When you go out shopping for Christmas fruitcake and Christmas cookies, you almost HAVE to look for Christmas tea, right? How excited was I to find Peppermint Bark from The Republic of Tea? Very! Because it is an herbal that I can have anytime I want, and it is made with green rooibos which I enjoy instead of red rooibos which I…let’s just not go there.
The tin said “Cool Winter Herb Tea” and under that it said “Organic Green Rooibos with Organic Peppermint, Vanilla, and Cocoa.” All good, right? Until I get it home and get ready to make it and on the back the ingredient list adds “organic stevia leaf.” Argh! WHY?????
I don’t just dislike stevia leaf. For some reason, it makes my reflux flare and my stomach stays ticked off for days. In the interest of tea reviewing I will go ahead and try it since I am already in the midst of a flare anyway. Surely a few sips will be okay…
Six minutes, boiling water, and I have a minty smelling cup. The vanilla is not pronounced and the cocoa is almost undiscernable. This is mostly just mint, but I suppose a white peppermint bark would taste more or less like this. There must not be a lot of stevia because it isn’t particularly sweet, at least, no sweeter than mint already makes things taste to me.
If you are into mint and you don’t mind stevia, you might love this tisane. I don’t hate it, but I wouldn’t go looking for a stevia free version. Honestly, the pretty tin would make a great stocking stuffer. Since I have already opened it, I will pass it on to a friend.
Note to self: Don’t go by the blurbs on the front of tins. Check the ingredient list carefully before you buy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Republic of Tea
Description
Cool Winter Herb Tea – Fill your home with the aromas of peppermint and chocolate with this sweet herbal tea. Green rooibos mingles perfectly with the flavors of organic cocoa and peppermint. This caffeine-free cup is best savored by a roaring fire after a holiday meal to settle the tummy and satisfy your sweet tooth.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Orange Raspberry Green Rooibos from 52Teas . . .
The word I’d use to describe this blend is “tangy.”
It’s a pleasing mix of tart and sweet. You can taste the bite of the citrus, the dance of the raspberry, and the wink of the rooibos. All of this flavor, none of the tireless, tedious bed-flipping evenings that come as a consequence of caffeine.
This reminds me of something moxie-bright I might have chugged as a child. It is sunshine and playing tag, bottled. It’s like Van Gogh’s brushstrokes have swirled this flavor profile into being.
All in all, this is a charming companion to sit by your bedside as you drift off to dreamland.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Rooibos/Herbal
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sage Wellness from Plum Deluxe
I love brewing up tea with fresh herbs from the garden or from the kitchen. With all the turkey and holiday meals in the wintertime, I feel like sage is an especially appropriate herb to be brewing this time of year, so I ordered a bag of Sage Wellness tea from Plum Deluxe.
This is a tea with a green rooibos base, which provides the perfect, gentle background for the other herbs and flavors. In the dry leaf, there are plenty of fuzzy, grey-green leaves from the sage, a pleasure to touch and smell. Rose petals and lemon peel add to the dreamy fragrance.
Beyond the rooibos and sage, this blend also features fruit pieces like strawberry and rosehips, and fruit flavoring from strawberries and peaches. The sage feels like Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing, but the strawberry feels like a summer harvest. With the two fragrant, flavorful factors of sage and strawberry, the whole blend is reminiscent of a fresh, blooming herb garden.
Not too sweet and not too savory, the fruit and herbs come together to make an atypical take on familiar flavors. With a blend so beautiful to look at and so tasty to brew, I like to pretend that I was wandering in a fantasy garden, plucking bits of sage and picking perfect strawberries to add to my perfect cup of tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description:
Nourish body + soul with the wisdom and healing of fresh herbs and fruits! Our sage + green rooibos herbal tea artfully blends lemon and orange with a pinch of strawberry and peach to make a delightfully refreshing, flavorful tonic wonderful for when you have those emotional blues or just want a cup of something calm and restorative.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
