English Tea Shop Berry Savoury Pie Tea Review
Yes, I know it’s June, but I’m still working through my festive teas from last Christmas! Today I’m reviewing the English Tea Shop Berry Savoury Pie tea blend from the red bauble holiday collection box. It’s a rooibos blend, so if you’re limiting your caffeine intake you will find it very appealing.
The pun is, of course, “berry” savoury pie instead of “very” savoury pie. Either way, it’s an interesting name. With fruit ingredients, you don’t expect savoury to be a main flavour… and yet it is.
Let’s dig in! My full review below covers where you can buy this tea, what the ingredients are, and how best to brew it, along with my tasting notes.
English Tea Shop Berry Savoury Pie Tea at a Glance
Izzy's Rating
2.9/5
- Blend: Rooibos with berries, cinnamon, and natural flavourings
- Flavour: Weak rooibos honey with berry hints
This tea is pleasant to drink but overall it is really quite dull. The flavours are weak, and they just don’t pop. There is, however, a strange savoury note that makes this tea quite interesting.
Full Review – Berry Savoury Pie Rooibos Blend
Izzy's Rating
2.9/5
- Type: Tagged paper filter teabag
- Tea: Organic rooibos
- Additives: Organic apple pieces, natural flavourings, raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, cinnamon pieces
- Flavour Notes: Weak rooibos, honey, faint mixed berries
- Aroma: Nutty rooibos, sour berry mix, savoury spices, cumin, medicinal
- Milk or Lemon: Lemon and/or sweetener
- Where to Buy: Amazon (Holiday Collection box)
Each teabag is individually wrapped in plastic, which locks in the aroma and keeps it fresh. In theory. The tea bag has a nutty rooibos aroma with honeyed hints, which is typical for a rooibos blend and quite delicious. There’s also a note of sour berries and a strange savoury note. I’m not sure if it’s cumin or ground dry coriander seeds, or a mix of both. It’s unusual but not unpleasant. So far, there’s nothing here that reminds me of pie. It’s just berries, nuts and spices.
It brews into the typical but still beautiful rooibos tea shade of sunburnt orange. It’s clear and not at all dusty like some English Tea Shop blends are.
As for the aroma coming from the steam, it’s sweet and medicinal which is to be expected. Berry and rooibos blends often create a medicinal Calpol type scent, as the sweetness becomes a little overpowering. That’s not always bad news for the flavour…
… but in this case, it’s not good news either. The flavour is very plain with hints of nutty rooibos and berries occasionally sweeping across your palate. Thankfully, the mouthfeel is slick and smooth.
Other than that, there’s not much to say about this tea. It should be vibrant with juicy berries, savoury spices, and honey nut rooibos. Together, I can see why they would create a pie-like flavour.
Sorry, English Tea Shop, but this tea is a miss. It was a good idea but executed very poorly.
How to Brew Berry Savoury Pie Tea
As mentioned, this tea is quite weak so don’t be afraid to brew for a long time. I brew mine for 6 minutes or longer, using freshly boiled water, in a small teacup.
There’s not much tea leaf inside each teabag (see my photo below) so if you are planning to brew up a large mug of this tea, try brewing 2 teabags at the same time.
English Tea Shop Berry Savoury Pie would go nicely with a slice of lemon or some honey. Rarely do we add milk to rooibos blends. Although, I do recommend some nice malted milk biscuits to dunk in this one!
Why English Tea Shop Rooibos?
There are several aspects about English Tea Shop that I really like. The first is that they often use natural flavourings only but rely on real ingredient pieces for the main flavour. Another is the fact that they are Soil Association certified and use organic ingredients.
What I dislike, however, is that this seems to have little impact on the flavour of the tea. It was just dismal when it should have been vibrant. You can see from my photographs how finely chopped and how little there actually is inside each teabag. I wish English Tea Shop were a little more generous. Perhaps that would make all the difference to this berry tea.
Summary
I don’t not recommend this tea. It’s just that I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it either. It’s neither good nor bad. It’s just… there. If you think that this tea might be worth trying – who knows, maybe I got a bad batch – then you may still be able to find it on Amazon.
English Tea Shop switch up their holiday-themed teas each year, so there’s no guarantee that it will still be available by next Christmas.
Tea Recommendation
Looking for a tea that packs more of a punch? Use my Tea Review Index to find something that will tantalise your tastebuds. You can also chat with me on Instagram @izzysden to find out what I’m drinking right now and which teas are upcoming on the blog.