Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: NudiTea
Tea Description:
Lost your chill? You can rest assured our UNWIND blend is the tea for you. Chamomile blossoms complimented with spearmint leaves work harmoniously together to strip away stress and anxieties, leaving you calm and relaxed. These delectable tea leaves are sourced from lush fields in Egypt, so now you can sleep like an Egyptian.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Before I get into this – the final review of NudiTea’s teas – I want to tell you a little bit about the packaging! The teas are packaged in mylar lined, kraft pouches that are handsomely stamped with the name of the tea. There isn’t really anything that stands out so much about the pouches, but what did stand out to me is the way these pouches were packaged in the box.
The teas were wrapped up in Kraft paper and then tied with twine cord and there was a little tag tied onto the cord, like a gift! I’ve mentioned before that I love it when there is some special attention paid to details like this. It was such a joy to receive this package!
But the packaging wouldn’t mean a whole lot if I didn’t enjoy the teas. Fortunately, I found their Body tea to be tasty and I also enjoyed their Focus blend. And I’m actually quite enjoying this Unwind blend too!
As I’ve said (many times) – I’m just not all that excited when it comes to chamomile. However, chamomile is certainly a useful herb when it comes to unwinding and sometimes, I need to do just that so I turn to chamomile when I need to relax and destress.
Today is a day like that – I’ve had a very busy day and now it’s time to calm down and get ready to rest. So, I brewed a cup of Unwind Tisane from NudiTea. This is a blend of Egyptian chamomile and spearmint.
And while chamomile isn’t my favorite herb, I have to admit that I’m finding this blend to be rather tasty. The sweet, apple-y, honeyed notes of the chamomile meld really nicely with the minty notes of the spearmint. Normally, I prefer peppermint over spearmint because I like the zestier flavor of the peppermint, but for a calming, relaxing herbal tea such as this, spearmint is the perfect choice. It’s a little softer and the chamomile helps to soften it even more so that I’m just getting a smooth, even minty note without the sense of invigoration that I often experience with mint teas.
If you want your tisane a little sweeter, add a dollop of honey. I found it to be quite enjoyable straight. Very soothing, very relaxing and a really nice way to “unwind”!
Serene Herbal Tisane from The Honest Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
This tea does exactly what its name promises – brings serenity to your day. Ingredients like chamomile, jasmine and lavender really do have that affect. We taste the apple-like flavours of chamomile, a perfect lemon squeeze and smooth mint. There’s tart and sweet florals playing off one another and hints of relaxing lavender that come out mid-sip.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
After my first few sips of this Serene Herbal Tisane from The Honest Leaf, I found myself contemplating whether or not I actually liked it. I didn’t dislike it but I wasn’t too sure whether or not I was enjoying what I was tasting.
That is to say, it’s quite unlike other teas I’ve tried.
Now that I’m about halfway through the cup, I can say that yes, I do like this. It’s different, it’s tasty and I like it.
The flavor starts out quite subtle. I notice a soft lemon-y note from the lemon peel and flavoring. This flavor develops over the course of the sip – starting off with a delicate whisper of lemon. The finish is bright with lemon notes and the aftertaste is quite lemon-y, as if I had just taken a sip of lemonade. The aftertaste lingers a while.
After the subtle introduction of lemon, I pick up on flowery notes of jasmine, lavender and passion flower just before mid-sip. These floral notes are also quite subdued. They don’t develop the way the lemon does, but I do pick up on a few more floral notes mingling with the lemon notes in the aftertaste.
Just after mid-sip, I notice the crisp peppermint. I like that the peppermint follows the example set by the flowers and lemon and is understated. The cool peppermint is a nice contrast to the lemon-y flavor, but the mint doesn’t slap you in the mouth with it’s minty presence. It’s just a slight ‘peppy’ sort of flavor that perks up the flavors of the tea without tasting like someone spilled a little bit of mouthwash in my teacup.
I didn’t really notice the chamomile until I reached mid-cup. The chamomile is more of an undertone, offering a indistinct apple note and hint of honey. I can smell more chamomile in this than I can taste. After the mid-cup point, the chamomile notes develop somewhat, but they never become a strong, prominent profile to the cup.
Happily, I notice no hibiscus in this, unless the hibiscus acts as a ‘tart’ agent to help amplify the tartness of the lemon, because the aftertaste does have a tartness to it. Not too puckery, though, but as I said, I do get a lemonade-y sort of experience in the aftertaste.
Overall, I found this to be a relaxing, enjoyable cup. It’s certainly different than the typical ‘nighttime’ type of tisanes, and different is good!
Focus Green Tea from NudiTea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: NudiTea
Tea Description:
Clear your cloudy mind with our steamy FOCUS blend. Rare and ancient Japanese Sencha is blended with a sprinkling of passionfruit flowers and marigolds creating an intoxicating and flavoursome cup. With a delectable blend of natural caffeine extracts, it’s a better alternative to coffee and energy drinks. FOCUS won’t give you wings but it will help you fly through the day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf of this Focus Green Tea from NudiTea is extraordinarily fragrant! It smells amazing! Like wow, can I get this scent in a bar of soap or perhaps a wax tart that you melt to make the whole room smell like that! It’s strongly floral without smelling like a flower shop, because there are lovely notes of pineapple that balance the flowery notes. Lovely!
The brewed tea has a softer aroma but otherwise smells quite similar – beautiful floral notes with notes of pineapple.
To brew this tea, I used my Breville One-Touch. I measured two bamboo scoops of the loose leaf tea into the basket of the tea maker, and 500ml of freshly filtered water into the kettle. Then I set the parameters: 175°F for 2 minutes.
It’s a really tasty blend! The green tea is sweet and has a nice creamy texture to it. I like that the texture is light but there is a soft creamy feel to it. It doesn’t taste sharp or bitter, it’s sweet, lightly buttery with some grassy notes.
I taste passion fruit. The way the description is worded, it seems that it’s passion fruit flowers … but I’m tasting passion fruit. Sweet, luscious passion fruit! Yum! I also get a hint of pineapple from this. Just a hint.
As far as the floral notes go, I taste the sweetness of the rose and mallow flowers, and I taste the sharp sunflower notes.
The fruit and the floral notes are pretty evenly paired – neither is really stronger than the other. The fruit is sweet and with just a whisper of tangy flavor while the floral notes add a hint of exotic flavor to it and a touch of distinct flower sweetness.
Overall, this is a pleasant cuppa – it’s sweet but not in a cloying way. It’s got a nice layered flavor: layers of flower are the top notes with the middle notes of juicy passion fruit and the undertone of Sencha.
My one criticism – if you want to call it that – would be the addition of the chamomile to this blend. Why chamomile? Chamomile tends to be a relaxing herb, not one that I associate with being focused and alert. I don’t really taste a lot of chamomile in this, maybe once in a while I might pick up on a honey-like flavor that’s quite chamomile-ish but it still is an ‘odd’ ingredient in a tea that is to support a sense of “Focus.”
Mint Chamomile Rooibus Blend from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos & Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
Our Mint Chamomile tea will put a smile on your face regardless of the day you are having. Brew a cup of this floral, sweet and soothing tea and enjoy a wonderfully fresh finish of this beautiful cup of tea.
Chamomile Flowers, Roobius Tea, Peppermint Leaves, Natural Vanilla Flavor
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Co-Op Membership here.
Taster’s Review:
What a happy day! I was so thrilled to find a box from Simple Loose Leaf in my mailbox today! So happy, in fact, that I decided to go against my “usual” approach when it comes to teas and I grabbed the tea I would normally ‘put off’ trying: this Mint Chamomile Rooibus Blend!
Tonight seems the perfect night for such a blend too. I’m up a little later than usual and I’m not really feeling all that sleepy yet. I’m hopeful that the chamomile in this tisane will help inspire a sense of calm and relaxation so that I can start thinking about catching some Zzz’s.
To brew this tisane, I grabbed my Kati tumbler and measured a heaping bamboo scoop into the basket. Then I poured 12 ounces of 195°F water into the tumbler and let it steep for 8 minutes.
I’ve come to realize that I’d really rather not steep chamomile blends in my Breville One Touch. The chamomile is a bit more ‘resistant’ to being removed from any infuser basket, and while I do scrub out my infuser basket in between every tea that I brew in my Breville One Touch, chamomile proves to be rather challenging to scrub out of the basket. I find it easier to clean the Kati Tumbler infuser basket than it is to clean the basket of the tea maker!
Even though I am often quick to say that I’m not crazy about chamomile or rooibos, I’m really enjoying this! I think it’s the combination of the peppermint and the vanilla flavor that I’m liking. The soft, creamy notes of the vanilla soften the crisper edges of the peppermint just enough so that the herb isn’t as invigorating as it often is. I’m not getting that exhilarating feeling after sipping this. The mint is cool and sweet and the vanilla adds a softness to it that is quite nice.
The rooibos adds a little bit of nutty flavor and a touch of honey-like (that honeyed flavor coming not just from the rooibos but also the chamomile) sweetness to the cup. I like that while the rooibos doesn’t present a strong flavor to this tea, what I can taste of the rooibos is a pleasant contribution to the overall cup. That is to say that it plays well with the other flavors!
Of the four ingredients of this tea, the chamomile is the one that I taste least. As I already mentioned, I do taste a light ‘honey-like’ flavor from it, but I’m not tasting much else from it. Maybe a hint of ‘chamomile apple taste’ every now and then, but it’s very obscure.
But I don’t mind that at all. I’m not big on chamomile, as I said, but I do like the flavors of mint and vanilla and since those are the two strongest flavors of this cup, I’m quite happy with what I’m tasting.
This is a soothing, comforting cuppa – relaxing? Yes. A really nice bedtime drink.
This tea came in this month’s Simple Loose Leaf’s Co-Op Membership box, along with four other teas. This program is great for someone who likes to taste before they commit to a large quantity of tea – the five tea packages were sample sized, just enough to have several cups of tea to decide if you like it enough to buy more and when you do buy more, you get a discount on full-sized purchases! This Co-Op program is a win-win!
Honey Vanilla Chamomile Herbal Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
Egyptian chamomile, sweet licorice root roasted in honey, and grade-A Madagascar vanilla beans! This is a great herbal infusion for the late night: perfect for relaxing. Our Honey Vanilla Chamomile is just that: honey (with licorice root), vanilla, chamomile. Nothing else. This blend is part of the Original 20 M&K’s Blends. Note: Honey Vanilla Chamomile contains no tea, as it is an herbal infusion. We chose to include the term “herbal tea” in the title due to its categorical popularity.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a little while (at least a week or so!) since I last had chamomile and tonight I’m in need of relaxation: chamomile style! So, I grabbed this Honey Vanilla Chamomile blend from M&K’s Tea Company.
To brew it, I poured the contents from the sampler pouch into the basket of my Kati tumbler and added 12 ounces of water heated to 195°F. I let it steep for eight minutes.
The aroma is distinctly chamomile, but I can also pick up on the notes of honey and licorice root. The vanilla notes are not as noticeable but there is a very faint vanilla fragrance.
Wow! I’m liking this. The licorice root is the strongest flavor here, but the often sharp flavor of the licorice is softened somewhat by the honey roasting. And I like the honey in this, it complements the natural honey-like flavors of the chamomile.
The chamomile is also prominent. It has that expected honeyed, apple-y flavor. I like the way the zesty, warm flavor of the licorice contrasts with the softer, lighter flavor of the chamomile. It’s a really unique flavor combination, but it’s working for me.
The vanilla is the softest flavor of this blend, but I do taste a subtle sweet and creamy note from the vanilla bean. It may be the softest flavor here but it ties everything together. I don’t think this blend would taste quite the same without that whisper of vanilla.
I drank this while it was hot. I’m not a big fan of chilled chamomile. But, I did find that after the tea cooled slightly – still warm but not piping hot – the flavors seemed to become slightly more seamless. It was like the vanilla came forward a bit more and softened everything just a little more. The licorice seemed smoother, and the other flavors seemed to meld together to create a very unified flavor.
I know not everyone out there is a big fan of licorice root – if you’re one of them, this tisane isn’t for you. But if you like that snappy flavor of licorice, you should give this herbal tea a try. I found it to be quite delightful and it also does what it’s supposed to do: it helped me relax! It’s a very soothing, calming drink that doesn’t taste like every other chamomile blend out there. Bonus points for that!
M&K’s earns another thumbs up from me for this blend.