A new tisane to try! This comes from a tea shop a couple of hours away. They were kind enough to allow me to sniff tin after tin of tea and answer my questions when I was a new tea drinker many years ago.
They had really educational tea flights before the pandemic, and hopefully those can happen again one day! If you live near enough to participate, I highly recommend that you sign up for their newsletter and look for a flight that addresses teas that interest you. They even gave out information sheets when I attended and it was fun to meet other people who are passionate about tea. They do ship at reasonable rates, too.
This blend contains apple pieces, mountain blueberry leaves, rosehip, orange & lemon peel, sweet blackberry & melissa leaves, lemongrass, blue butterfly pea flowers, mallow blossoms, and natural flavor.
Butterfly pea flowers are popping up everywhere because of the pretty color they give to food and beverages. I have some on the way to make my lavender syrup more appealing to the eye and to play with in sweet hibiscus drinks! It is also said to be full of antioxidants (like blueberries and purple tomatoes) and is adaptogenic if the internet is to be believed. Lemongrass is often recommended for its anti-inflammatory benefits. Some people pooh-pooh any measurable health benefits from tea and say just enjoy it! So let’s see if we do.
What does it look like in my spoon? Lots of leaves! I see the straight pieces of lemongrass and the soft, dried pieces of leaves and blossoms. I see at least a piece or two of orange and lemon peel in each spoonful. (I have already made this several times and once as a large pitcher of iced tea.) There are a few small apple pieces, too. It is well mixed and distributed and I don’t need to add lots of extra spoonfuls because of big chunks taking up lots of space. I stick with an actual teaspoon per cup. I prefer this to tisanes that have huge clumps of sticky dried fruit that defy measuring. But that’s just me.
The steeped tisane comes out blue, leaning toward a purple haze. The flavor is soft and mellow with nice, light sweet orange flavor and a pleasant little zing from the lemon and rose hips.
I do not care for rose hips and hibiscus much unless they are heavily sweetened to make essentially an adult version of Kool-Aid. But this doesn’t have any mouth puckering sensation at all. It is very pleasant to drink and needs no sugar to be enjoyable. This is the right amount of rose hips for me!
For the iced tea, I did add sugar because I live in the South and that’s what we do. It was good and did keep me from reaching for that carbonated, caffeinated soda I wanted and knew I shouldn’t have. I was glad I chose wisely. So there’s one health benefit I got from it!
I am thinking now, though, that the next iced pitcher will be unsweetened, because drinking the hot version again I feel like it really doesn’t need the sugar to be enjoyable unless I am just in the mood for something sweet.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: Tin Roof Teas
Description
Apple pieces, mountain blueberry leaves, rosehip, orange, & lemon peel, sweet black berry & melissa leaves, lemongrass, blue butterfly pea flowers, mallow blossoms, natural flavor
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie from Tealyra. . . .
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is one of many Tealyra teas shared with me by a friend. It is also the first Tealyra tea I am ever trying. Comprised of apple pieces, hibiscus blossoms, rose hip peels, white chocolate chips, flavoring, freeze-dried yoghurt and rhubarb pieces, I decided this might be best as an iced tea. I steeped the tea per the recommended steeping parameters, brewing this for 4 minutes in 200F water and topping it with ice.
In light of the hibiscus and rosehips, I expected some of that familiar tartness but there is none of that here. None at all. If I am being honest, in a strawberry RHUBARB pie tea, you would expect some tart so this is one instance where the absence of hibiscus is not really desirable. Without any tart component, the sweet of the apple takes over. I get some semblance of what could be strawberry flavor if I put my mind to it but more than anything it is a generic apple/fruity flavor. Between the sweet and the creaminess from the white chocolate, this does have a dessert vibe but not pie per se.
Drinking this tea, I have to say it is a bit of a miss for me, at least when prepared as an iced tea. That doesn’t mean that it is bad because it isn’t but it does fail to deliver on what’s promised by the name. If I stretch my imagination, I can taste a fruit and whipped cream dessert or maybe even a strawberry and white chocolate mousse but nothing says baked goods here and rhubarb is missing entirely. It’s a fun tea to try and I would be interested to see if this is more reminiscent of its namesake when brewed as a hot tea. One thing’s for sure…despite not being what I expected, it does have me excited to try the other Tealyra teas in my stash.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal/Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: Tealyra
Description
Classic flavors of home baked strawberry rhubarb pie! Reminiscent of summer harvested rhubarb baking extravaganzas, our Strawberry Rhubarb Pie has real rhubarb pieces blended together with a touch of hibiscus and apple, giving it the authentic sweet and tart taste of summer’s harvest. Garden fresh, light and comforting, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie herbal tea is naturally sweet and will convert any rhubarb naysayer with its deliciously mouth-watering flavor and appeal
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
