With this, I will have reviewed a tea named Mango Maui (Hawaiian Islands Tea Company) and Maui Mango (Tiesta). They're radically different, however. The former is a very good, flavored black tea, while this one is mostly dried fruit by volume (pineapple, orange slices, mango, and strawberry) with flowers sprinkled in (safflower, hibiscus, marigold).

The dry-bag aroma is pleasant, both floral and fruity, but a little disjointed, with seemingly incompatible scents of marigold and pineapple-citrus competing more than blending. That cleans up in-cup, with both a smell and flavor that suggest a somewhat bitter, astringent, yet tangy fruit blend. I can detect the mango, but it definitely is as pineapple- and orange-dominant as the order of the ingredients list suggests. I guess "Maui Pineapple-Orange" wouldn't satisfy the marketing department's alliterative catchiness demands, however. I loaded this with the usual dose of sweetener, and because of the components (and apparently, a bit of added sugar) the tea came out very sweet, which doesn't bother me. However, the finish and especially aftertaste got rather syrupy and sticky in character, which can be a turn-off to some.

The fruit pieces are big enough to be worth eating after steeping, especially if you can separate them from the flower shards. Also, even when using a very fine-meshed strainer, a thin layer of fine, fibrous debris made it through to the liquid itself, and floated on top. That doesn't affect the drinking experience, but...for full disclosure, now you know. It also was rather expensive for a 2-oz. bag, but that could be because of where I got it (Whole Foods).

Now, with Mango Maui and Maui Mango chugged, will I find Maui Wowie or Mango Tango out there eventually? Time shall tell.

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