of Republic of Tea teas, this long steep pretty much ruined it.   The bergamot became too perfume-y, the vanilla became gag-inducingly bad potpourri.  I didn't think there could be a vanilla flavor that I didn't like, but I should know never to say never.

Undaunted, I began to experiment to see whether the full package of tea could be salvaged.  Fortunately, it could.   Limiting the steeping to no more than 3.5 minutes keeps the bergamot and vanilla in line.  Adding some honey after the 3.5 minute steep manages the flavors to the point where they are a feature, not a bug.   With some attention and patience, it has become decently drinkable.

This is one of Republic of Tea's limited edition Downton Abbey-themed teas.  Unlike the sublime Downton Abbey English Rose, this one should stay "limited."