This week, a family member has started to deteriorate, the cat is wearing the ‘cone of shame’, and fuel prices are eye-watering. Do you know what lifted my spirits after all that? A hot cup of Clipper Blackcurrant and Blueberry tea.
Sometimes, the ritual of making a cuppa and taking a moment to slow down and sip can do wonders. If you’re in need of a moment for yourself, keep reading to find out whether Clipper Blackcurrant and Blueberry is the right cuppa for you.
My full tea review includes tasting notes so you know what to expect from the flavour, the best way to brew it, and some links to buy it online.
Clipper Blackcurrant Blueberry Tea at a Glance
Izzy’s Rating
- Blend: Hibiscus and rosehip, flavoured with blackcurrant and blueberry
- Flavour: Standard berry tea with notes of tart red berries, blueberries and overripe blackberries
This is a super pleasant, smooth berry tea. There are notes of blueberries present, however the blackcurrant is lost to a sea of generic red berry notes. Nice, but nothing to get excited about.
Full Review – Clipper Blueberry Blackcurrant Tea
- Type: Tagged unbleached paper filter teabag
- Ingredients: Hibiscus, rosehip, liquorice, nettle, blackcurrant pieces, blueberry pieces, natural flavouring (blackcurrant, blueberry, lemon)
- Health Benefits: N/A
- Flavour Notes: Tart red berries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, saccharine sweetness, overripe blackberries
- Aroma: Blackberry leaves, blackcurrants, red fruit jelly, herbal tones
- Milk or Lemon: Neither
- Where to Buy: Amazon or UK supermarkets
When you open the teabag wrapper, you aren’t hit in the face with artificial berry notes. I appreciate that! Instead, there’s a naturally sweet aroma of blackberry leaves and blackcurrants. Good start.
Once brewed into a clear, raspberry-red shade of tea, the aroma changes significantly. Gone are the herbal notes that balanced the sweetness and instead you’re met with what I can only describe as red fruit jelly. It is rich and sweet and belongs more in the bottom layer of a trifle than it does in my teacup. But I won’t lie, it does smell appetising.
The flavour is interesting.
Tart red berries are at the forefront, with notes of blackcurrants swimming through it. The blackcurrant tastes natural, rather than Ribena. Then a sweep of blueberry comes through – loved this – followed by some saccharine sweetness. Have you ever bitten into a blackberry that’s so overripe it’s squidgy and incredibly sweet? That’s the kind of sweetness this tea gives me.
And yet, somehow the tea has a drying sensation. The tartness draws moisture out of your mouth, rather than bathing it in berry juices, and the result is an almost cleansing sensation.
At the end of the day, it’s a pretty standard berry tea. But Clipper has managed to pack in a lot of flavour and I could detect notes of both blackcurrant and blueberry as the tea’s name suggests. You’d be surprised at how many berry teas I have reviewed that taste nothing like the name on the box.
So, kudos to Clipper!
How to Brew Berry Teas
I popped 1 teabag in my mug, poured over 250ml of freshly boiled water from the kettle, and let it steep for 3 minutes. This tea gets quite strong, so take a sip before letting it brew for longer – it might already be at the right strength for you.
The berry sweetness is intense – you don’t need to add honey, sugar or any other kind of sweetener.
As it is caffeine-free, you can drink Clipper Blackcurrant and Blueberry tea at any time of the day or night when you need a little break. It won’t disrupt your sleep.
Why Clipper Organic Tea?
Clipper is a huge brand in the UK and they produce many different teas that you can find online and in your local supermarket. This tea blend is ethically sourced, certified organic by the Soil Association, and accredited Fairtrade.
The ingredients in this tea that are organically grown are: rosehip, hibiscus, liquorice, nettle, blackcurrant, blueberry, and the natural lemon flavouring. Only the natural blueberry flavouring and natural blackcurrant flavouring aren’t organic.
To be perfectly honest, while I like Clipper teas, I am not a huge fan of using flavouring. Even when the flavouring is natural, I’d always prefer they just relied on whole ingredients. It tastes better and it just feels better to know that it’s all real when I’m drinking it.
If I could hypothetically walk outside into my garden and harvest everything that I am about to drink, I am a happy bunny.
Summary
If you want a fruity berry tea that tastes like it should, and has all the right organic certifications, you should give Clipper Blackcurrant and Blueberry tea a go. It’s pretty affordable and comes in unbleached paper teabags. I’ve found it online at Amazon but you can also find it in many supermarkets across the UK.
Tea Recommendation
This tea, despite being named blackcurrant and blueberry, had a discernible note of blackberry running through it. If you’re looking for a tea that goes a bit harder on that blackberry flavour, check out Basilur Winter Stars next. It combines Ceylon black tea with pineapple and blackberry for an unusual fruity flavour.
