Spice Dragon Red Chai Herbal Tea from Stash Tea

spicedragonTisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Rooibos

Where to Buy:  Stash Tea

Tisane Description:

Rooibos, an antioxidant-rich herb also known as red tea, combines with clove, ginger root and sweet cinnamon to create a unique, caffeine-free sweet and spicy chai.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

This Spice Dragon Red Chai Herbal Tea from Stash Tea is another gift that I received over the holidays.  It was one that I hadn’t yet tried from Stash, so I was happy to have the opportunity to give it a try.

I steeped this the way I would usually steep a rooibos tisane:  using 195°F water and steeping for 10 minutes.  With rooibos, if I use boiling water and attempt to steep that long, I get a sort of sour wood like flavor that I don’t find agreeable.  But I found by lowering the temperature slightly, I can steep the tisane for 10 minutes to get a whole lot of flavor out of the blend, and not get that weird sour wood taste.

And this isn’t too bad.  It’s strongly spiced with cinnamon, and there is some ginger and clove to this too.  I find myself missing cardamom here, because I think that it might offer a more well-rounded spice note, but, as it is, it’s tasty.

I taste mostly cinnamon, and it’s a sweet cinnamon – not that red-hot cinnamon candy type of cinnamon.  This is a sweeter cinnamon taste.  The clove adds a warmth to the cup, but I don’t taste a lot of ginger.  Maybe a little more ginger would add a zesty, spicy edge to the cup.

I don’t taste a lot of rooibos flavor here.  I do taste a nutty/earthy sort of flavor that I attribute to the rooibos.  This nutty taste marries seamlessly with the cinnamon.

This is kind of a “one-note” type of tisane.  I taste cinnamon, and a background of clove and hints of nutty rooibos.  Every once in a while I detect the peppery note of ginger.  But, it isn’t as complex as other rooibos chai blends I’ve tasted.  It has less spicy kick to it than some rooibos blends out there.  Tasty, but not the best rooibos chai I’ve ever tasted.

Red Maple Spice Tisane from Shanti Tea

red-maple-spiceTisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Rooibos

Where to Buy:  Shanti Tea

Tisane Description:

A lingering spice softened by sweet maple, this is one of our favourite maple blends. The color, aroma, and flavor profile match incredibly well and create a full multi-sensory experience. A must try tea for maple & spice lovers.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Oh wow!  This Red Maple Spice Tisane from Shanti Tea is seriously YUM!  I didn’t think it would be this good – I tend to be apprehensive when it comes to rooibos blends – but I’m happy to report that this is a very tasty rooibos blend!

That might have a little something to do with the fact that the spice and maple notes dominate and I don’t really taste a strong presence from the rooibos.  But I’m just fine with that.  I do taste very subtle hints of a nutty taste from the rooibos and the flavor unites seamlessly with the maple and spice.

The cardamom and fennel offer a flavor that is warm and comforting.  I taste hints of licorice from the fennel and hints of citrus from the cardamom, a flavor profile that is further accentuated with the addition of orange peels to the mix.  The citrus-y notes are delicate and most noticeable toward the end of the sip.

The maple is sweet and tastes amazing with these other flavors.  Everything is very harmonious.  It is a sweet yet spicy treat that I find very cozy to sip on when it’s cold outside.  I think I prefer this as a hot drink, although it tastes good when it cools too.

A really thoughtfully crafted rooibos tisane.  This is one I’d highly recommend.

Mayan Cocoa Spice Tisane from Yogi

MayanCocoaSpiceTisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Spice Melange

Where to Buy:  Yogi

Tisane Description:

Embark on a journey to the ancient Mayan temples, where prized cocoa beans were ground and mixed with spices to create a sacred beverage that symbolized fertility and prosperity. We’ve taken this combination into the modern era by combining Organic Cocoa Shells, which supply antioxidants, with the traditional Ayurvedic warming and invigorating spices of organic Cardamom, Clove and Cinnamon Bark. Enjoy this rich tasting and enlivening blend any time of day for a delicious treat.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

Even though this Mayan Cocoa Spice Tisane from Yogi isn’t marketed as a “chai” … because it has many of the “usual” spices of a masala chai blend, I decided to categorize it as a chai.  And even though this is a tea that can be purchased at my local Chuck’s Produce and it’s a bagged tea, it’s not too bad.

It’s actually pretty good.

Perhaps it’s the cacao that won me over here.  I love the spiced chocolate taste of this, it reminds me a bit of a mild Mexican hot chocolate.  The chocolate is good and strong (which makes the chocoholic in me very happy) and the spices don’t overwhelm the chocolate, instead, they enhance the chocolate-y flavor.  Especially nice is the chicory, which lends a “coffee-esque” sort of flavor to the cup without coffee’s bitterness, and coffee and chocolate seem to go together very well.  And so it would seem that chocolate and chicory work equally as well together.

The other spices are well portrayed in this melange too.  The cinnamon is the strongest of the spices, but it isn’t an overpowering taste.  The cardamom and clove add a nice background of warmth, and the ginger and black pepper add just enough “kick” to this to spice it up without becoming too spicy (although, I can’t help but think what an interesting taste it would be if there was just a hint of cayenne or something stronger in this!)

My biggest issue with this blend is the stevia in the blend.  I don’t like it when any tea or tisane includes stevia or other sweetener in it, because I like to decide how sweet or not sweet I want my beverage to be.  I don’t like that predetermined for me.  And the stevia does impart a slightly “funky” taste to the cup, fortunately, the spices are strong enough to curb this funkiness a little bit, so I’m just getting a wee bit of funky, and its not enough funky to stop me from sipping on this spicy chocolate drink.  

Not a bad beverage.  It’s not something I’d buy again, but, if it were offered me, it’s not something I’d turn down.  I liked it.

PRODUCT REVIEW: Spicy Tortilla Green Tea Infused Sipping Broth from Millie’s Savory Teas

SpicyTortillaProduct 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.

To Subscribe to Love with Food, click here.

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.

Product Review: Cardamom Spice Teadrops


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About Teadrops:

Elaborate tea ceremonies have a time and place. However, if you desire high quality tea and are short on time and tea props, then meet Teadrops. 

Each Teadrop is a portable morsel comprised of finely sourced tea from India, natural sugar, and aromatic spices creating a blissful tea blend that can be enjoyed any time, any place, with just hot water. No special tools, no steeping time, no tea expertise necessary. 

About Cardamom Spice Teadrops:

An invigorating blend of fresh cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and fine Black Tea from the tea estates of India.

Learn more about Teadrops here.

da631ba0fdbc3728ba63bc2414a236b6Taster’s Review:

I have been told on more than one occasion that I am a tea snob.  And I guess I am.  There are certainly different “levels” of tea:  there is exceptional tea, there is excellent tea, there is good tea, and then there is tea that isn’t good at all.  There is tea that doesn’t deserve to call itself tea for to call itself tea is an insult to the good tea of the world.  So, when I first encountered this product, I wasn’t sure what to think about it.  Tea that has been pressed into a “tablet” that is the size of a quarter that you put into your teacup, add hot water, and stir … and then presto!  You have tea?  I could feel the tea snob in me emerging.  

But I was determined to enter into this tea experience with an open mind.  Maybe – just maybe! – this could be something exciting.  What the heck, I’ll give it a try.
Let me first tell you about the packaging.  I LOVE the box.  The wood box offers a beautiful presentation.  My one comment about the box, though, would be this:  I think that this company should also offer their tea drops as “refills” to their repeat customers at a slightly lower price so that the customer can keep reusing the box.  This would not only be better for the environment, but, also better for the pocketbook.

The top of the box slides open and there are eight individually wrapped tea drops of different designs:  stars, flowers, hearts … cute!  The tea “drop” or tablet had a nice aroma – I could smell the cardamom.   I poured boiling water over the tablet and stirred, and it did dissolve quickly.

The fragrance wafting from my teacup is amazing.  I love the smell of the tea and cardamom.  It’s so warm and inviting.  And this is actually really tasty.  The tea is rich and satisfying.  There is a nice amount of cardamom to this – it’s pleasantly spiced without being overdone.  It has a comforting, warm taste to it with a zesty flavor.  Hints of citrus too.

It tastes like a fine quality tea.  It doesn’t taste to me like “tea dust” or “fannings” that you’d find in a grocery store teabag.  I can taste the rich, malty flavor of the tea, and I am enjoying the cardamom.

My biggest complaint about these would be that they’re sweetened.  But, even so, there isn’t TOO much sugar to this.  I like that they aren’t too sweet, but I think I’d rather choose how much sweetener goes into my tea and not have that decision made for me already.  It does make it more convenient for those who usually take sugar in their tea to have the sugar in there already, but, for those of us who don’t always add sugar to our tea, this can be the deal breaker.  That said, this isn’t too sweet.

There is also some undissolved leaf sediment that sits at the bottom of the cup too.  That isn’t something I was terribly happy about, because I’m not one who likes floaters in my tea.  For those of you who are of similar thinking, I’d advise to stop drinking when there is about 1/2 an inch of tea left at the bottom of your cup … I didn’t get any sediment/tea leaf in my sip until I tried to drink beyond that 1/2 an inch mark.

But the rest of the cup was quite enjoyable.  I would drink this again, and it would be very convenient for traveling , and it tastes a whole lot better than most hotel and/or restaurant bagged teas.  The next time I’m traveling, I’m definitely ordering more of these!