The Pollenator from AstroloTea

PollenatorTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: AstroloTea

Tea Description:

The beauty of nature’s bounty can sometimes be lost on us if we are walking around feeling like the air is full of irritants! The Pollenator is like a breath of fresh air. This deep, spicy tea reunites you with the magical natural world around you.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

AstroloTea is one of my favorite tea shops.  The care and love that is put into each blend is just amazing.  Pamela is beyond creative and passionate about the teas she concocts.  I’ve reviewed several of her teas for both CuppaGeek and SororiTea Sisters.

This particular blend is one that is supposed to help those with sinus and allergy issues.  Pamela recommended it to me on one of my blog posts and while I was going thru my tea stash I saw that I actually had some.

The Pollenator smells amazing! The dry leaf has this wonderful soothing and warming cinnamon spice note.  One of those smells that you want to bottle into a candle. I brewed the tea up with fresh boiling water and allowed the blend to steep for a few minutes. I adore the Assam blends that Pamela creates and the Assam base she uses.

Once the tea was ready to steep, I sat down to enjoy my tea. First sip in and I was greeted with this soft and mellow silky like cinnamon flavor that is smoothed over by an Assam base. The next flavor I noticed was the ginger. Now I’m very hit or miss with the ginger and unfortunately, I could have done without the ginger in this mix. The rest of the flavors just blend so well, but for some reason the ginger flavoring just stood out to me like a sore thumb. Not terrible and I easily sipped on this cuppa and made myself another pot later.  It was just the one flavor I noted that I could have done without, but that is normally how I feel about ginger anyway.

This blend is one of the better blends I’ve tried for fighting stubborn allergies and sinuses.  One that I would recommend!

Organic Herbal Tea ~ Homegrown ~ Nectar Blend from heartfeltMenagerie

NectarBlend1Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal

Where to Buy:  heartfeltMenagerie

Tea Description:

Organic Herbal Tea, homegrown and carefully hand blended to please the palette and soothe the soul. The healing herbs used in this blend are powerful allies in protecting and alleviating cold/flu illness, high blood pressure, indigestion, stress relief, and respiratory illness.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have really bad allergies.  I take over the counter medication for it because that seems to work the best.  I seem to have really bad side effects when I am prescribed something.  I have always been curious about herbs and how they help people with different ailments.  I researched a little bit and found that stinging nettle  can be used as a anti-histamine.  I took a gander around and stumbled upon an adorable store on Etsy that sold a stinging nettle tea and tulsi (which also aids with sinus issues).  Worked with the owner to tweak a few things on my order and away I went.

NectarBlendThis is a different blend.  I can’t say I have had a lot of the herbs in this tea before. Tulsi, anise hyssop, lemon verbena, stinging nettles, and roselle hibiscus. The tea itself has a savory smell and taste to it.  It made me think of a pasta dish like Italian Seasoning or a savory pasta dish??? This stumped me as well.  Can’t say that I have ever had a tea remind me of something like this before.  Vegetal? Sure. Malty with dark chocolate notes? Absolutely.  Just not pasta. I swear it tastes like my boyfriend’s amazing lasagna.

I don’t really get any sweetness out of the tea and with a name like Nectar Blend you would think there would be a sweetness to the tea. I drink a lot of chamomile and herbal teas.  This one took me by surprise.  Regardless I am still enjoying the tea.  I guess the savory side of this just is throwing me off a bit.

I might add in some honey and will see what happens then or maybe even something like sea salt to see what other savory flavors pop.

And to the medicinal side of this particular herbal blend. . . .I haven’t noticed anything yet but I can say that drinking this tea has been a fun experience and I look forward to more time with it.