Golden Chamomile Tisane from Revolution Tea

GoldenChamomileTisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal Tisane

Where to Buy:  Revolution Tea

Tea Description:

It’s time to relax with Revolution Tea’s Golden Flowers, a delicious blend of whole Egyptian chamomile flowers, marigold flowers and peppermint leaf. Naturally caffeine-free, Golden Flowers is Revolution Tea’s most popular herbal blend. Caffeine Free.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

This tea confused me a bit!  I opened the pouch and brewed it without reading the above description, so, I thought that this would be a “pure chamomile” tisane.  But it isn’t.  This is a blend of chamomile, peppermint and marigold petals.  So, imagine my surprise when I took a sniff of the dry leaf and could smell peppermint.

I thought maybe my olfactory nerves were playing tricks on me, so I went ahead and brewed the sachet in my favorite sunflower teacup.  I poured freshly filtered water that had been heated to 195°F and allowed the sachet to steep for 6 minutes.

Usually, I’ll let a tisane like this steep for up to 10 minutes, but, since I was a little taken aback by the aroma of the dry leaf, I wasn’t too sure if there might be hibiscus hiding somewhere in this tisane and I didn’t want to take a chance at infusing that too long!

Once I finished brewing the tea, I took a sniff of the brewed, golden amber liquid.   Yep, either my olfactory nerves are going bonkers or I’m smelling mint.

I took a quick sip., and I could taste the mint that I was smelling.  Peppermint.  Yep, that definitely tastes like peppermint.  So either this was a blend that also had peppermint in it, or it was the best tasting pure chamomile I had ever tasted.  I kind of thought it was the former because if Revolution Tea had in fact discovered this special chamomile that tastes like peppermint, then I kind of think that someone else in the tea business would have caught on and “discovered” it too.  You know?

Anyway, once I was able to pull up the description of the tisane, the fact that I could smell and taste peppermint made a whole lot more sense.  This is a blend – not a pure chamomile tisane.

And it’s a really tasty blend!  The peppermint is strong but it’s flavor has been tempered just enough by the presence of the chamomile so that it doesn’t taste too herbaceous nor does it taste like I’m drinking mouthwash.  As someone who isn’t always crazy about the flavor of chamomile, I’m happy that the peppermint is there because I find peppermint to be a whole lot tastier than chamomile.

The marigold petals, well, they really don’t do much.  Marigold petals are usually utilized by tea blenders to add some visual appeal to the dry blend.  I can appreciate this practice, because I like it when a tea is not just flavorful and fragrant but also beautiful.  Although I will say that since this is a sacheted tisane, it’s not really necessary to focus too much on the visual appeal of the dry leaf because it’s not so easy to see.

But since I don’t really taste much from the marigold, I have nothing to really complain about with this addition.  It doesn’t really alter the flavor in a noticeable way – this is something I learned in my days as a tea blender, because I tested it back then.  When I would flavor and blend teas, I tested every aspect to make sure that I was crafting the tea exactly the way I wanted it.

But maybe … this is the way Revolution wants it and as I said, I don’t really taste the marigold so it’s not a problem one way or another.  I do like what I do taste:  I like the combination of peppermint and chamomile.  I like that I’m getting the relaxing and soothing properties of the chamomile along with the delightfully cool, crisp flavor of the peppermint.  It’s a winning combination.

Gentle Slumber Organic Tisane from Good Life Tea

Gentle_SlumberTisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Rooibos & Herbal Tisane

Where to Buy:  Good Life Tea

Tisane Description:

This blend of rooibos, chamomile and peppermint is powerful mix of herbs known for their calming effects.  Chamomile is the ancient herb from the Roman empire and has been used to bring about restful sleep. You can actually see the chomomile flowers in the blend.  Rooibos is a relative new arrival, only used in the last 200 years as a tisane.  Grown only in the Cederberg, South Africa rooibos is naturally caffeine free, and is loaded with anti-oxidants, which prevent a many diseases. It is the reddish brown leaves in the mix. The last ingredient, Peppermint has a huge calming effect on the stomach as a digestive and gives this tea nice finish which lingers for a bit. Peppermint is the green leaves in the tisane.

Enjoy this tea to bring calmness to your day or just prior to bedtime.  Because it contains no caffeine, its safe for children to enjoy. Create a nice evening ritual with this herbal tea.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

I know that I’ve often said that I’m not a big fan of rooibos and I’m also not a big fan of chamomile.  Oh, I like both of these herbs alright.  I’m just not wild about them and I can think of other herbs I like much better.

Like peppermint.  I like peppermint.  And what makes this Organic Gentle Slumber so tasty IS the peppermint.  The peppermint is the strongest flavor in the cup, so I can drink this tisane without tasting too much chamomile or rooibos.  Bonus!

But even though the peppermint is strong here, it isn’t an overpowering flavor.  There is some nutty flavors in the background.  A touch of honey like flavor. A whisper of floral tones in the distance.  And these flavors add a little bit of dimension to the cup so that it’s not all about the zesty peppermint.

And even though the peppermint is zesty, overall, I find the tisane to be soothing and quite relaxing to sip.  It’s a comforting drink to enjoy before bedtime and the chamomile and rooibos are both known for their calming properties.

A great choice to inspire a good night’s sleep!

Please Note:  the free sample offer is no longer valid.  Thank you for stopping by!

C of Tranquilitea Herbal Tisane from Good Life Tea

C_of_TranquilityTisane 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.

Insomniac’s Dream Herbal Blend from Simple Loose Leaf

Insomniacs-DreamTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal Tisane

Where to Buy:  Simple Loose Leaf

Tea Description:

This dreamy tisane blends five calming herbs into one delicious tea. Catnip and Chamomile Flowers lure the drinker into a mellow, relaxed mood, while the bright flavors of Peppermint, Lemon Balm and Lemongrass dance around their palate, resulting in a tea that is at once effective and unforgettable. But drinker beware- you may hit the pillow before finishing your cup!

Chamomile Flowers, Lemon Balm, Catnip, Lemongrass, Peppermint

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s Selection Club subscription program here.

Taster’s Review:

This is not necessarily a tisane I was overly excited to try as I don’t generally get all that excited about chamomile blends, but as far as chamomile blends go, this Insomniac’s Dream is enjoyable.

The light apple notes of the chamomile meld nicely with the bright lemon-y notes of the lemon balm and lemongrass and the crisp, cooling notes of peppermint to create a very palatable taste.  The catnip adds a little bit of sweetness to the cup and enhances the mint notes.

I like that the overall taste of this tisane is mellow.  Since it’s to be a blend that helps lull the drinker into a sense of peacefulness so that they can rest, the mellow flavors assist in that endeavor.  The minty notes are not too invigorating and the citrus-y notes are not overly zesty.  This cup is all about calm.

And it DOES help instill a sense of relaxation.  I feel myself starting to “chill out” from the inside out, like my muscles are starting to relax and I feel myself start to feel a little bit drowsy.  This may very well be an Insomniac’s Dream!

I like this best served hot.  I find that as it cools, the flavors seem to mute a little bit and because it’s a mellow tasting herbal tisane to begin with, you don’t want the flavors to get any more mild than they are.

This is another blend that I got with my June Sampler Box as part of the Selection Club subscription – I highly recommend subscribing to this service.  It’s a great way to get a lot of tea for a small price!  And if you want to save even more, use this code:  SISTERSELECTION25 and you’ll save 25% off when you sign up for the Selection Club.

This discount is not applicable on the retail selection of teas, and is only good for the selection club subscription.