Their Forte is Tea

Ravenna, Italy, some of the jaw-droppingly gorgeous mosaics. By
the time we arrived here, we had had a surfeit of Italian churches, but these mosaics were beyond spectacular. Our whole experience in this ancient port was wonderful: the churches, the food, our total marble room [even the closet doors were marble] and the crazy way people parked.

Today I am exploring the rich gift from my neighbor, Carol - Tea Forte. I noticed my sampler had Black Currant tea, so I decided to try that first. I used to love it, but in the past few years, it has all smelled like cat spray, which, of course, affects how I would approach the taste. Woo Hoo, it smells fruity and rich and NOT nasty. This is a definitely cute tea - a nice stiff pyramid, holding a goodly amount of tea with a neat little tea leaf on a stem to rescue it from your cup.

I brewed it for about 3 minutes with boiling water and it smelled wonderful all the time. This has a black tea base and the liquor is a nice deep reddish brown. Lovely taste, rich and fruity and dare I say it, like black currants! Woo Hoo indeed. I couldn't find any info on the black tea base, but it is good and in addition to the black currant, there are blackberry leaves. The flavor comes from natural flavoring and there is NO chemical after taste. Well done, Tea Forte. On the website it can be purchased as a loose tea, so I may just get some, as I have missed having this old favorite.

This is a very attractive tea, with an attractive presentation, sure to wow almost anyone. However, I have to give them low marks for using so much stuff to package it with, layer upon layer. Life is full of compromises. As a gift, this is a star, as eco-consciousness, it isn't. The loose tea would definitely get higher marks in the latter category.

All the kitties have gone to the vet and I seem to be forgiven for such incredible meanness. Everyone is out from under the bed, so all is well for another 6 months, when we can do this all over again. Ernie - the one in the bed springs, slept in the carrying cage the night after he did that. Cats!!!