Tropical fruit in January? Okay, so it might not be in season but sometimes in the winter you just crave something tropical. I’ve delved into my tea box and selected this tasty passionfruit tea to review.
If you’re in the middle of your January diet or just looking for healthy tea options, this is a good choice. The fruit flavours with the smooth black tea mean you really shouldn’t add milk – thus keeping the calorie count super low.
Read my full review of BOH Passionfruit Tea to learn more about what to expect and how to brew it best.
BOH Passionfruit Tea at a Glance
- Blend: Malaysian black tea with passion fruit flavouring
- Flavour: Smooth black tea with astringent, fake and generic tropical fruit flavour
Not the best tea in BOH’s Seri Songket collection! The black tea itself is very nice and smooth, however, the flavouring is very artificial tasting. If you enjoy tropical punch, you might like this tea.
Full Review – Passionfruit Seri Songket Tea
- Type: Tagged paper tea bag
- Tea: Malaysian black tea
- Additives: Passion fruit flavouring
- Flavour Notes: Astringent tropical notes, artificial mango, smooth black tea
- Aroma: Tropical fruits, juicy passionfruit, syrup sweetness
- Milk or Lemon: Lemon and/or sweetener
- Where to Buy: Amazon (variety pack)
I try hard not to judge teas based on added flavouring. After all, one of my favourite teas is Twinings Earl Grey which is made with bergamot flavouring. With an open mind, I opened the wrapped tea bag and set about reviewing it.
The dry aroma of the tea didn’t impress me much. There are refreshing and juicy passionfruit notes but they don’t seem overly like the fresh fruit. Furthermore, the lack of aroma from the black tea is always a concern – often a sign that it’s stale.
It brews into a very dark, murky brown colour that I’ve noted from a few of the BOH Malaysian teas.
A few sips in, I start making notes. The black tea is rather dull, yet still smooth over your palate, making it a great base tea for mixing with flavours…. If only the flavours were real! The “passionfruit” flavouring is syrupy sweet and simply tastes of generic tropical punch. If I didn’t know that this tea was supposed to be passionfruit flavour, I would have hazarded a guess at mango instead.
I can say that I enjoyed the tea as if it were a sweet juice drink. I didn’t particularly enjoy it as a good cup of tea though!
How to Brew BOH Passion Fruit Tea
I followed instructions perfectly, brewing in 100°C water for 3 minutes. I did experiment with slightly lower temperatures to see if I could shake that slight astringent edge, but with no luck. I think that perhaps this is just part of the flavouring.
Don’t drink it with milk. Seriously, don’t. With the passionfruit flavouring, it just tastes unbelievably wrong when you add milk!
I’d drink this plain or iced, but not with any food. The problem with very sweet teas is that they make sweet foods somehow less sweet, so don’t be eating cakes or fresh fruit with this one.
Why BOH Tea Seri Songket?
Founded in 1929, BOH Tea is an old company that’s aged very well! They’re now one of the biggest tea producers in Malaysia and ship their tea products all around the world (Amazon is always a good bet if you’re searching for some BOH Tea).
BOH Passionfruit Tea is part of the Seri Songket range of teas, which blend black tea with delicious fruit flavours. ‘Songket’ is a type of fabric with beautiful patterns, much like the teabag wrappers, and is a very fitting name for these exotic teas. Ripping open the tea bag, you can see the standard crumbly black tea and white flecks of added flavouring.
The quality is about standard for a teabag – nothing to complain about, but also nothing to shout from the rooftops about.
Summary
If you’re not fussed about syrupy sweet fruit flavours (imagine tropical punch flavoured juice or energy drink) with your black tea, then this is a good choice for you. It makes for a good afternoon tea when you crave something sweet but want to avoid snacking. Plus, it’s super affordable, so you have nothing to lose by trying it.
Tea Recommendation
For another tropical fruit-flavoured tea, take a look at my recent Twinings Mango Strawberry Tea Review. Much like this one, it’s tasty, refreshing, and available in a variety pack in case you want to try a range of teas in one go.