Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tay Tea
Tisane Description:
Soothing and relaxing with a tangy kick that screams at you to make iced tea. As a hot tea, this is still a delight. Layers of red berries, tart currants, lavender and rooibos with subtle hints of rose. The texture of this tea is amazingly soft on the tongue and the lavender persists all the way through each sip.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
This is really lovely! Despite the suggestion above to make this into iced tea, I opted for a hot tea – there’s just something about lavender that tells me to make hot tea and since it would seem that A Day in Provence Rooibos Blend from Tay Tea has a strong lavender presence I figured hot tea was the way to go this evening. And as I said … it’s really very lovely!
The lavender is a strong, well-defined essence but it never tastes too floral, perfume-ish or soapy. The lavender (and the rose) have been added at just the right amounts so that the flavors are present in every sip without tasting of Aunt Mildred’s favorite perfume.
And as much as I enjoy lavender, what I’m enjoying most about this particular cuppa is that I’m not tasting a strong rooibos flavor. I taste subtle notes of a woody flavor and hints of nutty tones and that familiar honeyed note, but it isn’t a really powerful presence.
Instead, I taste notes of currant and this gives the cup an almost wine-like taste, and the rose and lavender are very complementary to the wine-ish flavors. I taste a sweet-tart berry note. Overall this has a very indulgent, beautiful flavor that I am finding very nice.
I’m really happy that this tea was part of this month’s Amoda Tea Box! Usually, I approach the rooibos/herbal blends with a certain amount of skepticism, but, this is one with which I’m quite pleased.
Berber Tea Blend from Tay Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tay Tea
Tea Description:
The light and sweet Moroccan spearmint is a crisp counterbalance to the rich, smoky gunpowder green tea. So refreshing, this tea goes down easy. Re-steep this tea a few times to let the rolled gunpowder tea unfurl and release its full flavour. If you want to get authentic with this tea, sweeten it until your heart’s content.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow! Minty! After I opened this Berber Tea Blend from Tay Tea, the first sampler packet from this month’s Amoda Tea Tasting box that I decided to try, I was a little overwhelmed by the fragrance of mint. The aroma reminds me of Wrigley’s Spearmint gum. It’s very, very minty.
The strong minty scent worried me a little. I started thinking this was going to end up tasting more like a mouthful of toothpaste than a cup of tea. Fortunately, this doesn’t taste quite as much like toothpaste as the aroma led me to believe. I am happy to say that I can taste the flavor of the gunpowder green tea in this tea as well as the crisp flavor of spearmint, and while it is a minty tasting tea … as I’m sipping it, my palate recognizes that I’m drinking tea and not mouthwash that has been heated up and poured into a teacup.
The Moroccan spearmint was a good choice to use in this mint tea blend, because I generally find spearmint to be a “lighter” tasting mint than peppermint. I’m also finding that this spearmint seems to unite with the gunpowder green tea to create a smooth flavor. The spearmint is crisp and refreshing, but not overpowering.
The gunpowder green tea is light and sweet, and there are some vegetal notes that meld beautifully with the herbaceous tones of the spearmint. It all comes together in a very pleasant way. The texture of the liquid is somewhat broth-y which offers an intriguing contrast to the invigorating mint flavor.
It’s a very clean and fresh taste. It’s revitalizing but also soothing. I’m not about to say that this is my favorite tea that I’ve ever pulled out of my Amoda Box, but, I am enjoying it, and I’m happy that I got this opportunity to try something from a new-to-me company like Tay Tea. Thanks, Amoda!