Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos & Herbal Tisane
Where To Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tisane Description:
Our Banana Coconut herbal tea is a smooth and scrumptious herbal blend of rooibos, chamomile and lemongrass with notes of ripe banana, sweet coconut, graham cracker and a hint of caramel. This caffeine-free tropical blend will put a smile on anyone’s face. Try it iced and lightly sweetened for an extra refreshing summer beverage.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t always say “yummy” when I’m tasting a chamomile blend. I don’t always say “yummy” when I’m tasting a blend made with rooibos. So to have a blend with both these herbals in front of me and to have me say “yummy” after taking a sip seems pretty remarkable to me. But this is indeed yummy!
And that yumminess factor has less to do with the rooibos and chamomile and more to do with the other flavors going on in this cup: banana, coconut, caramel and even a little bit of graham cracker.
This is an interesting cup because there is a lot going on but it works. When I read the description and saw the flavors of banana, coconut, graham cracker and caramel” I thought … oh, ok, that sounds like a yummy pie. But then you see ingredients like lemongrass and chamomile and you think … what? Why are those ingredients in there?
But somehow, it all works together in a very flavorful way, and without any one flavor or ingredient becoming overwhelmed by any of the others. I taste each component of the tisane and it all tastes really good together.
The chamomile offers a very light apple-y flavor. The chamomile works harmoniously with the honey notes of the rooibos, because I taste a hint of pollen-ish flavor from the chamomile and this melds with the rooibos to bring out the nutty, honey sweet flavor of the South African herb. And the lemongrass is subtle here, offering a smooth, buttery note with a hint of citrus-y brightness.
Each component seems to unite with other components of the cup to bring out the best in each ingredient. And really, that’s what you want from a tea blend – that’s the thing that makes blends so appealing is the way that each ingredient adds to the combination so that the sum is greater than the individual parts. And this blend really succeeded in that quest!
This is a naturally caffeine-free (and guilt free!) treat that makes a perfect bedtime treat for those nights when you’re craving something sweet before you tuck in to bed. Served warm, it’s so soothing, comforting and a delightful sweet-tooth indulgence. It’s also tasty iced!
Yunomi Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club: Monoucha Genmaicha from Ishinomaki, Miyagi
Recently, I had the unique opportunity to join Yunomi’s Monthly Mystery Tea Sampler’s Club, and I just received my first shipment! Yay! I received three sample sizes of three different Japanese teas, and this review will be about the first tea I sampled from the group of three: the Monoucha Genmaicha from Ishinomaki, Miyagi
Tea Description:
Sencha from the town of Monou in what is now Ishinomaki City brews into a deep forest green with a strong astringency. With a 400 year history of tea farming, the town of Monou is the northernmost tea region, and the field managed by Sasaki-san is the northernmost tea field in Japan.
Monoucha Genmaicha blends Sasaki-san’s sencha with toasted rice grains as well as rice cracker balls (plain and matcha flavored) for a uniquely toasted nutty flavor.
Where to Buy: Yunomi
Taster’s Review:
LOVELY! I’ve tasted a lot of Genmaicha tea in my “career” as a tea reviewer, and before that, as a tea purveyor. But this Monoucha Genmaicha from Ishinomaki, Miyagi as sold by Yunomi might very well be the very best that I’ve tried thus far. I can taste the freshness of the Sasaki-san Sencha in every single sip, as well as the beautiful sweetness from the toasty rice. This is SO good!
Perhaps it’s the addition of the “rice cracker balls” that are in this blend that makes it different … I don’t know for sure. What I can tell you is that I taste something different in this cup of tea. It tastes sweeter … it tastes fresher, it tastes toastier. It tastes BETTER!
When I was measuring out the tea, I noticed the aforementioned rice cracker balls and I did a double (and a triple) take, because they looked so … unusual. I mean, with a typical Genmaicha, I usually see little bits of popped rice (that look like miniature kernels of popped popcorn), but these little balls were so uniformly shaped … they looked so different from the usual popped rice that I would see in a Genmaicha … and there were a lot more of them than I would usually see in a Genmaicha too. Then I came back here and read the description and saw that there are in fact these little rice cracker balls in the tea … that explains it!
And they do make a difference in the taste. If you like Genmaicha … this is one that you really should try … taste the difference! It’s remarkable!
S’mores from Della Terra Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
One of the best things about sitting around a fire are of course, the S’mores! We’ve captured all that is amazing about a melty gooey S’more in this black tea! You’ll taste the familiar tastes of marshmallow, graham cracker and chocolate. So, even when you aren’t outside by a crackling campire you can enjoy the delicious taste of a S’more anytime!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
S’mores are one of my guilty pleasures, but one I do not indulge in often mostly because it’s a rare occurrence when I have marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars in the house all at once. Someone from Della Terra Teas must feel my pain, because here is my guilty pleasure, in liquid form, piping hot in my teacup!
This stuff is amazing!
Dry, this tea smells like my favorite cereal. It smells like Count Chocula! Yes, I love that stuff. I only get one or two boxes a year, because they only hit the stores during the month or so before Halloween through the holiday. Somehow, mysteriously, the monster cereals disappear after Halloween. But they always return around the same time every year.
Anyway, that’s what the tea smells like in dry form. I was amazed, and I could feel my mouth starting to water at the smell. My taste buds were convinced they were about to get their favorite cereal! The brewed tea smells less like cereal, and more like a black tea with some chocolate notes and a hint of graham.
Wow! The chocolate is well defined in this cup, although that doesn’t really surprise me since I expected it to be a strong flavor given this company’s obvious love for chocolate. (See this review of Dubbele Chocolate for more details!) The marshmallow comes through nicely as well, and I’m happy about that as I didn’t see a whole lot of mini marshmallows in my particular sample package. The graham cracker taste is a little less obvious, but I find that I taste more of it when I slurp, allowing the tea to sort of vibrate along my palate … at that point, I really taste the graham.
So, chocolate … CHECK! Marshmallow … CHECK! Graham Cracker … CHECK! This tea definitely represents the flavors of S’mores very well. I think that the flavor could be enhanced – perhaps – a wee bit with the addition of a little Lapsang Souchong to the black tea base. Those who know me should KNOW that I don’t offer that advice lightly, as Lapsang Souchong is not my favorite tea. But I think that the Lapsang Souchong would add just a hint of smokiness to the cup, to give it that true, authentic, campfire taste.
And speaking of the tea base … yes, I can taste the tea amid these amazing S’mores flavors. It is a fairly mild base, but, a stronger base might prove to be a bit much especially for the delicate flavor of the graham. As it is, I am really, truly enjoying this blend. It is so yummy!