Yeah, I know I just wrote about something called “Green White.” It’s purely coincidence. I’m really not going for a color duo theme here.
It is as pretty as it’s picture, but of course, it has cornflowers. Big fan of cornflowers here. It smells mostly of chamomile in the sample packet, with a lavender background. The chamomile has a sweetness to its fragrance. I don’t always find that sweetness in chamomile, but I’m always glad when I do. It usually signals that the chamomile will have a fresher taste, rather than tending toward a bitter or pungent, or that sort of stale, dried paper/hay-flavored-with-chamomile thing.
It makes a light yellow, clear liquor. I was wondering whether the lavender would affect the color. Apparently chamomile trumps lavender. There’s no purple water here, or even grey water. Or what you might think would be the obvious result of a purple/yellow combo, something tending toward greenish. The aroma is a really nice mix, about 50-50 chamomile/lavender.
That pretty much describes the taste as well, and the effect is really interesting. At first I get primarily chamomile. Then that tapers off and I get lavender at the finish. The lavender’s volatile oils seem to contribute a freshness that keeps the chamomile from tasting weedy. Now, the note from H&S says that cornflowers are sweet and spicy. I have never noticed a flavor from them, I have mostly figured they are there to look pretty in the teas and tisanes I’ve tasted. And I’m not sure I can identify a flavor contributed by them now. Pretty much what I taste is chamomile and lavender, with the chamomile toning the lavender down and making it something more appealing than I experienced with the French Super-Blue, and the lavender, as mentioned, freshening and boosting the flavor of the chamomile out of tasting, as it sometimes can, like what I’d imagine a mouthful of decorative dried flowers to taste like.
If I buy a chamomile herbal, this would be a strong contender. I like chamomile, but it’s a very sometime thing with me. I really have to be in the mood for it, and that mood strikes only infrequently. I don’t expect to rush this into my next order, but it’s worth a bookmark should I have a chamomile urge.
