One of my favourite beverages are herbal or fruit teas so I was absolutely delighted when I was approached to try some of Clipper´s recent additions – red fruits & aronia berry and orange and coconut. Both of which are certified organic.
Clipper
I remember when Clipper first launched their fairtrade teas back in 1994 – it was the first I had heard of them but, being concerned about the living conditions of others, I immediately jumped on board. The founder, Mike and Lorraine Brehme, are passionate about their teas being both organic and fairtrade.
“Always a pure, natural product – there isn’t a single artificial ingredient in any of the products.”
Over the years they have introduced organic tea, coffee, white tea, Rooibos and the Japanese-style sencha – everything in line with the companies founding principles. Principles which, I firmly believe, make their teas stand out from the crowd.
The Tea Review
The first thing you notice when you open the bag is the intense aroma which hits you within second of opening. Its positively intoxicating – the orange and coconut which, I admit, I was a little sceptical about at first had the most delightful aroma. It positively demanded my attention and forced me into drinking a cup immediately!
As with any fruit teas the secret of enjoying your cup is all in the preparation. You should always use fresh water poured over the tea bag whilst still boiling – any cooler and the desired “infusion” will not occur and you will get a lack lustre flavoured water. Leave to brew for between 2-5 minutes. I like my fruit tea to be strong, but not overwhelming, so I often leave mine to brew for about 3 minutes. This, I found, was a perfect time for Clipper Fruit Infusions – at least for me!
Orange & Coconut Tea
Orange and Coconut Tea had the most delightful aroma during the brewing process. I had the cup sat close to me as I worked on a clients website (I am a web developer after all). It was pleasant – the Orange takes precendence but you can easily identify the undertones of Coconut. A beautiful combination I have discovered.
I have tasted many fruit infused teas where, if I had not been notified in advance of their flavour, I would not have been able to discern it – one flavour being undiscernable from the next. This was not the case with Clipper. The aroma would have been my first clue – the second one have been the taste which was absolutely wonderful and very refreshing on the palette. You get the taste of the orange with a slightly more delicate coconut following – the orange is definitely the dominant taste in this tea.
Ingredients:-
Honeybush, Orange Peel, Pineapple, Natural Flavourings, Coconut
Red Fruits & Aronia Berry
Like Orange and Coconut the aroma of Red Fruits & Aronia Berry is absolutely beautiful – it has a perfume so intoxicating I´d gladly wear it as a perfume anyday! But this is nothing compared to the colour – a wonderful deep red, almost plum dare I say, although I imagine berry would be a better term given the type of tea.
I liked Orange & Coconut but I loved Red Fruits & Aronia Berry. It was the most delightful tea I have ever tasted – having just the right strength without being overwhelming and artificial. The red fruits flavour had just the right level of intensity and was very pleasing on the palette. I thought I could discern just a touch of liquorice root (another obsession of mine) on my palette and thought I was going insane until I read the list of ingredients. It was very delicate and did not overwhelm the taste of the red fruits and berries at all.
Ingredients:-
Hibiscus, Rosehip, Liquorice Root, Nettle, Aronia Berry, National Flavourings, Pineapple, Raspberry, Strawberry
Overall
These fruit infusiosed teas were the best I have ever tasted and I do not say this simply as a reviewer but as someone who intends to purchase more asap! My mother and I were both eager to try these teas iced as, currently, we are spending time in Andalucia. I´ll keep you informed!
Visit Clipper for more information on these and their other teas!
I would just like to add Clipper having a new promotion offering anybody who submits their details and recommends a friend free clipper green tea – apparently they´d like to give away as much as possible so take advantage of their generosity today so as not to miss out!
Disclaimer: No monetary reward was received for this review. We were provided with two boxes of Fruit Infused teas in order to sample and write an honest review for The Recipe Blog