Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Amazon Trading
Ingredients:
Green Tea with natural Key Lime Flavor
Learn more about Amazon Trading here.
Taster’s Review:
This Whole Leaf Green Tea with Essence of Key Lime from Eden Grove is one of the nicer lime flavored green teas I’ve encountered. What I’m enjoying most is that the lime is gentle – it isn’t too tart or sour tasting lime flavor, and it doesn’t overpower the flavor of the green tea.
The lime adds a bright lift to the cup. It’s not a strong flavor – just enough to enhance the cup without becoming too obnoxious about it. And this is something that I’ve noticed with the other teas from Eden Grove. The teas with “essence” tend to take a rather subtle approach to the flavoring of these teas. Eden Grove allows the tea to be the real star of the cup while allowing the “essence” to boost the flavor level without overwhelming the tea. I like that a lot!
The green tea is soft and has a lightly vegetative taste. It isn’t grassy nor does it have an overpowering vegetal note. It’s a sweet, fresh “leafy” sort of taste, reminiscent of lightly buttered, steamed spinach. It’s mild and has a very pleasant, creamy buttery note. There is a nice contrast between the sweet of the green tea and the sunny tartness of the lime.
A really pleasant cuppa – good served hot … but I think that this one gets even better as it cools. It makes a great iced tea.
Ayurvedic Immune Tea from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
About Tea of Life Ayurvedic Collection:
The word “Ayurveda” is derived from two words – “Ayus” meaning life and “Veda” meaning ‘knowledge’ or ‘science’. So the literal meaning of the word Ayurveda is ‘The Science of Life.’
Life or Ayus, according to Ayurveda, is a combination of senses, mind, body and soul. So Ayurveda does not just limit itself to the body or physical symptoms, but also provides comprehensive knowledge about spiritual, mental and emotional health.
The traditional healing system of Ayurveda is based on a theory of balance between the body (physical), the soul (spiritual) and the mind (psychological).
Ingredients:
Green Tea with Ginger, Coriander, Pepper, Cumin Seed and Tumeric.
Taster’s Review:
When I got my package from Tea of Life, this super cool hexagon package of Ayurvedic teas was among the many teas that were included. The photo doesn’t really do this packaging justice – it’s really neat! There are six different Ayurvedic teas in this package: Stimulating, Slimming, Calming, Detox, Immune and Destress.
Since my husband is currently battling an awful cold and I don’t want to suffer with that same cold, I decided to dig into this hexagon and try the Ayurvedic Immune Tea from Tea of Life to see if it will help me avoid what seems to be an inevitable fate. Whenever anyone gets a cold in this house, I end up getting it too. So, here’s hoping that this will help me … if not avoid it all together, at least minimize my bout with it.
Right off the bat, one thing that I like about this, before I even brew it, is that it has real tea in it. It’s not a blend of herbs. Not that there’s anything wrong with a blend of herbs, but, I like tea. You might have noticed that.
The aroma of the dry tea reminds me of the fragrance I’d experience if I were walking into a restaurant that serves Indian Cuisine. I could smell the tumeric and the other spices. I didn’t get a lot of green tea essence from the aroma.
The brewed tea smells very much the same. A strong tumeric scent, with notes of ginger, cumin, coriander and pepper. I can smell notes of green tea – a light, fresh ‘vegetal’ note.
As far as “functional” teas go, this is really tasty. It reminds me a bit more of a spiced vegetable broth than it does a tea, but, I’m enjoying the flavor. If I’m going to be drinking this for the next few days (as I plan to do to help ~hopefully~ avoid the cold that my husband has right now), then I’m very pleased that the flavor is enjoyable.
While the spices are strong, this is not an “in your face” kind of tea. It doesn’t overwhelm my palate with lots of spice flavor. I can taste the green tea, and the spices keep time with the lightness of the green tea. That is to say that the spices don’t overpower the green tea – a balance has been achieved with this blend. A really good balance.
I consumed this straight up with no additions, and it was just fine like that, however, I think it would be really nice with a dollop of honey (and honey has the added benefit of antioxidants and every little bit helps when you’re trying to avoid a cold.) The sweetness of the honey would accentuate the spices nicely.
After 8 Tea Tisane from Eden Grove
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & Green Teas
Where to Buy: Amazon Trading
Ingredients:
Green Tea, Black Tea, Spearmint, Pineapple, Mint Flavor, Red Rose Petals, Jasmine Flowers, Chrysanthemum Flowers, Hibiscus, Calendula Flower.
Learn more about Amazon Trading here.
Taster’s Review:
This After 8 Tea Tisane from Eden Grove is one of the more unusual teas I’ve come across in my ongoing tea journey! It has a lot going on … but I’m happy to say that the flavors work together in a pleasing way.
I brewed this at a lower temperature to accommodate for the green tea (180°), and steeped it slightly longer (3 1/2 minutes) to ensure that I could get a lot of flavor from the black tea and the herbals in this blend.
The result is a very unusual yet flavorful blend of flower and mint, with an earthy, sweet background. I taste both the black and green teas here. The black tea is not as full-bodied as I would probably have achieved if I brewed the tea at a higher temperature, although if I had, I don’t know that I would be tasting the sweet, buttery notes of the green tea that I am able to taste now. I think that the delicate notes of the green tea would have been lost if the black tea were a stronger, more developed flavor.
The mint is not overpowering, but it is a dominate flavor profile in this cup. It tastes crisp and cool without tasting like someone added a splash of mouthwash to my cup of tea. I taste light pineapple notes, and I’m happy that the hibiscus here is more of a “tart” flavor rather than a profound note.
That little bit of tart flavor from the hibiscus highlights the pineapple and accents some of the sharper notes of the floral flavors of rose and jasmine. I taste more rose than I do jasmine. The jasmine is a soft, exotic note and is not quite a fully realized jasmine flavor, while the rose is a sweet, slightly sharp, distinct rose taste, albeit delicate.
Overall, I found this blend intriguing. It is quite different from anything that I’ve tasted before, and I like that. I like that this is a little out of the box … but not so “out there” that I found it too bizarre to enjoy.
Organic Tulsi with Lemongrass & Ginger from Tea of Life
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Tulsi
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Tisane Description:
Tulsi or Holy basil is considered a medicinal plant with different parts of the plant possessing various different medicinal properties. Tulsi is said to be a remedy for digestive problems, acidity and other digestive disorders and help reduce weight as well.
Ingredients: Organic Tulsi, Organic Lemongrass & Organic Ginger.
Taster’s Review:
This Organic Tulsi with Lemongrass & Ginger from Tea of Life is a really tasty tisane. I appreciate the simplicity of this blend and I like that it’s all organic.
The Tulsi adds a slightly herbaceous flavor to the cup but it isn’t too much. It has a light “basil-y” sort of flavor with hints of mint and pepper. The lemongrass adds a pleasing citrus note that is a little lemon-y and a little lime-ish. Not too tart, though and I like the brightness that the citrus note adds to the cup.
The ginger is a soft ginger note. This isn’t a peppery-kick kind of ginger taste, there is a subtle pepper taste that is accented by the tulsi, but I like that the other elements of this herbal tea balance the pepper notes out so that it doesn’t taste too peppery. There is a slight peppery aftertaste – a pleasant peppery aftertaste! – that I find invigorating.
I find this to be a nicely balanced cup. The components meld together in a seamless way. A really tasty tisane.
Citron Tisane from Eden Grove
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Amazon Trading
Ingredients:
Naturally Caffeine Free: Hibiscus, Apple, Orange Peel, Lemongrass & flavors of Lemon and Lemongrass.
Learn more about Amazon Trading here.
Taster’s Review:
I am always initially leery of any tisane that boasts hibiscus as the first ingredient in its ingredient list. So, it should come as no surprise to you that when I was offered this Citron Tisane from Eden Grove to try, I was not as excited as I was to try some of the other teas from Eden Grove. (I especially enjoyed their Lovers Leap Estate Indigo Black Tea!)
But, I have been surprised in the past by teas that I was originally skeptical of, and so I decided to give this Citron blend a try. And I’m really glad I did. It might not be my favorite cup of tea from Eden Grove, but, it’s tasty!
Even though the hibiscus is the first ingredient in the list, there is relatively little hibiscus in this. A quick glance through the silky pyramid sachet tells me that the primary ingredient in it is lemongrass. And I like lemongrass. I only saw maybe a couple of hibiscus pieces.
After steeping in 195°F water for five minutes, this tisane brews up a golden color (not pink – another suggestion that there isn’t too much hibiscus in this!) and the texture is smooth – not thick or syrupy. All of the sudden, I feel much better about sampling this tisane!
And it’s pretty good. The flavor (not surprisingly) is citrus-y. I taste a tart note from the hibiscus (but again, this is not an overpowering presence of hibiscus), and that tartness accentuates the tart notes of the lemon and lime. There is a sweetness from these two citrus fruits as well as a sweet hint of orange with just a hint of bitter from the orange pith. I also am tasting a smooth, buttery note from the lemongrass, and a sweet apple note.
Overall, this is a bright and enjoyable tisane to enjoy any time of the day. The sunny flavor of the citrus makes it a good choice for earlier in the day, but it’s also an agreeable tisane for later in the evening when I’m looking for something caffeine free. It would also be nice to brew up and chill for something cool and refreshing.