Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
This tea is incredibly warming and comforting. A herbal blend that’s both sweet and spicy. Lemongrass gives a dominant , but smooth, citrus flavour. Hints of mint and tropical fruit blend seamlessly, making individual ingredients subtle to detect. The sweet comforts of the liquorice root coat the throat and help the flavours of the tea linger.
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Taster’s Review:
I admit that I entered into my experience with this Ginger Twist Herbal Tisane from Sloane Tea with a little bit of intrepidation because I had heard from a friend of mine who is also an Amoda Tea subscriber that she was a little less than thrilled with this tea. And after reading the ingredient list, yeah, I was a little nervous about this one.
What’s In It: Lemongrass, mint, ginger, ginseng, licorice root, apple, papaya, citrus peel, cornflower petals, natural flavour.
Lemongrass, mint, ginger? OK. Ginseng … ugh. Licorice root – in most cases, I’d be enthusiastic about it, but it’s been my experience when ginseng and licorice root are blended together the result is a flavor that … evokes thoughts of dirty socks. The rest of the flavors seemed OK to me. It’s the ginseng with the licorice root that was causing my anxiety about this blend.
But, despite my intrepidation, the tea beckoned to me to try it and since my friend was asking for suggestions on how best to brew and serve this tea, I figured I needed to try it.
What’s the worst that could happen? Since I’m not allergic to any of the ingredients, an allergic reaction isn’t the worst thing that could happen and I trusted Amoda Tea not to send me poison so I didn’t fear for my life if I were to drink this tea. I surmised that the worst thing that could happen is that I hate this and after I take a sip or two, I unceremoniously dump the rest of it down the drain.
So I brewed it. I decided to go with a ‘light’ brew and only steeped it for 6 minutes rather than my usual 8 – 10 minutes for a non-hibiscus tisane. Then I let it cool for a few minutes and took my first sip.
Here goes…
This isn’t horrible. As suggested by Amoda in the above description, it is a warming drink. The ginger is the strongest component to the cup and the peppery warmth of the ginger is accentuated by the snappy flavor of the licorice root.
Fortunately, it doesn’t taste of dirty socks. Or what I think dirty socks might taste like if I were to brew them. This is not something that really appeals to me so I’ve never actually attempted to brew my socks. Plus, I usually wear wool socks and if I were to put them in boiling water, the wool might fuse.
The lemongrass and mint are very subtle to the point where it’s really difficult to identify them in the sip. If I had been given this brewed tisane blindly – not knowing what was in it – and then asked what I ingredients I thought were in it based on what I was tasting, I don’t know that I would immediately pick up on the lemongrass and the mint. I would definitely pick up on the ginger and the licorice. I wouldn’t notice the apple or papaya, nor would I immediately notice the citrus peel.
Now that I’m about halfway through the cup, I do notice some light citrus-y tones to this. I can also taste the faint earthiness of the ginseng, which I find myself wishing wasn’t there. If I inhale sharply so that a breath of air floats over my palate after I take a sip, I can taste some minty notes, but I don’t actually get much of anything that resembles mint in the sip unless I slurp the sip, and even then, it’s more like a faint hint of mint that could just as easily be mistaken for a faint hint of basil in this tisane.
Overall, I have to say that this isn’t my favorite cuppa from Amoda Tea. Rarely am I disappointed by a tea from Amoda (they’re my favorite subscription) and I don’t know if I’d say that I find this tea disappointing but rather, I’d say it’s perplexing and not necessarily in a good way. I think that there are about a hundred other tisanes out there in this great big world of tea that Amoda could have chosen for the box that I would have appreciated more than I have this.
But I guess they can’t all have me jumping for joy, can they?
Hi Anne, thanks for this review. I was actually quite eager to hear your thoughts on this tea because it is really one of the only teas we’ve curated that has got very mixed reviews. You’re right, can’t win ’em all and actually, without a few misses we won’t really know how to improve for our customers. I think this is a good information for me on what might be my eon personal preference vs. the “general” taste buds… If there is such a thing. Also, since part of our gol is to help smaller companies grow, this is feedback we can pass along. Cheers!
Just an edit to the above comment. I was confusing the blender of this tea and they’re actually not one of the smaller companies we feature, but I will still share the feedback.
Oh my, I feel like I’m spamming your blog! Last note that we have also heard from people who love this blend! So ultimately this is one of those love hate teas that just isn’t for everyone.
Thank you, Tegan, for your comment.
It’s been my experience, first as a tea purveyor and blender and now as a reviewer (and soon to be as a tea purveyor and blender once again) that not all taste buds are the same. What is good to me isn’t necessarily going to be good to someone else.
That’s what makes your job especially difficult, I would think. It would be rather challenging to put together a monthly curated box of four teas and expect them all to be winners with all of your customers.
But as I said in the review, most of the teas that I’ve tried from your boxes have been really good and some have been exceptionally good, so I might say that you’ve definitely found your calling!