Silkenty

Something is wrong with this tea… it contains hibiscus but I DON’T hate it!!! It is tart but the level of tartness seems to be right. It tastes like sour cherries instead of tomato pasta sauce, so it’s drinkable. In fact, I kinda enjoy it… I can’t even believe this myself!!!

Drank this because it’s in the Silkenty Gift Box, and I was looking for something sans caffeine. Tasted predominantly of chamomile. Flowery and calming. I thought I detected a faint hint of tartness but I had no idea where it came from. I was not sure about the contribution of valerian root either – it’s my first tea with this ingredient. I heard that it tasted awful, but there was nothing too weird about this tea (in fact apart from chamomile, the other flavours were all quite mild) so perhaps it’s not so bad after all.

Wow I love this!! The black teas from Silkenty seem to have a unique nectarous fragrance. This tea smelled a bit like chocolate (and it’s the kind of chocolate with tiny bits of rose petals!) to me. When brewed the soft aroma was dreamy. Delicate bergamot flavour, hint of chocolate flavour, and fruity Ceylon tea base – what’s not to love? ;)

Finally, a good tea from Silkenty Gift Box! Tisane and green tea are probably not among Silkenty’s strong points, but Ceylon tea is (Silkenty is a Sri Lankan brand after all). This is a full-bodied, aromatic black tea. There is a flowery, almost jasmine/osmanthus-like note in its aroma, which is beautiful. The liquor has a little bit of astringency but on the whole it is pretty sweet. There’s some fruity sweetness on the tip of my tongue after each sip. It truly is a great tea to start the morning with :)

Not a very flavourful cup and that’s why I strongly suspect the teas in my Silkenty Gift Box are ancient (though according to the box, the production date is Sep 2012)… the flavour of peppermint was only half as strong as other peppermint tisanes, and rose was not even present.

I start to doubt the freshness of my Silkenty Gift Box. This is the 4th tea from the box; apart from the 1st tea (lemongrass chamomile), the others have not been impressive. Like the vanilla rooibos I tried yesterday (which had no trace of vanilla apparently), the apricot flavour is missing from the tea. There’s a strange, cucumber-like scent and flavour in the tea, which I suppose is the honeydew flavour that gives the tea its name. But I don’t like it because it’s artificial and doesn’t resemble honeydew at all. :( I wonder if it is meant to taste like that. Perhaps the tea bag is simply not fresh enough?

I hope the next tea from the box will be better…

I will say this is a fairly decent rooibos if it doesn’t position itself as a vanilla rooibos. It is very smooth, sweet and nutty – you know, just what a good rooibos should taste like. BUT WHERE’S THE VANILLA!?? I can neither smell or taste it! Too bad.

I had been very disappointed with this tea when I first started sipping it, as none of the fruity notes were coming out over the very powerful and slightly vegetal green tea. But as the cup cooled, the fruity notes began to hit my tongue first followed by the tea itself. Still mildly disappointing, because while the loose leaf (very attractive stuff despite being in a bag) smells like honeydew, the tea itself is far more dominated by the apricot. But it’s still very drinkable, and I think it’s begging to be iced.

I finally unwrapped the beautiful Silkenty Pyramid Gift Box that I bought for myself in Sri Lanka! I decided to start with this chamomile tea as I usually save the best thing for last (and herbal tea is hardly a favourite). ;) To my surprise, this turned out to be a really lovely chamomile tea, perhaps even the best I’ve ever had! It’s flowery rather than tasting grassy or bitter. I really enjoyed the fresh taste of lemongrass, which was in perfect harmony with chamomile and made this tea more memorable than generic chamomile tea. A soothing and refreshing tisane to be enjoyed after dinner :)

I am glad that there’s still another bag of this tisane in the Silkenty gift box, haha…

Good flavour, had it white