There’s something about a tea being themed to one of your favorite interests, that just makes the whole experience so much more fun. Having spent some time battling my way through the fantasy landscape of the Skyrim video game, I was more than ready to brew up a cup of Daedra tea from Grimoire on Etsy.
This herbal tea is bold and bloody. Big chunks of blood orange are paired with dark berry pieces to help sweeten its tart citrus bite. There’s a dose of snappy hibiscus to add its fruity notes and turn the brew a deep, pink magenta. Hot or cold, this blend brews up dark and powerful and makes you feel like you’re drinking sour orange magma, or tart, ruby blood, or even enchanted berry wine.
There’s a lot to be said about the Daedra in Skyrim video game lore, so I’ll spare the details and talk about my favorite bits. The Dremora are a type of Daedra that can be summoned to fight for you. These bulked up warriors are clad in red and black scales of armor and are satisfying allies to have on the battlefield. Their gravely voices call out the best lines when spotting an enemy (“I smell weakness!”) or when gloating over that enemy’s defeat (“No match at all!”). Trust me, it’s worth upgrading your conjuration magic to have one of these guys on your side. The colors and feeling of Grimoire’s Daedra tea blend match their aesthetic exactly!
I’d be curious to try some of Grimoire’s other fantasy-themed teas in their Etsy shop. Some of the other Skyrim flavors include a jasmine green tea for the city of Whiterun, or a cherry oolong for the town of Falkreath. These blends look like they will be the perfect, magical cup of tea to accompany me on my fantasy adventures.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Grimoire Tea on Etsy
Description:
A blend fit for any Daedric Lord. Rich in berry flavors. **This tea is not available right now but click below for the teas that are.**
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Florida Sunrise Herbal Tea from Because UR Priceless
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Because UR Priceless on Etsy
Tisane Description:
FLORIDA SUNRISE Herbal Tea Blend reminds me of all the things I love about summer. The aroma of orange and the tang of hibiscus draw me in, and I can almost feel the warmth of the sun. Add in the antioxidant rich, good for you combination of green rooibos*, rose hips, and red raspberry leaf and you have awesomeness in a mug.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I gotta tell you, I wasn’t really looking forward to trying this tisane. Hibiscus! UGH!
However, the hibiscus isn’t a strong flavor in this. There is a certain tangy ‘hibiscus-ness’ to this but it’s not overpowering the cup. Instead, it seems to accent the orange notes in a really pleasant way.
The raspberry leaf together with the hibiscus gives the cup a berry-ish sort of taste that nicely complements the orange notes. The green rooibos has a light, fruity note that melds well with these flavors.
It’s a refreshing beverage. Sweet, fruity and pleasant to sip. I appreciate that the hibiscus hasn’t been overdone. I don’t get that heavy hibiscus texture nor do I get a strong flavor from it, and what flavor I do taste from the hibiscus marries well with the other flavors of the cup.
I enjoyed this.
White Currant Tea from Caraway Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Caraway Tea Company
Product Description:
Juicy aromatic currants paired with the delicacy of white tea leaves delivers a smooth flavor profile with a deeply fruity finish. There’s a lot of flavor is this healthy white tea.
Ingredients
China Pai Mu Tan, China Cui Min, rose hip peel, freeze-dried blackcurrants, flavoring, mallow blossoms, cornflower blossoms.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about UniqTeas here – UniqTeas is the “sister site” of Caraway Tea where you can create your own unique tea blend!
Taster’s Review:
Oh yum!
As I was preparing this review, I had the teacup sitting just under my nose (well, about a foot from my nose) and I enjoyed the fragrance of the tea. It smells really yummy. And as I was enjoying the aroma, I started thinking: there really aren’t a lot of currant flavored white teas. I’ve encountered quite a few currant flavored black teas and maybe a couple of currant flavored green teas, but I think I’ve only tried a couple of currant flavored white teas.
And that’s a shame, because I think that the tart with a touch of sweet flavor of currants seems really well paired with the crisp sweetness of white tea.
What I’m drinking now – this White Currant Tea from Caraway Tea – tastes a lot like a sweet wine, only without the tannic quality of a wine. Sure, tea has tannins too, but I find white teas to be less tannic than black teas. Perhaps this is because I brew my white teas at a lower temperature. Or perhaps it’s because they’re just less tannic. I don’t know.
Disclaimer: I’m not a tannin expert.
So, imagine if you would, a sweet red wine without the tannins. Now, imagine it … served hot. That’s what I’m tasting now. Since I don’t usually drink wine hot, I’m thinking that this tea is a stunner served iced. (Then again, I don’t drink wine much at all. Hot or otherwise.)
The currant flavor is lightly tart – not puckery – and there is a pleasant sweetness to it too. The white tea is not overpowered by the flavors of this tea. It is light and refreshing with delicate vegetal notes and a sweet, airy quality. I also notice a hint – just a hint! – of a warm, gentle spice to this too. Like a slight peppery kick. It’s a nice contrast to the tart and sweet fruit notes and the light sweetness from the white tea.
A really good tea. This is one that I’d happily drink again!
Mountain Of Mango Tisane from Inca Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Blend
Where to Buy: Inca Tea
Tea Description:
Mango has always been a favorite fruit of the founder so he decided to add a little twist to the original blend. Its a refreshing blend of mango, sweet herbs, and citrus.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’ve said (many times!) before, I’m not always thrilled when it comes to trying fruit and/or herbal tisanes. But because I’ve come to realize that I need to lighten up on the caffeine intake later in the evening, I’ve begun to embrace the tisane even though I’d much rather partake of Camellia Sinensis. So, when I opened the pouch for this Mountain of Mango tisane, I wasn’t exactly excited about it.
But … wow! I can definitely smell the mango in the dry leaf. No other tea/tisane immediately comes to mind where I smelled such a strong, distinct mango aroma. All of the sudden, my dismay over trying yet another tisane disappeared and I got excited about trying this!
I steeped the silky pyramid sachet in 8 ounces of 195°F water for 6 minutes. The brewed tisane is a light ruby color (a good sign, it doesn’t look like there’s too much hibiscus in this!) and it offers a light fruity fragrance. The mango notes are less distinct than in the dry leaf, but they’re still there.
This is pretty good. The mango isn’t as strong as I hoped for, but, it’s a clear and focused flavor. It is an obvious mango flavor. The apple offers subtle hints of sweetness but not a strong apple-y flavor. I think it’s probably present in this cup mostly to provide some sweet, juicy flavor to the cup without it adding too much to the flavor profile, and that’s what it seems to do here.
The ingredient list does not show any citrus-y ingredients that would provide the citrus that’s suggested in the above description, but I can taste a hint of tangy citrus toward the tail and this flavor lingers into the aftertaste. I’m not sure where this flavor is coming from unless it’s one of the “natural flavors.”
In the Peruvian Spiced Berry Tisane, I could taste the notes of purple corn, but I’m finding that flavor to be a little less distinct here. If I slurp the cup, I can pick up on a slight corn-like taste, but it’s much softer than in the Spiced Berry blend. I kind of liked that purple corn taste, it made that tisane significantly different from any other that I’ve tried, so I was kind of hoping for a little more purple corn flavor in this tisane as well.
That said, I really enjoyed this. The mango flavor is delicious and authentic and strong, and the hibiscus is not strong. Two big bonus points for these attributes. It’s a very tasty served hot, and it’s awesome iced!
Pick Me Up Peach White Tea Blend from Inca Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Inca Tea
Tea Description:
Being our first caffeinated blend we wanted it to embody a refreshing yet clean taste. Its a rejuvenating combination of white tea, lush peaches and sweet herbs.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Ah! Peaches! As soon as I tore into the pouch holding the pyramid sachet of this Pick Me Up Peach White Tea, the aroma of peach filled the room! The fragrance is very abundantly PEACH!
And the taste is also very abundantly peach. Sweet, luscious peach – which is perfect for this time of year when the peaches are in season. YUM! The peach flavor is sweet and true to the fruit. It doesn’t taste like an artificial or even a candied peach flavor.
But this blend also has hibiscus and rose hips in it, and it should come as no surprise to those of you who read this blog regularly that hibiscus is not my favorite herbal. I’m wishing that the hibiscus just wasn’t there. Yeah, it adds a hint of tartness which is a nice contrast to the sweet peach notes, and because of the hibiscus the brewed tea is a beautiful ruby color. And as long as it’s not steeped too long, it doesn’t have a syrupy consistency. (I steeped this for 4 minutes at 170°F.)
However, I do feel like the hibiscus and rose hips do interfere a bit with the delivery of the white tea flavor. It seems a little masked by everything else that’s going on in this blend. White tea is delicate, and these strong herbal flavors really shouldn’t be in a white tea blend.
I don’t taste much of the white tea. I taste a slight airy, earthy quality that is distinctly white tea, but because of the hibiscus, I’m missing some of the softer textures that I enjoy with a white tea. I’m also missing some of those sweet fruit notes that I believe would meld beautifully with the peach flavors.
The purple corn adds a slight “warm grain” sort of flavor that is quite appealing, and I am enjoying. The apple is not a strong note here, and I suspect it is part of this blend for it’s sweetness rather than to provide a strong apple-y flavor. And that’s what I’m getting from it.
Overall, this IS tasty, but I think it could be so much better without the hibiscus. I feel like the hibiscus overpowers the white tea. But I love the peach notes, and I like the purple corn. It’s a different kind of flavor that I’m not used to tasting in tea and I like it. It’s not an invasive flavor and I like how it complements the other flavors of this cup.