The last tea review on my Review-A-Thon. I hope enjoyed the reviews today as much as I enjoyed sharing the good word about these teas!
Herbal teas. I have such a love hate relationship with them. Being one that doesn’t really dig spiced or overly gingerized tea. . . . I have a hard time finding just the right blend for my tastes. Being one that does see the health benefits of certain herbal blends (not weight loss), I’m always looking for blends that may help me with a few pain management situations I deal with on a daily if not sometimes hourly basis.
When I discovered St. Fiacre’s Farm, I was excited. They offered several different herbal blends that didn’t have that overly spiced ingredient list of my arch enemy-red rooibos. One blend instantly caught my eye- Farmer’s Wife Raspberry. This blend consists of nettle, red clover, raspberry leaf, green rooibos, and a few other ingredients- all organic. Whenever I see a blend that has red clover, I’m instantly lured in.
Using the recommended parameters, this herbal brews up beautifully. The tea has a pinkish hue and the flavors are delicate but with such wonderful flavor. With each and every sip, I take away this sweet honey like berry slightly tart flavor that makes me happy. I’m a big fan of green rooibos and love the fact this herbal is the base for this tea.
This herbal blend is smooth berry from the start with this silky honey note that flows brilliantly from the beginning to the very end. I’ve had this tea iced and the tea is just as amazing. I can’t say that I’ve seen the benefits of drinking this herbal tea just because I need to drink the tea on a more regular basis. Sometimes its hard to get in all the tea drinking you want to, manage your day correctly and drink all the water you need to. But for this tea, I really need to get my priorities in order – for being a good for you tea as far as health benefits- this tea is also good for your taste buds!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: St Fiacre’s Farm
Description
A tea blend especially for women featuring green rooibos tea with the addition of nettle leaf, red clover blossoms, red raspberry leaf and a dash of the famous elderberry. The Farmer’s Wife Tea Blend is a lovely green tea accented with fruity and floral notes and raspberry hint. This would make a delectable white chocolate raspberry TEA mocha! On the simple side its a wonderful morning tea with a light hint of raspberry to refresh.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Love Love Love from Harlow Tea Co. . . .. .
Herbal teas are great for me because I can have them at night without worrying about being awake until 3am. I also think it’s a huge plus when the ingredients are all actual plants instead of mystery flavors and sugar. So I was pretty happy to give this sample of a honeybush tea blend a try. It only has five ingredients and they all actually grew out of the ground.
The dry leaf smells exactly like dried cranberries, to the point that I’m surprised they’re not an ingredient. The tea brews up the same color as a slice of blood orange. The brewed tea tastes entirely of juicy plum and hibiscus. I couldn’t taste the honeybush in it at all. The risk you run with hibiscus is always that it will drown out everything else. That seems to have largely happened here, though the plum does hold its own. I also got a pleasant second steep out of it, which doesn’t always happen with herbals. If I had more leaf, I would try steeping for 4 minutes instead of 5 to see if that helps tone down the hibiscus a bit.
I don’t know that I love, love, love this blend, but you might if you really like plum and hibiscus!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Harlow Tea Co
Description
This caffeine free tea is a great tea for any tea drinker, someone brand new to tea or have tried it all.
Honeybush tea is vey mild, but gives great flavor without caffeine. Floral hints from rose hips, hibiscus flower, and lady’s mantle is balanced with the fruity aroma of dried plums
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Mystic Melon from Bellasia Tea.. . .
If you ever want to throw a tea party for the little princes or princesses in your life, check out Bellasia Teas. They have a great line of herbal teas that will engage any little ones taste buds along with a marvelous book about an adopted princess who realizes its up to her to have a Happily Ever After.
The reasons behind the book are heartwarming and pure. The story really is amazing and I would highly recommend picking up a copy for the little one in your life. I’m going to review the book separately so I don’t want to give too much away but let’s just say, this book made me smile. . a lot.
The tea line offered ranges from Mystic Melon to Dragon Berry to Fairy Sunset. The majority of the teas do have a fairy tale like inspired name, which I love. Mystic Melon was the first tea I had to try.
Being not such a huge fan of fruit tisanes, I wasn’t sure if I would like this but honestly, this tea had me from the very beginning. Huge chunks of apple, pear, goji berries, and honeydew along with a few other herbal inclusions. Brewed up with water at about 212F and allowed to steep for 5-7 minutes, this tea delivers a sweet melon flavor that I adore.
The melon flavor is the major note that you do get and it is sweet but there is this welcomed tartness that contrasts the melon quite nicely. I can see how kids would gobble this tea up in a second. The tea blend does steep up into this gorgeous pink brew that just captures your heart.
As much as I adored this tea brewed up hot, cold brewing this tea overnight really delivers this gorgeous melon treat. The melon has more of a melon flavor and not such a sweet melon while the rest of the ingredients help bring in that contrast yet again.
All in all, this tea has won my heart and completely surprised me. Even after drinking tea for so long, every once in a while you drink a tea that completely takes you by surprise and you wonder-what have I been missing by not drinking fruit tisanes.
From the adorable tin packaging with dragons, fairies, and unicorns, to the gorgeously illustrated book, to the wonderful flavors-Bellasia Tea has won my heart over again and again.
Highly recommend this tea company for any tea party for your little princes and princesses!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Bellasia Tea
Description
Apple, Pear, gojiberries, hibiscus, rosehips, sweet honeydew melon & flavoring
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Downton Abbey Lady Cora’s Evening Herb Tea from The Republic of Tea. . .
I smell Valerian Root…was the very first thing I thought when opening this single serve tea bag. Isn’t that funny that you can identify one lonely ingredient when it’s mixed in with others? Perhaps it’s because Valerian Root smells like feet – I don’t know! (Insert Sitcom Style Canned Laugh here)
Ingredients for Downton Abbey Lady Cora’s Evening Herb Tea from The Republic of Tea include: Lemon balm, linden flower, orange blossoms, chamomile, lavender flower, skullcap, passion flower and Valerian Root. None of which are on my personal faves list when chatting about or sipping on teas and tisanes but they seemed to work well here.
This caffeine-free blend of chamomile and lemon balm will calm the mind and body. The product description says these relaxing botanicals create a cup of tranquility that helps ease the nerves and is a nice bedtime herbal.
I still have yet to watch this series! I know – I know…what is WRONG with me, eh?
For those of you who don’t already know it’s an award-winning TV series, that has entranced millions of viewers and become a modern media sensation. Every episode is an explosion of drama, relationships and intrigue. Downton Abbey is home to the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. From the pen of Academy Award® winner Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey is the most watched drama ever on PBS!
I wonder if this is one of The Republic of Teas’ most sipped on herbals?
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description
This caffeine-free blend of chamomile and lemon balm will calm the mind and body. Relaxing botanicals create a cup of tranquility that helps ease the nerves. Nice before bedtime when a soothing cup is a welcome friend.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
On the 7th Day of Christmas, 52 Teas gave to me….Crisp Cranberry Soda Green Rooibos Tea!
On the 7th Day of Christmas, 52 Teas gave to me….Crisp Cranberry Soda Green Rooibos Tea! So for this one, the smell of the dry leaf brought back memories! When I was younger my mom was really into sparkling water mixed with a splash of cranberry juice and a lime. As a little girl, I of course always wanted to copy her. This blend smells exactly like that “soda” drink tasted…down to the carbonation. Although, I’m not sure how you can “smell carbonation”, but I swear I can!
This blend is a total thirst quencher. I’m drinking it hot because I’m not very into icing my teas, but I can imagine this would be so amazing iced. I love the green rooibos base. It is lighter and not as “woody” as red rooibos. The cranberry is not super tart, but it’s still present and I feel like I can taste a little bit of lime or citrus. Then, of course, there is the “soda” aspect. If you did not tell me that this blend was meant to taste like a “soda” drink, I would still have thought it did- that is how accurate this tea portrays crisp cranberry soda. It is so crisp and it tastes so hydrating I am literally gulping it down. I really did enjoy this one and I feel like it totally represented its name 100%. It would be amazing in the summertime as an iced beverage or even as a tea-popsicle! This one is a winner for sure!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Rooibos
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is not available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
