Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Bird’s Eye Tea
Tisane Description:
Ingredients: Chamomile, Skullcap, Catnip, Spearmint, Rose, licorice
This is a simple blend to help calm the body at the end of the day. My sister grew the catnip for this blend. The skullcap and chamomile come from farms in Oregon. I like to use a variety of mild relaxants when I make any evening teas because everyone has a really specific combination of tensions in their body. Some folks hold tension in thoughts, others in their muscles.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about subscribing to Bird’s Eye Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I put off trying this Slumbering Slope Tisane from Bird’s Eye Tea for a while … and the reason is chamomile. I don’t dislike chamomile (although at one time I did dislike it) but, it’s also not my favorite herb. And … I usually only prepare a chamomile tisane later in the evening, when I want to start getting ready for rest because chamomile does have that relaxing effect. Actually, it makes me sleepy. But, usually, when I’m getting ready for bed, I’m not really thinking about preparing a tisane … although I think I should get myself into that habit.
And this would be a great tisane with which to get into that kind of habit! This is a tasty tisane. The chamomile is the strongest flavor, followed by the spearmint. I like that the spearmint is there to add a nice minty tone to the taste, but, it isn’t an overpowering taste, as I think a stronger minty flavor would be a bit more invigorating than it should be for a blend like this.
I can taste the rose, and again, I like that this is a soft, sweet rose note. The licorice is faint, but, it adds a hint of sweetness and an interesting contrast without coming off too zesty.
Everything about this blend is calm and soothing. It is a very relaxing blend that is not too medicinal or herbaceous tasting, and not overly sweet. It has a pleasant, easy to drink flavor. I like it.
The Road To Hana White Tea Blend from Indie Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Amoda Tea
TeaDescription:
The subtlety of the added flavours is what we love about this tea! The white peony is the star with its delicate hay, fruit and floral aromas. You have the leaf’s natural round mouthfeel coupled with the coconut flakes that makes for a creamy cup of tea. Hints of the dried mango and tart hibiscus = a seriously delicious tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
I was very happy when I received this month’s Tea Tasting Box from Amoda Tea and discovered that Indie Tea was the featured tea purveyor for July. Indie Tea is one of my favorite tea purveyors because I love their fun, fresh and funky attitude toward tea! Their packaging is fun and their blends are deliciously different – with cool names to match their unique flavors.
One of the teas that was included in this month’s box – Lover’s Lane – is one that I’ve previously tried and reviewed. So, I won’t be writing another review for that tea, but, I am certainly happy to be tasting it again! In the meantime, I am going to tell you a little bit about this blend that I’m sipping right now – The Road to Hana White Tea Blend from Indie Tea.
And it is YUM! It’s got a great tropical flavor to it with the coconut and the mango notes, as well as the hibiscus. (Which is also quite tropical!) The hibiscus, gratefully, is not overdone here. It didn’t even really color the brewed tea very much … there was a slight pinkish hue but really, this looked more like a white tea than a hibiscus-y tea.
And it TASTES more like a white tea than a hibiscus-y tea too. And I’m very happy about that.
The white tea has a soft, delicate flavor (no surprise there, right?) and lends an earthy, sweet base for the additional sweetness of the fruity mango and creamy coconut notes. The hibiscus adds just a hint of tartness and it’s just enough of a contrasting note to offset the sweeter tropical fruits. Indie Tea has managed to achieve a nice balance of tart and sweet that leans more toward the sweet than the tart.
This has a nice mango flavor. The coconut is more “creamy” than coconut-y tasting … and I like the creaminess as it complements the white tea nicely. The result is a sweet and creamy cup of tropical lusciousness that has just a subtle tart note. Tasty!
A really nice choice by Amoda Tea. I like this one, and I’m glad I got to try it.
Awake from Bird’s Eye Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Maté & Tulsi
Where to Buy: Bird’s Eye Tea
Tisane Description:
This energizing blend will brighten your mornings! This is a really fun blend that I hope will invigorate and keep you focused during this cool dark season we are entering.
Ingredients: Yerba mate, Tulsi, Bacopa (brahmi), Spearmint, and Currant
To learn more about this tisane, click here.
To learn more about subscribing to Bird’s Eye Tea, click here.
Taster’s Review:
I had a hard time waking up this morning. I just didn’t want to. I was all warm and snuggled in my bed, so comfortable … but I had to get up. Too many things to do today!
This is exactly the kind of tisane that I need on a day like this. Awake from Bird’s Eye Tea is a Yerba Maté blend that was included in their November subscription box.
Yerba Maté – as many of you probably already know – is super-charged with caffeine for an eye-opening experience, but, what I like about this tisane isn’t the earthy/vegetal taste of the Maté (although I don’t dislike that), I’m liking the hint of mint that I taste from spearmint and tulsi – it isn’t a strong MINTY taste, but it is a nice touch. I find mint to be an invigorating taste, and tulsi has a sort of calming effect … which allows me to become alert but not jittery.
I don’t have much experience with brahmi … in fact, I cant tell you with certainty that I’ve ever had this herb in a tea … or in anything else, for that matter. The Bird’s Eye Tea Newsletter for November says that brahmi is an adaptogenic herb, which is supposed to help the body adapt to stress.
OK, so what I’m deriving from that is that this tisane helps you wake up and face the day, stress free! Heck yeah! I certainly could use a little of that!
My one complaint about this tisane is that I wish I could taste more of the currant. I taste the mint, I taste the herbaceous, earthy flavor of the Maté (and of course the other herbs contribute to this herbaceous note as well), but I don’t really taste a whole lot of berry, except in the aftertaste. Not even in the immediate aftertaste, but, after I’ve finished the sip, about a minute or so afterward, then I notice a hint of berry flavor come through – just a wee hint of tingly, tart-yet-sweet currant. I like that … but I’d like there to be a little more.
Overall, though, I found this to be a very enjoyable herbal tisane. It is energizing, as I am just over the halfway point with my cup here, and I am already feeling invigorated. A really pleasant blend – I’m really liking Bird’s Eye Tea!
Verdant Tea – Our Next Sponsor in the Season of Giveaways!
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. PLEASE CHECK BACK WITH US NEXT WEEK THOUGH, THERE WILL BE ANOTHER GIVEAWAY SOON!
So far, we’ve had a phenomenal response to our Season of Giveaways! It looks like this season will extend well in to February … so there are going to be LOTS of chances to win!
But … I’ve got to be real here, THIS prize is one that I covet. I want this prize. If there was a way for me to declare myself the winner, I’d do it! But, alas, I can’t. What I’m driving at, though, is that this is one of the very best prizes yet! You’re not going to believe it … I still can’t believe it!
Verdant Tea is offering a full THREE MONTH membership to their Tea of the Month Club! Yeah, you read that right. Three months of tea from Verdant Tea! This is a $75. value! JACKPOT!
Verdant Tea is easily one of my favorite tea companies because – quite simply – they offer some really amazing, high-quality teas that are hard to find … some teas that I’ve not been able to find anywhere else! Their Laoshan Black tea is amazing, they offer some incredible Apothecary blends like their Xingyang Silk Road Spice, and of course some amazing Pu-Erh (when it comes to Pu-erh teas, I think that Verdant Tea is my #1 choice) like their Yanxin’s Reserve ’04 Shu Nuggets.
So imagine how amazing it would be to receive a box from them EVERY month for THREE months! Unbelievable, right?
To enter:
- First, visit Verdant Teas. Take a look around. While you’re there, get an idea of what teas interest you the most.
- Comment on this blog post. While you can earn additional entries, without the comment on this blog post, no entries will be eligible. Be sure to include in your comment a way for us to contact you (let me know if I can contact you on Steepster or on Tea Trade, for example, or provide your email contact information), I mean, in case you win, I need to be able to let you know that you’re the winner, right? In your comment, mention which tea you’d like to be part of one of the boxes that you receive from Verdant Tea. Now, I can’t guarantee that this tea WILL be in one of the three boxes, but, we’d like to know which teas from Verdant EXCITE you the most.
- Want to earn additional entries? OK! First, tweet about this contest. Your tweet should include a link to this contest, and you should also include @SororiTeaSister on your tweet so that we can see the tweet easily. Please also come back to this blog post and let us know that you’ve tweeted the contest, and include a link to the tweet.
- Another Entry? Sure! Go on facebook and mention this contest on your page. Again, be sure to include a link to this contest in your facebook mention, and after you’re done, come back to this blog post, and comment that you’ve mentioned it on facebook and provide a link to your facebook page so that we can verify it. (and yes, we do verify each and every one of these!)
Since this is our largest prize yet, I thought I’d throw in a couple of extra bonus entry opportunities:
- Bonus Entry #1: You can earn a bonus entry by liking Verdant Tea on Facebook.
- Bonus Entry #2: You can earn an additional bonus entry by following Verdant Tea on Twitter!
- Bonus Entry #3: You can earn an additional bonus entry by following our blog! To follow our blog, simply click on the little button that you see on the bottom right of the screen, and add your email address! It’s that simple!
OK, so, there are a few things you need to know. It was pointed out to us in the last giveaway that we neglected to mention who was eligible to enter this contest. This contest is open to all US and Canadian residents, except for those of us who are SororiTea Sisters and those who work for Verdant Tea. All other US and Canadian residents can enter.
You can enter until December 7. A winner will be picked via random.org on December 8, and after the winner has been contacted and verified, we will announce the winner and send the information to Verdant Tea so that the winner can claim the prize.
Best of luck to all entrants!
Congratulations to Raven for winning this giveaway during our Season of Giveaways! We will have another giveaway soon … keep your eyes peeled!