Holy Basil Spa Blend

First Review. Tea and stories. I tell stories, as anyone who has stopped to read my reviews can tell…and I ramble on many times. I come from a family where Faith was part of the daily pattern of life and I always liked that even as a child. My dad and brother went to Seminary, so I weave my personal stories in naturally…but not to preach. The stories are part of the rhythm of my life. Tea is also that to a different degree.
This morning I awoke after a LONG evening of services leading up to
Pascha ( Orthodox Easter) which will be late tonight.
So this morning…I see the Holy Basil blend. Fr. Evan says Greeks usually grow basil in a pot by the front door so that the aroma blesses a visitor to your home. Also, Holy Basil fresh leaves were used by the Priest to bless my house, which is done every year. The leaves were dipped in Holy Water and sprinkled around each room while he sang even on me (my grandkids came to join in and Fr. Even did magic tricks for them).

Tasting notes start here
What would Holy Basil Spa Blend taste like. I wanted a morning where a refreshing tea was in order. This is a good day for that. I steeped 4 minutes and took a sip. Ummmm. The mint and ginger did not overpower this blend at all and I am thrilled! I don’t appreciate having a blend where you only can taste the mint or ginger because the tea blender only cares about the major flavors and sees the supporting cast almost as fillers. Right away I am enjoying the mild pepperiness. There has been attention given to how the tea will coat the mouth and it is silky and rich. You would not expect this from mint and ginger, but the burdock root and fennel bring body that I like, giving depth and warmth not dependant on ginger’s heat. I grow basil in several varieties but this type I associate more like incense so it evokes those calm reflective responses. I love the taste and scent. I could smell the licorice root in the wet mash but it doesn’t stand out on it’s own which again I am happy for. The licorice is supporting the basil. This is juicy. The fennel makes me want to bake bread. I love the way this little addition stops you from going down the mint track and brings you back to the ginger and burdock in a circle of cool, warm, cool, warm. The pepper at the finish is nice and hot at the tip of the tongue. I added sweetening but not honey. I hate to mask the flavor of tea. Maybe next time. If I make a Mayer Lemon honey I might try that iced this Summer…sounds refreshing with a sprig of basil! I would keep buying this blend!

Great relaxation tea. No caffeine! Wonderful mixer potental! I can see this as a tea with Greek food or chicken or salad with feta and capers. Good with Greek yoghert and fresh figs and honey or berries.

This a tasty and lovely herbal blend from Verdant tea. If you read my tealog, you may know I am a fan of tulsi but some blends are better than others, of course. The peppermint and the spearmint are a nice compliment to the tulsi here, which I am having after lunch. The licorice is adding a touch of sweetness, the ginger is not very strong here which is too bad, I could havve used a bit mre but I’m a ginger freak. Overall, I think this is an excellent blend and really relaxing. Too bad I’m not at a spa. :)

Thanks to Terri HarpLady for a sample of this!

Another bit of backlogging. I drank so much tea yesterday and was so bad at writing most of it down I don’t know where to start, so I’ll start here:

Last night after all my different tea drinking escapades, I started to get a stomach ache. I know mint and tulsi are good for the stomach, so I broke out this tea. The great thing about herbals is that you can stick ‘em in a T-sac, throw boiling water over it, and let it sit forever, and when you’re not feeling well, minimal maintenance is always a good thing.

This was a very pleasant tea. Minty, but not overly so. I didn’t even realize this had licorice in it because it was not prominent at all, and I’m a big licorice hater.

Overall a very nice herbal tea with lots of different flavors and not a single overpowering one.

Wow this was great!! Thanks so much to Azzrian for the sample!
I love non-traditional spicy teas and this really fits the bill. Parsley tea(my first herb tea), and now basil! what’s next? :)
Anyhow… It had that soupy sort of sweet yet pungent aroma and flavour to match. After noticing all the fennel seeds I was a little concerned, as I don’t much like fennel. or licorice for that matter, and I’m iffy on ginger… wow I should really not be liking this! But surprise! Everything pulls together splendidly in this blend. I think it’s the fennel and ginger that give it a little kick in just the right way. Mmmmm!!

SIPDOWN! Thanks to Indigobloom for this sample. I don’t think i would have otherwise picked this up on my own from verdant, but now that I’ve had it, i might consider keeping a small stock of this one around. I am digging the way the basil and mint blend together! Really glad i jumped at the chance to give this one a whirl :)

Picked up a small sample of this in my Verdant Black Friday order. I suspected I wouldn’t like it, but I can’t help my curiousity. Sure enough, blech. Too much mint for me, although the other flavours (I’m not sure exactly what I was picking up, but it was a bit spicy and herbalish) definitely improved it beyond a standard mint tea. However, my mom (who likes mint tea) really enjoyed it! I re-steeped it twice for her before throwing out the leaves, and will leave the rest of my packet (a cup left, I assume) for her to enjoy. I’m hoping to do this with a bunch of other teas I brought as well (i.e. brew up, let mom try, and leave with her if I don’t like it).

No rating from me; it’s mint, and mint is yucky.

Backlogging from last week.

Sample I requested with my package. I didn’t want to buy a full ounce of this because licorice is in the ingredients and I’m not a fan of licorice. I do enjoy tulsi and mint though and had to give it a try.

Upon opening the pack I immediately smelled the mint and tulsi. I saw little bits of fennel and what I guess is the burdock root. I took a little nibble at it and it wasn’t licorice, it kind of tasted like dry bark, earthy.

Taste was nice and earthy tulsi with a little bit of spice from the fennel. The mint was more of a feeling than a taste. The licorice appeared in the aftertaste, but it wasn’t too bad, sort of mellow, it wasn’t that overwhelming cloying sweetness in the back of the throat that I usually experience.

This isn’t bad for an herbal blend with licorice. I would only drink this once in a while though.

I took a break from writing for an hour, as I had a student. I needed to get away from caffeine, at least for a little while, so I had a cup of this. Although I’m not always into spearmint, which seems to be the predominant flavor, I do like most of the other ingredients: licorice root, burdock root, & Ginger are wonderful. Mostly, I just needed something free of caffeine & not sweet, & this did hit the spot!

1.5 tablespoons for 375 ml of water

Lemony note. Delightful mint taste. Great flavour combination. Hot wax-burning candle aroma in the taste.

Personally, I would prefer a stronger licorice flavour.

Thanks to Indigobloom for sharing this with me!

Oh, this is lovely. If I pay attention I can pick out the different herbs, but I’d rather jut sip and enjoy. It’s so fragrant, and I like the way the ginger makes it’s presence known after a few sips. This is a tisane I could sip all day long and not tire of. Not a bad idea now that I think of it….

Getting back into tea now. I took a month off to do more juicing. I’m surprised that I have not written a review of this herbal. Love it!
So refreshing and light. Has my favorite tea herbs which are peppermint and licorice. Can not go wrong with this.

Enjoying this one after ramen. I have only had tusli in one other blend which was a rooibos chai so I was expecting something akin to cinnamon, but was greeted with wonderful fresh in your face mint upon opening the pouch. Brewed, this a very nicely balanced cup, I love the touch of fennel and I think I’m beginning to figure out what tusli might taste like by tapping into my sensory memories and doing a comparison. Regardless it is lovely and refreshing and reminds me a bit of chewing gum but without the pain on the jaw and the addition of a nice centering feeling traveling down the body. Good stuff this. I don’t really like rating herbals though, its delicious for what it is but I have a hard time rating it higher than a straight tea I really enjoyed.

Oh, I adore getting Verdant’s blends in the tea of the month package. They are always so much fun to try.

This is the second one I’ve been quite frightened of, however. I haven’t had good experiences with the holy basil I’ve tried, and I’m not a huge supporter of minty teas. And this is quite minty and spicy. But, I think I’m coming around to the mint. I thoroughly enjoyed this! It was very minty, but had enough body that it wasn’t biting. It was sweet and earthy. I actually didn’t detect the licorice root, so it was pretty harmoniously blended with the other flavours. It was really remarkably refreshing, and the suggestion of mixing it with sparking water sounds mighty fine, maybe with some cucumber.

Finished another bag full of this wonderful blend earlier this week. We were having some really warm days, so I even tried it iced, from a concentrated brew, with a splash of agave and sparkling water as Verdant Tea recommended. Minty, spicy, and stimulating. A really fine herbal brew that I have enjoyed over and over again. The burdock they use in this blend is unlike any I have ever tasted, and it really brings together all the flavors. Thanks again Verdant Tea for such a nice herbal blend.

I wasn’t overly fond of this one. Not sure if it was my mood or the blend, so leaving off the rating until I try again.

This tea looks like a mix of chopped mint, fennel and basil.

The dry tea smells like sweet mint and fennel.

The brewed tea smells like sweet mint, fennel, basil, slightly salty. Initially I can taste the mint, it is sweet. It is followed bly the basil and fennel. To me is tastes slightly salty, but not too much. There is a warming sensation that I attribute to the ginger. I think this would make a great thirst quenching drink when it is iced. This tastes like to me it could be a soup stock. I now want to make soup out of this tea.

Overall I really enjoyed this tea. But I prefer a straight spearmint tea.

Edit: After drinking this tea, I am actually more thirsty now. Not sure why. But I shouldn’t be thirtsy as all I have done is drink tea all afternoon. I switched to caffeine free type teas a few hours ago.

Holy cow this is yummy! Complex, sweet, basil, mint, chocolate, cream, cinnamon, spice, licorice, caramel there’s even honeydew melon at the finish. I normally don’t care a lot for spices in my tea, but this one is amazing.

Yummy! Mint + fennel are the brightest in this one, imo, and while I usually don’t like fennel , here it does not seem out of place :) Very light and refreshing. I like it!

P.S. I surely was not prepared for the xplosion of smell when I opened the container O_O It’s like someone flattened and left to dry a heap of fresh herbs :) Almost overwhelmingly intoxicating.

UPD: 7 brewings in and tehre si still flavor left :)

An instant hit of menthol with a uniquely pleasant earthiness! A wonderful tinge from the ginger on the back of the throat and a happy overall mouth feel! This tea just makes me want to smile and curl up with a book! A perfectly refreshing tea!I have some left so I can’t wait to try it iced!

I found it to be so refreshing! Made me feel like my momma wa here nursing me back to health
So minty and fresh. All the herbs blended are so wonderful!
I would drink this any day!
So refreshing!