Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Tea Information:
Sweet spice and delightful seasonal aromas! Meet the perfect tea to get you through the cold months. Warm baking spices of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg blend seamlessly with citrus and the natural sweetness of apple and rose petals. This is a unique blend destined to become one of your favourites.
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I loved how apple-y this smelled when I opened the pouch. And as it steeped, I was treated to more apple notes – it smelled a bit like apple cider! YUM!
The apple notes are well-defined as are the spices. The cinnamon and clove add warmth and I’m getting a hint of “spicy-hot” cinnamon, like someone added a red-hot candy or two to my cup and let it dissolve. It’s not overly ‘hot’ but there’s just a hint of that candy-like cinnamon-clove-y hot-sweet flavor.
The nutmeg adds earthy and nutty flavors that meld nicely with the rooibos. The orange is more of a background note, but it adds a tangy, bright taste that is rather pleasant. The orange note also plays with the red-hot flavor of the cinnamon and clove.
I don’t taste a strong rose note, but every once in a while I get this lovely floral note. It seems to weave its way in and out, not always making itself obvious or apparent, but this blend wouldn’t be the same without that gentle whisper of rose.
To steep, I used my Kati Tumbler and added 1 1/2 bamboo scoops of tisane to the basket and 12 ounces of water heated to 195°F. I steeped it for 10 minutes.
I enjoyed this and would be happy to drink it again! It’s a little spicy-hot, it’s sweet, it’s fruity, and it’s got enough going on with it to keep the palate interested. It’s a fun and tasty blend!
Peppermint Peace 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:
Can’t we all just get along? Probably not. But at least we have tea, and in this case, it tastes like honey and peppermint! A great tea to relax with before bed, or a great tea to start your morning off minty. Whatever the case, just give (peppermint) peace a chance and try this blend out.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I love licorice and I like peppermint, so I found myself curious about this blend. They are very “polarizing” flavors – it seems that people either like licorice or they don’t, and the same is true of peppermint. And they are two very strong flavors too, so I found myself wondering how well they’d work together.
The answer: I really like the way these two ingredients work together.
To brew this tisane, I used my Kati tumbler and poured the entire sample into the basket because I generally like to use extra leaf in my tisanes. I suspect that the sample might be enough for two 8 ounce cups with a slightly weaker flavor than I’m enjoying now, but for this 12 ounce tumbler, I think that the sample is just the right amount. I heat the water to 195°F and let the tisane steep for 8 minutes.
As I just mentioned, these two ingredients work very well together. The coolness of the peppermint helps to curb some of the sharper notes of the licorice while the warm licorice notes help to reduce some of the strong minty tones so that this doesn’t taste like toothpaste.
It has a slightly medicinal taste but not in a bad way, it’s soothing. Instead, it’s a comforting yet exhilarating cuppa that’s naturally caffeine free. Like what you’d want to drink if you were feeling a little under the weather. I am tasting that zesty licorice, a pleasing honeyed sweetness and the crisp minty notes of the peppermint. It’s a little sweet and a little spicy.
As I sip it, I was trying to think of the word that best captures this tisane: refreshing!
Peace Tea from The Algonquin Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Functional Tisane
Where to Buy: Algonquin Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Peace Tea instills the tranquility, patience and beauty of the earth. This rich, bittersweet blend grounds us in a flowing meadow of healing herbs. Peace tea is ideal for calming down before, during or after any busy period.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
So, my Postal Teas box arrived the other day! Yay! A beam of happiness shines like a ray of sunshine when tea is in the mailbox! And I do really enjoy the Postal Teas subscription. So far, with every box that I’ve received from them, I’ve tried teas from companies that are new to me. I like that. I like that a lot!
I’ve never really made a big secret of the fact that I prefer camellia sinensis blends over herbal teas/tisanes. Not a big surprise, right? So, I was a little less than enthused when I opened the box this month and found not one … not two … but ALL THREE teas in the box were herbals.
What?
So, it probably goes without saying that this month’s box was a little bittersweet. I was not thrilled about receiving three herbal teas in the box BUT I was happy to be trying teas from a new-to-me company: Algonquin Tea Co.
And while I do prefer camellia sinensis, I am willing to try herbal blends, and I actually do like to have an herbal tisane later in the evening to encourage some peace and quiet so that I can get a good night’s rest.
Which is why I chose to try this Peace Tea first. The ingredient list suggests that there are quite a few calming herbs in the blend.
Ingredients: Blue Vervain, Lemon Balm, Catnip, Oat Straw, Red Bergamot, Chamomile, Hops, Motherwort, Valerian, Skullcap and St John’s Wort.
To brew this tisane, I used my Kati tumbler and measured 1 1/2 bamboo scoops into the basket. I heated 12 ounces of water to 195°F and then let it steep for 8 minutes.
As the description suggests, there is some bittersweet going on here. This is a tisane that I recommend adding a dollop of honey (raw, locally harvested honey if you’ve got it!) to help tame the bitterness a bit. After I added a little bit of honey, I found this to be an enjoyable cup.
The vervain and the hops is where a lot of the bitterness is coming from. I taste hints of mint-like flavor from the catnip and there is a touch of citrus flavors from the lemon balm and bergamot. I was really hoping to taste more of the bergamot in this.
Mostly, what I’m tasting is a very herbaceous flavor. It is bittersweet. Almost medicinal. There’s a light floral note that is nice and it develops as I continue to sip. I pick up on more of the chamomile flavor as the tea cools and guess what? I was actually happy to discover the chamomile! I think that the reason for that is because it’s more of a familiar flavor amid the medicinal notes.
All that said: this isn’t a bad tisane. I’m not hating this. It’s not horrible. It’s alright. But this is not something I’d want to reach for on a regular basis. The citrus notes and the hint of mint are this tea’s saving grace, because without those notes, I don’t know that I’d enjoy this.
The pros: there is no hibiscus in here. I enjoy the citrus-y notes and the touch of mint. The floral notes are pleasant. With a bit of honey this tastes much nicer and I am noticing myself relaxing and calming down a bit – I feel the peace that the name of the tea promises. These are good things!
The cons: It does have a strong bitter tone to it and while I can appreciate a contrasting, savory bitter note in a tea or tisane now and again, this is a stronger bitter taste than I’d like it to be. It has a medicinal quality that makes me feel like I’m drinking something functional or “good for me” – which I am, but I don’t like to feel like I am. I like to get my functional, good for me teas in sweeter, better tasting blends.
I think I’d like this a lot more if it had more citrus-y flavors, or more flavors that I don’t normally associate as “herbaceous.” As a drink, it’s alright. As a source of peace and calm, I appreciate how this tea is inspiring those things in me at the moment. I feel noticeably more relaxed now than I did before I started sipping.
White Vanilla Peppermint Black Tea from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
Polar bears? Candy canes? It’s that time of the year again! Yay consumerism! Yay tasty things! So hop on board the capitalism train, and try out a bag of our exclusive limited-edition White Vanilla Peppermint black tea blend! It has tea from Australia if you can even believe it. It tastes like a polar bear got into a fight with a mint plant that exploded all over your face. Seriously, try it.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m really enjoying the teas this company I found on Etsy! The holiday blends are really unique. I love that they didn’t go the standard orange spice holiday blend route. Don’t get me wrong! I enjoy those orange spice blends, but, it’s nice to find something that ventures off the beaten path, you know?
And this blend is different from any other holiday blend I’ve yet to try. Mint is a popular “holiday” flavor, but M&K’s decided to change the mint a bit by adding licorice to the blend. I like the way the licorice cuts through some of those strong minty notes to give this more of a candy-like flavor than a mouthwash-y one. The sweet candy-ish taste is enhanced further with the addition of creamy vanilla.
And let’s not forget the black tea in this – because M&K’s didn’t! This has a strong, full-flavored black tea base that’s rich and has a hefty impact. It’s the kind of tea that I imagine I’d want for Christmas morning when my daughter wakes me up at the crack of dawn to open presents.
I like the way everything comes together in this blend. The peppermint is cool and refreshing. The licorice adds a sharp, snappy flavor that I like. The vanilla softens the sharper edges of the licorice and tones down the peppermint a little bit.
The black tea offers a lot of interest to this blend too, I’m tasting hints of smoke. I like the way that wisp of smoke melds with these other flavors, it sort of tastes like Christmas Day: it’s around 9 am. All the presents have been opened and you’re relaxing before you start working on that holiday dinner. There’s a fire roaring in your fireplace and you’re curled up next to the warmth of the fire and sipping on tea and enjoying something sweet that Santa left you in your stocking. That’s what this tea tastes like!
It’s a nice (and different) holiday blend!
Winterwolf Tea Blend from M&K’s Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos (Green)
Where to Buy: M&K’s Tea Company on Etsy
Tea Description:
Winterwolf Tea is here! A limited holiday tea, we take juicy wolfberries and roast them in our local honey with a bit of butterscotch flavor, mix in some spiced green rooibos with cinnamon, and, well, you have some Winterwolf Tea. It tastes like an apple met a cinnamon stick and got caught in a magical honey ocean. But they lived.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I was brewing this, I was thinking to myself, what are wolfberries? After the tea brewed, I looked at the infused berry and it looked a lot like a goji berry, so I googled it and it turns out that yes, goji berries are also known as wolfberries. I didn’t know that. You learn something new every day.
To brew this tisane, I emptied the sampler pouch into the basket of my Kati tumbler and added 12 ounces of water heated to 195°F and let it steep for 10 minutes. The result is something that’s a lot like the description above suggests. It does taste “like an apple met a cinnamon stick and got caught in a magical honey ocean.” In other words: YUM!
Because the rooibos used here is a green rooibos, the flavor doesn’t come off as nutty or woodsy, instead, it’s light and fresh and fruit-like. Apparently when green rooibos mixed with goji berries, honey, and butterscotch flavor, the end result is an apple-y flavor.
I don’t taste a strong ‘goji berry’ flavor here. I don’t get the tartness that I often get from goji berry. I taste honey, I taste notes of butterscotch, but mostly, what I taste is an apple-y, cinnamon-y flavor that is quite lovely. I’m not quite sure where the apple notes are coming from, but they’re there, and I’m loving what I’m drinking, even if I don’t quite understand it!
I’m really pleased with this holiday blend from M&K’s. If all rooibos blends tasted this good, I’d not be so apprehensive to try them, because this tisane is delicious!