Pukka

cinnamon river
rushing through dusty meadows
spicy orange sunset

I had fairly low expectations for Pukka Revitalise, as the first ingredient is cinnamon bark. I like cinnamon, mind you, but as a condiment or spice, not as the featured note.

It turns out that the cinnamon does not really dominate, despite its hefty proportion (26%). While detectable, the cinnamon rests on a solid base of licorice root and ginger. The liquor is golden and has the viscosity characteristic of some licorice blends. Overall, the flavor is fairly pleasing but also common to a number of other functional tisanes. Revitalise actually contains some green tea (though one would never know from the taste) and is said to be based on ancient Ayurvedic principles.

(Blazing New Rating #22)

glistening blackness
frozen flame with steaming ice
white opacity

My first observation about Pukka Detox is that it tastes better than Yogi Detox. Of course, they contain completely different ingredients. But that is in part why I am surprised. The number one and number two ingredients are anise seed and fennel seed, so I was predicting that I would not like this blend. Nonetheless, I was willing to give it a try!

What I find is that Pukka Detox does not smack overwhelmingly of fennel seed, which sometimes seems quite harsh to me. It’s fine in sausage (though I no longer eat mammals…), but as a major component in an infusion I usually find it to be too much. One recent example was Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Egyptian Chamomile, which has a huge fennel component nearly wiping out the chamomile.

Here the fennel blends in with the licorice and the cardamom somehow. Not sure how celery seed is contributing in a positive way, but I am happy to report that I do not taste it at all.

A solid functional tisane. I’ll probably reach for this more as a digestive than as a detox, but it’s nice to know that it does that, too!

(Blazing New Rating #6)

I was feeling a bit queasy—more of a headache than a stomach ailment—so this seemed like a great time to try another one of the Pukka functional blends: Three Ginger.

With 51% ginger root, it’s no surprise that this infusion is to my liking! There is a nice ginger bite, and the aftertaste is slightly sweet from the licorice root. Other interesting ingredients are galangal (familiar to me from Thai cuisine, and related to ginger) and turmeric.

All in all, a tasty and soothing golden brew!

Now: does anyone know why this is called “Three Ginger”? Perhaps they are counting galangal as a form of ginger, so with the ginger root and the ginger extract that would make three? Still wouldn’t explain why there is no plural, though!

(Blazing New Rating #5)

For my birthday this year, I got a lot of tea (and that made me happy). Since this was on sale, it was part of my tea haul. I somehow didn’t see the green tea in the ingredient list, so I thought it was herbal… and honestly, I didn’t notice the green tea in there, so I’m still thinking it’s herbal. Honestly, it’s like an unbalanced spice chai without the black tea. Since I’m more or less used to Yogi Tea’s chai blends, the spearmint and licorice weren’t surprising and I actually enjoyed the mild sweetness that developed toward the end of the cup. I’ll probably use this as a medicinal tea or for after work, but I probably won’t be buying another box.