Basilur

I have been craving Pomegranate since Christmas so when I realized this tea was in the bag from the TTB I decided to give it a try. I usually enjoy raspberry flavors, but pomegranate flavors often fail to capture what I enjoy about the fruit so I had some uncertainty about whether I would enjoy it. I cold brewed it overnight and was very pleased with the results. It absolutely hit the mark for the pomegranate flavoring and satisfied that craving perfectly. The raspberry was a very light and pleasant accent. I would absolutely drink this again!

Herbal and Decaf TTB Summer 2025

Went to the annual seed swap event at our local library this morning. It was our first time so we weren’t sure what to expect. They accept seeds if you have them to offer, but also give out lots of seeds. It was run by the local university and a gardeners association I believe. They had popular garden vegetables, herbs, flowers, and a few fruits, as well as a table full of seeds from local plants. They had books, magazines, and pamphlets on gardening and even a table of snacks and drinks. It was definitely a nice event and something I am sure we will return to in the future.

I tried this tea alongside the omelette my husband made for breakfast before we headed out this morning. The name sounds pretty generic so I really wasn’t expecting much. It surprised me by being a lovely tropical fruit lemonade. I distinctly tasted mango, orange, and pineapple with the lemon in a solid supporting role that differentiated the blend from other tropical fruit teas I have had. An absolutely delightful surprise!

Herbal TTB! Hmm I don’t love this. The ginger is nice and spicy, but there’s too much tartness coming from what I guess is some fruity ingredient? I’m not a fan. The sourness is just not pleasant.

Herbal TTB! The lime is really authentic! I don’t usually like lime teas, but here it’s so fresh and real! I didn’t notice the goji in particular.

Herbal TTB! I’m not a big fan of honey or lime in teas, so this was unlikely to be a winner for me. I taste both flavors clearly along with the rooibos base. There’s also a hint of something else – almost something spicy? I don’t know what it is, but I wouldn’t want this again. I liked it much more with milk added.

This tastes like mango candy or like peach rings. Cold, this is really nice! If there are bags of this left when the Herbal TTB comes back around, I’ll totally grab more!

Herbal and Decaf TTB Summer 2025

Bought one last Christmas present yesterday and finished my wrapping! We will be traveling for Christmas, so today will be catching up on some laundry and packing. We’ll be visiting my family for Christmas, then home for a couple of days, then visiting my in-laws for New Year’s so it will be a busy couple of weeks!

This was a nice tea to drink while finishing the wrapping. Cranberry and hibiscus are the primary flavors, with a bit of sweetness from the stevia and apple pieces. I appreciate how restrained Basilur is with their sweeteners as this is the perfect amount for me and doesn’t have any of the strange aftertaste I sometimes get from stevia. There’s nothing else about it that is particularly remarkable, so I generally prefer some of Basilur’s other fruit infusions. I think the passionfruit has been my favorite so far, but I still have some to try!

Not much plum in this fruit infusion, which is a shame as I feel like it is an underutilized fruit in tea. I don’t know what Noni tastes like, I am mostly getting tartness with a hint of citrus peel type bitterness up front, with a little bit of plummy sweetness at the end. Not my favorite from Basilur.

I did decide that this one might benefit from a bit of sweetener. A drop of monk fruit extract doftened that edge of bitterness and brought out the sweetness as a better counterbalance to the sourness. Definitely an improvement, but still not my favorite.

Herbal and Decaf TTB Summer 2025

The name of this tea conjures a very unique idea of ginger and hot peppers to me, or maybe I just spend too much time with my husband who likes his hot sauce so spicy I can sometimes taste it in the air from across the table and he has impressed the chefs and wait staff at multiple Indian restaurants.

Alternatively, I might have expected hed hot to refer to a strong cinnamon and ginger tea

This tea is not nearly as spicy as I expected. It is a good tea, but I think it is possibly poorly named as the name is evocative and misleading in my opinion. The flavor stars hibiscus and ginger with apple in a supporting role. It’s pretty tasty and I would certainly drink it again!

Herbal and decaf TTB, Summer 2025

We have snow today!!! We don’t always get much snow around here, let alone a good snowstorm that sticks and accumulates in December so I am happy to see it. Baby seems to be done with this round of teething and spent most of the morning sleeping so I actually got to sit in my rocking chair in front of the bay window with a cup of tea and just watch the snow come down for a few minutes.

To contrast the winter weather, I got to enjoy this lovely summery tea. The passionfruit and orange were both very present and well balanced on a base of sweetened hibiscus. This tastes like it would be a stunning iced tea!

Herbal and Decaf TTB Summer 2025

This smelled amazing! Like orange drink powder and creamsicle. Unfortunately, the flavor did not live up to the scent. I could breed this overnight and it did have a distinct orange flavor but it felt kind of thin or hollow and sour rather than matching the scent. I added a drop off monk fruit extract sweetener, which brought out a flavor of bitter orange pith. Maybe it would be better hot, but as is it was drinkable but disappointing.

Herbal and Decaf TTB 2025

I have never had a goji berry so I can’t say anything about the accuracy of that flavor. I can taste lime and hibiscus tempered by sweetness that is at a perfect level for my tastes. I do taste an unfamiliar fruit flavor with a hint of earthiness that I think is the goji berry.

Herbal and Decaf TTB

I do enjoy Hibiscus Teas, but peach flavoring is sometimes overwhelming for me. It’s quite restrained here which I appreciate! The overall flavor is surprisingly mild for a hibiscus tea. I am just picking up hints of the mango flavor so I wish that was a bit stronger, but it is still a very enjoyable cup paired with some peach yogurt. I may grab the rest to cold brew at some point.

Herbal and Decaf TTB.

I didn’t enjoy this one nearly as much as the last few. The lime was very mild and I didn’t really taste much honey at all, leaving the rooibos to take center stage which is not my preference. This rooibos does seem to have that interesting toasted rice or popcorn note as well which is preferable to other rooibos I have had, but I just don’t love this one.

Herbal and Decaf Traveling Tea Box, Summer 2025.
Goji Lime. Basilur.
Paper tea bag with a string-tag produced a deep red-brown infusion. Pleasant goji and lime aroma, with notes of hibiscus and orange. The flavor of this tisane did have a modest tartness, with a forward goji and orange, and added complexity of lime, in a background of tame hibiscus with notes of rose hip and something sweet— possibly the stevia leaf? I have never had goji fruit before, but there is something sweetly fruity in this tisane that I really like! When sweetened with sugar the taste transformed into a slightly tart fruit salad with notes of juicy fruit chewing gum! Gosh, it’s really tasty and difficult not to swill quickly! The aroma was long-lasting, as was the finish, wherein the lime notes re-emerged. Basilur did a great blending job here, and I can recommend and give a rating of 91.

Herbal and Decaf Traveling Tea Box, Summer 2025.
Passion Fruit Orange. Basilur.
Tea bag with string-tag. Pleasant orange aroma, with notes of hibiscus. The flavor of this tisane did have a modest tartness, with a forward orange and background of tame hibiscus with notes of rose hip and something— possibly passion fruit? Overall, it was nicely balanced and enjoyable to drink. The aroma was long-lasting, while the aftertaste exited the stage quickly. Basilur did well here, and I can recommend and give a rating if 78. The juicy orange flavor improved and intensified with a scoop of sugar and as the infusion cooled.

Herbal and Decaf TTB

Basilur definitely makes the best rooibos blends I have tasted! I grabbed this one Bec my stomach was feeling a little off this morning. Probably too many sweets this weekend combined with the stress of travel, Christmas shopping, and a teething baby! This was a good choice to settle my stomach. It’s a mild tea, with distinct flavors of orange, ginger, and to me, toasted rice. Not quite what I expected and I am not sure where the rice flavor is coming from, but very enjoyable!

Herbal and Decaf Traveling Tea Box, Summer 2025.
Pomegranate with Raspberry. Basilur.
String-tag teabag containing dry herbs, in a sealed foil pouch. Prepared as directed. More flavored hibiscus and rose hip! It takes some nerve to market a tisane so misleadingly, since hibiscus is the predominant ingredient, flavor, and aroma. Pomegranate seeds account for only 4% of the bulk, and imparted no discernible taste or fragrance. There is no raspberry ingredient other than a natural flavor. But the raspberry flavoring at least contributed to the taste! I tasted no notes of orange or geosmin/beetroot, either, despite substantial presence. The tisane did have a tart fruity flavor and aroma, and was not disagreeable. But uninspired. I’m ambivalent here. As with most Basilur “Fruit Infusions”, it seems, this improved with a scoop of sugar and with cooling, so I can see it as potentially refreshing on hot days of summer. And I’m happy to have had the opportunity to try it! I’ll rate it as 58 but withhold any recommendation.

Herbal and Decaf TTB

This joins Rooibos Earl Grey as a red rooibos that I actually enjoy! Also a rare peach tea that I actually enjoy as I often find peach flavoring overwhelmingly sweet and artificial despite enjoying peaches quite a lot. The flavors are really well balanced here between the woody rooibos and the sweet, almost floral peach. The other ingredients boost the fruitiness nicely as well. I may need to use this as inspiration for blending the rooibos I purchased by accident a while back.

Herbal and Decaf Traveling Tea Box, Summer 2025.
Orange Mango (°Cold Brew). Basilur.
String-tag paper tea bag containing dry herbs in a foil sealed pouch. Prepared as directed: steeped in 8 oz. spring water at ambient for 4 hr. I probably could have let this steep overnight, because it tasted a little weak at first. But sweetening with a spoonful of sugar accentuated the flavors nicely and made for a tasty cold infusion! The hibiscus and rose hip was barely noticeable as a slight sourness, and the stevia lent a bitter note. Likely the rose hip and hibiscus aren’t extracted very efficiently by the cold water. But the terrific orange and mango flavors sang right through it all, tasting real and very good. Not real complex, but nice as a punch replacement and possibly as a mixer for something alcoholic. I could see a screwdriver type drink here. I’ll recommend and rate as an 85.

Herbal and Decaf Traveling Tea Box, Summer 2025.
Blackcurrant & Blackberry. Basilur.
Who knows what’s in Basilur’s tisanes? I couldn’t find an ingredient list for this concoction anywhere. This was a string-tag paper teabag in a sealed, plasticized, foil wrapper. Steeped as directed: 5 min. in 8 oz. boiling spring water. Blackberry is one of my favorite berries, and I do love blackcurrants too, so I was eager to try this Basilur tisane. Hibiscus seemed to be the prominent flavor I tasted, with only notes of black-currant and -berry. Of course, raw blackcurrants and blackberries are also sour, so they may have aggravated the hibiscus sourness. And there was a chemical note throughout. The berry flavors came out of hiding once I added a tsp. of sugar, but I’m beginning to wonder if Basilur can do anything without hibiscus. It’s like the main organic base of everything is just hibiscus, then sprayed with whatever flavoring cocktail they decide to throw together. This tisane did have a nice finish and the overall flavor improved as the infusion cooled, so maybe another winner-when-iced? I have to admit to liking this infusion despite the above critiques, and I would recommend it to those who like sour berries, and rate it as a 77. Great to have been able to sample it, and thank you to Martin who contributed it to the TTB!

Herbal and Decaf Traveling Tea Box, Summer 2025.
Noni Plum. Basilur.
String-tag teabag containing dry herbs, in a sealed foil pouch. The Basilur website listed the following ingredients: Hibiscus, rose hip, orange leaf, beetroot, orange fruit, stevia, and natural flavors of noni, plum, and citric. I steeped according to the directions printed on the pouch and took 3 sips. I noted flavors of bitterness and sour, likely from the hibiscus content, and vague fruity/berry notes. Then, while investigating the unfamiliar “noni” fruit ( Morinda citrifolia ) on Wikipedia, I read the following: “Consumption of M. citrifolia products, such as supplements, beverages, powders, oils or leaves, has the risk of causing liver disease through exposure to anthraquinones.” Although the associated discussion mentioned a range of risky foods and beverages, it did not mention infusions made from natural noni flavoring. Nevertheless, because I do suffer a liver affliction, I refused to risk further exposure, and discarded the infusion. No further comment.

Herbal and Decaf Traveling Tea Box, Summer 2025.
Raspberry. Basilur.
This was a string-tag paper teabag in a sealed foil wrapper. Steeped as directed: 4 min. in 8 oz. boiling spring water. One of my favorite fruits is raspberry, and a favorite liqueur is Chambord, so I was eager to try this Basilur tisane. Alas, I did not dig out a magnifying glass to read the ingredient list on the label until steeping was underway, so I sipped away despite the presence of stevia leaf, which usually tastes bitter due to my palatumdivergence. Hibiscus and stevia and citric acid together had me nervous. And the lack of any real raspberry (only natural flavor) was worrisome. The dry aroma was woody with notes of raspberry, but the hot tisane also bore aromas of hibiscus and apple. I didn’t notice any orange scents. Fortunately, the flavor was not as harshly bitter as I feared, and the raspberry tasted real, not chemical. There were some tannic notes, probably due to the apple phenolics. I got no sweetness. There was relatively more hibiscus flavor than raspberry, but they came into better balance once I added a tsp. of sugar. I enjoyed quaffing the hot, sweetened tisane, and I would recommend it to those who like hibiscus, and rate it as a 62. Great to have been able to sample it!