Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tay Tea
Tisane Description:
Soothing and relaxing with a tangy kick that screams at you to make iced tea. As a hot tea, this is still a delight. Layers of red berries, tart currants, lavender and rooibos with subtle hints of rose. The texture of this tea is amazingly soft on the tongue and the lavender persists all the way through each sip.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
This is really lovely! Despite the suggestion above to make this into iced tea, I opted for a hot tea – there’s just something about lavender that tells me to make hot tea and since it would seem that A Day in Provence Rooibos Blend from Tay Tea has a strong lavender presence I figured hot tea was the way to go this evening. And as I said … it’s really very lovely!
The lavender is a strong, well-defined essence but it never tastes too floral, perfume-ish or soapy. The lavender (and the rose) have been added at just the right amounts so that the flavors are present in every sip without tasting of Aunt Mildred’s favorite perfume.
And as much as I enjoy lavender, what I’m enjoying most about this particular cuppa is that I’m not tasting a strong rooibos flavor. I taste subtle notes of a woody flavor and hints of nutty tones and that familiar honeyed note, but it isn’t a really powerful presence.
Instead, I taste notes of currant and this gives the cup an almost wine-like taste, and the rose and lavender are very complementary to the wine-ish flavors. I taste a sweet-tart berry note. Overall this has a very indulgent, beautiful flavor that I am finding very nice.
I’m really happy that this tea was part of this month’s Amoda Tea Box! Usually, I approach the rooibos/herbal blends with a certain amount of skepticism, but, this is one with which I’m quite pleased.
Ayurvedic De-Stress Tea from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
About Tea of Life Ayurvedic Collection:
The word “Ayurveda” is derived from two words – “Ayus” meaning life and “Veda” meaning ‘knowledge’ or ‘science’. So the literal meaning of the word Ayurveda is ‘The Science of Life.’
Life or Ayus, according to Ayurveda, is a combination of senses, mind, body and soul. So Ayurveda does not just limit itself to the body or physical symptoms, but also provides comprehensive knowledge about spiritual, mental and emotional health.
The traditional healing system of Ayurveda is based on a theory of balance between the body (physical), the soul (spiritual) and the mind (psychological).
Ingredients:
Green Tea with Lemongrass, Gotukola, Ginger, Lavender Buds, Cumin Seed, Fennel.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t know that I was necessarily looking to “De-Stress” today, but I definitely wanted something that would help me unwind and relax without making me want to go and take a nap (like Chamomile would do!) so I decided I’d try this Ayurvedic De-Stress Tea from Tea of Life to help me calm down a little.
When I opened the individually wrapped package that held this tea bag, I could smell the cumin seed! I love cumin and because it’s not really a spice that you often find in tea blends, I’m happy when I do come across a tea blend that has cumin in it.
And I can really taste the cumin in the brewed tea. It is the strongest flavor that I notice in the cup, but, it doesn’t overwhelm the palate. I am also tasting the gotakola here, and together these two spices give the overall cup a very ‘curry-ish’ sort of flavor. I also taste notes of green tea and citrus, the peppery notes of ginger and a hint of licorice from the fennel. I don’t taste a lot of Lavender.
This is a very savory tea with the spices that have been used to craft this blend. The green tea adds a slight vegetal note and a buttery tone and texture, as well as a hint of sweetness that contrasts nicely with the overall savory flavor of this tea.
I enjoyed it, and I will say that I think it served its purpose as I feel not quite as wound up as I was before I started sipping on this tea. It’s not something I’d drink daily, but it is something I’d turn to – happily! – on a stressful day when I need something to get my mind back on track.
Organic Love White Tea from Spicely Organics
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Spicely Organics
Tea Description:
This delightful blend, with its light floral essence and smooth minty finish, is perfect as an after meal pick-me-up or as a late night elixir to refresh the mind and enhance the mood. One pot can make the night sweet and reminiscent. Share it with someone you love. INGREDIENTS: Organic White Peony, Organic Rose Petals, Organic Lavender, Organic Peppermint
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about the Spicely Organics Monthly Tea Membership here.
Taster’s Review:
This Organic Love White Tea from Spicely Organics smells so amazing! I wouldn’t have thought that mint, rose, lavender and white tea would have made such an appealing aroma, but, it’s really quite lovely. White tea and mint … perhaps. Definitely rose, lavender and white tea. But, all four together? I wouldn’t have imagined it smelling so beautiful.
And it tastes quite beautiful too!
The peppermint is the strongest flavor of the four ingredients in this tea, but I’m happy to report that it isn’t an overpowering flavor. This doesn’t taste like mouthwash or even like a piece of peppermint chewing gum. It has a light, sweet peppermint-y note that mingles in a very pleasing way with the flavors of lavender and rose and white tea.
The lavender is especially subtle here, offering just a hint of it’s calming presence. Just enough to let you know it’s there, lulling you into a relaxing state. The rose is a gentle flavor too, and it isn’t a sharp rose flavor. It’s lightly sweet and floral. The two flowers seem to mingle in such a way that it offers more of a “floral essence” than a distinct, powerful flowery taste.
And that’s good, because this IS a white tea, after all. And White Peony tea tends to be a somewhat delicate tasting tea, and if the other components to this blend were too strong, they would create a taste that was all mint and flower. I like that I can taste the white tea, it tastes fresh, light and crisp. It is a perfect base for these other three flavors.
This is a really beautiful tea that seems to instill a sense of calm. And definitely a tea with which I could easily fall in love!
Lavender Green Tea from Tradition
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: This tea is available on Amazon
Tea Description:
Tradition Lavender Green Tea is made from select natural lavender flowers, combined green tea leaves.
Taster’s Review:
I thought long and hard on whether or not I was actually going to post my review of this Lavender Green Tea from Tradition. I wasn’t sure if I could conjure up enough words to describe this tea given the fact that I really wasn’t all that happy with the tea.
But here goes . . .
The fragrance of the tea – both in its dry and brewed form – is very light. I found this somewhat surprising and a little disconcerting given the fact that this is supposed to be a lavender scented tea. I wanted to smell the lavender, but I really didn’t smell much lavender at all.
The tea brews up very light in color … and very light in flavor too. The barely there aroma of the lavender translates into the brewed tea – that is to say that it’s barely there.
I don’t taste much from the green tea either, to be quite honest. On the good side, this isn’t a bitter, grassy green tea which can sometimes be the case of a bagged green tea. Then again, there is so little “green tea” taste here that it makes me question whether or not there’s any green tea in it at all. I don’t taste grassy. I don’t taste vegetative. I do taste a hint of buttery taste that I do sometimes taste in green teas. And I do like that light, little bit of butter taste to this.
But, I taste next to no lavender. On the plus side, at least the lavender isn’t overdone. It doesn’t taste soapy, perfume-ish or chemical-y. There is a very, very delicate whisper of lavender, and I notice that only if I’m really focused on the sip.
Overall, this is just … boring. A very boring and lackluster tea. Not something I’d recommend to anyone. I wouldn’t even recommend to use it as potpourri because the aroma is too slight to enjoy.
Hey … on the plus side … I guess I was able to come up with enough words for a review!
Pure Indulgences Lavender Oolong Tea from Le Palais des Thés
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Le Palais des Thés
Tea Description:
Pure Indulgences Lavender is an exceptional new flavored tea featuring a single natural ingredient.
This magnificent green Oolong tea from China is combined with fresh lavender, whose powerful fragrance spices up the tea’s plant notes.
Semi-oxidized Oolong is a specialty of China and Taiwan, this tea comes in many varieties depending on the growing region, tea plant variety, and manufacturing process.
Pure Indulgences are the result of a lengthy process of selection and development, motivated by the quest to find the perfect balance between the tea leaves, which have their own gustatory characteristics, and the finest ingredients (delicate pieces of fruit and flowers and only all-natural extracts).
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A really nice blended Oolong, this Pure Indulgences Lavender Oolong Tea from Le Palais des Thés! When I first opened the package, I wasn’t too sure, because the lavender aroma is rather jarring! I can’t recall another tea experience when the fragrance of lavender was more abundant.
And although the flavor of the lavender is prominent, it doesn’t overwhelm the Chinese Oolong tea used in this blend, nor does it come off tasting perfume-y. Instead, the lavender marries beautifully with the natural floral notes of the Oolong, creating a bold flowery note that is sweet and feminine without tasting TOO floral.
The Oolong tastes light and buttery with a delicious creamy undertone and notes of vegetation. These flavors weave their way in and out while the dominating floral flavor present throughout the sip. My favorite part about this tea is the way that the natural sweetness of the Oolong and the sweet notes of the lavender intertwine and create this really delicious, delectable sweetness.
Later infusions become a little less lavender-y, a little less floral, and allow for the other notes to surface. The lavender is always there, though.
I get why Le Palais des Thés has chosen to add this tea to their “Pure Indulgences” line of teas. It has a very indulgent flavor to it. As I sip it, it evokes thoughts of relaxing in a warm bubble bath. And while the flavors are strong, there is a soft, calming essence to the tea because the lavender is … just a soft and calming herb.
A really nice tea – this is one I’d recommend to those who love lavender teas … or Oolong enthusiasts who are looking for something a little different.