Sometimes I read up on a tea before trying it. Sometimes I just make a cup and start sipping. I figured “chocolate” and “puerh” were pretty self-explanatory so I boiled some water and got down to business.
I expected the earthy flavor of puerh tea and rich chocolate or cocoa taste. Before I even tasted it, I smelled something more akin to Mexican hot chocolate. What’s going on here?
The first sip offered a sweet spice that I wasn’t expecting. I knew I tasted cinnamon and something else…nutmeg! And cardamom! The puerh flavor is pretty light, the chocolate flavor is mild enough not to cover up the spices and thankfully doesn’t have that horrible mildew odor that some chocolate teas have. There is honeybush and rooibos in this, which must be part of the foundational symphony of flavors because they don’t stand out on their own to me. I actively dislike rooibos so for me to enjoy this means there isn’t much here, or it is adequately covered by the other flavors. I am not really picking up the orange flavor, and I am glad because orange + cinnamon has been done to death!
We don’t do tea bags much. Bags that are dirt cheap usually aren’t a quality that we enjoy. Bags that are not dirt cheap need to resteep for us or they just aren’t worth buying. I am on steep three for this one. I approve!
TLDR: light earthy puerh that tastes like cocoa with cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon, reminiscent of Mexican hot chocolate.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Puerh
Where to Buy: Numi Organic Tea
Description
This velvety infusion combines black Pu∙erh tea and organic cocoa. Accented by whole vanilla beans and sweet orange peel, this decadent blend is rounded off with nutmeg and cinnamon for a spicy finish.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
HoneyBush from Numi. . . . .
I haven’t had honey since going vegan over eight years ago. I used to love honey in my tea. When I took my first sip of this tea, I felt like I was a kid drinking herbal tea with lots of honey in it. It has a beautiful aftertaste of honey. It’s perfectly outbalanced. It’s sweet without being too sweet, just like I remember honey.
Apparently honeybush is related to the rooibos plant. I can tell they’re related. Honeybush tea has a similar earthy taste just with a very pleasant sweet finish.
This tea is caffeine free so it is a delicious anytime tea. It would be an amazing dessert tea. I enjoyed this tea two ways. I had it both warm and iced and I loved it both ways. This is one of my favorite herbal teas and I’m just so glad I discovered it!
Just like rooibos tea, honeybush tea is full of antioxidants. I love drinking something that not only tastes so lovely, but is also so good for me as well.
If you haven’t tried honeybush tea yet, you need to do yourself the biggest favor and try it!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Numi
Description
From South Africa, our organic Honeybush is a flowering shrub that yields a rich earthy brew with sweet honey overtones. This secret healer is rich in antioxidants.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Gratitude from Numi Organic Teas. . . .
If you’ve been around for a hot minute, you know that I love me some licorice root teas. That said: when a licorice root tea is bad, it’s BAD. There’s a fine balance when you’re dealing with something so naturally sweet (hi, have you met my friend stevia leaf?), and it can be tricky for a tea to knock it outta the park.
This tea? Knocked it outta the park! The sumptuous sweetness of licorice root is beautifully balanced here by the herbaceousness of the lemon verbena and gentle spice from the turmeric. I love any tea with beneficial herbs, and this one delivers across the board with calming tulsi and balancing ashwaghanda.
It’s not often that I find myself choosing bagged tea over my beloved loose leaves, but this is a blend that I love to keep on hand for a quick brew at night, or for an afternoon pick-me-up in my desk drawer. Sweet, indeed!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Numi Organic Teas
Description
A silky sweetness embodies this soothing blend of tulsi which warms the heart, licorice that invigorates the spirit, and ashwagandha that protects and supports. The addition of maca, turmeric, and chamomile bring a rootsy, apple-like taste and a spicy finish. The medley is complex and satisfying, allowing you to settle into an affirming state of gratitude for all of life’s gifts.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Monkey King Jasmine Green Tea from Numi. . . . .
Steeping specs: 170° with one teabag in one cup of water for about 2 to 3 minutes
This green tea is a great responsible option for travelers who need the convenience of a teabag but don’t want to go with a low-quality commercialized option. This one has fair trade certified ingredients (tea leaves infused with jasmine that is also certified organic) and a biodegradable teabag. So there’s some social responsibility for you.
The tea water while steeping turns a yellowish color and immediately gives off a very very floral scent from all that jasmine. Jasmine is actually quite a piercing sent, unlike the green tea flavor in the tea (which I can’t smell at all due to the heady flower fragrance). This particular batch of jasmine flavor, though, is actually much more approachable than some that I’ve tried recently. It’s not so penetrating that you want to run and hide, and it doesn’t make you feel like a perfume shop. It just lingers around the tea and makes everything sweeter.
I should probably also mention that I am almost unable to taste any green tea flavor over the jasmine once I start drinking it. Not quite unable, though. I am finding a bit of astringency that could only come from the tea itself, and there are a couple of other notes that may be tea-related, although it’s a little hard to tell this point. In addition, the Jasmine actually makes this tea really really sweet, which means it doesn’t need sugar (making it even healthier to drink and even more convenient for traveling).
Overall I’d say this is a very exceptional option considering that it came from a tea bag (I try not to be too much of a loose leaf snob, but some teabags make it so easy). The leaves in the teabag are chopped up pretty finely but still manage to deliver excellent flavor, especially excellent Jasmine flavor.
I would be careful with the directions given on the packet though, since they’re a little unspecific. It says to boil your water and then allow to cool slightly before steeping. What you really need to do is allow to cool significantly to about 170-180° or you’re likely to end up with bitter tea. My tea was steeped at about 170F and is almost verging on bitter already. Of course you can always add sugar if it starts to get bitter too.
So as mentioned above, I think this is a great option for traveling, what with its socially responsible packaging and convenience of use (and higher-quality ingredients than other conveniently packaged teas), or you could even keep it around the house for a great flowery-tasting option when you’re in a hurry or don’t want to bother with loose leaves.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Numi Tea
Description
This tea is not currently on the website but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Mate Lemon from Numi. . . . .
A few months ago, my fiance and I attended the wedding of a good friend of mine, a first-generation Uruguayan American whose wedding and celebration were permeated with beautiful and significant representations of her home culture and family’s heritage. My favorite– by far– were the delicious vats of yerba mate tea all throughout the hall. We sipped on it all night long, and I made a mental note to check back in with my friend on the culture significance of mate as soon as she returned from her sunny honeymoon.
I knew the basic origins of mate, but I had no idea how strongly steeped (hee. see what I did there?) in the Uruguayan culture yerba mate truly was. My friend showed me her traditional mate cup, carved from a gourd with a small basin, holding space for the leaves and filtering out the tea into the bottom as hot water is poured over the leaves again and again. My friend shared with me the benefits her whole family (and whole home country) experience from their constant mate drinking– improved digestion (especially, as she noted to me, for a country whose diet focuses significantly on meat), maintenance of high vitamin A levels, the list goes on and on.
For the next few weeks, I was insatiable– from trying every mate I could find to researching flights to Uruguay in my spare time (a girl can dream, right?). So when this Numi bagged mate showed up in my latest sample box, I was over the moon!
First things first: this isn’t your traditional mate (obviously). It’s a bagged tea, and I won’t be drinking it out of a gourd anytime soon (even more obviously). But that said, it was truly a delight to drink. The lemon came through quite strong, and I rather enjoyed the balanced blend with green tea– even those who aren’t huge fans of the traditionally grassy flavor of mate might find this blend far more palatable. This cup needs nothing added, and for a bagged tea, it certainly isn’t a weak brew. While it might not be the most traditional mate I’ve ever tried, it’s up there with some of my favorites. I’ll definitely be adding bags of this to my regular rotation!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Mate
Where to Buy: Numi Organic Tea
Description
This infusion of organic South American Yerba Maté, Australian Lemon Myrtle and green tea unfolds into a lemon taste with sweet, earthy undertones. Its stimulating effect evokes a cheerful mental lucidity.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!