Simmer Down from The Random Tea Room

simmerdownTea Information:

Leaf Type: Herbal

Where to Buy:  The Random Tea Room

Tea Description:

A blend of chamomile, lemon balm, motherwort, peppermint, lavender, and passionflower. Designed to assist the body in alleviating stress and worn nerves.  Very relaxing. This is calm in a cup!

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

First off, I am not a fan of lavender in teas.  I feel that the lavender adds a bite to the tea and creates a overwhelming fragrance to the tea.  When I received this tea and noticed that there was lavender in it, I was a bit worried.  Lately I have been really trying to get myself to not drink the teas that I know I will like.  Like how you encourage a child to try different foods, I’m taking that same plane of thought in my tea drinking.  I have been trying some pretty unusual teas and having a fantastic time. I have discovered that I enjoy rose petals in tea.  After having this tea, I am ok with lavender now being in tea.

This tea is presented in a marvelous tin.  The label on this package is awesome.  I love the way The Random Tea Room packages their teas.

I added two scoops of tea into my Breville One Touch and hit the herbal button (212F-5 min).  Once the tea was ready, I poured the liquid into two mugs, admiring the coloring of the tea.  There was an almost purple color to it.

Jason and I took our first sips and we both looked at each other and smiled.  First sip and I’ve fallen in love with another tea.  This tea is a perfect herbal tea.  Relaxing, soothing, comforting, and cooling.  Everything you would want in an herbal tea and more.  The chamomile provides a baked dessert background while the peppermint (which is subtle) adds in just a touch of a cooling aesthetic.  There is also a touch of a fruity flavor through the sip and the lavender delivers an ever so slight floral note.  A lot of flavors in this blend, but they all work together and play nicely in my cuppa.  I’m impressed with yet another of The Random Tea Room’s blends.

I was able to get about 4 infusions out of this one session with this tea.  Even tried it iced and thought this herbal tea delivered a solid flavor.  You can’t ask for a better herbal!

Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tisane from Rington’s Premium English Teas

Lemon-Ginger-GinsengTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal Tisane

Where to Buy:  Rington’s Premium English Teas

Tea Description:

Naturally caffeine free, the Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tea is a refreshing and invigorating infusion that balances the lemon and ginger flavours.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Do you ever go through that moment when – as you’re brewing a cup of tea – you think to yourself:  what was I thinking, choosing this tea?  I actually go through that sort of moment more than I care to admit to.

And I experienced that moment as I was brewing this Lemon, Ginger & Ginseng Herbal Tisane from Rington’s Premium English Teas.  I mean, I like lemon and I like ginger and I actually enjoy the two together quite a bit.  But ginseng?  I think I’ve mentioned more than once here on this blog that I’m not a fan of it.  So, what possessed me to grab this tea to try it?

I don’t know.  But, now that it’s brewed, I might as well try it, right?

I brewed one bag in 6 ounces of hot water (195°F) for 5 minutes.

The aroma offers a strong lemony note with hints of ginger.  I also detect an earthy ginseng aroma.  Ugh.

Fortunately, the ginseng smells stronger than it tastes!  Happy day!

The lemon is the strongest flavor of the cup and it’s bright and invigorating.  It’s not overly tart, it’s more of a sweet lemon note with hints of tangy.  But I’m not puckering here.

The ginger is somewhat subdued, it’s not an overly peppered flavor from the spice of the ginger.  It’s warm enough to offer some contrast to the zesty flavor of the lemon but not so spicy that it distracts from the lemon.  This cup is really all about the lemon!

I can also taste the slightest hint of a cinnamon-y flavor to this.  It’s very slight and it complements the ginger in a very enjoyable way.

What I don’t taste a lot of – thankfully – is ginseng.  Even when I attempt to focus on the ginseng flavor to determine how much of it I actually do taste, I don’t taste a lot.  A slight earthiness – that’s it!  And the earthy notes meld favorably with the earthy notes of the ginger and cinnamon.

It really is as I said earlier, this tea is really all about the lemon.  This would be something nice to keep on hand for those times when you’re feeling a bit under the weather and want something lively to sip.  It would go nicely with a dollop of honey and would be soothing on a sore throat.

It’d also be nice if you’re cold-brewing some basic black tea – add one of these tea bags in along with the black tea and you’ll have a pleasant lemony flavor to your iced tea.

Overall, I’m pleasantly surprised by this tea!

Peace Tea from The Algonquin Tea Co.

tea-peaceTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal/Functional Tisane

Where to Buy:  Algonquin Tea Co.

Tea Description:

Peace Tea instills the tranquility, patience and beauty of the earth. This rich, bittersweet blend grounds us in a flowing meadow of healing herbs. Peace tea is ideal for calming down before, during or after any busy period.

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn more about subscribing to Postal Teas here.

Taster’s Review:

So, my Postal Teas box arrived the other day!  Yay!  A beam of happiness shines like a ray of sunshine when tea is in the mailbox!  And I do really enjoy the Postal Teas subscription.  So far, with every box that I’ve received from them, I’ve tried teas from companies that are new to me.  I like that.  I like that a lot!

I’ve never really made a big secret of the fact that I prefer camellia sinensis blends over herbal teas/tisanes.  Not a big surprise, right?  So, I was a little less than enthused when I opened the box this month and found not one … not two … but ALL THREE teas in the box were herbals.

What?  

So, it probably goes without saying that this month’s box was a little bittersweet.  I was not thrilled about receiving three herbal teas in the box BUT I was happy to be trying teas from a new-to-me company:  Algonquin Tea Co.

And while I do prefer camellia sinensis, I am willing to try herbal blends, and I actually do like to have an herbal tisane later in the evening to encourage some peace and quiet so that I can get a good night’s rest.

Which is why I chose to try this Peace Tea first.  The ingredient list suggests that there are quite a few calming herbs in the blend.

Ingredients:  Blue Vervain, Lemon Balm, Catnip, Oat Straw, Red Bergamot, Chamomile, Hops, Motherwort, Valerian, Skullcap and St John’s Wort.

To brew this tisane, I used my Kati tumbler and measured 1 1/2 bamboo scoops into the basket.  I heated 12 ounces of water to 195°F and then let it steep for 8 minutes.

As the description suggests, there is some bittersweet going on here.  This is a tisane that I recommend adding a dollop of honey (raw, locally harvested honey if you’ve got it!) to help tame the bitterness a bit.  After I added a little bit of honey, I found this to be an enjoyable cup.

The vervain and the hops is where a lot of the bitterness is coming from.  I taste hints of mint-like flavor from the catnip and there is a touch of citrus flavors from the lemon balm and bergamot.  I was really hoping to taste more of the bergamot in this.

Mostly, what I’m tasting is a very herbaceous flavor.  It is bittersweet.  Almost medicinal.  There’s a light floral note that is nice and it develops as I continue to sip.  I pick up on more of the chamomile flavor as the tea cools and guess what?  I was actually happy to discover the chamomile!  I think that the reason for that is because it’s more of a familiar flavor amid the medicinal notes.

All that said:  this isn’t a bad tisane.  I’m not hating this.  It’s not horrible.  It’s alright.  But this is not something I’d want to reach for on a regular basis.  The citrus notes and the hint of mint are this tea’s saving grace, because without those notes, I don’t know that I’d enjoy this.

The pros:  there is no hibiscus in here.  I enjoy the citrus-y notes and the touch of mint.  The floral notes are pleasant.  With a bit of honey this tastes much nicer and I am noticing myself relaxing and calming down a bit – I feel the peace that the name of the tea promises.  These are good things!

The cons:  It does have a strong bitter tone to it and while I can appreciate a contrasting, savory bitter note in a tea or tisane now and again, this is a stronger bitter taste than I’d like it to be.  It has a medicinal quality that makes me feel like I’m drinking something functional or “good for me” – which I am, but I don’t like to feel like I am.  I like to get my functional, good for me teas in sweeter, better tasting blends.

I think I’d like this a lot more if it had more citrus-y flavors, or more flavors that I don’t normally associate as “herbaceous.”  As a drink, it’s alright.  As a source of peace and calm, I appreciate how this tea is inspiring those things in me at the moment.  I feel noticeably more relaxed now than I did before I started sipping.

PGB Black Tea from 52Teas

PGBTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  52Teas

Tea Description:

As difficult as you might imagine it would be to replicate a Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster here on Earth, particularly since the only ingredient we could obtain here would be the olive, it is an even MORE difficult task to create a non-alcoholic tea inspired by the drink. BUT I think we have succeeded in creating something awesome. Here’s our awesome premium black tea base blended with organic lemon-, brandy-, bourbon-, sherry- and red hot cinnamon flavors, cinnamon chips, lemon balm, lemon myrtle, lemon verbena, lemongrass, some chili pepper flakes and a TEENY touch of cayenne pepper to give it that little extra bit of BITE. Instead of an olive we added a tiny touch of organic maraschino cherry flavor for sweetness. I’m sure my creation can’t hold a candle to the awesome concoction from the fertile imagination of Douglas Adams, but I’m pretty sure it will put a smile on your face anyway, and now you can offer your guests a cuppa PGB.

Learn more about this blend here.

Taster’s Review:

OK, I can’t tell you how excited I was to learn that 52Teas’ tea of the week was this PGB which – for those of you unfamiliar with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – stands for Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster.  It’s one of my favorite movies.

I still haven’t read the book.  I have the book, but I just haven’t taken the time to read it yet.  I plan to do that soon.  As in eventually.

At the same time, I was a little afraid of the tea.  I mean … I wasn’t quite sure I was ready to have my brains smashed in by a slice of lemon that’s been wrapped around a large gold brick.  As amazing as that sounds, I just thought that might be something that’s a little like skydiving:  it sounds fun.  But jumping out of an airplane doesn’t sound like something I should do.

But I decided to summon up the courage and brew some of this tea and try it.  Even if it meant that I would soon feel as though I had my brains smashed in a brick of gold that’s been wrapped in lemon.

At first the tea starts out rather mellow.  But after about three sips, I start to pick up on FLAVOR.  A lot of it!  I taste cinnamon and notes of citrus, a hint of chili pepper.  It’s sweet and spicy and fruity.  The description states that there are flavors of brandy, bourbon and sherry in this, and I’m having difficulty discerning specific alcohol flavors in this.  This could be that I’m either not very good at determining alcohol flavors because I’m a tea-totaler, or it could be that these alcohol notes meld into the background, behind the stronger flavors of black tea, cinnamon, citrus and zesty pepper.

I REALLY like this concoction.  It’s different from any tea that I’ve tried before but it’s also similar enough to things that I’ve tried in the past that it doesn’t taste weird to the point of being off-putting.  It’s a good weird.  Kind of like 52Teas.

As I continue to sip, I’m picking up on a delicate sweetness from maraschino cherry.  It’s a really nice contrast to the low and slow burn that I’m getting from the red hot cinnamon/natural cinnamon and cayenne and chili pepper.

The spice is the best part of this because it’s not TOO spicy.  This isn’t one of those hot-cha-cha kind of spicy teas that becomes too difficult to drink because the spice is overwhelming.  It isn’t sending me to the kitchen for a drink of ice water to cool the mouth.  I’m not in need of a bite of yogurt to tame the zesty flavors that are dancing around in my mouth right now.  It all works together very well.  It’s warm and it’s – as I said before – a low and slow kind of burn in the back of the mouth and toward the back of the throat.

This is the kind of drink that I’m going to want to turn to when autumn arrives and there’s a cool crispness to the air.  It’s just warm enough to give me that all-over sort of warm feeling that I would get if I just drank a shot of whiskey but without the flavor of whiskey in my mouth.  That’s a big bonus for this tea-totaler.

I really like this.  It’s definitely a suitable tribute to one of my all-time favorite movies.

Boost Et Moi Tisane from Les 2 Marmottes

Les2MarmottsTisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Tisane

Where to Buy:  Les 2 Marmottes

Tisane Description:

Guarana, ginseng, ginger: a trio 100% plant explosive vitality!  In addition, these pêchus ingredients are not the only stars.  We have put together a stunning blend of subtlety by slipping rosehips for its fruity taste, lemon balm for its sweet and aromatic flavor and tangy hibiscus note and its beautiful ruby color.  A lively and rich in aromas tea for a day full of pep.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have enjoyed the adventure of these teas and tisanes from Les 2 Marmottes.  Since I can’t read most of the packaging, I have to turn to the website and Chrome’s ability to translate the French language to know what the tea is all about.  It makes for an interesting tea moment.

When I grabbed this Boost Et Moi … I visited the website to see what ingredients I would be encountering with this blend.  Here’s what the translated website lists:

  • Hibiscus Flower
  • Rosehip
  • Melissa
  • Guarana
  • Ginseng
  • Ginger

I wish that there wasn’t hibiscus in this.  Fortunately the hibiscus imparts very little of its tart flavor, mostly it seems it is there for a berry like flavor and the vivid ruby color and a bit of texture.  I’m glad that it’s not a syrupy texture.

There is an interesting contrast of flavors in this blend:  a distinct herbaceous note with a slight earthy character from the ginseng.  There is a touch of lemon-y taste from the Melissa, and the Guarana adds a slight bitter note.  I like the peppery zing of ginger.

This is the third tea/tisane that I’ve tasted from Les 2 Marmottes, and it’s probably my least favorite of the three.  I would rather the hibiscus not be in there, and I’m not wild about ginseng.  That said, this is not an unpleasant functional tea, but I don’t know that it’s one that I’d reach for to drink every day.  I do like the burst of energy that this tea provides, though.

Overall, this is alright, but not my favorite of these little adventures that Les 2 Marmottes has taken me on.