Bush Berry (formerly New Moon Tea Co.)

I’ve had Yuchi Wild Mountain Black and Cavalla this morning, and I’m just enjoying this one now!

I had an unopened bulk bag of marshmallow root in my cupboard and thought I should open it today to add to this tea. I thought the mint and cacao nibs could only benefit here as it seems to add a soft sweetness.

I’m not really sure if I added enough for an effect (I didn’t want to overdo it). The edge of the mint seems ever so slightly toned down and maybe the barest hint of sweetness. I think I’ll add a bit more next time.

Back to reading about the impacts of climate variation in/due to far north peatlands for this paper (derk)!

CNN projection for president is up!

This one is hitting the spot this morning. The perfect balance of mint and cacao. The mint is always more prominent, but I enjoy the base and cacao do a great job of mellowing it out.

Also, just polished off my chemical runoff into wetlands article for volunteering! Great start to a Saturday!

I have been drinking this tea for years (since October 2017) and had no idea I didn’t add it to the database!

I discovered this years ago from an Etsy shop that I’ve continued ordering from ever since then. It’s even one of the few I keep at work (well, kept, when we went into the office, pre-COVID). This one is a seasonal blend of theirs, and I make sure to order a ridiculous amount every holiday season to last me through the year.

I steeped this to boost my motivation for the afternoon after not sleeping all that well last night. My energy started to wane around noon, so this tea was a great pick-me-up — black tea with cacao nibs and peppermint. Fresh and delicious!

2021 sipdown no. 102

I’ve always kept this one around and enjoy it in phases. Lexa drinks it even more and enjoys it a lot in the evening. However, I’m thinking there must be another option out there that’s perhaps just slightly less expensive. I’ll have to check around!

Last cuppa this evening. I enjoyed this while we watched a new show we love – Trickster. I find both the scent and taste of lavender in this quite soothing. I can’t decide if it helps me sleep, but I’m sure it doesn’t hurt!

Just hanging out with our bunnies a little bit now before turning in for the night. :)

Brownies are out of the oven and delicious! I made this tea for both of us to enjoy with the brownies (if anyone is interested, the recipe is here: https://www.thecuriouschickpea.com/vegan-mexican-chocolate-brownies/).

This is a lavender chamomile blend, so it’s nice and light to cut through the richness of the brownies, but also so nice to relax before heading off for sleep (which is a ways away, but still). The lavender is definitely stronger here, but I quite like lavender in tea.

I really enjoy the blend of these two flowers and used to drink this far more regularly, but the price point is a little expensive for just how much I was going through, so I’ve scaled back a touch and mostly go through phases now. :P

I had this one yesterday — after the Dandy blend and before my ice coffee. This one is so nice to have when I want a herbal tea. Usually I drink this in the evening, but quite enjoyed it in the late morning.

Sipdown! (17 | 426)

I quite enjoyed this one. The gently sweet apple and cinnamon remind me of apple pie.

My only complaint is because the pieces are quite large, it can be a bit inconsistent, with some cups not having quite enough apple goodness. Even with stirring it up each time, sometimes it wasn’t as apple-y.

It’s a mellow apple pie sort of tisane that’s lovely and calming for the evening. I would consider reordering some once I get my cupboard down a bit more.

Home – 11:00 PM

The Great Cupboard Excavation
Untasted teas remaining: 47

So I counted the remaining teas in my cupboard that I haven’t tasted and written about, and there are 47. So I’m not really that close to being done. :P

Chamomile is the only tisane that I don’t use my Finum brew basket for. The annoying little pollen things always get stuck in the mesh and are a giant pain to clean out. So I scooped this into a disposable filter bag to steep instead.

Yum, this is a tasty herbal tisane to have on hand. It reminds me of apple tart or turnovers. The chamomile is strong and sweet with honey notes, and the apple adds a lovely tart fruitiness. There’s also sweet cinnamon, which really makes it taste like an apple pastry.

If you’re a chamomile lover like me, this is a great combination!

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Definitely overleafed this one, as I didn’t want to have a weird small amount left. So it’s a little bit stronger on the honeybush woodiness than usual, but still tasty.

This tisane has a nice balance of gentle sweet apple with natural-tasting cinnamon and almost pastry-like notes from the honeybush base. It’s somewhere between apple cider and a cinnamon-heavy apple pie.

Such a pleasant bedtime tisane. I’m certainly not mad that I have another unopened pouch somewhere! :)

I pulled this one out to refresh my memory after talking with Courtney about this company earlier. Their winter seasonal blends are available now, and I’m planning on ordering a couple of things so I figured I would see how this is faring.

I really love this one. I will admit, it’s a bit annoying because the honeybush and apple pieces separate (as one would expect). So it can be fiddly determining the amount of apple to put in when steeping it.

The apple flavor is fairly light here anyway, because there is no added flavoring so it’s just up to the dried apple pieces. The cinnamon is delicious and sweet, and the honeybush base really does create the taste of pie crust or crumble for me. So it ends up being a lovely caffeine-free apple pie tisane, or maybe apple crostata or tart since the apple is lighter than the other flavors.

Nom nom nom. Bumping the rating. Do I need more…? It’s only available once a year…

Home – 11:00 PM

Tonight I made some chicken broth in my Instant Pot. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you definitely should! It’s basically a combination slow cooker and pressure cooker. So I put a whole chicken in with carrots, celery, herbs, and water and 30 minutes later, I had a fully cooked chicken to shred up plus delicious broth! I’m planning to use the broth for ramen this week, and the chicken will likely find its way into tacos, Buddha bowls, you name it! Anyway, Instant Pot infomerical over. ;)

I ordered New Moon’s Apple Cinnamon chamomile herbal blend on a whim a while ago when I was browsing tea sellers on Etsy. I really enjoyed it, so this time I got a pouch of this tisane as well. I realize now they’re pretty similar, but I love apple cinnamon, so no harm done…

Anyway, this tisane makes me think of warm apple crumble. There’s a lovely oat-y flavor that I assume is coming from the honeybush base. The cinnamon is probably the most dominant flavor, but it’s not candy cinnamon nor is it overly strong. I wish there were a bit more apple, but since this blend doesn’t contain any flavoring I can understand why there’s not a stronger apple presence.

Very yummy, and being caffeine free is a nice bonus. I need more tasty herbals in my collection.

Every time I drink this it is delicious. Heavy notes of oats, brown sugar, real cinnamon bark (but not sickly sweet), lots of delicious honeybush. This is a sipdown, however I enjoyed each and every cup.