Organic India

Note: My review is for the loose leaf and not the teabag form of this.

I decided to pick this up at Whole Foods tonight. Seeing as how I have wasted a bunch of money on tulsi blends I didn’t really like or care for, I figure why not just drink it straight and see what it’s like. D’oh!

This is a blend of three different tulsis and it is very nice. It is has an aromatic aroma like cloves but the flavor of the tea is a bit minty/herbaly with some pepper element. I am feeling a bit of “bite” on my tongue as I sip this. It also has a slightly cooling effect.

Still, I can see the possibilities of making my own nighttime blend, possibly with some chamomile or verbena, if I didn’t want to drink this plain. I do like various herbal teas and I think this is nice on its’ own – so I will probably not spend much more money on other tulsi type stuff for a while. =)

Hooray for stress reduction!

This is the favorite of all the tulsi teas I’ve tried from this company, it is very gingery with a touch of lemon, that seems to enhance the flavor of the tulsi instead of fighting with it. Nice for a relaxing afternoon…

I keep trying to find a tulsi tea that I really love so I keep buying up stuff from Organic India. They have a few blends with hibiscus but I think I can skip those…

I used two tea bags for a rather jumbo mug of tea. I’ve had a few rooibos chais I liked but this is a bit weak on flavor, imo plus the herby-minty flavor of the tulsi is coming right through. I was hoping the spices would disguise it a bit. I guess I don’t really love the taste of tulsi. I am not sure what this needs, perhaps some sweetener would help? I will also try using a smaller cup with two teabags.

Definitely did not love the flavor of this but tulsi always makes me feel good. :)

Perhaps I need to skip the tulsi tea and go straight for some herbal supplements…

I started drinking Tulsi just because it seems to help me cope with stress. I found this one at the health food store and it only contains tulsi, chamomile, red rooibos and mango flavor. I wish there was a bit more mango flavor in this tea, to me it tastes mostly like rooibos with the slightly peppery herbal quality that tulsi has. I do this better than the rose tulsi due to the lack of stevia but I’m not going to be raving about the flavor anytime soon… :)

Having said that it does seem to help me relax, so that’s good – maybe I will find something to add to this to make it slightly better.

This is an interesting change from regular peppermint tea. The tulsi/holy basil blend give it a more herbal and earthy feel, less sharp and clean like plain peppermint.

I found a way to make this better, I added some of my own rose petals and some cinnamon, that helps to offset the stevia a bit, but still it smells a lot better than it tastes…

I had higher hopes for this one… I admit Tulsi is an acquired “herby” taste but I do like it, as well as roses and chamomile. I think what ruins this for me is definitely the stevia, the aftertaste is waaaay too sweet for me and I can’t get us to it. So I will drink this for the stress busting properties I know it has, but it will be more like medicine than a pleasurable experience. Oh well.

Like drinking perfume. I even tried to make iced tea with it, but I couldn’t drink it.

this tea has now become a must in my house.
and i’ve just run out cause i kept giving it out! and now whole foods stopped carrying it!! AHHHHHHHH!!

it’s a nightly ritual – 2 bags in a tumbler for about 6-7 minutes and i’m in heaven.

it’s definitely got a rose taste, stronger than some of the other rose teas i’ve tried in the past, but i believe the tulsi is the main flavor. expect a very earthy, herbal taste. while not particularly sweet, it is very well balanced and has a lovely taste. i usually mix something sweet in my tea, but didn’t need to with this one.

the reason i love this tea is the sedating effect it has. one of the main reasons i got into tea was to find a more holistic approach to deal with stress, anxiety, and insomnia. i’ve tried many teas in hope of getting some kind of relief, without any luck. this tea puts me completely at ease, with almost an euphoric feeling. i recommend it to everybody, but especially to someone who looking for something to help them relax. i finally feel like i’ve found the tea i’ve been searching for.

something to keep in mind, i usually make my tea fairly strong with two teabags, so i imagine that helps with the potency.

I wrote an unintentionally gigantic review for this tea over at the Tea Review Blog the other day.
http://www.teareviewblog.com/?p=19324
I’ve been waiting to add it to Steepster, though- how to rate something so very different from what I normally drink? But then I realized that really didn’t matter in the slightest. More importantly, I want to share how awesome my experience with this Tulsi / Holy Basil was.

This stuff is delicious! I don’t know if this is a feature of Tulsi in general, or of this Tulsi in particular (a blend of Rama, Vana, and Krishna tulsis). Either way, I now feel like Tulsi is something everyone should have in their cupboards if they ever like adding things in with their tea. I haven’t been able to think of a tea with which this wouldn’t be lovely: black (Indian and Chinese, especially a Yunnan), greens, white, chai’s. shu pu’er, wuyi and roasted oolongs.. it’s like salt or cinnamon or honey- good with everything.

The only danger here is being tempted to really add it to everything you’re drinking. That’s great if you’re in a sick doldrums, but I certainly felt like I was slipping towards Tulsi over-load, at least in my at home blending. Who wants all of their teas to taste the same?

All of that said, I think this is a great thing to try on its own. For me, it doesn’t change at all over its many steepings, which means it’s a great flavor.. but it’s just a flavor. A beverage (yummy!) and not a drinking experience. Others will find this a huge plus for reliability, but that’s not really why I drink tea.

And what is that flavor? I really get into that on my other review, but here’s the skinny:
Aroma…. Spicy (like allspice or ground cardamom) with hefty doses of citrus. Complex, with a woody impression, like a chest that’s been storing orange rinds and baking spices..
Taste….. Strong citrus notes of orange, orange rind and lemon peel. Sparkling mint or spearmint. The citrus is mixed with melon (cantaloupe or honeydew) – mellow. Licorice and fennel. Cinnamon, peppercorns, allspice and clove.
There is also a cedar note that grows stronger in the middle of my tongue. When mixed with the citrus notes, there will be some who find this unappealing. The impression is not strong and moves away quickly for the other flavors.

Aftertaste…… Sweet aftertaste that coats my mouth. Bright citrus notes.. I feel cleansed and uplifted and settled. A minute or so after drinking, there is light feeling of vibration in my mouth, priming me for more drinking like an oolong. No dryness or any sense of bitterness.

The overall flavor is complete and unified. This Tulsi by itself is more interesting, commanding and balanced than many spa blends I’ve come across. It’s like a perfect blend, all in one leaf!

Tulsi- the oolong of herbals. If you haven’t tried it yet, I recommend it.

This is a backlog going back to…. somewhere around the end of November. I’m that forgetful…

Anyway, a lovely lady whom I stayed with in a hostel in Alaska gave me a teabag of this, and it looked amazing. Because, you know, it’s from a company whose name involves the words “Organic” and “India” — it’s like they know who I am! If only they also included the words “bhangra,” “evil microbiology” and “thermal underwear,” then they’d really describe me.

Anyway, the teabag smelled floral and rosey right after being taken out of the pouch, so I was a bit worried. I mean, not like gulab-jamun worried, but just a bit eau-de-toilette worried. When steeping, I knew that this wouldn’t taste sweet, so even if I had gulab jamun worries, they were alleviated.

In the end, I actually liked the taste — it was mellow and relaxing. However, the scent was AMAZING. I don’t know, I may have to try this again, since I was running around Alaska and dealing with all sorts of not-pretty things, so this was super-feminine and super-pretty for me. However, this may be a very desi thing, since rosewater and gulab-ish stuff is very popular in general for South Asians. Then again, fried and super sugary things are also very popular, and that’s just too much for me…

Hm. It’s hard to rate this one. I’ve just been talking about other things. I guess I could say I’d get a box or two if it were in the local co-op, but I’m not going to go out of my way to order it online or anything. Though the scent is amazing. It would be wonderful to make bath products out of this tea. I would totally do infused oil with this if I had a source for it.

Lots going on in this one. Spicy, herb-y, peppery… I smelled cloves in the aroma but didn’t taste much in the tea itself. Not a knockout, or a really memorable tea, but a good everyday blend.

I wish it would have been a bit stronger, but was worried about it going bitter with a longer steep- seemed like it was on the edge when I tasted it. Might try two teabags for intensity next time.

I enjoyed this tea. It smelled almost like licorice before I steeped, but tastes spicy and gingery with a little lemon. It almost has a mint aftertaste; I could see this being a good drink if I wasn’t feeling well.

I wanted to try this in the original, with no “chai” or other extras to distract. Very herby in aroma and taste. Slightly lemony, with a hint of a basil/herb scent. I drink it plain and quite like it.

I am back at work and feeling nauseated, which is probably not a coincidence. This is helping me to feel better though. :)

I tasted this tea last weekend and had to add it to my cupboard ASAP. The rose is present in just the right amount, and there’s a bit of stevia leaf to lightly sweeten the brew. It’s ideal for relaxing with just before bedtime.

This is the first tulsi-based tea I’ve had, and it’s made me interested in trying pure tulsi (holy basil). I think I’ll be adding at least one variety of this herb to my next Upton order.

It is nice and soothing for me this afternoon. I admit I overdid it with too much tea today and ended up with a horrible case of heartburn. The law of diminishing returns, apparently…

I was looking to try one of the Tulsi teas from Organic India. All of the others seemed to have hibiscus or flowers so I picked this one. I really like the lemon ginger combination so I had a pretty good sense I would enjoy this. Definitely gingery and aromatic, the tulsi flavor shows up as an aftertaste of something minty here. I like it, even for a teabag! A good afternoon tea when I need to go caffeine-less but still want something tasty. This would also be good for an upset tummy or as an after meals drink.

A very lovely lady left a few Organic India Tulsi teabags for me in the hostel at the Providence Alaska Medical Center, and so I tried this one yesterday. I’m used to black tea mainly and appreciate green tea, but I have never tried a tulsi tea. The first thing I noticed was how delicate the scent and taste were. It took a bit of time for the tea to steep for me — more than 6 minutes, I’d say. The scent and taste are pretty light unless oversteeped, but the general taste is warm and somewhat savory, and it gets better with milk (I know I’m not the only one who puts milk in green tea). I’m much more used to stronger teas, but this really calmed me down and made me happy — happy enough to do the dishes from about ten other people in the hostel*. I do believe that I’m getting more used to green teas, too, and I was really satisfied with the green tea base in this tea.

*If you use a public kitchen, please clean up after yourself; it’s just general hospitality and the other people using it won’t be angry at you (or throw away the deep frying oil you’re not supposed to use because it’s messy and smelly).

I was in the mood for a floral tea, so I grabbed this. It is definitely a rose tea so if rose isn’t your thing you probably wouldn’t enjoy this. However, I like rose in my tea! There is a nice, light sweetness that emerges during the sip and lingers for awhile. This tea is very calming and relaxing – I may have to stock up on this.

No notes yet.

Not bad. Probably wouldn’t drink just for the taste of it. But it’s holy basil!

this is the first tea ive ever thrown away, its absolutely disgusting

I LOVE basil, so I had to try this tea. I’m not sure if the water is too hot when I steep it, or if I’m steeping it too long (which is already maybe three minutes) but it goes from a nice light lime green to a light brown color. The scent is definitely basil, flavor seems like a bit of lemon myrtle with GREEN BEANS which is another thing I love actually. I’ll have to fine tune this one and see what it is like when the water isn’t so hot, though I did leave the boiled water sitting there for a bit. I’d love for it to keep that light green color while still having some flavor.