Day 11: Muscat

Brand: Lupicia
Type: Flavored Black
Brew Time & Temperature: 3 minutes, boiling water
Leaf Appearance: Small, curled black and brown leaves with twigs
Color: Golden-orange
Smell: Mainly grapes; it's very floral and fruity. The grape doesn't smell artificial at all (like many fruit candies), but is surprisingly close to the actual fruit.
Recommended with/as: As is, iced, honey
Rating: 8.5/10

Tasting notes and thoughts:
Lupicia is great at doing a realistic grape flavor (if you'd like to know what would be artificial grape flavor, see grape Pez or most other American fruit flavored candies). The tea tastes exactly how it smells- it has a strong, muscat/grape flavor. It's sour with a little bit of sweetness and earthiness. The black tea base is nice and smooth, with a bit of astringency. It might be the way I brewed it, but it made my throat a bit dry after drinking. Surprisingly, I like it with sweetener as much as the tea on its own (usually, I only like one or the other).

To be honest, though, not many of the flavored teas so far have really surprised me (this one is no exception) because a lot of Lupicia's teas taste somewhat similar, especially in the fruit department. If you really had to get a muscat flavored tea, I'd suggest Lupicia's Muscat Oolong over this.

Other notes:
Since I haven't mentioned it yet, here is how I do my taste tests:
1. Clean all equipment (kettle, pot, cups, etc.) and drink a glass or 2 of water.
2. Boil the water and warm up the tea pot (I use a steel coffee pot, since I'm making tea for multiple people and I don't have an actual teapot).
3. Open the tea bag packet and smell and examine the leaves.
4. Once the water is done boiling, let it cool (if applicable) and brew the tea for the desired time (usually the upper end of the recommended time).
5. Once brewed, pour the tea into a teacup (I use a Sango Versailles cup) and smell the tea.
6. Let it cool until it's at a drinkable temperature, and then begin tasting.
7. Drink a minimum of 3 cups before final scoring and review.

Next on the 100 Days of Tea: Strawberry and Vanilla