Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Tisane
Where to Buy: Stash Tea
Tea Description:
This unique herbal tea blends chocolate flavors with aromatic lavender and cool peppermint for a sophisticated cup. Add a touch of sugar and a splash of milk for a delightful dessert tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
With all of the hustle and bustle that inevitably happens at this time of year I find it helpful to have some tasty herbals and tisanes on hand to help unwind at the end of the day. I want to enjoy all the flavors of the holidays, but I need to watch my caffeine intake so I can sleep. Otherwise I turn into a grumpy ol’ Scrooge, and nobody wants that! Christmas in Paris has been a very nice end of the day treat that’s caffeine free and delicious as well.
The main flavors in this tisane are cocoa and peppermint. The cocoa note comes from cocoa shells and is slightly dark, but is not bitter in any way. The peppermint is clean, a little sweet, and is well balanced against the cocoa. The other two flavors, vanilla and lavender, are more subtle, but they turn this into a lovely drink. The lavender is most apparent as the cocoa note fades, but it also compliments the chocolaty flavor so well. After having this tisane I really want to try dark chocolate sprinkled with lavender. I’m thinking that would be seriously delicious! The lavender in this drink isn’t overly floral. It’s more of a sweet and bright addition rather than a highly floral one. The vanilla is very soft and almost hidden by the other flavors, but it does add a bit of a creamy note which is very pleasant.
I found that this drink is enhanced by the addition of sugar. I didn’t add cream or milk, but I think a slight amount would be nice. More than a splash will most likely cause the lavender flavor to be too subtle, so use a tiny amount and add more if desired.
Christmas in Paris is a very nice tisane that’s worth a try this holiday season. It’ll help keep your holiday spirits up without keeping you up. Enjoy!
Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf Tea by Stash
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Stash
Tea Description:
Our Chocolate Hazelnut is a deliciously smooth and rich dessert tea. Chocolate, hazelnuts, vanilla, and premium black tea combine to create a fascinating blend of flavors. Sugar and a splash of milk bring out the taste of the chocolate and hazelnuts. The black teas are naturally decaffeinated, so you can savor this tea any time of day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am always on the hunt for good decaffeinated black teas. My desire to drink tea late into the night is often at war with my desire to eventually get some sleep. Of course, herbals or tisanes are great alternatives, but sometimes I just want the comfort of a tasty cup of black tea. So, when I have the chance to try a decaf black tea I jump at it in the hopes that I’ll be able to add some more teas into my nighttime drinking rotation.
While I was excited to try Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf from Stash I have to say that I do not like this tea. The flavoring of both the chocolate and the hazelnut was fake and had an off-putting sour aftertaste. The base tea was slightly astringent but otherwise had no defining characteristics. Perhaps a base tea with more body or a strong biscuit-like note could help balance out the other flavors, but as it is I did not find this tea enjoyable. I did add both sugar and milk to my cup in an attempt to make this something I’d like, but I could not escape the sour note this tea left at the end of the sip.
Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf has too much working against it between the artificial tasting chocolate and hazelnut flavorings and the weak base tea. My hunt for good decaf black teas continues. This is one tea I’ll pass on.
Maple Apple Cider Herbal from Stash
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Rooibos
Where to Buy: Stash
Tea Description:
This herbal tea combines the sweetness of maple with the tartness of apple for a lively, delicious cup. Fruity hibiscus and rooibos have been blended with sweet cinnamon, maple, apple and caramel flavors for this tasty tea cider. A touch of sugar brings out the flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This had a fancier box than other Stash teas I’ve seen so I’m wondering if, based on the flavour, this was a seasonal/Christmas blend? Upon opening up the box, the wrapper itself has a different design too. There’s definitely something different about this blend!
There’s really no smell to the dry teabag; if I concentrate maybe a little apple. It’s very weak though; I hoped the tea itself has more flavour. Steeped up, I could smell the cider part of the tea quite strongly, but no maple. I really hope I pick the maple up in the taste; it’s what intrigued me about this tea in the first place! It made this something a little bit different. And as a Canadian, I can never really resist anything maple anyway.
Sipping on it now though; and there definitely is more flavour than what the dry leaf led me to believe. It really does taste like apple cider; good apple cider too! Just the right balance of sweet, tart, and spice. And speaking of that spice, there’s obviously cinnamon but the nutmeg in here is a really nice touch too. Nutmeg has really grown on me, I never used to be a fan but now when a tea includes it I get so excited! That’s the first wave of flavour but then it eases a little into the maple; it’s a little raw and unrefined tasting with a sappy quality. I like it! It makes the cup sweet and layered, and I like that this one doesn’t feel completely put together, with the ’T’s crossed and ’I’s dotted. Sometimes a little reliable inconsistency makes a tea good. If that makes any sense at all.
There are also a few other interesting notes here; I’m picking woody-cedar like notes too! Maybe it’s a trick of the mind because of the raw, sappy maple or maybe part of it is from the rooibos – but it’s very enjoyable regardless. Actually, now that I think of it the more I’m sure it’s from the rooibos. I love how natural and earthy this tea tastes though; for once the wood like quality is contributing something that enhances the tea flavourings!
There’s surprisingly a lot going on with this tea bag. Colour me quite impressed!
Mojito Mint Green Tea with Matcha from Stash
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Stash Tea
Tea Description:
Enjoy all the refreshing, minty flavor of a mojito in this uniquely appealing tea. All of the island flavor is here (minus the alcohol) plus Matcha, the exceptional Japanese green tea used in the traditional tea ceremony. Natural lime flavor accents the tea with just the right zesty flair. Makes a delicious iced tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I could smell the peppermint the moment I tore open the pouch! The notes of lime are also detectable in the aroma. It’s actually quite a nice fragrance: lime and peppermint with the herbaceous notes of green tea.
To infuse this tea bag, I pulled out my favorite teacup and steeped the bag in about 6 ounces of hot water (175°F) for 2 minutes. The brewed tea has a softer aroma than the dry tea.
The combination of lime and peppermint is quite tasty. I appreciate that the green tea is not masked by the flavors. Peppermint can be a very powerful flavor and take over a tea blend, and while the minty notes are strong here, they didn’t overwhelm the other flavors. I can taste the green tea and I’m also getting a fair amount of tart lime.
The green tea is sweet and the Matcha adds a slightly creamy texture to the cup. It tastes refreshing. A slight grassy note but not in a bitter way.
The lime is the real “star” of this cup. While the peppermint does come through strongest of the flavors, the lime perks up the cup and keeps me drinking. It’s a bright, zesty flavor that excites the palate.
Overall, a pleasant cup of tea. I’d drink this one again.
Spice Dragon Red Chai Herbal Tea from Stash Tea
Tisane 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.