I made this tea the other day and then I got distracted and never got around to drinking it. Thankfully my Sororitea Sisters were generous with their sample and I am getting to enjoy it now…and enjoy it I am!
Comprised of South African Honeybush Red Tea, Lemon Peel, Lemon Balm, Lemongrass, Jasmine Flower, Agrimony Herb, Marshmallow Root, and Lemon, Vanilla & Custard natural flavor extracts, this Lemon Biscottea tea claims such benefits of reducing inflammation, aiding digestion, helping depression, controlling blood sugar, and much more. However, I personally never cared for any of the health benefits claims. For me only one thing is important and that is taste…and this delivers on taste.
This is creamy and lemony. It reminds me of Fauchon’s L’Hiver or Butiki’s Lemon French Macaron for those that have tried those teas. The flavor is soft and fluffy, probably in large part due to the marshmallow root. Lemon is clearly the star of the show but it is a gentle and sweet lemon that compliments the vanilla and custard pastry notes perfectly, as opposed to a bright citrus or a harsh sour. As it cools, there is a more herbal quality at the end of the sip which I’d attribute to the lemongrass. As a whole, it certainly captures a treat but to me I would say it is more akin to a pastry than a biscotti.
Regardless of how you’d describe this, this is definitely a dessert tea. A little more herbal than I like but only when it cools so best to drink this one hot.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: BlendBee
Description
Tea party anyone? This beautiful blend will whisk you away to a lovely tea party set with delightful treats, close friends, fresh spring flowers and lemon trees. This naturally caffeine free blend is absolutely divine hot as well as cold brewed on a warm day.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Love Love Love from Harlow Tea Co. . . .. .
Herbal teas are great for me because I can have them at night without worrying about being awake until 3am. I also think it’s a huge plus when the ingredients are all actual plants instead of mystery flavors and sugar. So I was pretty happy to give this sample of a honeybush tea blend a try. It only has five ingredients and they all actually grew out of the ground.
The dry leaf smells exactly like dried cranberries, to the point that I’m surprised they’re not an ingredient. The tea brews up the same color as a slice of blood orange. The brewed tea tastes entirely of juicy plum and hibiscus. I couldn’t taste the honeybush in it at all. The risk you run with hibiscus is always that it will drown out everything else. That seems to have largely happened here, though the plum does hold its own. I also got a pleasant second steep out of it, which doesn’t always happen with herbals. If I had more leaf, I would try steeping for 4 minutes instead of 5 to see if that helps tone down the hibiscus a bit.
I don’t know that I love, love, love this blend, but you might if you really like plum and hibiscus!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Harlow Tea Co
Description
This caffeine free tea is a great tea for any tea drinker, someone brand new to tea or have tried it all.
Honeybush tea is vey mild, but gives great flavor without caffeine. Floral hints from rose hips, hibiscus flower, and lady’s mantle is balanced with the fruity aroma of dried plums
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Apple Cider Tea from Harlow Tea Co
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Harlow Tea Co
Tea Description:
This loose leaf tea blend is a perfect mix of fruit, spice, and everything nice. The honeybush tea does not contain caffeine, making it perfect to relax with at any time of day.
Ingredients: Honeybush tea, candied cinnamon apples, cinnamon chips, chicory root, hibiscus flower, dried apple, and dried plum. Does not contain caffeine
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Apple Cider Tea from Harlow Tea Co, an Etsy store, may have just made my whole day! This tea is exactly what the doctor ordered. Harlow Tea Co is a gem of a tea shop I recently stumbled upon. They offer quite an array of hand blended teas for their customers to enjoy. I love their attitude when it comes to creating their tea blends.
“Tea should be made in small batches right? Harlow Tea Co. believes so. No machines, or heavy equipment is used to make these tea blends.” I just adore tea companies that use this motto and passion. One reason why I love 52Teas so much.
First impression of this tea, I was very happy with what I was seeing. Large chunks of apple-both candied and dried on a bed of honeybush. When I took a quick whiff of the dry leaf, this definitely had those familiar cinnamon and apple notes that you get from apple cider.
So I brewed this tea up like an herbal-boiling and steeped about 5 minutes. The end result was a lovely pale liquor that I couldn’t wait to try. I allowed the brew to cool for a few minutes and took my first sip.
Fresh juicy slightly tart apple flavor with a sweetness that really does resemble and remind you of an apple cider. The cinnamon isn’t overwhelming and really heightens the flavor nicely. The honeybush is the perfect base for this tea, allowing the other flavors to really shine while also adding a creamy note. Each sip is sweet and smooth, delivering a solid flavor.
To say I was impressed by this tea isn’t doing this tea justice. I have had about 7 infusions out of the same tea leaves today and yesterday (each day adding a minute to my steeping) and tho the blend is probably at the end, I”m still loving that apple cider flavor I’m getting.
This blend is a perfect example of an herbal tea done right!
