Energy Green Tea Blend from Byron Bay Tea Company

energyTea 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.

Organic Peppermint from Byron Bay Tea Company

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal

Where to Buy:  Byron Bay Tea Company

Product Description:

A fresh, minty tea that is both cooling and invigorating. Enjoy any time of the day.

Taster’s Review:

This is about as simple as it gets, folks.  It’s 100% pure, 100% organic peppermint leaf.  Nothing else.  It really can’t get any simpler than that, can it?

Sipping Peppermint tea is a delicious way to relax after a meal.  What I like best about pure peppermint tea like this one from Byron Bay is that even though it tastes crisp and refreshing – somehow, it doesn’t end up tasting like medicine-y mouthwash.  It is (obviously!) minty fresh and herbaceous, but it doesn’t taste medicinal.  It tastes natural – because that’s what it is.

It is especially nice after eating something spicy, because it helps to cool the palate and leave it feeling clean!  Peppermint is one of my favorite restorative herbs – I feel refreshed after I sip it, but because it is naturally caffeine free, I don’t feel too stimulated by drinking it.  It is invigorating yet soothing!  Nice!

Organic Chamomile from Byron Bay Tea Company

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal

Where to Buy:  Byron Bay Tea Company

Product Description:

This classic herbal infusion features the subtle, sweet taste and calming properties of Chamomile flowers. Perfect any time of the day.

Taster’s Review:

Honestly, I don’t get real excited over chamomile tea.  In fact, I usually cringe when I receive some.  It isn’t that I dislike chamomile; it’s just that it isn’t my favorite herb to brew.

So needless to say, chamomile is not something that I drink very often.  But sometimes, I really need to relax and unwind, and no other tea or tisane that I’ve tried promotes a sense of calm better than chamomile.

And, the flavor of this chamomile is quite pleasant!  Byron Bay Tea Company does not specify from where they obtain their chamomile, but the blossoms are whole, large, and not at all dusty.  The chamomile smells fresh!  It has a light, clean smell to it that is a little floral and a little fruity.

The flavor is delicate and sweet, with hints of an apple-like taste.  Although it is a flower, chamomile doesn’t really come across as floral in flavor to me, although I do note some pollen-like notes here.  Not a dusty kind of pollen, but more like a sweet, honey-like pollen.

This gentle tisane is just perfect for those times when I need to relax.  It’s an excellent chamomile!

Black Magic from Byron Bay Tea Company

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal Tisane

Where to Buy:  Byron Bay Tea Company

Product Description:

A wicked tea to entice the licorice lovers. Combining the refreshing properties of peppermint with the tasty treats of licorice and aniseed myrtle, this specialty blend will linger long on the palate. Particularly beneficial after meals to settle the tummy or satisfy your sweet tooth.

Taster’s Review:

I have to be honest – I didn’t really like this blend too much at first.  I found that I needed to add a little bit of honey to it to make it palatable for me, otherwise the flavors were just too harsh for me.  But with a little sweetening, this becomes a very delicious cup!

The licorice flavor is strong, to the point of being quite sharp without the honey.  But with the honey, I find that the licorice is softened just enough to taste a bit like a good old fashioned licorice.

The mint is not quite as strong as the licorice flavor, and in the competition, the licorice wins out at the start of the race.  However, the mint perseveres, and there is a crisp, clean minty aftertaste.

One thing I wanted to mention about this tisane.  I was experiencing some heartburn before I started drinking this tea… notice, I said WAS.  The heartburn is gone now, and I’m only about halfway through my cup!  For this reason, I recommend keeping this tisane on hand.  It tastes way better than those chalky antacids, and based upon this experience, I think it also works better than the antacids do.

A very strong herbal blend that is for those licorice lovers out there!

Dandylicious from Byron Bay Tea Company

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Herbal

Where to Buy:  Byron Bay Tea Company

Company Description:

Rich, full-flavoured and caffeine-free, this specialty blend is a cleansing coffee substitute. The roasted wattleseed makes it a little nutty, while the cinnamon adds a spicy sweetness. Ideal for ‘Soy Dandelion Lattés’ (LSDs) plus perfectly palatable on its own.

Taster’s Review:

As I sit here with the cup in front of me, I can smell the aroma from the cup – and it really does have a very coffee-like scent. When I bring the cup up to my nose for closer olfactory “inspection” the fragrance of the cinnamon becomes more distinguishable, but there is still a very coffee-like essence to it.

The flavor is a little … different.  It isn’t bad, but it is rather unusual, and I can see how the flavor might be a bit off-putting to some.  This blend’s saving grace is the cinnamon, which adds a very pleasing spicy sweetness.

I don’t think I’ve ever tried a dandelion tea before, or if I have, I wasn’t aware of it.  So I don’t really know what that tastes like.  I mean, when I was a kid, I used to munch on dandelion stems, and I occasionally enjoy a spring mix salad that has dandelion greens in it, but that pretty much sums up my culinary experience with dandelion.

And then there is the wattleseed.  I’ve only tried one other tea blend with Wattleseed in it (at least only one other to my knowledge!) and it was Byron Bay’s Chai.

My lack of experience with two-thirds of these ingredients is quite apparent; however, I will do my best to review the teas based upon what I taste.  I taste cinnamon (as I mentioned previously) – its sweet and warm spice tones are very apparent in this cup.

There is a herbaceous kind of background note that is somewhat bitter and reminds me a bit of cooked dark leafy greens, so I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that this flavor comes from the dandelion.   As odd as this bitterness is, I am finding it quite interesting and a delicious addition to the cup.  There is also a pleasing malty flavor.  I can also taste a nutty flavor to the cup.  All of these interesting notes lend themselves well to the coffee-like translation of this tisane.

I really liked this herbal tea.  It is quite different from any other tea or tisane that I’ve tried thus far, and this uniqueness alone sets it apart and makes it rather enjoyable.