Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Pelican Tea
Tea Description:
Firewater is the original recipe by Pelican Tea and remains our favorite to this day. Premium Orange Pekoe black tea and home-toasted brown rice produce an earthy blend that’s as comforting as it is spicy. Good around a campfire or mixed with your favorite spirit (silver tequila being our spirit of choice).
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
OK! I’ve got to tell you … this Firewater Black Tea Blend from Pelican Tea scared me! I don’t do a whole lot of cooking (or anything else) with the habanero pepper, because even though I do appreciate a zesty, spicy tea every so often, I can’t say that I’ve been really jumping out of my seat to try a habanero pepper infused tea. I mean, hey, we’re talking one of the hottest peppers out there, and right on the package of this tea, it says this:
Exceptionally Spicy, Habanero Infused
But, I’m thinking … I’ve tried a jalapeno tea, and I’ve tried some really SPICY teas, so I decided to pluck up the courage and brew myself a cup of this tea. Upon opening the package, I expected there to be a stronger aroma. I guess I envisioned the hairs in my nostrils feeling the singe of the heat from the habanero. But that didn’t happen. OK … this is a good thing!
The fragrance of the brewed tea is slightly spicy/peppery with notes of black tea with a slightly stronger, top note of toasted rice. The smell is promising.
And the sip? I took a very careful, timid sip. I tasted the notes of sweet, toasted rice and the smooth, brisk black tea. The first couple of sips were warm and spicy, but not ah-chi-cha spicy. (Yeah … that’s just what came to my head while thinking of a way to say tongue blisteringly spicy.) After the third sip, I started to notice the warmth develop toward the back of my throat.
After four or five sips, the flavor becomes increasingly more spicy. By mid-sip, the heat creeps in and warms the palate. The heat in the back of my throat is warm but not searing hot. Make no mistake, this is exceptionally spicy, as promised on the label of the package. But, it’s not uncomfortably, blisteringly, searingly hot. I’m not feeling the urge to run to the kitchen for something to temper the heat. I might be thinking “ah-chi-cha” but, it’s in a very good way!
This is what I’d call a very GOOD burn. It’s hot and spicy and I can feel myself starting to break a bit of a sweat, but, I like the flavor that my palate is experiencing. I appreciate that Pelican Tea has turned up the heat but they haven’t started a blazing inferno in my mouth.
And what I like best about that is that I’m able to experience the other flavors in this tea. I can taste that light sweetness from the toasted rice. I like that I’m tasting the flavor of the black tea and there’s a nice contrast between the sweet and the spicy … and while the spicy does reign over the sweet in this cup, I can taste these other notes and I like that.
This is the kind of tea I’d want to have on hand when I’m feeling under the weather because you know how when you’re feeling sick, your taste buds feel like they’ve been covered with cotton or something? Like somebody wove a tongue coat of cotton that buffers your ability to taste … anything? You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? Well, with this tea, I have no doubt in my mind that I’d be able to taste it, and it would warm me up from the inside out, and that would be an added bonus.
It’s a great tea for those of you who appreciate a walk on the spicy side of life.
PRODUCT REVIEW: Spicy Tortilla Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth from Millie’s Savory Teas
Product Information:
Leaf Type: Green
About This Product:
A zesty blend of chipotle pepper, spices and green tea. The flavor and spice of a Mexican Sopa.
To Learn more about this Millie’s Savory Teas, click here.
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Taster’s Review:
I was excited to try this savory “tea” because I’ve enjoyed the other green tea infused sipping broths that I’ve tried from Millie’s Savory Teas. I felt confident that I’d also enjoy this Spicy Tortilla.
I could smell the spices of this tea the moment I opened the package! It smells like Mexican Food! YUM!
Oh, this is tasty! As I’ve mentioned in the first paragraph, I’ve tried a couple of other tea infused sipping broths from Millie’s – you can read my review for the Indian Spice sipping broth here, and for the Tomato Basil sipping broth here. If you were to ask me before tasting them which of these three I think I’d prefer, without a moment’s hesitation, I would have said the Tomato Basil. But as it turns out, the Tomato Basil is my least favorite of the three. This one might just be my favorite thus far.
It has a nice amount of spice to it, but this isn’t so spicy that it has me running to the kitchen for a glass of water to cool my tongue. It’s zesty, warm and delicious, much like a tortilla soup that I might order at my favorite Mexican Food restaurant. I can taste notes of chipotle, garlic, tomato and onion. All that’s missing, really, is strips of tortilla chips!
Oh … and the green tea is missing, too. As I’ve mentioned in my reviews of the other savory teas, the green tea is difficult to detect in these sipping broths. Of the three, I think I tasted more green tea in the Indian Spice. There isn’t a whole lot of green tea flavor to this.
That is my one big complaint about these blends. I find myself wishing there was more green tea so that I can actually think of it as a “tea.” It’s a bit like adding a little bit of tea to my soup … I’m still eating soup, not drinking tea. That’s what’s happening here too. I’m sipping broth, not tea.
It’s still really tasty, though, and something I’d sip again.
Tulsi Infusion Black Tea from Teatulia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teatulia
Tea Description:
Tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum), or “Holy Basil” is native to the Old World tropics and is cultivated for religious and medicinal purposes as well as its essential oil.
Invigorating black tea blend with a rich, full-bodied spiciness. Excellent on ice.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve tasted and previously reviewed this Tulsi Infusion Black Tea from Teatulia for another blog, but when the opportunity arose for me to try it again, I took advantage of that opportunity to see how my thoughts for this tea may have changed. After all, when I first tried this tea, I was still fairly new to the herb tulsi. I had tried a few at that point, but, since then, I’ve tried a few more and my liking for tulsi has grown.
The flavor of this blend is very balanced. I can taste the tulsi and the black tea pretty evenly. The black tea is a strong, robust tea. In my previous review of this tea I mentioned that there was a “fair amount of astringency,” but, I’m not noticing a whole lot of astringency to this cup. I am not sure why that is, but I suspect that my brewing parameters are slightly different for this cup.
Over the course of the last couple of years, I’ve come to realize the importance of lowering the water temperature for teas and tisanes that contain herbs in them, because the boiling water seems to scorch the herbs and create a little bit of bitterness that I’d rather not be there. By brewing my teas and tisanes that have herbs in the blend at a temperature of 195°F rather than boiling water, I experience less of a bitter bite from my herbal infused teas – including this tea.
An unexpected side affect of this change in temperature might also be less astringency from the brewed cup of tea. This is much smoother and more delicious than I remember the tea being in the past. So, if you’ve been experiencing the same type of issue, try turning the temperature down just a bit and you might find that you’re able to enjoy the herbal blends more.
The tulsi gives this cup a warmth that is just a wee bit spicy (don’t think “chai spicy” … think savory spice) and a crisp flavor that is a little reminiscent of mint, but a more savory tasting mint than peppermint or spearmint. When united with the flavor of the black tea, I get a cup that offers a rich, earthy, savory flavor that tastes of both black tea and warm spice, and mid-sip, I’m greeted with a crisp, invigorating note.
A really good tea – I find that it soothes, calms and gently restores me, especially nice after a hectic day of holiday shopping!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Indian Spice Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth from Millie’s Savory Teas
Product Information:
Leaf Type: Green
About This Product:
A snappy blend of curry, spices and green tea. Tastes like your eating at your favorite Indian curry restaurant.
To Learn more about this Millie’s Savory Teas, click here.
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Taster’s Review:
In my September Love with Food box, I received not one but two new-to-me savory teas from Millie’s Savory Teas to try, including this Indian Spice Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth. Even though I was a little disappointed with the Tomato Basil variety of Millie’s Savory Teas, I still found myself excited at the prospect of trying a couple more of these tea infused sipping broths.
And much to my surprise, I like this Indian Spice flavor much better than I liked the Tomato Basil. I love Tomato, so I expected that to be the one I liked best, but I think that the Indian spices work much better in this tea infused sipping broth concept.
The aroma of the dry “bag” is that of curry, but I also taste the smell of “bouillon” too. You know the smell of the bouillon cubes? Yeah, I smell that salty/savory scent of bouillon. And this broth … is a little on the salty side (don’t salt it before you taste it!) but it isn’t too salty for my taste. I taste a hint of carrot and onion to this too.
It still tastes more like broth than it does green tea … but I can taste more of the green tea here than I did in the Tomato Basil. What’s more, I’m finding this broth to be so soothing and comforting. I think this would make an ideal light meal … perhaps with a piece of fruit.
This sipping broth gets a thumbs up from me. This is one I might buy again!
PRODUCT REVIEW: Tomato Basil Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth from Millie’s Savory Teas
Product Information:
Leaf Type: Green
About Millie’s Savory Teas:
Our first-of-its-kind sipping broth is a blend of savory herbs and spices infused with loose leaf green tea. Excellent as an alternative to coffee or plain tea. Each tin comes with 15 tea bags that make 8 oz cups each. Just boil water, pour into a cup then add a tea bag and let steep for 2 minutes, stir and enjoy. Let the bag steep longer for a more intense flavor.
To Learn more about this Millie’s Savory Teas, click here.
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Taster’s Review:
I received this product – a tea bag of this Tomato Basil Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth from Millie’s Savory Teas – in my February Love with Food Box. I subscribe to these boxes and review many of the samples of food that I receive from them on my foodie blog, which you can read here.
I was very curious about this “tea” because, as many of you know, I’m a HUGE fan of 52Teas and after months of bugging Frank of 52Teas, he finally relented and created a blend for me: LiberTEAS Tomato, Basil, and Black Pepper Tea. And I loved the stuff! And to be honest, when I had originally suggested the tomato, basil, and black pepper blend, I had a green tea base in mind rather than a black tea base. Frank thought that a black tea base with a hint of Lapsang Souchong in it would be better, and I do think that the black tea base was a good choice. However, I remained curious about the green tea base, so when I received this Tomato Basil green tea infused sipping broth, I was excited to finally try a green tea with the flavors of tomato and basil.
The aroma of the bag when I opened the pouch was similar to the smell that I get when I open a tin of dried basil from my pantry. The aroma had a very strong herbaceous scent to it. The bag was kind of … hard. that is to say that it didn’t really seem very “loose” or “leafy” inside the tea bag, it seemed to be more like a bit of bouillon that was dried in the bag. Since this was called a “sipping broth” I didn’t find this objectionable, but, I can see how tea purists might find it a bit off.
Let me say that the “infused” part of the Tomato Basil Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth is the key word to the name of this product. Because the green tea flavor is nearly indistinguishable. I taste hints of an earthy, vegetative greenness to this “tea” which turns out to be more like broth than tea, and the hints are not really enough for me. I found myself wishing that this was more like a tea and less like a broth. That said, I do like that this is not quite as salty as I find the typical commercially produced broth or bouillon would be.
As a broth, it’s tasty. As a tea … it leaves quite a bit to be desired. Not bad, and it would be nice to maybe have on hand for when you might be feeling a tad under the weather and want a cup of broth to soothe and comfort you. Especially nice if you’re at the office. And that’s what I’d recommend it as: a soothing, comfort food for when you’re away from home. If you’re looking for a tea with the flavors of tomato and basil … I’d suggest looking somewhere else.