Or do herbal/fruit teas taste of nothing?

[JammyGem]

I really want to like herbal and fruit teas. They always smell lovely, and even when brewed in the hot water ot smells lovely. But I've yet to find one that actually tastes of anything. Even leaving the teabags in, they all just taste of hot water.

AIBU or is there some knack to it?

Yabu
They taste of unicorn farts

Smell: great
Taste: shit

There's a reason why there are 3468367242 million coffee shops, and about three bearded hipster tea-rooms.

You're right.

They're vile and pointless.

YANBU they always have mouth watering names, smell lovely and taste of fuck all.

I like Pukka and Taylors of Harrogate Herbal Teas I think they do taste nice.

What brands have you tried?

Have you tried flavored green teas? I find those give the strongest flavor

Chamomile tea has a strong taste, ditto peppermint (made with fresh leaves, not a bag) and all fruit teas.
Maybe you’re not brewing long enough?
I’ve had gorgeous strong mint tea in the Atlas Mountains, brewed by a Berber family and sipped on their terrace amidst stunning views. Ditto in Istanbul, beside the Bosporus.
Maybe we don’t make it properly in the U.K.?

Twinnings fruit teas are shite, never give anywhere near the promised flavour even after leaving them for a million years to brew.

I buy fruit tea from birdandblendtea.com/uk_en/tea/loose-leaf-tea.html it's not cheap but it really does taste of what it should, if you are near a shop go in and have a try.. delicious!!

Someone once told me green tea with lemon was nice.

They lied. Green tea with lemon tastes like dettol

Higher living cocoa and chilli is pretty much the only herbal tea I drink as it tastes good. All the fruit ones taste of water

Have you tried Teapigs? Theirs are the best I’ve tried. Previously I used to think the same as you, that none of them tasted of anything!

I think I would just rather eat the fruit.

I've tried Twinings, Pukka, Whittards and Teapigs and had the same result with all of them. Different berry ones, lemon, chamomile, ginger, peppermint... All smell lovely, all taste of nothing.

I drink a fair amount of black teas and rooibos (our local tea shop does a fabulous rooibos with caramel) and even went through a phase of drinking white tea, so I'm used to the different brewing techniques etc., but no matter how long I brew them, or what temperature the water is, I just cannot get any flavour out of fruit or herbal teas. Glad I'm not the only one though!

@ICJump That cocoa and chilli tea spinds delicious, will have to give that a go. I'm trusting you that it actually has a taste though!

You’re right, they promise so much and then taste of nothing. What you want is hot squash, or fancy cordial if you’re feeling fancy.

There is quite a large difference in human perception of taste, with three classifications depending on the concentration of papillae on the upper tongue. Perhaps you are a non-taster. About 25% of the population are. Or at least on the lower end of the normal range. I’m in the 20% classified as a super taster and find plenty of herbal and fruit teas extremely tasty.

what I find is that they lack substance so if I used a smidge of honey sugar or truvia it completely changes how I taste them and not just for the sweetness. I like raspberry and echinacea, blackcurrant and vanilla various mint ones. I get used to drinking them with no additives if I regularly drink them.

Lemon and ginger tea tastes of soap.

Can just about manage ginger on its own, or redbush.

Other than that agree with many previous posters - smell lovely, taste rank.

I like chamomile and peppermint tea, and they taste of what they are. Fruit teas taste of nothing unless you put a shedload of sugar or honey in - for some reason it takes a lot of sweetness to bring out the fruit flavour. Even then I don't like them though, and anyway what's the point in drinking a healthy drink if you have to fill it with sugar! I like green tea, but mostly drink 'proper' black tea or oolong (preferably loose leaf from a good tea-seller).

I don’t find that. I typically but Stash herbal teas. I don’t know if they’re sold in the UK.

I have had chamomile, raspberry, strawberry, spearmint, peppermint, licorice, and lemon. They always have a taste. But I prefer Earl Grey with a splash of milk.

Bird and blend are nice

Oops - buy Stash.

I don’t add sugar or honey.

@alittleprivacy It's funny you should mention that- recently we had a big science fair in our city and one of the stalls gave us a little strip of paper and told us to put it on our tongues. DH couldn't taste anything, whereas I couldn't get the bitter taste out of my mouth for hours, apparently making me a super taster. I'm also one of those people that can't stand the bitter soapy taste of coriander.

Maybe it's another gene like the supertaster or coriander genes that means people can/can't taste fruit or herbal teas? Seems odd that Twinings etc would continue selling so many if the majority can't taste them.

I think I'll just stick to my strong Yorkshire Gold cuppa