Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Byron Bay Tea Company
Product Description:
Brighten your day with this clean, balanced and lively infusion of Green tea, Siberian Ginseng, Gotu Kola and mixed berries. A perky and delightful tea to pick you up in the morning, inspire your afternoon, or energise your evening. A healthy alternative to coffee. Enjoy!
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I am liking this Energy Green Tea Blend from Byron Bay Tea Company, even though I really didn’t think I would like it. It’s got two strikes against it right at the start: hibiscus – yikes! ginseng – ugh! But I’m enjoying it … it would seem that it’s a hit even though it started out with a lot going against it.
The berry flavor is strong. I can taste the currants and the strawberries and hints of blackberry. And yes, I do taste the hibiscus, but somehow, when paired with berries, hibiscus is less … difficult for me to drink. Hibiscus seems to highlight the tart notes of the berry and somehow make the berries taste a little more like berries.
The green tea is tasted in there too, although I will say that the flavor is slightly obscured by the rest of the ingredients. I taste the fresh vegetal tones of the green tea though, and I like the way all these ingredients work together – yes, even those ingredients that I’m less than enthused about!
Overall, this is a refreshing drink, and it lives up to its promise as stated in its name – it’s an energizing beverage that will help get you going when you need that snap of vitality.
Bilberry Chamomile Bliss from The Whistling Kettle
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: The Whistling Kettle
Tisane Description:
Our Dr. Oz inspired bilberry blend helps stem dinner cravings and relax the body. Wild bilberry balances blood sugar, resulting in reduced sweet craving. Organic chamomile and lavender soothes and relaxes. Rose hip gives this tea a vitamin C boost.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Huzzah! I am so thrilled that there is NO hibiscus in this Bilberry Chamomile Bliss herbal tisane from The Whistling Kettle! All too often with a tisane such as this one, tea companies feel the need to add hibiscus to it. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not fond of hibiscus and it’s tartness or its tendency to create a thick, syrupy liquid when infused.
But that isn’t a worry with this blend, because there is NO hibiscus!
And this is actually quite enjoyable. It has a sweet, floral taste, and because there is no hibiscus, I can really taste that lovely apple-like note of the chamomile. I taste a gentle lavender note – and I do wish there was just a tad more lavender to this. Then again, I love lavender. But for those of you who are less fond of lavender than I, I think you’ll find that the amount of lavender here is on the light side.
The bilberry adds a delightful berry note that imparts that berry tart tingle in the aftertaste. The rose adds a really pleasant touch too – not too strong – just enough to add contrast to the floral notes of this cup. The tisane does not taste overly berry, nor does it taste overly chamomile, lavender or rose. It has a really nice balance of all the different flavors here.
I don’t taste much from the peppercorns. When I slurp the cup, allowing the liquid to be experienced throughout the palate, I notice hints of a peppery flavor … especially toward the finish. In the aftertaste, I notice a whisper of a peppery tingle on the tip of my tongue, but the peppery taste overall is really very subtle, so, if you’re one who tends to shy away from peppercorns in your teas and/or tisanes, you needn’t really worry much about their inclusion in this blend.
This is a really pleasant cup of tea. One that’s nice close to bedtime … it does help me relax as I sip it … be sure to deeply inhale the fragrance before you sip and enjoy the relaxing qualities of the aromatic lavender and chamomile, this enhances that sense of calm.