Herbs Teas & Treasures

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Recent Tasting Notes

80

I have a cold today, so I decided it would be a good day for this. I’ve taken echinacea before in pill form, or in cough drops or herbal blends but I’ve never tried it plain before. It’s actually rather pleasant. It has a mild taste that’s a mix of herbs and hay. It’s not at all bitter. I enjoy the flavor enough that it’s something I wouldn’t mind drinking regularly, so I’ll definitely keep some in my cupboard for when I’m feeling under the weather.

Flavors: Hay, Herbs

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90

I love ginger. At a local Thai Restaurant I almost always order the Ginger Lover’s entree. Molasses Gingerbread is probably my favorite cookie. Gingersnaps are definitely up there, though. I always use loads of ginger in my stir fry. Unsurprisingly, I also like ginger in chai. I originally bought this in order to test it for perfecting my own chai blend. I make a point of trying ingredients for blends plain so I can hopefully learn to pick up on any subtle nuances between the products of various companies. This was my first time trying cut ginger, and it was a bit of a surprise. It’s surprisingly heavy. Maybe I shouldn’t be so surprised since it is a root, but there is a major difference in size between an ounce of rose petals and an ounce of ginger. I did add a tiny bit of sweetener when I brewed this, since I always put it in my chai, but no milk so I could taste the flavors clearly. It was noticeably sweet, which surprised me since the ground ginger I’ve tried in the past definitely complements sweet things, but isn’t noticeably sweet in tea. Candied ginger is a little too sweet for me in tea, especially if I want a generous kick of spicyness from it. This seemed like a happy medium. It had a mild candied-ginger sweetness, then a nice fiery aftertaste. I can’t wait to try it in a blend!

Flavors: Candy, Ginger, Spicy, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more
MrQuackers

I saw some ginger liquid in the store today. Just a 250 mL bottle of clear liquid. I guess you could just put it into tea?

KiwiDelight

I LOVE ginger. I used to not, then my friend got me into it (she also got me into being as enthusiastic about garlic and masala chai as her). She loves add ginger to chai. It adds a great flavor.

rosebudmelissa

@MrQuackers: sounds like it could be interesting to try

@KuwiDelight: I eat a lot of garlic as well. My husband’s family has several family recipes that use fresh garlic which is how I got into it. I make my own herbal chai these days because I love chai, but I have definite and somewhat unusual preferences. I use allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. I often tweak it with a different base or extra elements, but those four spices are the core of it. I call it mulled chai since it’s about halfway between masala chai and traditional North American mulling spices.

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70

We’ve been having a problem with flies lately. I finally figured out last night that a couple of windows weren’t getting closed properly and I think that’s how they were getting in. Hopefully once we hunt down the ones that are in the house now, that will take care of the problem. This tea is lightly flavored, and quite pleasant, but not super exciting. The most prominent flavor after the tea itself is peach, but it’s very mild which is a bonus in my case as I find many peach flavored teas to be unpleasantly strong. There are other flavors lurking amidst the peach, but they are hard to pick out and mostly just seem to round out the flavor a little. If I had had more than a few sips of this, I might have more to say but unfortunately I stepped away from my cup for a few minutes and came back to find that a fly had drowned in my tea. A sad waste of a good tea. I may have more to say about this when I try it again.

Preparation
Boiling 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Super Starling!

I spent the second half of the review TERRIFIED that you were going t o say, “And they’d laid eggs in my tea, so I accidentally drank maggots this morning.” What you typed was gross, to be sure, but not nearly as horrifying as where I thought this post was going to go.

ashmanra

Turn off all the lights at night, but leave a bathroom light on, or other small room. They will all go to that room. You can kill them by swatting or spraying (we use hairspray!), put in a sticky trap, or they will die of the stress overnight when they can’t get out.

rosebudmelissa

@Super Starling! Ew. I don’t know exactly how long maggots take to hatch, but I don’t think I leave tea sitting out long enough for that.

@ashmanra: good suggestion. I have noticed some congregating around the nightlight in the bathroom. The number in the house is dropping quickly now that we know how they’re getting in.

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55

My cupboard is currently heavy on flavored honeybush and chai, and I’ve really been craving floral tea, so I grabbed this to try. Unfortunately, one teaspoon of these really don’t give a lot of flavor. I’ve definitely had more flavorful rose petals in the past so that’s a bit disappointing. I’ll have to try again with a tablespoonful, but I probably won’t buy rose petals from this company again. Do any of you have a favorite company to buy rose petals from?

Flavors: Rose

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75

It’s been too long since I had peppermint in my cupboard. It gives me heartburn during the second half of pregnancy, so it’s been somewhere between six months and a year that I last had it stocked. It’s one of my favorite herbals, so it’s good to have it back in stock again. This particular blend seems to be a fairly mild peppermint. Tasty, but it could stand to be a little stronger. Still, it makes a nice cool drink on a hot day. Something is currently wrong with our air conditioner, it is cooling the air but not as much as normal. It’s really hot out right now, so even though it’s about ten degrees cooler in the house as outside, it’s still quite hot in here. That makes peppermint doubly appealing.

Preparation
1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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70

I love allspice in chai, so I decided to try it on it’s own. It has a pretty good flavor. It’s sweet with a mild and complex spiciness. It reminds me somewhat of clove, but sweeter and much milder. It did have a bit of an odd mouthfeel. It almost felt a bit slimy. It wasn’t bad, but I definitely prefer it in a blend. I’m working out my own chai recipe, which is rather fun. I think mine is going to end up being something halfway between masala chai and mulling spices: allspice, cassia cinnamon, clove, and ginger.

Flavors: Clove, Spices, Sweet

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35

This isn’t for me. It has a mild, lemon-pepper flavor that reminds me a bit of cardamom. It tastes a bit medicinal and unpleasant to me.

Flavors: Cardamom, Lemon, Pepper, Spicy

Arby

I really want to try a sample of this! Elderflower tea is actually on my list for my next tea purchase. Would you be willing to trade samples with me? I’ve got DAVID’s Coconut Ice and Three6Tea’s Oh Canada (spicy ginger, maple, and rooibos).

KiwiDelight

Hmmm. That makes me wonder about the Elder Flowers sold by Mountain Rose Herbs, if they taste similarly or not. I’ve ever had Elder Flowers before.

rosebudmelissa

@ Arby Robilliard: I’d be happy to send you some! I’d be interested in trying both of those. I also picked up some allspice, ginger, and rose petals if you’d like. Or I can just include a little more of the Elderflower. I bought an ounce and I only took a teaspoon to sample, so there’s quite a bit left.

@KiwiDelight: I don’t know. I’ve only had them once before in a blend, myself.

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