Lime and ginger is one of my favourite flavour combinations, especially in a spicy Thai-style chicken noodle soup. But in a cup of tea? Well, the jury is still out. In this review of BOH Lime and Ginger tea, I’ll give you an idea of what to expect and how best to brew this tea… but ultimately, it’s up to your own distinct palate.
Will you enjoy this odd, savoury and fiery black tea? Keep reading and try it yourself to find out.
BOH Lime and Ginger Tea at a Glance
- Blend: Malaysian black tea with lime and ginger flavours
- Flavour: Smooth yet bland black tea with bitter lime rind and a hint of ginger fire
This tea is a strange one! Even though it contains a fruit, it’s actually quite savoury. The bitterness of lime and fire of the ginger is a unique combination that makes for an interesting cuppa.
Full Review – BOH Lime Ginger Tea
- Type: Tagged paper filter teabags
- Tea: Black tea from Malaysia
- Additives: Lime flavouring, ginger flavouring
- Flavour Notes: Smooth tea, bitter lime rind, hint of spice, savoury
- Aroma: Strong lime scents, fiery ginger, savoury
- Milk or Lemon: Sugar or sweetener
- Where to Buy: Amazon
Both the lime and ginger notes in BOH Lime and Ginger tea are equally strong. This is unusual (but very pleasant) as you often find one flavour note overpowers the other. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes it isn’t. The black tea creating the base for the lime and ginger smells smooth, bright and very slightly malty with no hint of astringency.
It brews into a bright, clear amber-orange colour in your teacup, which is another thing that’s unusual about this tea. All other black teas in BOH’s Seri Songket collection have been peaty and dark.
From this point, you can tell the tea leans more towards savoury than sweet. Both the tea steam aroma and flavour have a bitterness that shines through. The lime is the dominant note – it tastes like the rind of the lime, the white part just below the zest, which is shockingly bitter. You’ll be disappointed to find no juicy lime notes. None. Nada.
The ginger is lacking as well. You’ll find just a slight tingling on the tip of your tongue as the oddly savoury tea settles in your stomach. The flavour is far from the bold and fragrant aroma!
Nonetheless, with a generous teaspoon of sugar to counteract the savouriness, this is a pleasant and refreshing cuppa.
How to Brew Ginger Lime Black Tea
I used freshly boiled water directly from the kettle, as BOH directs. But I’m rethinking this method, so I suggest you let your water cool for a minute or two before popping in the teabag. Lower temperatures require longer brew times (brew for 4 or 5 minutes) but they don’t draw out as much bitterness.
Unless you’re interested in trying an oddly savoury tea, then add a teaspoon of honey, sugar or sweetener of your choice. This will smooth out any lingering bitterness and complement the lime.
Ginger and lime is a refreshing yet warm combination – not the kind of tea you have with biscuits, but perfectly suitable for after dinner.
Why BOH Tea Malaysia Seri Songket?
I didn’t go out of my way to select this tea. Instead, BOH Tea Malaysia very kindly sent me the Seri Songket collection to review for the blog, and BOH Lime and Ginger tea was one of the blends included. I love the flavour combinations and stories behind the teas from BOH. I also like that all their tea is from Malaysia, where BOH is based.
Of course, as these teabags are affordable and aimed at the supermarket-shopper-crowd, the quality isn’t very high. But they do make a cheap and cheerful brew! So, if you don’t mind low quality tea cuttings and flavourings instead of real fruit/herb/spice pieces, then BOH could be a new favourite. I’ve reviewed many of their teas on the blog. Use the tags at the end of this article or the search box to find more from them.
Summary
This goes on my list of unusual teas that take a little time to get used to. If you want to try it but don’t want to commit to a full box (link below to find it on Amazon) then I recommend buying the Seri Songket collection first. At the time of writing, it’s at a really great price, so you have nothing to lose.
Tea Recommendation
The exact opposite of this tea in the Seri Songket collection is the BOH Lychee with Rose tea. So, if this tea review has your nose wrinkling, then that might be more your cup of tea. You can always use my tea review index (check the menu of our site) to find something new!