Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit Tisane
Where to Buy: Parenteau’s Gourmet Foods
Tea Description:
Ingredients: Red and black currents, raisins, hibiscus, Saskatoon berries, blueberries, seneka root, natural flavours.
Learn more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
So this tisane is locally made and sold, and it features the Saskatoon Berry which isn’t as well known as it ought to be. I happen to live in Saskatoon Saskatchewan – and the berry is so popular around here that the city is named after the berry, and not the other way around. As such, any tea that features Saskatoons (of which there aren’t enough) very easily get my attention.
I decided to do a cold brew for my first try; sadly there’s a lot of hibiscus in the blend so a cold brew seemed like the best way to hold back some of the expected tartness I’ll likely be experiencing. Thankfully, there’s also a lot of berries in the blend as well but even still, not thirty seconds after I’d poured the water over the leaves the water was already the colour of McDonald’s mascot Grimace. The hibiscus in the blend was working quickly.
By the time the brew was done, it was a deep, dark almost maroon colour – but just slightly more purple. It reminded me of the colour of red wine. The smell is mostly hibiscus. That’s not very promising, but I’m still holding out that this’ll deliver the Saskatoon berry flavour I know and love anyway.
And the moment of truth; taste test!
The initial flavour here is a tart hibiscus flavour as anticipated; however, thankfully this isn’t all hibiscus. Similar to other berry/hibiscus teas I’ve had before like Rum Cream, from another local company (McQuarrie’s Tea & Coffee Merchants), this starts tart and softens into a more mellow berry drink; it’s quite juice-like. I can definitely taste Saskatoon berries myself, but I also really taste the blueberries and black currants in the blend. Thankfully, I don’t get much flavour from the raisins – I’m not a raisin person, so it’s no loss for me.
For people unfamiliar with Saskatoon Berries picture something sort of like a blueberry and cranberry cross. They’re great straight, in pies, in jam or jelly, and as syrup. Really, they’re just great in general. It’s that simple.
I am enjoying this cold brew a lot though I’m craving a richer, more full Saskatoon berry flavour. If they used more Saskatoons and cut down a little on the amount of other berries in the tea, I think this could be amazing without having a more monotone and flat flavour. As is, I’m concerned people not familiar with Saskatoons are mainly going to focus in on the other berries in the blend and the hibiscus and miss out on the great flavour.
And what a loss that’d be.
DigestTea from Raizana Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Raizana Tea Company
Tea Description:
You shouldn’t have eaten that monster burrito or third slice of pizza, and you’re paying for it now. Get relief from gas, bloating and sensation of fullness with DigestTea, our natural remedy for digestive problems.
DigestTea is gentle enough to soothe stomach problems in children. Raizana uses natural herbs sourced in California to provide all-natural support for gas and other digestive problems.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I have issues with eating certain kinds of food and then feeling disgusting, heavy, and bloated. This especially happens when I have any kind of carbs. So lately I have been doing a lot of research to see if there was some herb or tea that I could drink that would help. That is how I stumbled upon this company, Raizana. They have several different kinds of herbal remedies for what “ails you”. I don’t necessarily believe that there is a skinny tea out there but I do believe that some herbs can make you feel better. So I decided to take a chance and pick up their sampler.
Now to be honest, I am a huge fan of herbal teas. I love chamomile and adore lemongrass in teas. I’m also a huge mint fan and tend to like most mint teas I come across. The biggest reason I picked this tea up was because it had cilantro in it. I had never even heard of a cilantro tea before. I have a love affair with cilantro and sneak it into as many foods as I can. The ingredients also list dill weed and passionflower. I just had to try it!
When I popped open the bag, holy sweetness is all I can say! This definitely has a very sweet bakery smell to it which I think comes from the papaya flavoring and stevia. I steeped this one up per their parameters and was pleasantly surprised. This is one of the sweetest herbal teas I have ever had. And it isn’t that artificial sweet taste. This has an almost dessert quality to it. Like a freshly baked treat. I don’t taste the cilantro at all but definitely pick up the minty notes and chamomile. The lemongrass is also prevalent and letting itself be known but not in an obnoxious way. I even tried this one iced and still had the same outcome. A lemony baked treat. Yum!
Now to whether or not it helps with my digestion, that I really can’t say. I have completely overhauled my diet as of late and am cutting junk food out all together, which was a major cause for a lot of my discomfort. All I can say that this is great for when I have that sweet tooth craving and am looking forward to having this one again.
Serenity Now Herbal from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
So maybe you burned dinner. Maybe the dishwasher broke. Again. Maybe you just forgot to hit “save.” Life is full of stressful surprises. But lucky for us, life is also full of tea. And this oh-so-soothing blend is a guaranteed one-way ticket to your happy place. It’s got serene strawberries, harmonious hibiscus and restful rosehips, all in a base of low-key lavender. So get that kettle started and brace yourself for the rush of calm. Bring it on, life. We got this.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Serenity Now is the April ‘Tea of the Month’ from DAVIDsTEA.
Despite really liking the tea’s description (except for the part that called hibiscus ‘harmonious’ – that part is a total fib) I was very skeptical about this blend; I don’t much care for lavender myself, and I couldn’t see it going well with the strawberry, blueberry or other fruity things in the blend either. However, the quince was certainly an intriguing aspect; I’ve only had one other Quince tea but I really, really enjoyed it. As well, I do quite like the pairing of strawberry and spearmint! So despite reservations, it was worth a go.
I purchased this one in store as a Tea To Go; I decided on iced because the associate I asked said that hot was better for relaxing to/brought out the lavender more and iced was more refreshing and fruity. I actually initially didn’t really taste the lavender at all; my first few sips were almost entirely strawberry with a bit of a crisper spearmint backdrop. Hints of blueberry were present as well. The rosehips/hibiscus in this are pretty toned down; I think they just contributed a very slight tartness that blended in near seamlessly with the natural tang of the strawberry. Sadly, I didn’t pick up on the quince at all which is probably what I was most excited about.
About half way through drinking this one I sort of couldn’t help but burp a little bit? Something wasn’t sitting quite right with me and it resulted in this weird hiccup/reflux sort of cross. And that’s when I started to taste the lavender. Every time I’d ‘hiccup’ I get this flood of gnarly lavender flavour in my mouth. Very strong; borderline perfume-y. So, I’d take another sip to get my the taste out of my mouth – and then like thirty seconds later it’d hit me again and I’d get that nasty lavender breath. Repeated the cycle until the tea was gone – and then a few minutes later I was fine again.
Overall; this was better than anticipated for sure – I thought that the strawberry in particular was well executed, and the spearmint pairing definitely made for a light, fun fruity treat. It wasn’t “in your face” juicy – just a nice, softer and very refreshing drink like the associate I spoke to had described. I’d be interested in trying this one again to see if the same reflux type thing happened again – if it’s something caused by the lavender and going to be a regular occurrence when I drink this tea, then that definitely negatively impacts how I view this one (that lavender breath was NASTY), but if it was a one time deal then I think I could maybe get behind this one a bit better because the floral aspects were pretty in check, hiccups aside.
Storm In A Teacup Herbal Tea from Cupan Tae
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: Cupan Tae
Tea Description:
A stormy, spicy herbal blend with a breeze of anise taste.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This one has a very, very pronounced dry aroma; the leaf practically oozes with the scent of sweet, black licorice! Not licorice root or anise, mind you, but black licorice. While I have no problem with either anise or licorice root – I love black licorice and I’ve found few teas that convey it well.
That love for black licorice probably comes from my Grandpa; before he passed that was his absolute favourite self indulgent treat in the world. He kept huge tins of licorice allsorts by his lazy boy that he’d snack on during Blue Jays games, and he’d buy black jellybeans in bulk and sometimes he’d just let me grab big greedy hand fulls of from the tins. It’s a really good memory I have of him from when I was a child and the smell of the dry leaf of this tea is making me so nostalgic for it. I know there’s not actually black licorice in the blend and it’s a trick that the fennel, combined with the aniseed, is playing on me. But I’m gonna try and be willfully blind to that; because I want this to taste like black licorice.
Hmm, now that this one’s steeped up there’s a very thick, powdery white residue all along the inside of my mug and I can’t figure out why – I’ve never had that issue with any of the listed ingredients I’m familiar with – and the only one I’m not familiar with is ribwort, so unless it’s from the ribwort I can’t explain it. It’s annoying though; almost as bad as gross melted down chocolate goop from blends that use chocolate chips instead of nibs or shells.
Steeped up, sadly, it doesn’t taste like black licorice though. Not in the same way it smells like it, anyway. I do get heavy doses of both fennel and anise flavour which is sweet and delicious, but it’s fairly overtaken by a very dominating savory, herbaceous note and then milder notes of peppermint and a supple fruit note that I suppose could be apple like is listed in the ingredients. Visually I didn’t see any apple in my measured out tea leaf though. That strong savory note tastes very, very weird to me; and I’m wondering if that’s the ribwort leaves. I’ve never had another tea with ribwort leaves and after a very quick Google search I’ve learned that apparently they can have a mushroomy flavour. I have really, really minimal exposure to what mushrooms taste like given that I am pretty allergic to them; any time I’ve had them it’s been really involuntary and, upon realizing I’ve ingested them I’ve had much more pressing things on my mind other than the flavour.
It’s a fascinating experience for me even if it’s not the one I expected to be having and in that regard I’m a little disappointed this isn’t as black licorice-y as I wanted it to be but I also know I was projecting unfair expectations onto the tea. It’s definitely not a bad tea; just so weird. Am I actually tasting mushrooms!? I’d honestly be interested in going back and having this one all over again; I feel like without the expectation of a more licorice-y tea I might be more observant of the herbaceous qualities that are present. Overall, surprisingly sweet and savory!
Organic Cinnamon Rooibos Chai from Davids Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Davids Tea
Tea Description:
STAY FOCUSED
Cinnamon is so much more than just the tastiest spice around. According to aromatherapy principles, it supposedly enhances your ability to concentrate. Plus it has a clean and refreshing taste your breath will thank you for. Your new favourite beverage also contains South African rooibos and cinnamon oil. Delicious.
INGREDIENTS
Organic: Rooibos, apple, cinnamon. With natural cinnamon flavouring.
HOW TO PREPARE
1.25 tsp
96°C
205°F
4-7 min
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
It is with thanks to my wonderful international friends that I can proudly review this Davids Tea sample. From Canada all the way to the UK!
My first thoughts on this tea are of the scent, which I was met with as soon as I opened the packet. Sweet yet spicy cinnamon stick tones mixed with light herbs and wood with a dry, nutty finish. Chai like but super duper cinnamon-esque. As a huge fan of cinnamon I find it particularly charming!
In appearance the small/fine Rooibos blend is met with large, rough pieces of what I believe to be apple and cinnamon stick. Giving it a rocky, desert feel.
I followed the steeping parameters given by Davids Tea which can be found further up in the Tea Description.
Once steeped I am met with a delicious spicy cinnamon scent that reminds me of ‘Red Hots’ candy. My childhood was built around that candy! This scent takes me back.
In flavour the cinnamon bursts through with spices behind it before softening into a sweet, light, herbal blend that lingers in the after taste. It’s a little dry but still acceptable. In terms of Chai there is a spicy touch about it but the heavy cinnamon makes it completely different, it takes the idea of Chai to a new level. And similar to scent, this does have nutty notes which are increased by the dryness. Tried to consider which type of nut but came to the conclusion it tastes mixed and I couldn’t differentiate it.
Also I can’t help but taste ‘Red Hots’ candy when I take small sips of this. It’s pure nostalgia in a cup!
Overall I really enjoyed this tea. It truly is cinnamon heavy and though it does offer a spicy Chai element and slight Rooibos flavour (which others may find more pleasing) I am taken aback in awe by the simpleness of it. Plus it has to be said that this being Organic is the ‘icing on the cake’ so to speak.
Chai? Yes please.
Cinnamon Chai? Heck yes please!
Nostalgia? All the time. 🙂
