Winter Herbal Tea may list hibiscus first in its ingredients, but it doesn’t have the puckery tart kick that a lot of people dislike about hibiscus. It does pull off tasting like the base is unsweetened cranberry juice that has been mulled with spices.
The tisane brews up a beautiful cranberry red. How pretty this would be served at a holiday gathering in a glass Irish coffee mug! The smell takes you right back to that Christmas recipe people used to make and giveaway – instant tea mixed with Tang and cinnamon and nutmeg. But it doesn’t taste like the old “Russian Tea” recipe.
Although this says it contains stevia, it isn’t super sweet. There is a cranberry tartness, not too tart, and a glow of cinnamon. Often these winter and Christmas blends have too much clove for me, but this one gets it just right. If you wanted a sweet mulled-style drink, you could add sugar, and I think it would be delicious iced, as well. This is super juicy tasting and would be a great thirst quencher even in summer!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: Elderberry Herb Farm
Description
All natural & delicious, the tartness of the cranberries and the zest of orange warmed with cinnamon and cloves make this herbal tea perfect for those cold winter days.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
White Chocolate Samoa by The NecessiTeas
Yay, a white chocolate coconut tea! With caramel! And it’s caffeine free, so it’s great as a nightcap.
I approximated the steeping instructions for this tea, noticing as I did so that there’s plenty of coconut visible in the dry tea. It has a sweet creamy smell even when dry. Once the tea is steeped, it turns out to be about the color of apple cider, but a bit darker. It has a light, pleasant flavor and fragrance from the very first sip. I found it to have a creamy flavor and aftertaste (presumably from the coconut).
Altogether I found this tea very enjoyable, although I don’t think it’ll end up in my rotation for daily drinking. It’s very heavy on the coconut (since it contains both actual coconut and coconut flavor) and on the sugar factor, so it’s a sure winner if coconut is your favorite flavor ever and you take lots of sugar in your tea!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush/Herbal
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description:
Growing up I was a Girl Scout and I was great at “selling” cookies. I would polish off a box of Samoas after school while working on my homework. Chock up another “sale” my parents had to chip in for. Gone are the days when it was okay to eat an entire sleeve of cookies. So here’s my guilt-free version of the classic Samoa. As always, I like to put a spin on things so I used white chocolate instead then added sweet caramel and toasted coconut to recreate an old favorite.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cocoa Rouge by The Jasmine Pearl Tea Co
Hello tea friends!
Today I will be drinking Cocoa Rouge, a herbal blend from The Jasmine Pearl Tea Co. Two of the ingredients are organic (Cocoa nibs and Rooibos) so it’s a partially organic and mildly caffeinated blend. With the cold weather on the way I have the desire to drink hot chocolate, that is why this blend caught my attention. Cocoa with vanilla and chicory sounds like a warming and sweet blend.
Opening the sample packet I can smell toasted chicory with a sweet vanilla undertone. The Rooibos is also rather heavy in this blend, in appearance and smell.
Steeping Parameters: 13g of loose leaf tea in 600ml of boiling water for 3 minutes.
Once steeped the tea bares a very dark brown tea liquid with a sweet vanilla and Rooibos scent. Not as toasted or chicory like as the raw scent.
The first few sips reveal a sweet and creamy vanilla tone that balances the natural sweetness from the Rooibos. Behind that there are dark, toasty cocoa nib and chicory notes that quickly lightens in the after taste. A few more sips bring out some dryness in the after taste but the velvety vanilla makes up for that. It is a Rooibos heavy blend but it’s not the main flavour and a lot of it has been toned down, so while I can taste it it’s not too sweet or chemical like which it tends to be. If you’ve had Rooibos before you will know what I’m talking about. As it cools slightly I am getting a real hot chocolate vibe from it. It’s sweet and the cocoa is thicker, plus the vanilla makes it more chocolate like.
Overall it was a pleasant blend, though I admit guilt for underestimating it from the start. As soon as I saw it was a Rooibos blend I immediately thought it’s either going to be too Rooibos heavy (which I severely dislike) or too chicory heavy to block out the Rooibos taste. I was wrong on both accounts. I can taste the Rooibos but the vanilla keeps the sweetness creamy and the chicory and cocoa give it depth and flavour.. The ingredients work well together to give an imaginative hot chocolate tea. It goes to show that you can never judge a tea by it’s ingredients alone.
Until next time, Happy Steeping!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: The Jasmine Pearl Tea
Description:
Cacao nibs and hearty roasted chicory add lots of body to the rooibos base in this rich, satisfying blend. Vanilla extract helps give the mixture its warm flavor and adds depth to its enticing aroma. As a dessert blend, Cocoa Rouge can be drunk by itself, but the addition of milk and sweetener makes for an extra-delicious treat. Due to the cacao nibs, the blend does have some caffeine in it, so best to enjoy it well before bedtime.
Ingredients:
Cacao Nibs, Rooibos, Vanilla Beans, Carob, Chicory Root, Vanilla Extract.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lavender Dream from Dave and Solomons Tea
Dave and Solomons are a mother and son tea blending company, currently selling their indie creations on their Etsy store. I hadn’t come across them before this sample arrived with me, but it’s always nice to discover a new tea company, if a little dangerous for the bank account!
Lavender Dream is a fruit and herbal blend, combining the sweet fruitiness of peach with the light floral of lavender. It sounds a little odd to begin with, but I was pleased to discover that they’re actually two flavours which work incredibly well together. The dry leaf itself is incredibly pretty, with dark pink rose petals, bright blue cornflowers, and purple lavender buds, plus large (1-2cm square) chunks of dried papaya.
I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 5 minutes in boiling water. The result is a medium orange-brown liquor, which smells wonderful and which filled the entire kitchen with the scent of fuzzy peach. To taste, it’s very much as you might expect. The peach isn’t particularly natural-tasting, hence “fuzzy” peach, but it’s strong and incredibly juicy, and I’m more than happy with that. The lavender is definitely playing second fiddle here, not really making itself known until very much the end of the sip. When it does, it’s a pleasant counterpoint to the sweetness of the peach, adding a delicate floral flavour, and just a hint of perfume.
I expected this one to be a lot heavier on the lavender, given that it’s called Lavender Dream. Having tasted it, I feel Peach Dream 
would be a much more appropriate name, because it is primarily a peach flavoured tea. I’m not the biggest fan of floral teas, particularly when they’re herbal blends, but in this case it shouldn’t put you off. The lavender really isn’t very prominent, but the contribution it makes is balancing one, and pleasant to boot.
As this is a caffeine free blend, it’ll likely be making a regular appearance in my evening rotation for a good long while to come. I love the juicy peach notes, and I’d actually like to try this one iced (although I might have to wait until summer, or a rare warm day, for that now.) I’ll definitely be trying more blends from Dave and Solomons Tea in the future on the strength of this experience. There’s certainly some skilled blending going on!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Dave and Solomons Tea
Description
Yummy peach cubes with organic lavender, rose petals, marigold & cornflower petals. MMMM Soooo good!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Tranquility from Beleave Teas
Tranquility from Beleave Teas isn’t normally something I would grab off the shelf first but there is something about this herbal tisane that spoke to me. After some rather long reflection and sipping I cam to the conclusion it was because of the vanilla dancing with both the peppermint and the spearmint that was what spoke to me the most.
The chamomile was plentiful in this tisane but the mint and vanilla helped smooth it out and calm it down nicely. The raspberry, papaya, and star anise played a subtle but appreciated part. I noticed the wild cherry bark more as an afterthought and aftertaste more than anything but it was something that lingered nicely as well.
Tranquility from Beleave Teas took me by surprise because I wasn’t expecting much from it but with everything that went into this herbal and the impression it left on me the more and more I appreciated it.
The first few sample sips I tried were as a hot cuppa but I kept wondering how it would be iced so I finished the rest of the batch cold and it was just as good if not better! It certainly pays to think (and sip) outside of your comfort zone and Tranquility from Beleave Teas was a great reminder of that!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal/Tisane
Where to Buy: Beleave Teas
Description:
This tea looks as lovely as it tastes with ingredients to calm even the most restless soul. Chamomile, rosehips, raspberry, papaya, peppermint, vanilla and star anise just to name a few.
- Origin: Small farmers from around the world.
- Ingredients: Chamomile flowers, rosehips, raspberry, papaya, peppermint, spearmint, strawberry leaf, vanilla, passion flower, red clover, star anise, and wild cherry bark.
- Caffeine Rating: None
- Steeping Instructions: Temperature 208 degrees, Steep 4-6 Minutes
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
