My family carries on the old school art of drying flowers to “preserve” the heartwarming memory from when they were given, and this bag of Greek Mountain Tea from Klio Organic is a full on bouquet of petite yellow love from Mount Olympus!
The thick flowering stems smell of basil, and crushed mint, but feel fuzzy like sage leaves versus the roughness of traditional camellia Sinensis tea leaves. Quite a bit smaller as well, with dozens of tiny pale flowers, light green buds and silver glistening leaves.
I brewed at 175 F and immediately the scent morphs towards the hints of sage I got earlier. There are a lot of essential oils on top, and a good amount of natural sweetness in this veridian brew that would probably be fine for most folks, especially given the light citrus aftertaste. My sweet tooth, however, preferred to add a few drops of plain stevia.
Being naturally caffeine free, this is a mind clearing tea, as it’s unique flavors make you step away from the daily grind and focus on the surprise in your mug.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Klio Organic
This variety, Sideritis Scardica, comes from the legendary Mount Olympus, in the Balkans, situated between Thessaly and Macedonia. It has been tested for antioxidants by Brunswick Labs, (www.brunswicklabs.com) the leader in bio-analtyical testing. It has a mild and very pleasant taste and aroma.
One ten ounce serving of our certified organic Mount Olympus Greek Mountain Tea has an ORAC 5.0 antioxidant score of 6,600 and 160mg of polyphenols.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Organic Greek Mountain Tea from Kilo. . . .
My sample of Organic Greek Mountain Tea from Kilo looked so unusual in the bag I had to give it a try. It looks a bit like sage or a white tea, grey-green in color and fuzzy to the touch, with a chain of full, yellow blossoms. I needed my big infuser to handle all the lush stems, leaves, and blossoms of this tea.
I followed my usual pattern for lightly flavored herbal teas and steeped these leaves with boiling water, lots of leaves, and waited a good ten minutes.
Brewed the tea is very fragrant, vegetal but sweet, almost like brown sugar and okra. There’s a hint of something in the scent that reminds me of savory dishes in the kitchen, like black pepper or oregano: herbal but spicy.
The taste of this tea has some of the familiar lemon and chamomile notes, gently floral, sweet and bright. But this tea goes behind the chamomile flavors and has a more fermented great tea base beneath all that sweet lemon. The sweetness is worth noting, there is a very forward, almost-caramel note in the scent and aftertaste.
This was a unique blend in looks, smell, and taste, not to mention it is an herbal tea packed with good things to help you live a long and healthy life. Unless you go into the mountains to pick some more tea and encounter the gods of Mount Olympus, that is. Safe travels and happy brewing!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Kilo
Description:
This variety, Sideritis Scardica, comes from the legendary Mount Olympus, in the Balkans, situated between Thessaly and Macedonia. It has been tested for antioxidants by Brunswick Labs, (www.brunswicklabs.com) the leader in bio-analtyical testing. It has a mild and very pleasant taste and aroma.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Greek Mountain Tea from Klío™
Keep reading to learn how you can win TWO bags of Greek Mountain Tea and a mug from Klío™!
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Klío™
Tea Description:
Greek Mountain tea (pronounced “Tsy-Too-VooNoo” in Greek, accent on the “voo”) is made from the dried flowers, leaves and stems of the native Sideritis plant which grows throughout the mountainous regions of Greece at very high elevations – typically over 3,000 feet. It is known for its high levels of antioxidants and contains large amounts of essential oils and more than 60 other compounds, including saponines, flavonoids and polyphenols.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a bit apprehensive (and yet, excited!) to try this tea/tisane. To my recollection, I haven’t yet tried Tsai Tou VouNou – or Greek Mountain Tea – so I didn’t know what to expect from the flavor.
The dry leaf aroma is interesting. It’s herbaceous, earthy and somewhat floral. I am picking up on hints of something that makes me think “eucalyptus.” The appearance of the dry leaf reminds me (as a tea drinker) of a White Yabao type tea. Or perhaps a Yabao with lots of LARGE white silver needle tea leaves. The leaves feel like a silver needle too, they’re soft and covered with a fluffy down-like fuzz.
Because this tea is totally new to me, I decided to check out the brewing parameters recommended by Klio. I figured, hey, if I want to adjust it after that, I can always brew another pot. But for now, I thought it was a reasonable and maybe even a good idea to go with the people who know this tea just a bit better than I. From what I could gather from the brewing instructions on the back of the pouch, it looks like I should boil the tea leaves in a pot on the stove for 3 – 5 minutes and then allow to steep for an additional 3 – 5 minutes. OK.
So, I grabbed a small pan and brought 12 ounces of water to a near boil and then tossed in a “small handful of flowers and stems” (as stated in the instructions) into the pan and then I allowed this to come to a boil and boiled for 3 minutes. Then I covered the pan and took it off the heat. I allowed it to steep an additional 3 minutes.
I let the tea cool for a few minutes before taking my first sip. This was mostly out of fear of what I was about to taste more than it was out of fear of scalding my taste buds. Finally, I plucked up the courage and took that first sip. Then I took another. And another. Hmm … this isn’t so bad.
It’s actually pretty tasty!
It has a distinct herbaceous quality to the flavor. It’s sweet and a little grassy, with notes of earthiness. Notes of a lemon-y flavor. It has a little bit of a honey-esque note to it. It’s a warm taste, not abundantly “spicy” but it has a warmth to it that reminds me a little bit of sage.
It’s quite unique from anything I’ve tasted before, but at the same time, the herb-y flavors taste somewhat familiar. It’s a comforting and cozy drink, I feel it warming me inside and there’s more to it:
It has a very soothing quality to it too, as I sip it, I feel it relax me from the inside out. I have anxiety disorder and I feel the anxiety starting to slip away as I sip this, WOW! I really like that. I feel the anxiety leaving my body. I like that I can accomplish that while drinking something that is pleasant to taste.
I highly recommend trying this – it’s something that is well-regarded in Greece for it’s health benefits. Here’s something that I found on the Greek Medicine website:
Shepherd’s Tea is a very warming, stimulating beverage most known for its beneficial effects on the upper respiratory tract in relieving coughs and lung congestion. It also benefits the stomach and digestion, as well as the immune system. Scientific studies have shown that Shepherd’s Tea has considerable immunomodulatory activity in reducing excessive inflammation and edema, as well as antimicrobial activity. Shepherd’s Tea also relieves mild anxiety and contains many antioxidants.
Overall, I’ve had a very enjoyable experience with this tea from Klio! And check this out … you can WIN some of this amazing tea!
GIVEAWAY
This week’s giveaway comes to us courtesy of Klío™! They are offering a very generous prize package: TWO bags of Greek Mountain Tea plus a mug!
How to enter: It’s simple, just comment on this blog post! Include in the comment a way for me to get in touch with you if you’re the lucky winner!
Bonus entries: And of course, we’ll offer you a way to get bonus entries in this giveaway!
- Follow us on twitter!
- Follow Klio on Twitter!
- Tweet about this contest. Be sure to include #SororiTeaSister and #KlioGiveaway in the tweet so I can see it.
You’ll get a bonus entry for each of these.
This contest will run through December 4th. I will contact the winner on December 5th to obtain shipping information that will be forwarded on to Klio.
Good luck!
