The Cleanse from Harlow Tea Company. . . .

by Kaylee

I am generally skeptical of any tea that claims a detoxifying effect or special health benefit, other than ginger for its actually proven anti-inflammatory properties. However, I like that the description for this tea doesn’t promise any magic results. I also like that it has dandelion root; I just enjoy the roasty, robust flavor of dandelion root. So I was willing to give this tea a try when I received a sample.

The dry leaf smells like hibiscus, dandelion, mint, and houjicha. The scent of the dry leaf is actually the most complex thing about this tea. Made according to package instructions, the immediate scent of the peach-colored brew is sweet hibiscus with a roasty undertone. The hibiscus flavor is not sickly-sweet strong but it is strong enough to mostly overwhelm the other flavors.

The only other flavors I can discern are some underlying roastiness and a lingering minty coolness after the sip. There’s no change in the flavor profile when the tea cools.

A second steep yields the same results. It’s actually remarkable to me how consistent the flavor is; typically a tea will change at least somewhat as it cools and with multiple steeps.

My guess is that the issue here is the hibiscus drowning out everything else. If you choose teas for their purported health benefits, this one seems as good as any other.

At least it has ginger in it and I didn’t personally experience any negative side effects from drinking two cups of it. But if you choose teas for flavor or complexity and are not a huge fan of hibiscus, I would look elsewhere.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:
Where to Buy:  Harlow Tea Company
Description

We all have seen those “get skinny now” teas available. I so wish such a thing worked for all of us, but it sadly does not. What does help an individual in the weight lose process is detoxing your body with the proper ingredients, combined with diet and exercise.

This tea offers some amazing ingredients on top of green tea which helps boost metabolism.

Ginger, turmeric, peppermint, and dandelion are all natural ingredients to rid your body of toxins, i.e. detox

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Kaylee

I work in public interest. Tea is the innocuous, quirky hobby that doubles as a release valve for my high-stress job. My first serious foray into the tea world was when I joined Steepster in 2013. I learned so much from that community - and I'm still learning from them. I love to read books and blogs about tea to expand my knowledge. When I'm not nerding out about tea, I'm nerding out about Wonder Woman, Firefly, and other assorted superhero/sci-fi stories with strong female characters. Also RBG, who is basically a rock star to me.

This post was posted in Green Tea, Harlow Tea Co

Detox from TeaTaxi. . . . . .

by VariaTEA

Well it’s that time of year again. Everyone is making resolutions and trying to recover from all the decadence of the holiday season. Diet and detox ads are everywhere and it seems as if this month’s TeaTaxi package is no exception. My monthly subscription envelope arrived with a whole variety of feel good blends focusing on health and wellness.

First thing I noticed was the vast amount of ingredients in this blend. For something meant to cleanse my body, it seems I am putting a whole lot into it. All natural ingredients but ones I normally would not seek out on my own, such as birch leaves, willow bark, etc. I also noticed a whole lot of natural sweeteners that I tend to avoid due to their aspartame-like aftertaste (I’m looking at you, Stevia and Licorice Root!). Nonetheless, I figured why not give it a try and see how detoxed I felt.

The scent of the brew was a sickly sweet odor. Atop the sweetness was also an earthy scent, perhaps from all the bark and leaves and grass in the mix. Tastewise, that sweetness is all there, leaving a cloying flavor as the sip ends. There is also a fair amount of lemon flavor which I wouldn’t mind on it’s own though it conflicts with everything else happening here. Also, that earthiness transfers over to the taste, though only slightly. I am supposed to be reminded of pine and the cool winter air but instead this has me thinking of pledge and artificial sweeteners. I really don’t think that was the type of clean feeling TeaTaxi was going for here.

Honestly, I didn’t have high hopes going into this between the murky water and the scent. To me it seemed more muddy then anything and I think that is attributed to the vast variety of ingredients in the mix. I think cleaning it up a bit and removing all the sweetening agents would improve this a great deal. As it is, I don’t think this is the tea for me and certainly don’t think its the detox I need from the holiday season. Luckily, I have 9 other feel good teas from TeaTaxi to try!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Herbal Blend
Where to Buy:  Tea Taxi
Description

This herbal mixture will remind you of the freshness and well-being experienced during long winter walks. The smell of pine filling your nostrils and the cool air in your lungs.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

VariaTEA

Hey there! My name is Rachel. I’m a twenty-something from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who loves dogs and has a bit of an obsession with tea. As a child I hated the stuff since all I ever knew was Red Rose (no offense to Red Rose). However, a few years ago that all changed. I was on a diet and desperate for new flavors without adding calories and that’s when I turned to tea. I started off by going to DAVIDsTEA and Teavana for all their dessert-inspired flavors, and since I didn’t know any better, I bought 100 grams each of about twenty-something different teas. This was okay for the teas I liked but for those I didn’t I needed to find some way of getting rid of them. Enter Steepster.com. This is where I met some incredible tea friends, discovered tea swaps, and learned of so many amazing tea companies. My desire to try all the teas grew and since joining three years ago I have tried over a thousand different teas. I have learned what ingredients I love and I have learned what flavors I don’t like. I determined my go-to brewing method is Western-style with no added milk or sweeteners, though I also enjoy cold brewing, iced teas, teapops, lattes, and smoothies. I have yet to brew gong-fu style but I hope to do so just as soon as I get the proper teaware to do it. About a year ago, I actually stopped drinking tea but as my stash of over 200 teas started aging I decided I needed to respark my interest. I chose to take a 365 days of tea challenge on Instagram in which I post a new tea picture every day. So far it has been rather successful as I find myself drinking (and buying) more and more tea each day. Plus it enabled CuppaGeek to find me and invite me here to SororiTea Sisters.

This post was posted in Fruit/Herbal Tisane, Tea Taxi