Reine Des Pres

Tisane Information:

Leaf Type: Tisane

Tisane Description:

Draped her velvet dress and crowned with delicate flowers, it emerges from this plant a benevolent sovereign sweetness. When she let them approach, it is possible to leap at his flowery fragrance . . . this is a sweet herbal notes to sing the melody of the long summer evenings.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I remembered meadowsweet was one of the ingredients in the Retour a La Ligne blend (also by Les 2 Marmottes), but I really can’t remember having a pure meadowsweet tisane as this is until now, so I was interested in trying it. If nothing else, it expands my repertoire of herbs and their flavors.

So, I didn’t really know exactly what to expect from this tisane. When I go into a tisane tasting like this – without any significant first hand knowledge of what the herb tastes like – I’m a little apprehensive (to say the least!) but I’m very happily surprised by this Reine Des Pres! This is really quite tasty!

It’s a near perfect combination of flowery and herbaceous tastes. I taste a pollen-y, delicate flowery taste, and I can taste herb-y flavors in there too. But mostly what I taste is SWEET. This is deliciously sweet, like honey!

I steeped the tea bag in 8 ounces of near boiling (195°F) water for 10 minutes, and the result is a golden amber colored liquid that smells sweet and a little bit like a meadow of wildflowers. Now, I can’t say that I recall the last time I was in a meadow of wildflowers. I can’t even say that I’ve ever been in a meadow of wildflowers except for maybe in my daydreams. But on those days when I had those dreams, this is what I imagined that meadow of wildflowers to smell like.

Sweet, reminiscent of pollen, honey, and delicate hints of flower. Notes of herb. It’s really quite enjoyable to sip. It feels quite soothing and relaxing. And as I sit here, sipping this tisane, I wonder why it is that I’m only just now trying a pure infusion of meadowsweet.

How is it that this is an herb that escapes the notice of many a tea blender? It’s quite delightful, and I think that more tea blenders should be adding this to their blends. I can imagine how much more tasty it would make blends with some of my less than favorite herbs like ginseng or chamomile or hibiscus, and with it’s honeyed taste, I think it would amplify those honey notes of rooibos and honeybush.

I hope to find more teas and/or tisanes with meadowsweet in them … I’m enjoying this!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Fruit/Herbal Tisane