Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Maté & Tulsi
Where to Buy: Bird’s Eye Tea
Tisane Description:
This energizing blend will brighten your mornings! This is a really fun blend that I hope will invigorate and keep you focused during this cool dark season we are entering.
Ingredients: Yerba mate, Tulsi, Bacopa (brahmi), Spearmint, and Currant
To learn more about this tisane, click here.
To learn more about subscribing to Bird’s Eye Tea, click here.
Taster’s Review:
I had a hard time waking up this morning. I just didn’t want to. I was all warm and snuggled in my bed, so comfortable … but I had to get up. Too many things to do today!
This is exactly the kind of tisane that I need on a day like this. Awake from Bird’s Eye Tea is a Yerba Maté blend that was included in their November subscription box.
Yerba Maté – as many of you probably already know – is super-charged with caffeine for an eye-opening experience, but, what I like about this tisane isn’t the earthy/vegetal taste of the Maté (although I don’t dislike that), I’m liking the hint of mint that I taste from spearmint and tulsi – it isn’t a strong MINTY taste, but it is a nice touch. I find mint to be an invigorating taste, and tulsi has a sort of calming effect … which allows me to become alert but not jittery.
I don’t have much experience with brahmi … in fact, I cant tell you with certainty that I’ve ever had this herb in a tea … or in anything else, for that matter. The Bird’s Eye Tea Newsletter for November says that brahmi is an adaptogenic herb, which is supposed to help the body adapt to stress.
OK, so what I’m deriving from that is that this tisane helps you wake up and face the day, stress free! Heck yeah! I certainly could use a little of that!
My one complaint about this tisane is that I wish I could taste more of the currant. I taste the mint, I taste the herbaceous, earthy flavor of the Maté (and of course the other herbs contribute to this herbaceous note as well), but I don’t really taste a whole lot of berry, except in the aftertaste. Not even in the immediate aftertaste, but, after I’ve finished the sip, about a minute or so afterward, then I notice a hint of berry flavor come through – just a wee hint of tingly, tart-yet-sweet currant. I like that … but I’d like there to be a little more.
Overall, though, I found this to be a very enjoyable herbal tisane. It is energizing, as I am just over the halfway point with my cup here, and I am already feeling invigorated. A really pleasant blend – I’m really liking Bird’s Eye Tea!
Berry Berry Herbal Tea from Culinary Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tisane Description:
A full flavored berry tea. We have added black and red currants, as well as raisins to our blend. A naturally sweet herbal tea.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
The above description forgot to mention that it is also a naturally tart herbal tea. Hibiscus! But, I’m kind of liking the way the hibiscus marries with the currants. It adds an interesting dimension to the flavor of the currants (and there are TONS of little tiny currants in this blend).
I don’t taste a lot of raisin-y flavor to this, especially not when it is served hot. As the tea cools, a sweet raisin note starts to emerge, but it isn’t a well defined flavor. Mostly what I taste is the flavor of currant, which adds a deep, almost-wine-like flavor to the cup, and the hibiscus, which adds tartness to the already slightly tart currant notes. But the hibiscus also does something else here, it gives more of a berry-like taste to the cup.
Yes, currants are a berry, but, they taste more wine-y to me than a typical berry flavor (that is, a berry like blueberry or raspberry or strawberry), and the hibiscus seems to enhance the berry profile of the currants a little bit, which I really like.
I don’t recommend oversteeping this tea – because although it contains no tea leaves (and therefore it’s not going to become bitter or tannic), it does contain hibiscus and when it’s left to brew too long, it becomes syrupy and tart. I brewed this for about 6 minutes, and I’d say that was just about perfect. It added some texture without going overboard, and it added a pleasant tartness without it becoming pucker-y.
As I sip this, I find it enjoyable, but I think it could be more enjoyable if a few spices were added to it as it infuses – maybe some cinnamon or some cloves might add a warm dimension to the flavor and make it a bit like mulled wine. Or, you could add some hot apple cider (perhaps at a 1:1 ratio?) to give the apple cider a delicious berry taste while lightening the flavor of the berry tea.
This is a tasty tisane. It’s not what I’d call a favorite, but, it’s not bad. I like it served warm by allowing it to cool somewhat after it’s been brewed. When it’s too hot, the hibiscus is very prominent. But as it cools, the flavors mellow somewhat and it’s much nicer.
Black Currant from Foxfire Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Foxfire Teas
Tea Description:
Delicious Assam black tea flavored with black currant gives this tea a nice fruity pop; super delicious iced or hot and a great mixer for cocktails
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As it turns out, this is going to be a day for Portland teas … at least for me. I just got finished writing a review for Mt. Hood Vanilla tea from Townshend’s Tea that will appear later this evening, and now I am trying tea from another Portland company – one I’ve not yet tried but have wanted to for quite some time now: Foxfire Teas!
From the moment I opened the pouch of this tea, I couldn’t stop smelling it. The aroma is AMAZING! It smells so sweet and fruity, it brings me back in time to when my gramma had a grapevine in her backyard and she’d cook the grapes and make grape jelly. She eventually removed the grapevine and replaced it with ollaliberries, but that’s another story.
Now, as I’ve stated before, I’m not generally a big fan of grape flavored things. I don’t really care for grape juice (I mean, it’s alright, but I’d prefer other juices), and I won’t eat grape flavored ice pops or grape flavored candies. I don’t really even like grape jelly, although I did like gramma’s grape jelly, and I think that is why I am loving the fragrance of this tea so much … it smells so much like my gramma’s kitchen when she’d make grape jelly.
But of course, this is not a grape flavored tea, it is a Black Currant flavored tea. However, I’ve not eaten a lot of fresh black currants (they’re not especially easy to find, I was surprised a few weeks ago while shopping at my local Whole Foods to find them there), so I can’t really compare the scent to currants. But currants and grapes are very similar in aroma, and fermented grapes (aka wine) often taste of currants.
And I’m glad to say that this indeed does taste like black currants and not of grapes. It has a very bright, fruity flavor which is both sweet and tart, leaning a bit more toward the tart than to the sweet. It is not too tart, though, at least not for my palate, and as I tend to not like a strong tart flavor that’s a good thing.
The black tea base is an Assam, and it definitely lets you know that its there. It’s has a very powerful flavor – strong and bold! This Assam is leaning slightly toward the wine-y tasting Assam rather than the malty; however there are some delightful malty tones in there as well. Of course, the black currant flavor also lends to that wine-y taste.
I am sipping this hot, but I suspect that it would also make a delightful iced tea with its strong fruit notes. This is certainly one of the best black currant teas that I’ve tried. I love the strong, full-bodied taste of the Assam and and how nicely it melds with the flavor of the currant.
An excellent tea – and I’m very proud that it’s a local company. And even if you don’t live near Portland, you can still try this tea as they do sell their teas online. I’ve had the opportunity to converse with Katherine via email and she has such a wonderfully warm personality. I love it when I find a tea company that offers great teas and excellent customer service!
Earl Black from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
It’s another hot day in Doo-Dah (I have no idea why Wichitans refer to the city as “Doo-Dah” but it feels right; feel free to enlighten me if you know where this comes from). I’m pretty sure that the global warming people were right. I’m just hoping we can fix it before we all turn into puddles of goo.
In the meantime, I’m relaxing with a big glass tumbler full of our new tea of the week. It’s a blend of shou mei white teas, dried black currants, organic bergamot flavor and natural black currant flavor. And it is seriously hitting the spot. I got some really nice shou mei for this blend: it’s light and sweet, but very much a presence in a cup that is otherwise a perfect balance of tart and sweet. I have always loved our black currant bai mu dan, and if you like that and like earl grey, I don’t think you can possibly go wrong with this blend. It is delicious!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
By the sound of the name, you might think: oh, this is just another Earl Grey with a black tea base. But it isn’t! This is truly an unusual tea – exactly the kind of tea that 52Teas is known for creating!
What makes this so unusual is that despite the name of this tea … it isn’t a black tea. It’s a white tea! Specifically, a Shou Mei. The black in the title refers not to the type of tea, but the fact that this tea is flavored with the essence of black currant. And, of course, bergamot (that’s where the Earl comes in!)
And wow! How is it that no other tea company has thought to combine the flavors of bergamot and black currant before? (0r, if they have, how is it that I haven’t yet discovered it?) This is really tasty. The flavor is sweet, tangy, tart and deliciously fruity.
The Shou Mei is a nice choice as a base for this tea. It gives the tea a bit more body and flavor than a typical Bai Mu Dan might while still managing to maintain a lightness to the cup. I think that a softer tea might have gotten lost in this blend, but a stronger tea might have overwhelmed the gentle balance tht exists between the two fruit flavors.
As it is, though, there seems a really pleasant balance between tea and fruit tastes. The tea has a pleasant texture – soft and silky … creamy even! This creaminess melds so nicely with the bergamot and black currant. The sweetness of the tea offers a nice contrast to the tart and tangy tastes of these two fruits, and also offers a slight nutty taste to the background.
The bergamot and black currant seem pretty evenly matched. The black currant gives a slight raisin-y, grape-y, wine-y kind of taste to the cup, sweet and just a little tart. The citrus-y bergamot matches that tartness with some of its own – giving it just enough tartness without causing me to pucker.
A very pleasant cup of tea – delicious hot, but even nicer as an iced tea! I can’t wait to try it cold-brewed with my Steep & Go!
Black Tea Merlot from Vintage TeaWorks
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where To Buy: Vintage TeaWorks
Tea Description:
Inspired by Merlot, we blended natural ingredients to create a black tea blend that is velvety and robust. The hints of black currant, plums, licorice and violets make drinking this tea quite a sensual experience.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I first pried open the lid on this canister, I was amazed at how good it smells. It has a distinct wine-like aroma to it. I’m certainly not able to discern that it smells like “Merlot” … or any other specific type of wine, but it does have that certain fermented dark-colored grape scent to it. It smells sweet, fruity, and has some floral tones as well as earthiness to the fragrance as well.
Once brewed, the tea maintains much of that fermented-grape/wine-like scent, with notes of flower seeming to dance across the surface of the tea – not staying around for long, but there is just enough flower there to entice the olfactory nerves.
The flavor is really delightful. Vintage TeaWorks touts this as their “velvety and robust” tea, and it certainly is that. It has a very velvety smooth character, strong with a definite boldness to it. I imagine that this would be the ideal way to start the day for the wine enthusiast. 
But then, I’m no wine enthusiast, but I am still really enjoying this tea. It has a very pleasant refinement to it, it is strong and delicious. No signs of bitterness, and only a touch of tangy astringency toward the tail, finishing sweet. It reminds me of the finish of a glass of red wine: sweet (but not too sweet) and smooth.
The flavor is not so much like “grape” as it is very fruit-like. Like a medley of dark fruit: black (or red) grapes and currants. That doesn’t really surprise me much, as I have often noticed a currant-like taste in red wine. I even taste a hint of plum here, more like the sweetness of plum, not so much the tartness of the fruit.
Then, I noticed another taste in the background, one that I don’t normally associate with wine: Licorice. I kept tasting it to determine if that was what I was really tasting, and then I happened to glance over the ingredients and noticed that licorice is one of the ingredients (as well as currants!) Now, I suppose that there are wine connoisseurs would say that there is indeed licorice-y notes in wine, and I’m not one to debate with them because I know next to nothing about wine. I just know that I am tasting it here, and while this doesn’t taste strongly of licorice, it has a distant yet distinct background note of licorice that really harmonizes with the overall cup, and seems to enhance the wine flavors of the blend.
Overall, I find this to be a very fascinating tea blend, one of the nicest representations of wine flavors in a tea that I’ve yet to taste. This company – Vintage TeaWorks – has really impressed me!