Raise your hand if it’s been a tense few months, you guys (not just me? phew, good). I’ve been especially mindful of self care this past week, which of course in my home means a good cuppa. When I saw this tea arrive from fellow sister Nichole (aka CuppaGeek) on a particularly long and icky day, I knew just what I’d be brewing up.
First things first: holy spearmint, batman.
And I’m not mad about it. This tea might be fairly mint-forward, but it’s beautifully balanced by creamy vanilla and herb-y chamomile. I won’t lie– while I was intrigued by much of the rest of the ingredient list (raspberry, papaya, passion flower, star anise, red cherry bark), I’m not picking up on much of them if at all in this blend.
That said, it matters not— this cup is balm for my soul in the days where much-needed tranquility is hard to find. Now if I could only figure out how to get my cup of tea to practice daily meditation *for* me, I’d be good to go. In the meantime, I’ll just keep sipping!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
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.
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!
C of Tranquilitea Herbal Tisane from Good Life Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Good Life Tea
Tisane Description:
Luscious hibiscus flowers join with subtle citrus notes of lemongrass and tart rose hips. Add the superfruits and chamomile and you’ve got one bedtime immune system booster!
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you’re probably well aware of my lack of enthusiasm for herbal tisanes that contain hibiscus and chamomile. Well, this blend has both of them. So as you can probably imagine, I wasn’t dancing the happy dance while I was brewing this.
But, it’s actually quite tasty! A lot nicer than I expected it to be, for sure, and much tastier than I would have imagined.
This is the first tea that I’m trying from this “new-to-me” company, and along with the teas that they sent to me, they sent a letter. In it, they described this blend this way:
This is a fruit and herbal blend. It has a nice blueberry base with Chamomile and Lemon Grass. The name is from a place on the moon where the Apollo landed – Sea of Tranquility. The name is a play on words. C is for the Vitamin C which the hibiscus and rosehips offer. Tranquilitea is the chamomile. It’s a great flower that promotes calmness and helps with sleep. This is our second most popular tea. The lemon grass is to give a nice, bright finish. This mix contains a little bit of Amber sugar to mellow it out.
While I’m generally not crazy about teas that include sugar or sweetener, I have to admit that I’m kind of glad that the Amber sugar is there, because I think that this would be a bit too tart without it. I’m not one who usually sweetens a tisane like this, and I know that if the sugar wasn’t there, I would have probably wanted to add a pinch of sugar to it to tame down the tartness.
That said, I do prefer to decide how much sugar I’m adding to my cup. So, I’m kind of finding myself unsure of how I feel about this addition. I’m glad that this wasn’t too tart when I took my first sip, but, at the same time, I’m not thrilled that sugar was added to the tisane. But without dwelling on the subject too long, I’ll tell you about the rest of what I’m tasting…
This tisane is pleasantly sweet and fruity. I’m liking the blueberry, and as much as I am not fond of hibiscus, I have to admit that hibiscus DOES enhance berry flavors. And it does enhance the blueberry nicely. I am getting the sweet blueberry flavor with a touch of berry tartness. The lemongrass adds just a hint of citrus flavor and perks up the flavors.
I can barely taste the chamomile. In fact, this would be the ideal blend for someone who doesn’t like chamomile but wants to drink chamomile teas for their restful/healthful properties, because like I said, the chamomile is barely noticeable as far as taste goes.
To brew this, I went with my go-to temperature of 195°F for herbals and steeped it for six minutes. I find that six minutes was a good time – it delivered a really delicious blueberry flavor with light citrus-y notes without too much hibiscus-y taste or texture.
Overall, this is a pleasant cup of tea. It’s soothing and sweet, with just the right level of tartness to it. And to my surprise, as I’m typing this, I find myself becoming slightly drowsy from the tea! That’s a big bonus in my book.
