Hide

Welcome to Steepster, an online tea community.

Write a tea journal, see what others are drinking and get recommendations from people you trust. or Learn More

Gourmet Herbal (No. 1237) from TeaGschwendner
80

The next chapter in the perfect lemon search.

As you can see from the photo, this tisane is very… geometric. Pretty much every ingredient in it is rectangular, of varying lengths, widths and colors. It doesn’t have a lot of fragrance on its own, and even if it did I wouldn’t be able to tell what it is as I put it in the same tin I’d used for The Tea Table’s Lemon Mango, and I neglected to do a de-scenting so that’s pretty much all I can smell now. (Nice smell though, I liked that one.)

It makes a dark yellow liquor, almost the color of apple juice. It smells promising: there is a sweet smell to it, and there’s definitely lemon.

Hmm. Hmmmmmm.

Wow. I had really expected to be disappointed by this one. Despite its attractive geometry, I expected it to taste a lot like the Luscious Lemon from Simpson & Vail. And failing that I just didn’t expect to like it. It has lemon myrtle in it after all.

But the lemon myrtle is playing nice here. It must be the influence of the vanilla. It’s neither tart nor bitter, so it doesn’t require doctoring. Except it might be better brewed a little stronger. I used 2.5g for a standard size mug.

It does have a green, grassy, herbally quality in addition to the lemon. It’s more reminiscent of a lemon plant than a lemon fruit, which is the one downside as lemon fruit appropriately de-soured is what I’d like to be reminded of.

It’s not as high on the rotation list as the Harney & Sons or the Teavana, but I think now that I’ve tried this I’m no longer motivated to try to get the Simpson & Vail to work. That had a stronger lemon flavor, but also a tart and bitter edge that needed working out to be rotation worthy.

This, on the other hand, needs some time testing and a little bit of thought.

People who liked this

Rabs
TeaEqualsBliss
Auggy
LiberTEAS
Ewa
malomorgen
Jillian
Adham
Dan
RachanaC (Rachel)-iHeartTeas
AmazonV
chrine

Comments

S
S 2010-05-27 00:22:06 -0400

Did you see 52teas’ new Lemon Drop Cooler? Sounds like it’d be right up your alley :)

Rabs
Rabs 2010-05-27 00:24:27 -0400

LOL! I was getting ready to mention 52teas as well — ya beat me to it :D

__Morgana__
__Morgana__ 2010-05-27 00:27:58 -0400

Nope, not yet. I was hoping to find something without rooibos in it. Also, from the description it sounded like it might be too tart for me. It started with “pucker up” while I’m more of a sweet lemon fan. Doesn’t mean I won’t end up trying it eventually though. ;-)

__Morgana__
__Morgana__ 2010-05-27 00:32:09 -0400

Ummm. Ok, it’s not rooibos, I looked at it again. It’s honeybush. Hmmm. Now maybe I’ll have to cave. Lol.

Jillian
Jillian 2010-05-27 04:06:58 -0400

Honeybush is a lot nicer than rooibos IMO, and you can sweeten it up nicely with sugar or honey too.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I thought I should probably update this bio as it’s been a couple of years since I “started getting into” tea. It’s now more accurate to say that I was obsessed with tea for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it, and I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order.

Personal biases: I much prefer to drink tea without additives such as milk and sugar. If a tea needs additives to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’m going to rate it high. The exception is chai, which I make on the stove top using a recipe I found here on Steepster. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs into the harder stuff, but once I learned how to make a decent cup of tea they became far less appealing to me. That said, I’m not entirely a purist, and I enjoy a good flavored tea, particularly flavored blacks.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is; will keep this stocked until the cows come home

90-94 First rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Excellent; likely to become a favorite, will likely buy more

70-79 Very good; would enjoy again, might buy again if in the mood for this particular one or a better, similar version not available

60-69 Good; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but probably wouldn’t buy again unless craving this particular flavor

50-59 Okay or run of the mill

40-49 So-so

30-39 Iffy

20-29 Would definitely pass

10-19 Ick

0-9 Never again

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://morganasspot.blogspot....

Following These People

Harney & Sons The Store
Harney & Sons The Store

The tasting room and...

TeaFrog
TeaFrog

Follow us on twitter...

Cofftea
Cofftea

*Are you a company o...

TeaEqualsBliss
TeaEqualsBliss

Near Vegan. Tea Lov...

52teas
52teas

Hand-crafted Artisan...

Angrboda
Angrboda

Angrboda felt her bi...

wombatgirl
wombatgirl

I've got a lot of in...

denisend
denisend

Engineer. Lives wit...

Stephanie
Stephanie

*Virgo Sun, Pisces M...

JacquelineM
JacquelineM

I love to cook, bake...

mrawlins2
mrawlins2

I am a former coffee...

Ricky
Ricky

Hiya! I am always...

Jason
Jason

I'm one of the peopl...

SamovarLife
SamovarLife

Our mission is to pr...

zeitfliesst
zeitfliesst

Ratings: 1~10: Coul...

AJ
AJ

I change icons often...

~lauren.
~lauren.

current profile ph...

Meghann M
Meghann M

Live in the cornfiel...

See More