Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Because UR Priceless on Etsy
Tisane Description:
KEITH’S DELICIOUS TEA is a sunny, uplifting combination of lemon balm, calendula blossoms, and peppermint. This blend is particularly good when you add a spot of honey to your tea cup. This is my husband’s favorite herbal tea blend. (I’ll let you guess who it’s named after, lol.)
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a nice, mild-tasting tisane. It kind of surprises me to say that about a tisane with peppermint in the mix because peppermint can be a very strong and assertive herb. But here, there is a nice balance between the lemon balm and the peppermint.
The sip starts out with an herbaceous note. This herb-y flavor remains throughout the sip, with specific flavor profiles developing as the sip progresses. A moment or two after I’ve taken a sip, I start to pick up on notes of peppermint. Just before the midway point, I can taste the citrus notes of the lemon balm. The finish is crisp and cool from the peppermint and these minty notes linger into the aftertaste. It is in the aftertaste when I can really taste the bright lemon-y notes too.
It’s a refreshing herbal blend that’s naturally caffeine free. It has a soothing quality to it, and the minty notes continue to build as I continue to sip. Now that I’m more than halfway through the cup, I can draw a breathe inward and I taste and feel the minty sensation on my palate. But even though I’m getting a strong essence of mint, the presence of the lemon keeps it from tasting like mouthwash.
To prepare this tisane, I poured the sampler into the basket of my Kati tumbler and my ‘eyeball’ measurement told me that it looked just right. Trust me, I’ve been doing this a while. I heated the water to 195°F and and poured 12 ounces of water into the tumbler and let it steep for 10 minutes. Then I strained the tea and enjoyed. The description above suggests adding a dollop of honey to the cup and I think that would make a very nice addition. I drank the tisane straight up and it was enjoyable but I think that a little sweetness is called for with this. The crisp peppermint and the sunny lemon-y notes of the lemon balm would benefit from the contrast of a little honey.
Overall, an enjoyable cup.
Postal Rooibos Blend from Monarch Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Monarch Tea Co. or Monarch Tea Co. on Etsy
Tea Description:
Warm and rich, perfect for dessert or just when you want that sweet fall moment to yourself.
Ingredients: Rooibos, caramel pieces, sunflower and calendula petals, chamomile blossoms, natural flavors.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
This rooibos blend is a very finely chopped tisane! It appears to be both red and green rooibos and they’ve been chopped into near dust particles, along with the petals and the chamomile. Everything appears to have been pulverized to a near “powder like” consistency: a very fine cut.
I brewed this in my Breville, measuring 2 bamboo scoops of the tisane into the basket of the tea maker and adding 500ml of water to the jug. With most tisanes, I would use 3 bamboo scoops, but because of the fine chop on this, I decided that more than 2 would be too much. The finer cut means that there is more surface area exposed and lots of flavor will be released and more loose leaf would result in too strong a brew. I set the parameters for 195°F and 10 minutes and let the tea maker do the rest.
This is a tasty blend. Not my favorite of the three teas that I received in my Postal Teas box for October, but I’m certainly not disappointed by it.
Because it’s a blend of both green and red rooibos, I find that the flavor is sweeter and slightly more fruity tasting rather than a strong, nutty flavor. This fruity note accentuates the chamomile flavor which has a natural apple-like flavor. There are hints of nutty flavors in the background which complement the caramel notes. It is sweet, soothing and relaxing to sip. It’s a light cup – both in taste and texture.
It has a pleasing, autumnal taste to it, making it just the right thing for the October box. It’s cozy and would make a great tisane to sip late at night when you’re craving something a little bit sweet but nothing that is going to be too filling or overstimulating.
Organic Apricot Brandy Flavored Black Tea from ArtfulTea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: ArtfulTea or ArtfulTea on Etsy
Tea Description:
Organic apricot pieces and natural brandy flavor give this black tea blend a delicious full flavor and luscious sweetness. An aromatic and visually appealing tea.
Ingredients: organic black tea, organic apricot pieces, organic calendula and osmanthus petals, natural apricot brandy flavor. Produced in accordance with the Ethical Tea Partnership.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I placed my samples order with ArtfulTea, this was the first sample that I selected. I’m not sure what it was about this tea that allured me, but at the moment when I was shopping something in my head thought: “Oh, that sounds good!” when I read the words Apricot Brandy.
The aroma is a perfect representation of Apricot Brandy! The dry leaf smells of apricots, brandy and black tea. (No big surprises!) Once brewed, the tea smells similar, but I think I smell more black tea now. It’s a wonderful fragrance – the kind of scent that gets the taste buds excited and the mouth watering!
And it tastes as good as it smells! Mmm!
I can taste notes of apricot: sweet, juicy and reminiscent of the flavor of a tree-ripened apricot. When served hot, this is especially true (I guess because tree-ripened fruit is always a wee bit warm, you know?)
I taste the black tea next and it has a pleasant flavor. It’s a smooth, mild-tasting black tea. The website doesn’t indicate what type of black tea is used in this blend, but if I were to wager a guess I’d say it’s a Ceylon, because it has that moderate, even-tempered sort of flavor that is typical of a Ceylon. It’s an enjoyable black tea base, not bitter and not overly astringent. There is some astringency, slightly dry toward the finish, but it’s not a strong astringency. I’d categorize it as a light astringency.
As I sip this, I can’t help but wonder how apricot flavors would fair with Assam tea. I think those caramel-y, malty notes of an Assam would taste delightful with apricot!
The brandy flavor is – happily – not an overpowering flavor. I like the way it balances with the other tastes in this cup. Sometimes with alcohol-inspired teas like this one, I find myself concerned that the alcohol notes will be overwhelming, and because I’m not much of a drinker of brandy or any other alcoholic beverage (I’m a tea-totaler!) I generally am not all that excited about teas that taste strongly of an alcoholic drink.
This has more of the sweet, delicious apricot than it does brandy, and the two meld together in a very delightful way. The flower/petal additions don’t add a strong floral note to the cup, but, the osmanthus does enhance the apricot nicely.
Overall, a really enjoyable cup of tea! I’m very happy with this cup. It tastes good hot, and it’s also nice as the cup begins to cool, suggesting to me that this would make a tasty glass of iced tea as well.
Organic Ginger Calendula Rooibos Tea from Spicely Organics
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Spicely Organics
Tisane Description:
Free of caffeine, but full of energizing ingredients! This tea is perfect for fine-tuning and focusing the senses, while also supporting healthy circulation. This tea is tangy, sweet, and a little spicy — the synergistic effect of this blend is perfect any time of day. INGREDIENTS: Organic Rooibos, Organic Ginger, Organic Calendula Petals
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about the Spicely Organics Monthly Tea Membership here.
Taster’s Review:
I didn’t have big expectations from this Organic Ginger Calendula Rooibos Tea from Spicely Organics, to tell you the truth. It didn’t seem like all that exciting of a blend. It’s rooibos, ginger and calendula.
But, I’m finding myself enchanted by the ginger in this blend. It’s got a really zesty flavor. It’s spicy but not fiery hot, and I like the way it contrasts with the honey-sweet, woodsy/nutty flavors of the rooibos. It’s a very comforting taste: warm and cozy and something I’d like to curl up to on a chilly evening. It’s also quite soothing to the throat, so I brewed some of this for my youngest daughter who is getting over a cold, and it helped her feel better.
Calendula is essentially marigold petals, and they really add very little to the taste and texture of a tea or tisane. I’m of the opinion that the main reason that tea companies use calendula in their blends is to add some color, and I think that some companies use too much calendula in their blends, and if I were to offer any real complaint about this tisane, that would be it: there is a lot of calendula in this blend, maybe too much calendula.
That said, because calendula doesn’t add a lot of flavor or taste to the cup, I really didn’t mind the calendula in this blend. And I am really enjoying the combination of ginger and rooibos together … a lot more than I thought I would!
A simple blend, but it’s very enjoyable, and one I’d be happy to drink again.
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.