I’ve been wanting to try Simpson & Vail’s Yoga Teas for a while so when a bag labeled “Swadhisthana” was in the most recent shipment from S&V I did a little ‘Snoopy Dance’ for sure!
The Sacral Chakra (Swadhisthana), the seat of life, is located in the center of the abdomen. It is associated with the color orange and symbolized by the six-petal lotus flower. The Sacral Chakra is the seat of our creative and sexual energy and is associated with what our bodies need.
When in balance, the Sacral Chakra, will enable us to accept and solve the challenges of life in a creative manner and allow us to feel compassionate and friendly. It will enable us to express our emotions and connect us to others through feeling, desire, sensation, and movement.
I have done a lot with a trio of chakras the past year or two. My personal trio is the Red, Orange, and Yellow! I have plant based resin coated balance crystals that I have necklaces made out of and also have the yellow and orange balancing cones on each end of my desk.
Some may think this is all ‘hippie dippie’ stuff but I don’t mind. I’ve been called a hippie on more than one occasion and I wear the label others give me with a smile on my face!
What I will say about this herbal tisane and yoga tea is that it’s a harmonious blend of herbs that features a golden cup with a light earthy, spicy flavor and a delicate lemon and mint aftertaste. Simpson and Vail suggests says to connect to this energy center by trying new ways of expressing yourself creatively through dance, art, writing or music which is pretty much my daily life in both work and play.
Ingredients include Orange Peel, Rosehips, Annatto Seed, Cloves, Allspice, Organic Peppermint & Organic Lemon Grass.
The Orange is what shines here – first and foremost – and rightfully-so! The seed, clove, and spice are prominent as well. The Peppermint and Lemongrass pair up for a creative take of its own. This was incredibly satisfying, comforting, bright, juicy, and energizing! LOVED IT!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
The Sacral Chakra (Swadhisthana), the seat of life, is located in the center of the abdomen. It is associated with the color orange and symbolized by the six-petal lotus flower. The Sacral Chakra is the seat of our creative and sexual energy and is associated with what our bodies need.
When in balance, the Sacral Chakra will enable us to accept and solve the challenges of life in a creative manner and allow us to feel compassionate and friendly. It will enable us to express our emotions and connect us to others through feeling, desire, sensation, and movement.
This harmonious blend of herbs has a golden cup with a light earthy, spicy flavor and a delicate lemon and mint aftertaste. Connect to this energy center by trying new ways of expressing yourself creatively through dance, art, writing or music. 3 oz. box.
Ingredients:
Orange Peel, Rosehips, Annatto Seed, Cloves, Allspice, Organic Peppermint & Organic Lemon Grass.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Emily Dickinson’s Jasmine Tea Blend – Simpson and Vail. . . .
Now I have to start this off by saying that I am a sucker for author inspired tea blends. So it goes without saying that you are sure to find me reviewing more in the near future. Which shouldn’t be surprising since what is better than a cup of tea and a good book?
Now I think that this tea was simply delightful. It is not too strong and not too subtle, it has a perfect balance in my opinion. As a matter of fact when I was drinking this tea it was like it started to clear my head. Now I don’t mean completely like a lavender tea would do, but to the point where I could think about things. Now since I go to college I began to think about things I could do for my final that is coming up but not only that I can imagine this tea being a perfect companion when I am writing for a more creative venture.
I was also surprised that this tea had little to no dry notes in it whatsoever. And in my experience with jasmine, there would always be slight, somewhat powerful dryness to it. But I believe that this a soft and balanced tea because of the ingredients. The jasmine tea is a beautiful binder for the rose petals, jasmine blossoms, marigold petals and blue cornflower petals. It goes without saying if you have read any of my previous reviews, that I have always loved the pairing of jasmine and rose. In my book, jasmine and rose will always be the power couple.
Now when I was in the process of brewing my cup I had a look at the tea leaves and apart from the enjoyment of finding little jasmine blossoms I was happy to see plenty of blue cornflower petals. Now, for those who don’t know, my favorite tea of all time is Lady Grey and that contains, you guessed it, blue cornflower. And I believe that the blue cornflower is a perfect addition to this tea for it adds a nice subtle, sugary sweetness to the blend.
On top of the delightfully delicate tasting tea the price is not at all bad either. It is $9.75 for a 4 oz tin but if you don’t want the tin you can save about $3 and pay $6.90 for a bag of the same size. Along with a great price this tea also has deep connection with the talented poet we know as Emily Dickinson. As the description reads on the bottom of this review, this tea was based off of Ms. Dickenson’s garden, which was a place that she got most of her inspiration from for her poetry.
All in all, I believe that this a beautiful tribute to Emily Dickinson and I will be purchasing this for my ever growing collection of teas in the future. (My collection is very expansive. If you don’t believe me, head over to my Instagram and I usually post updates on how big it has gotten.)
See you for the next cuppa!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description:
Emily Dickinson was born on December 10th, 1830 and lived in a home that was central to Amherst political society thanks to her father and brothers. Growing up around powerful men prepared Dickinson for a life of the same, but society dictated that, as a woman, she was relegated to seemingly less meaningful ventures. Her anger at this slight comes across in her poetry and letters where she explored complex ideas of meaning and self while examining the smallest details of the world around her. She withdrew herself from society and lived in relative solitude until her death. Only a few of her poems were made public during her lifetime, but four years after her demise, a collection of poems was published and met with popular and critical acclaim. Her poems reveal a complicated mind that examined itself with as much attention to detail as it examined the world. Dickinson’s defiance of categorization and simplification make her a popular poet to study even today.
In the years she spent away from society, Emily Dickinson cultivated an extensive garden. In it, she grew jasmine flowers, cornflowers, roses, and many other flowers, plants and herbs. These flowers appear repeatedly in her poetry so our blend had to be floral. We created a delightful combination of jasmine tea and rose petals that brews to a light ecru cup with long green leaves and rose petal accents. This delicate tea hits you with a strong jasmine taste that’s sweetened and mellowed with the subtle flavors of the rose petals.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Irish Blend From Simpson and Vail. . . .
It doesn’t have to be St. Partrick’s Day for you to enjoy this tea from S&V! Yup! We’re talking (blogging) about Irish Blend from Simpson & Vail!
Irish Blend from Simpson and Vail is one of Mr. Vail’s 15 original tea blends. So you know it has to be good, right!? I mean it has stood the test of time! A fantastic go-to after all of these years!
It’s a blend of Indian teas, mixed with a dash of our Earl Grey blend, that brews to a bright copper cup. The taste is full-bodied and robust with flowery notes.
I always enjoy blended based teas. A true journey of having more than one tea as a base to keep you guessing! The dash of EG they are referring to is fairly subtle and again something that keeps you guessing. You know it’s there but at the same time the flavor keeps haunting you – but in a good way – of course!
It’s a well-rounded tea and pretty robust which I adore! The flowery notes are more on the aftertaste and I’m ok with that. This tea is a real gem for any time of day and any time of year!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
One of Mr. Vail’s 15 original tea blends.
This blend of Indian teas, mixed with a dash of our Earl Grey blend, brews to a bright copper cup. The taste is full-bodied and robust with flowery notes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Dessert Tea from Simpson and Vail. . . .#creme brûlée #SimpsonandVail
When I was a kid I hated creme brûlée. I have no idea why! I think it was the custard that turned me off as a child. As an adult, I love me some yummy creme brûlée. I love cracking into the sugar top and I absolutely love custard. I tried a creme brûlée flavored tea a few months back and would have loved it except for the tea-base that they used was gunpowder green tea, which was way too smokey for my tastes. Since then, I have been on the hunt for a yummy creme brûlée flavored tea. I have found two! This is the first one i’m going to try. I will reveal the second at a later date, so stay tuned!
Creme brûlée by Simpson and Vail is a black tea blend. I can smell the sugary sweet custard scent in the dry leaves. I steeped this lovely blend with near-boiling water for four minutes. The steeped liquid smells like summer. I don’t know why I think that…something about it reminds me of summer! But, it definitely has that sweet creme brûlée smell as well. I read some comments about this tea on Simpson and Vail’s website, and a lot of people said that this does not need extra sugar. I usually add a little agave but decided to try it first without sweetener. For me, I still added a little agave.
Why am I tasting coconut? For some reason i’m tasting a hint of coconut, but I think its just the creamy and buttery caramel flavor. This tea has a burnt sugar aroma with creamy caramel and custard undertones. It definitely has a mild sweet taste and is reminding me of flan. For some reason I cant get past coconut though. I wonder if anyone else feels this way too! For some reason this is reminding me of coconut flan or coconut creme brûlée. BUT that is not a bad thing. In fact, I love it!
Aside from the coconut dilemma, this tea does accurately resemble the delicious, burnt sugared custard that we all know and love! I think I may even have enjoyed the flavor of this tea as a child! It is addictive and I keep taking another sip… its all of the yumminess of the decadent dessert, without all the calories!
How can you pass that up?
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
This scrumptious black tea blend has the taste and aroma of buttery, creamy sweet goodness. The dark amber cup is sweet and creamy with a finish that tastes like caramelized brown sugar.
Ingredients: black teas, flavoring, and marigold petals.
Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Fresh Baked Sugar Cookies Tea #SimpsonandVail
I have never done a tea swap, until now. I am so glad I found out about the world of tea swapping. It is so awesome! I just got a bunch of tea while clearing out my own cabinet a little bit. How can you go wrong with free tea?
The first I decided to try was my tea swap buddy’s favorite, and it is called Almond Sugar Cookie. It is a black tea blend by Simpson and Vail. I have never had a tea from Simpson and Vail before and was excited to try it out. I love cookies and I love almond! I was hoping for genuine flavor here and boy did I get that, and more.
This tea smells exactly like fresh baked sugar cookies. Seriously it does! And it does it without tasting artificial. I steeped this blend with near-boiling water for about 5 minutes. The black tea was smooth and mellow, not astringent or bitter. The smooth, malty flavor of the black tea accented the cookie flavor very well. The almond here was not overpowering and it was not overly sweet, artificial, or cherry-like. We have all had that almond flavored tea that tastes like cherries because of how sweet the almond flavoring the company used was. I don’t like teas like that. Rest assured, Simpson and Vail really hit the nail on the head here. I am absolutely in love!
I really cant say enough about this tea. It was so realistic to fresh baked sugar cookies speckled with crunchy almonds. I will definitely be ordering from this company and am excited to try out their other teas. I was perusing their website a bit and saw that their prices are very reasonable, too. I would recommend you check them out.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
Heavenly! That’s the best word to describe this black tea blend. You’ll think you’re in a bakery when you open the bag and the aroma of nutty goodness wafts out. The brewed tea is divine – with no calories!
Ingredients: Black teas, almonds, flavoring and safflower blossoms. Contains Tree Nuts.
Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!