All-Season Herbal Tea: The Ivy Keep's Cherrybana Twist Gourmet Fruit and Herb Tisane
Written: Jan 10 '09
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great versatile flavor, hot or cold, sweetened or not
Cons: Might be a little tart for some in its hot unsweetened form
The Bottom Line: Excellent tea to keep around the house that lends itself to a variety of moods and weather.
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| wychic's Full Review: Ivy Keep Cherrybana Twist - Gourmet Fruit & Herb T... |
Picture a bright sunny summer afternoon playing with the family dog in the park or stretched out lazily under a tree enjoying the shade, then picture a cold blustery evening in the dead of winter curled up under a big, soft blanket and trying to keep your nose from getting cold. What do these two scenes have in common? Both are perfect times for The Ivy Keep’s Cherrybana Twist.
Cherrybana Twist is a fruit and herb tisane that includes actual dried fruits and brews up the same as The Ivy Keep’s loose-leaf teas. Heat freshly-drawn tap water to a boil, remove it from the heat for about a minute before adding Cherrybana Twist to prevent scalding, then put one teaspoon for every cup in the water and let it steep for about 3-5 minutes. If you’re going to be icing the tea you may want to make it stronger.
The first time I tried this tea I drank it hot with nothing added. For the first two minutes of brew time I couldn’t even smell much of anything, but within four minutes I had a deep red liquid that smelled wonderfully of cherries and bananas. As for the taste, if you enjoy sour cherries with a slight aftertaste of banana, this works well. The plain tea is very tart and full-flavored and very much a cherry flavor, but there is little to set it apart from the crowd.
Next, I tried it cold…now THAT’S better. When the tea is cold it’s still pretty tart, but both the cherry and banana can be tasted very distinctly. Out of curiosity I decided to add in some sugar and turn this into a sweet tea, and taste buds thought they’d died and gone to heaven. I’m generally not a big fan of sugar in my drinks, most of the time I prefer honey or no sweetener, but some sugar in this took away some of the tartness and really brought the cherry flavor out.
Hot sweet tea? Tastes almost as good as the cold version. I’ve discovered that between hot and cold, sweetened and unsweetened there are at least three very distinct flavors to be had out of this one mix. If you enjoy a really good, full-flavored herbal tea and want some versatility for any mood or season The Ivy Keep’s Cherrybana Twist is a great one for you. If you'd like to try something different, adding a few banana slices to the sweetened iced tea tastes delicious.
Overall, I definitely prefer this tea sweetened and iced, though it works wonders as a good tart “wind down before bed” tea. For the quality you receive it is very affordable at about $4.50 USD from http://www.ivykeep.com for a loose-leaf pack that makes 20-25 cups of tea, though if you prefer something with a little less flavor that amount can be stretched for even more. In short, whether it’s winter or summer you can kick up your feet and really enjoy a cup of Cherrybana Twist.
Recommended:
Yes
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wychic
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 in Books |
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Member: Rebecca Mikulin
Location: Sheridan, WY, USA
Reviews written: 501
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