Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Empire Tea Services
Product Description:
Chamomile, Spearmint, Passion Fruit leaves, Lomon Greass, Orange peel, Cinnamon, Strawberry leaves, flavoring
Taster’s Review:
I love the name of this tea. If you’ve read many of my posts, you probably are aware that I’m not only a tea enthusiast, but I also love art. My favorite work of art of all time is Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. In fact, the tea mug from which I am sipping this tisane at this very moment is a “Starry Night” mug with a print of the painting on it.
However, I wasn’t so sure that I’d love the tisane. It is a chamomile blend, and chamomile is one of those ingredients that doesn’t exactly excite me when it comes to tisanes.
But, I must say that this tisane is actually quite tasty. The combination of ingredients just seems to work. (Check out the list of ingredients above, this tisane has quite a bit going on!) The fruit-like tones of the chamomile melds together with the lemongrass and the hints of fruit flavor in the fruit leaves to give it a hint of fruity essence without coming across as too fruity or sweet.
It has a herbaceous overtone, but again, it isn’t too overwhelming nor does it end up tasting medicinal. It tastes soothing and serene … in fact, this tisane makes me feel very much the way the painting makes me feel: calm.
Starry Night from Art of Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black & White
Where to Buy: Art of Tea
Product Description:
Pour the night sky into your cup. Organic Assam black tea combined with natural soothing vanilla bits along with star-shaped white tea.
Taster’s Review:
This is a tea that I’ve wanted to try for a long time. What can I say, I’m a huge fan of Vincent Van Gogh, and Starry Night is my favorite painting of all time. It has such beautiful emotion – the brushstrokes speak to me in a way no other painting ever has.
But you didn’t come here to read about my love of art (unless we’re talking about my love of Art of Tea!)
This is a fascinating tea. The black tea is a stout Assam, which can pose some interesting complications when paired with a white tea. I chose to steep it at a middle-ground temperature (180° F) and steep it for just 3 minutes.
The result is delightful! Although I don’t get much noticeable flavor from the white tea (that’s not to say I cannot taste it because it’s there, but it is something that I really need to focus on intently to detect it), the Assam tea is so deliciously flavorful that it would seem rather ungrateful to be complaining about the white tea not being prominent.
There is a rich malty tone to the Assam – and it has been flavored with vanilla and the vanilla lends a creaminess to the malty note that is rather irresistible! This is an excellent, full-flavored Assam that has a toothsome quality to it and a hint of baked flavor in the background.
A smooth, bold tea that despite its name, is not a tea that I’d recommend sipping in the evening – unless drinking a strong, caffeinated tea in the later hours of the day would not keep you stirring at bedtime! It would take the additions of milk and honey very well, although it is quite nice without them too. I personally like my Assam tea with a drizzle of honey or agave nectar because it can be a little harsh without sweetener, but, with the vanilla here, it doesn’t really need it! It definitely has an EDGE to it, but, it isn’t hard to handle.
I love this tea!