Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Jennifer’s Tea Garden
Tisane Description:
Based in organic rooibos, this blend with an invigorating aroma and luxurious spices makes a full-flavored treat! Best with steamed milk. Naturally caffeine free.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
My favorite winter-y tea is chai. Not chai as in tea but chai as in the warm blend of spices combined with tea (or in this case, rooibos and honeybush!) Nothing warms me up better than a delicious chai.
And this one is quite yummy! The “usual” spices are all there: cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and ginger. In this blend, there are a couple of other spices too: anise seed and fennel. These two spices are not as noticeable in the flavor as they are in the aroma, but, they do add just a hint of licorice-y flavor to the cup which is really quite lovely.
One thing that is also a little unusual about this particular blend is that the ginger has a softer flavor than I’m used to with chai. Yes, I can taste that peppery heat from the ginger, but it is more of a mild, gentle kind of heat. It doesn’t have that prickly, peppery effect on the tongue that ginger sometimes has.
The biggest effect that the lighter ginger flavor has on this cup – at least, in my opinion – is that the flavor of the cloves and cardamom are really coming through very distinctly. Especially the cardamom! Citrus-y and exotic, and pleasantly soothing.
I’ve said before that I really like the combination of rooibos and honeybush together. I find that the honeybush helps to curb some of the funkier flavors of the rooibos. The result is a nutty flavor that is honey-sweet, and that’s what I’m tasting here. It compliments the spice tones of this blend quite well.
Overall, a nicely balanced chai that is not too spicy or sweet, but, somewhere in between. I brewed mine extra strong and then added a bit of steamed, frothed milk and it became a dessert-like treat. Sweet and delicious, it didn’t even need honey!
Maté Chai from Element Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Maté
Where to Buy: Element Tea
Product Description:
Boost circulation and stimulate your senses with this popular blend of Yerba Mate and Masala Chai Spices. For a sweeter and creamier finish, add milk and sugar.
Ingredients: Mate Green, Cinnamon, Ginger Bits, Cardamom, Cloves, Fennel, Anise Seed
Taster’s Review:
I love chai (and when I say “chai,” I mean the beverage that is made from a masala spice blend … with or without tea or other leaf types, like the green Yerba Maté leaf used in this blend). I enjoy it year ’round, but I find it especially enjoyable this time of year. The spices warm me from the inside out, and the zesty flavor is very invigorating.
The spices dominate this tisane, and what I taste most are the fennel and anise seed. They give a sweet, licorice-y kind of taste to this chai, and I’m really liking that. (I’m quite fond of black licorice!) While the cinnamon does not present a really strong presence in this cup, I like the way it mingles with the fennel and anise.
The ginger, cloves and cardamom are pretty well balanced here. One of these spices does not seem to be stronger than the others, they all seem pretty even. Every once in a while, a flavor will pop out that I recognize distinctly as one particular spice, but for the most part, it is a very unified set of spices.
The green Yerba Maté of this blend lends an earthy, somewhat vegetative taste to the cup. It isn’t nearly as strong a flavor as the spices, of course, but, it really adds an interesting dimension of flavor to the cup. The earthy notes are a pleasing contrast to the licorice-y flavors.
I recommend drinking this hot with a dollop of honey to help round out the flavors. I didn’t drink mine with milk, but, I think it would be quite nice as a latte. This turned out to be one of the nicest Yerba Maté Chai blends I’ve tried!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Original Bhakti Chai Concentrate from Bhakti Chai
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
For more information about this product including how to purchase, visit: Bhakti Chai
Product Description:
Antioxidant-rich black tea, fresh organic ginger, milled spices and a touch of evaporated cane juice.
Taster’s Review:
Oh. My. Goodness! This is SO good. This is so good, that I am on my second cup within a half an hour!
According to the website, Bhakti Chai uses fresh pressed ginger as opposed to dried ginger. The difference this makes can be tasted! The ginger tastes zippier, zingier, and ginger-y-er!
The black tea base here is a smooth tasting tea, but really, the focus of this chai concentrate is the spices. And, that’s quite alright with me, because this is so delicious that I wouldn’t want to change it. It’s absolutely perfect.
The ginger is the dominate flavor, and I can taste the black pepper supporting the flavor of the ginger. The cardamom and cloves are a bit more subtle but can be tasted, providing that familiar background chai flavor. The fennel is also quite subtle, but, I taste a hint of licorice-like sweetness in the distance.
One spice that seems to be “missing” is cinnamon – which is a common chai ingredient. But, even though it isn’t in this chai, I’m not missing it. Don’t get me wrong, I love cinnamon, but, like I said before, this tastes so good that I wouldn’t want to change it.
The ginger provides a lot of warmth (or “agni”) and offers a very warm, comforting sensation starting at the back of the mouth and permeating its way to the belly. This is a perfect cuppa on those cold winter-y days. Like today!
This original concentrate is sweetened, but, I am not finding it too sweet. Bhakti Chai also offers an unsweetened version, which I will review at a later date.
If you like Chai Latte – this is definitely one you should try. I love this stuff!
Root 66 Tea from Monterey Bay Spice Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane/Spice Melangé
Where to Buy: Monterey Bay Spice Company
Product Description:
Roasted dandelion, chicory root, and sarsaparilla root get you started towards Root 66 Tea. Creating a robust and dark infusion, this herbal tea exudes a mouth-watering natural earthiness. Good for your liver, Root 66 Tea also twists in a bit of the exotic: the lively sweetness of coconut and the slight chocolate taste of carob. With lingering licorice airiness, this herbal makes a fantastic coffee substitute or a dessert tea!
Ingredients–Sarsparilla root, chicory root, roasted dandelion root, carob pods, cinnamon, fennel, crystal malt and coconut.
Caffeine Free
Taster’s Review:
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m always a little leery of herbal blends such as this. I’m always afraid that they’ll taste too medicinal for my personal taste, so I find myself always putting off trying them.
And I am really sorry that I put off trying this one as long as I did, because it’s rather tasty! It has a sweet, root beer-like taste to it which is enhanced by the spices and malt. It has a slightly roasted taste to it too, and I like how the coconut and sarsaparilla taste together. It’s really much better than I imagined it would be.
The Sarsaparilla root gives this tisane its root beer taste. The licorice-y taste of fennel and the cocoa notes of the carob enhance the sweetness of this cup while the cinnamon gives it a nice warmth in the background. There is a roasted note to this as well from the chicory and roasted dandelion root which adds depth to the cup.
But what really makes this tisane special is the coconut. I love the combination of flavors – it’s sort of like a chocolate and coconut flavored spiced root beer!
This tisane has a little bit of an herbal/medicinal aftertaste that I would define as almost peppery – it’s the dandelion! However, this aftertaste doesn’t linger very long. And because I enjoy the flavor of the tea so much, I can overlook the aftertaste.
I am sipping this now as a hot beverage – it is cold and wet outside and I am enjoying the warm, cozy comfort of a hot tea, but I think that this blend would be even better iced – it would be a great substitute for soda! Just a little pinch of sugar will enhance the sweeter notes and make it an irresistible treat for the kids. It’s naturally caffeine free, so there’s nothing to overstimulate them, either!
This is YUMMY!
Bertha Palmer Centennial Tea from Local Coffee & Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Local Coffee & Tea
Product Description:
A soothing herbal rooibos with licorice root, fennel, peppermint and lemon verbena. Naturally caffeine-free.
When Mrs. Potter Palmer (Bertha Honoré Palmer), the well-travelled and powerful Chicago socialite, first set eyes on Sarasota in 1910, she proclaimed ‘Here is heaven at last’.
She soon owned 80,000 acres of what is now Sarasota County, operated a successful ranch, and made her graceful winter home and gardens at The Oaks on Historic Spanish Point.
Sarasota County celebrates the 2010 centennial of her arrival and honors the significant impact Mrs. Palmer made on our culturally rich and prosperous community. Please join us in raising a cuppa Bertha Palmer Centennial Tea to this incredible woman!
For more information about events throughout the year, visit www.BerthaPalmerAlive.com
Taster’s Review:
I love licorice and I like peppermint, but I don’t always like the two flavors together. Sometimes it works for me while others it does not. With this tisane, it works very nicely!
The rooibos base offers a hint of nutty/woody flavor, but, it iss barely distinguishable in the midst of the stronger flavors of licorice, fennel and peppermint. The lemon verbena is a soft citrus-y flavor that sits in the background and softens some of the sharper qualities of the other ingredients.
The licorice, fennel and peppermint are the dominant flavors here, but as I said before the lemon verbena softens them somewhat, making this combination very palatable. It starts off with a sweet licorice-y taste, followed by the taste of crisp peppermint. The bright, lemony note arrives right before the finish and leaves a cool minty/citrus-y aftertaste.
I like this best when served hot with a drizzle of agave nectar, but it’s not bad iced either. This is a tasty, soothing and very relaxing tisane. Nice!