This week, my Health points were hit with a triple whammy: day-after sore muscles from kickboxing, monthlies, and I caught the cold going around, waaaaaaaaaah. Needless to say I busted out my favorite treatments – acetaminophen, zinc and herbal tea lol.
Ordinarily I prefer loose leaf teas, but I do like that this is Bigelow Benefits – lemon echinacea is bagged for convenience on the go. Also, if the herbs are broken up, they’ll release their goodness (or placebo effect) to me faster… right?!?! The brew tasted like a Chord of flavor, Lemongrass provides the main note, then sweet mallow and finally a hint of herbaceousness from the echinacea (which lessens the severity/duration of colds).
Also included: a bit of fennel for tummy relief, Sage as a decongestant, Elderflower for crunchy mom powers, and lemon balm for mental ease. This is still drinkable medicine when brewed with my other go-to tea bag for colds, traditional medicinals “throat coat”.
I’d recommend for cold season and in travel bags, Bring on the wellness!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Bigelow Teas
Looking to Stay Well every day! Authentic Echinacea and crisp lemon with a smooth relaxing herbal end note. All of us know how important it is to put good things in our bodies to help us stay strong. That desire was the inspiration for the Bigelow Benefits line, everyday teas that fuel your body with good for you ingredients. But of course, flavor is everything to the Bigelow family, so we designed this line to taste fabulous and help support your well-being. We believe our Benefits teas, as part of your everyday routine, can help you define the life you want to live! Caffeine free.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Product Review: Cardamom Spice Teadrops
About Teadrops:
Elaborate tea ceremonies have a time and place. However, if you desire high quality tea and are short on time and tea props, then meet Teadrops.
Each Teadrop is a portable morsel comprised of finely sourced tea from India, natural sugar, and aromatic spices creating a blissful tea blend that can be enjoyed any time, any place, with just hot water. No special tools, no steeping time, no tea expertise necessary.
About Cardamom Spice Teadrops:
An invigorating blend of fresh cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and fine Black Tea from the tea estates of India.
Learn more about Teadrops here.
Taster’s Review:
I have been told on more than one occasion that I am a tea snob. And I guess I am. There are certainly different “levels” of tea: there is exceptional tea, there is excellent tea, there is good tea, and then there is tea that isn’t good at all. There is tea that doesn’t deserve to call itself tea for to call itself tea is an insult to the good tea of the world. So, when I first encountered this product, I wasn’t sure what to think about it. Tea that has been pressed into a “tablet” that is the size of a quarter that you put into your teacup, add hot water, and stir … and then presto! You have tea? I could feel the tea snob in me emerging.
But I was determined to enter into this tea experience with an open mind. Maybe – just maybe! – this could be something exciting. What the heck, I’ll give it a try.
Let me first tell you about the packaging. I LOVE the box. The wood box offers a beautiful presentation. My one comment about the box, though, would be this: I think that this company should also offer their tea drops as “refills” to their repeat customers at a slightly lower price so that the customer can keep reusing the box. This would not only be better for the environment, but, also better for the pocketbook.
The top of the box slides open and there are eight individually wrapped tea drops of different designs: stars, flowers, hearts … cute! The tea “drop” or tablet had a nice aroma – I could smell the cardamom. I poured boiling water over the tablet and stirred, and it did dissolve quickly.
The fragrance wafting from my teacup is amazing. I love the smell of the tea and cardamom. It’s so warm and inviting. And this is actually really tasty. The tea is rich and satisfying. There is a nice amount of cardamom to this – it’s pleasantly spiced without being overdone. It has a comforting, warm taste to it with a zesty flavor. Hints of citrus too.
It tastes like a fine quality tea. It doesn’t taste to me like “tea dust” or “fannings” that you’d find in a grocery store teabag. I can taste the rich, malty flavor of the tea, and I am enjoying the cardamom.
My biggest complaint about these would be that they’re sweetened. But, even so, there isn’t TOO much sugar to this. I like that they aren’t too sweet, but I think I’d rather choose how much sweetener goes into my tea and not have that decision made for me already. It does make it more convenient for those who usually take sugar in their tea to have the sugar in there already, but, for those of us who don’t always add sugar to our tea, this can be the deal breaker. That said, this isn’t too sweet.
There is also some undissolved leaf sediment that sits at the bottom of the cup too. That isn’t something I was terribly happy about, because I’m not one who likes floaters in my tea. For those of you who are of similar thinking, I’d advise to stop drinking when there is about 1/2 an inch of tea left at the bottom of your cup … I didn’t get any sediment/tea leaf in my sip until I tried to drink beyond that 1/2 an inch mark.
But the rest of the cup was quite enjoyable. I would drink this again, and it would be very convenient for traveling , and it tastes a whole lot better than most hotel and/or restaurant bagged teas. The next time I’m traveling, I’m definitely ordering more of these!
Jasmine Pearls from Adagio Teas
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Product Description:
Exquisite Pearls infused with the sublime aroma of delicate night-blooming jasmine flowers.
Taster’s Review:
This is a bagged jasmine pearl which is part of the Artisan Comfort Collection (box is shown above) from Adagio Teas’ new Travel Tea collection. And while I generally prefer my jasmine pearls loose and steeped in my gaiwan, I have to admit that the idea of being able to enjoy my beloved jasmine pearls while traveling is certainly enough of an incentive to try them as a bagged (or should I say sachet pouched?) tea.
And these “pouched” pearls are definitely not a disappointment. The flavor is fantastic. Lightly vegetative with a strong jasmine presence. The jasmine is sweet and smooth and delicate tasting. It doesn’t taste perfume-y or soapy. It doesn’t have that sharpness that I sometimes experience with jasmine teas. These are perfectly delightful pearls!
This is a very uplifting, luxurious-tasting tea that had I not brewed it myself, I would have never guessed came from a teabag. Usually I experience my jasmine pearls while only at home, but these new travel teas from Adagio will give me the ability to take my jasmine pearls where ever I go!