I’ve never had a guayusa before. In fact I’ve only ever heard of it in passing. So I decided to research a little bit about it before making this tea.
I read a little about it one these sites:
http://www.runa.org/enjoyment/healthbenefits.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilex_guayusa
And found that it’s one of three caffeinated holly trees known in the world, and that out of the three it has the highest amount of caffeine (for those like me who have never heard of this strange plant). I also found that it has more antioxidants than green tea, so it’s pretty good for you.
Anywho, on to the tea. I brewed it with boiling water for 4 minutes and it is now a very strange (and slightly unappealing) brown-ish green-ish color. It looks a little bit like dirty water (as in actual dirt in water). The dry leaf smelled like Earl Grey, but the wet leaf and the tea itself smells strangely like tortilla chips…. Like a lot like them. I surveyed the tea with the rest of my family and they agreed: there’s a definite tortilla chip smell. I added a little bit of sugar (half a teaspoon) because I was worried that it would taste like it would smell.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t. At all. In fact, it tastes a lot like traditional Earl Grey. It’s slightly sweeter with the citrus aspect (it may have helped that I added some sugar), and the guayusa tastes slightly earthy, which plays with the bergamont’s sweetness.
Pretty nice. I wouldn’t repurchase this if Frank does a reblend, but it is pretty nice.
I personally think the guayusa makes a really nice, rich, dark iced tea.