Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane/Spice Melangé
Where to Buy: Monterey Bay Spice Company
Product Description:
Roasted dandelion, chicory root, and sarsaparilla root get you started towards Root 66 Tea. Creating a robust and dark infusion, this herbal tea exudes a mouth-watering natural earthiness. Good for your liver, Root 66 Tea also twists in a bit of the exotic: the lively sweetness of coconut and the slight chocolate taste of carob. With lingering licorice airiness, this herbal makes a fantastic coffee substitute or a dessert tea!
Ingredients–Sarsparilla root, chicory root, roasted dandelion root, carob pods, cinnamon, fennel, crystal malt and coconut.
Caffeine Free
Taster’s Review:
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m always a little leery of herbal blends such as this. I’m always afraid that they’ll taste too medicinal for my personal taste, so I find myself always putting off trying them.
And I am really sorry that I put off trying this one as long as I did, because it’s rather tasty! It has a sweet, root beer-like taste to it which is enhanced by the spices and malt. It has a slightly roasted taste to it too, and I like how the coconut and sarsaparilla taste together. It’s really much better than I imagined it would be.
The Sarsaparilla root gives this tisane its root beer taste. The licorice-y taste of fennel and the cocoa notes of the carob enhance the sweetness of this cup while the cinnamon gives it a nice warmth in the background. There is a roasted note to this as well from the chicory and roasted dandelion root which adds depth to the cup.
But what really makes this tisane special is the coconut. I love the combination of flavors – it’s sort of like a chocolate and coconut flavored spiced root beer!
This tisane has a little bit of an herbal/medicinal aftertaste that I would define as almost peppery – it’s the dandelion! However, this aftertaste doesn’t linger very long. And because I enjoy the flavor of the tea so much, I can overlook the aftertaste.
I am sipping this now as a hot beverage – it is cold and wet outside and I am enjoying the warm, cozy comfort of a hot tea, but I think that this blend would be even better iced – it would be a great substitute for soda! Just a little pinch of sugar will enhance the sweeter notes and make it an irresistible treat for the kids. It’s naturally caffeine free, so there’s nothing to overstimulate them, either!
This is YUMMY!
On the 8th Day of Christmas … from 52Teas
Yep… you read that right. Today is the 8th day.
I still can’t believe it’s Christmas already… this year seems to have flown by!
So much has happened this year… my first born graduated from high school, and she got engaged to a wonderful guy. I’m thrilled he will be joining our family. My youngest started 4th grade! It’s been quite a year.
Anyway, enough of that, or I shall be writing this review with teary eyes. To avoid the tears, lets get to the tea of the day, shall we?
MALTED CHOCOMATÉ
Tea Information: 
Leaf Type: Yerba Maté
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
This is roasted yerba mate with organic cacao nibs and all natural chocolate and malt flavors. It is one delicious energy kick! If you missed our last yerba mate blend, you can read more about mate and it’s properties here. This is our first roasted mate blend. The previous mate blends were made with green yerba mate. The difference in flavor is similar to the difference between a black and a green tea, though the roasted mate still has tiny bit more of a vegetal taste than black tea.
Taster’s Review:
Another favorite from 52Teas, and for good reason. With this one, it’s all about the chocolate, baby! Of all the 52Teas I’ve tried thus far, this one is by far the most chocolate-y (although, if you are a chocoholic like I am, I also highly recommend the Chocolate Malt Honeybush from My Sweet Honeybush, which I would say is probably neck and neck when it comes to chocolate-y-ness).
I previously reviewed this tea for the Tea Review Blog, and really my feelings about this delicious tisane have not changed. It is still just as rich and delicious as it was when I wrote the review.
The Yerba Maté does have a vegetative quality to it but I don’t find it distracting. What is especially nice is how well the roasted aspect of the Yerba Maté enhances the flavor of the chocolate. The flavor is sweet, pleasantly toasty, and decadent.
To be quite honest, I would prefer this to a chocolate ice cream malt any day, if for no other reason than that I find tea to be infinitely more soothing and comforting than ice cream. Don’t get me wrong, I love ice cream (and malts!), but if given a choice between ice cream and tea… I’d choose tea every time. And even though this is not technically a “tea” because it’s made from Yerba Maté leaves and not tea leaves, I still love how wonderful this really is.
And even though it is rather soothing and comforting, the Yerba Maté definitely is rather invigorating! I wouldn’t recommend sipping on this just before bedtime. I find the caffeine in Yerba Mate to be more stimulating than that in tea, but without the “jolt” that coffee delivers – and without the inevitable nausea (at least for me) that follows the coffee jolt.
This is truly a delicious blend – one that is definitely worthy of its place in 52Teas permanent collection, one I am glad was featured in this 12 Teas of Christmas box, and one that should definitely be on the shelf of every chocolate lover! It’s so good!
Royal Lily Bloom Tea by thepuriTea
Tea Type: Flowering White
Where To Buy: thepuriTea
Product Description:
Royal Lily Bloom is a hand-tied white tea that blooms into a gorgeous gradation from muted-green white tea buds to delicate, canary-yellow chrysanthemum petals to a vibrant spray of blossoming crimson lily. This regal, sophisticated tea is a classic “flowering tea” or “blossoming tea” in terms of its appearance, but its flavor is no shrinking violet… Surprisingly full flavors of cocoa, malt, flowers, fruit and chestnuts set this tea bloom apart from other flowering teas.
Short infusions of Royal Lily Bloom are perfect with mild breakfast foods, mild Buddhist Chinese foods or mellow desserts. It can also steep longer over meals or at parties for a White-Peony-like aroma and deeper flavors of caramel, malt, apricots and chestnuts
Tasters Review:
I LOVE Flowering teas…the beauty, the art, the tradition…
I’m not the most patient person but flowering or blooming teas are certainly worth the wait! This one…Royal Lily Bloom Tea from thepuriTea is no exception! This is a real winner!
I did 3 infusions on this bloom! Here are my findings…
1st infusion…
It was YUMMY! It was Sweet but still floral. Weird thing tho…the bloom…bloomed…but upsidedown! I tried to flip it gently several times and it just wouldn’t belly-up! Regardless is was a delight to my palate!
2nd infusion…was still good! It was Floral-sweet and even juicy. The aftertaste reminded me of Chestnuts…a sweet Chestnut more than a bitter-nutty Chestnut.
3rd infusion was semi-fruity and semi-floral and sweet. A bit sugar-like…and still VERY good!
Take TIME for this BLOOM…it’s WORTH it!
