Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Guayusa
Where to Buy: Stash Tea
Tisane Description:
GUAYUSA (gwhy-you-sa) is a rare herbal tea produced from the leaves of a holly tree (ilex guayusa) native to the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador. Guayusa is naturally caffeinated and has an awakening effect similar to coffee and yerba mate. For this signature blend, we’ve combined Guayusa with velvety cocoa for a dessert-like tea that’s rich and stimulating.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! Chocolate!
I have tried a few different Guayusa blends now, but I think that this may be my first chocolate flavored Guayusa. It is delicious!
The Guayusa produces an earthy-tasting infusion with herbaceous notes. I often liken it to the flavor of Yerba Maté and it is also often compared to coffee, not just for it’s stimulating properties but also for its flavor. It is rich in flavor but a bit thinner than a cup of coffee (or should I say, what I remember coffee to taste like, as it has been YEARS since I’ve had a cup). But where Guayusa stands out is that there is no bitterness to this herb. Where coffee has a bitterness to it, as does yerba maté, Guayusa finishes very smooth and even a little sweet with no notable bitterness.
The chocolate in this particular blend is a strong flavor – and I like it like that! This chocoholic approves! The chocolate flavors are derived from cocoa shells and chocolate fudge powder. This combination of ingredients has created a rich, chocolate-y flavor that is a bittersweet, dark chocolate taste, but with a hint of creaminess to it too. I kind of expected the chocolate fudge powder to impart a cloudy appearance or thicker consistency to the cup, but it hasn’t. The infusion is dark (as Guayusa tends to be) but it is not opaque or cloudy.
This Guayusa blend is one of the best I’ve tried yet. And I am sure that has everything to do with the chocolate! Stash Tea has made this chocoholic a very happy chocoholic! And with the caffeinated power of Guayusa, a happy chocoholic in the early hours of the day is a GOOD thing, indeed!
Guayusa Tea with Chai from Stash Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Guayusa
Where to Buy: Stash Tea
Tea Description:
GUAYUSA (gwhy-you-sa) is a rare herbal tea produced from the leaves of a holly tree (ilex guayusa) native to the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador. Guayusa is naturally caffeinated and has an awakening effect similar to coffee and yerba mate. For this signature blend, we’ve combined Guayusa with Chai spices for an aromatic, spicy, and invigorating tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
On those mornings when I have a difficult time keeping my eyes open and I can’t crawl back into bed, Guayusa is often my choice for that all-important first cup of the day. It wakes me up the way coffee used to, but without the late morning nausea that I’d get after drinking coffee. And Guayusa even tastes quite a bit like coffee, except that it has less bitterness.
And with the chai spices that are used in this blend, it makes for a lovely, warming cup on this wet and rainy morning. The Guayusa makes a nice base for the blend of masala spices, different from the typical black tea base, but, still quite tasty.
The cinnamon is a little overwhelming with this particular chai. It is not a bad thing – I like cinnamon just fine – but, I find it a little difficult to pick out the other spices as the cinnamon seems to be stealing the spotlight a bit. This actually tastes a bit more like a cinnamon flavored guayusa than a chai guayusa, because the cinnamon stands front and center while the other spices are a bit in the background, providing more of a accent to the cinnamon than standing on their own.
I am enjoying this very much, as I said, I like cinnamon … but, I had expected the spices to be a little more in balance. By the time I reach the bottom of the cup, the ginger starts to emerge. I notice a bit of a prickly, peppery note on the back of my palate from the ginger. The cloves and cardamom still seem content to be off in the background, but their flavors do become more pronounced by the end of the cup.
Overall, though, a very enjoyable tea, and a great way to wake up!
Guayusa Tea with Yerba Maté and Ginseng from Stash Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Guayusa and Yerba Maté
Where to Buy: Stash Tea
Tea Description:
GUAYUSA (gwhy-you-sa) is a rare herbal tea produced from the leaves of a holly tree (ilex guayusa) native to the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador. Guayusa is naturally caffeinated and has an awakening effect similar to coffee and yerba mate. For this signature blend, Guayusa is paired with yerba mate and ginseng for an invigorating brew that is sure to awaken your senses.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This blend really surprised me. It doesn’t really taste at all like what I expected, which was a very earthy and vegetative/herbaceous kind of taste. I didn’t really get that at all. This tastes more like a very smooth, sweet coffee.
It has a warm, nutty kind of taste: rich, slightly earthy and sweet. I taste very little of the ginseng. I also taste very little of the yerba maté … or at least, what I’ve come to recognize as yerba maté. I taste Guayusa, but, it tastes sweeter than the Guayusa I’ve tasted in the past … perhaps a result of the combination of the other components. It’s really quite tasty!
It’s invigorating, too. I woke up much too early this morning, and found myself unable to get back to sleep. So I was very drowsy when I started this cup … but not any more! I’m awake and ready to go!
I am really glad I got the opportunity to try this blend. When I received this sample, I wasn’t all that excited about it … but the taste has won me over! This is really good!
Guayusa Tea with Mint from Stash Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Guayusa
Where to Buy: Stash Tea
Tea Description:
GUAYUSA (gwhy-you-sa) is a rare herbal tea produced from the leaves of a holly tree (ilex guayusa) native to the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador. Guayusa is naturally caffeinated and has an awakening effect similar to coffee and yerba mate. For this signature blend, Guayusa is paired with peppermint and spearmint for a refreshing, rejuvenating blend.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I really like this blend. The Guayusa is very invigorating (and I really needed it to help me wake up this morning!) and the mint flavor gives it a very refreshing, crisp taste.
I’ve reviewed a few Guayusa blends now, and I really like this herb. It has a rich, earthy flavor that is neither too vegetal nor too earthy. It reminds me a bit of a light roast coffee. It also reminds me a little of yerba maté, although if given the choice, I’d choose Guayusa over yerba maté, because I like the smooth flavor of Guayusa better than the rather strong (and sometimes a little bitter) taste of yerba maté. Don’t get me wrong, I like yerba maté too, but, I just prefer Guayusa. Guayusa has never been bitter or astringent any time I’ve tasted it – it’s always just been smooth and energizing.
This blend combines the delicious flavor of Guayusa with mint … peppermint and spearmint, to be exact. And the flavor is very minty. It tastes cool and leaves my mouth feeling very clean and fresh. But because of the Guayusa it doesn’t taste too minty. It doesn’t taste like a mouth full of toothpaste, it just tastes refreshing!
While I am drinking this hot at the moment (I prefer my morning teas to be hot), I think it would be very delicious iced too. However, it isn’t a tea that I’d recommend drinking too late in the evening (which I tend to do with iced teas), because it is a highly caffeinated beverage.
Instead, this is the kind of tea you’d want to drink early in the day when you need a super-charged boost of energy. This tea will do that for you, and without all the sugar of the typical energy drink in a can!
Organic Indulgashena Garden Green Tea (FTC) from Stash Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Stash Tea
Tea Description:
Mild green tea from Sri Lanka with a sweet finish reminiscent of honeysuckle. Large tea leaves hand-rolled into long, twisted spears that infuse into a clear, light amber color. Fair Trade Certified Organic Indulgashena (alternate spelling Idulgashinna) Green Tea is grown in the Idulgashena tea garden, the first certified organic tea garden in the world. USDA and QAI certified organic.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I LOVE this tea! LOVE IT!
When I first opened the pouch, I was greeted with an aroma that is very grassy. The fragrance reminded me of that very first lawn cutting in spring, when the grass is tender and beginning to bear fresh, new blades after the cold of winter. It smells like that freshly mown lawn, clean, crisp and vibrant.
So, I was astonished when I took my first sip and my first reaction was: Pepper! That’s what I tasted. I tasted again to see if my taste buds were deceiving me, but, again, I tasted fresh ground black pepper. After a couple of sips, the flavor tapered somewhat and tasted a bit more like a peppery cinnamon rather than black pepper, but there is a distinct spice tone to this tea. It is warm and quite enjoyable.
As I continue to sip, more flavors reveal themselves to me. It is not nearly as vegetative as the aroma of the dry leaf would suggest. In fact, there is not a grassy tone to be tasted in this cup! Maybe a mild vegetable taste, but not what I would call grassy. It is sweet and has a honey-esque tone to it, tasting a bit – as the description above suggests – like honeysuckle.
After my first infusion, I noticed that the tightly spiraled leaves looked like they did when they were dry. That is to say, they had barely unfurled. You know what that means: multiple infusions! I managed three very delicious infusions from the same measurement of leaves, and I might have been able to get a fourth if I had the time to brew it.
This one gets high marks from me – I highly recommend it!