anise seed

Tisane Information:

Leaf Type: Rooibos

Tisane Description:

Based in organic rooibos, this blend with an invigorating aroma and luxurious spices makes a full-flavored treat! Best with steamed milk. Naturally caffeine free.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

My favorite winter-y tea is chai. Not chai as in tea but chai as in the warm blend of spices combined with tea (or in this case, rooibos and honeybush!) Nothing warms me up better than a delicious chai.

And this one is quite yummy! The “usual” spices are all there: cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and ginger. In this blend, there are a couple of other spices too: anise seed and fennel. These two spices are not as noticeable in the flavor as they are in the aroma, but, they do add just a hint of licorice-y flavor to the cup which is really quite lovely.

One thing that is also a little unusual about this particular blend is that the ginger has a softer flavor than I’m used to with chai. Yes, I can taste that peppery heat from the ginger, but it is more of a mild, gentle kind of heat. It doesn’t have that prickly, peppery effect on the tongue that ginger sometimes has.

The biggest effect that the lighter ginger flavor has on this cup – at least, in my opinion – is that the flavor of the cloves and cardamom are really coming through very distinctly. Especially the cardamom! Citrus-y and exotic, and pleasantly soothing.

I’ve said before that I really like the combination of rooibos and honeybush together. I find that the honeybush helps to curb some of the funkier flavors of the rooibos. The result is a nutty flavor that is honey-sweet, and that’s what I’m tasting here. It compliments the spice tones of this blend quite well.

Overall, a nicely balanced chai that is not too spicy or sweet, but, somewhere in between. I brewed mine extra strong and then added a bit of steamed, frothed milk and it became a dessert-like treat. Sweet and delicious, it didn’t even need honey!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Chai, Honeybush, Rooibos