Featured & New Tasting Notes

This is much better than genmaicha I have purchased stateside, but I believe that is largely because I tend to get genmaicha in import grocery stores, not tea shops, in large, cheap quantities.

This was an absolutely shocking shade of green when I poured the first cup. But it began to fade and darken almost immediately.

The flavor is both darkly vegetal and brightly toasty. I start to get a sense with this of what genmaicha may be all about.

The brew also has a sticky thickness in the mouth, almost like a broth. Which is not unpleasant, but… unexpected.

I don’t think genmaicha will ever be my truly favorite favorite of green teas, but this is very tasty.

Scent from a distance is very cough-syrupy, but when you get your nose down into the dry leaves the amaretto scent is a delicious single scent.

The steeped scent has amaretto sweetness and a bitter tone of perhaps apricot pit and alcohol mixed. It smells like a mixed drink.

There isn’t a lot of taste on the tongue itself. You get a smooth or buttery consistency on the inside of the lips and the middle of the tongue. There is a flash of the bitter+amarretto flavor/scent in the nose as you swallow. The tisane feels full in the mouth.

Im not familiar with honeybush and not huge on tisanes, but must say that if you are into either this is worth trying. This does give the feel of the name in its taste.

This is an excellent fuka sencha, with an almost perfect balance of the vegetal and the sweet. The great taste, aroma, colour, and price make this an outstanding fuka sencha for daily use.

First infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 45-50 sec.

Second infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 30-35 sec.

Third infusion — 5 g. per 8 oz. water, 70 deg., 3 min.

This is truly one of my favorite teas, even more so when chilled. This is the other pitcher of tea I made for the inlaw invasion, but it wasn’t cool in time. Still, by the end of the night, it had cooled enough for me to have a cup and it was delicious. The vanilla and oolong wrap around each other so beautifully. This is the tea that made me go “Oh…that’s what people mean when they say oolongs are buttery.” I want to drink this one for days. I also love watching this one steep, I’m very grateful I set a timer or else I would have been completely distracted by the leaves and let it oversteep.

When we’re coming back from our trip to Tennessee, we’re stopping overnight in New York to visit my brother, and I am bringing him a ton of tea and a perfect mug XD. I’m bringing a pouch of this. He’s tried one oolong and said it tasted like feet, so I’m going to brew some of this up and see how he feels about it. If he likes it, he gets to keep the pouch. If he doesn’t, it is so coming back home with me! Hot or cold, this is a favorite of mine.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS MATCHA TEA!!!

Aroma: Vegetal and somewhat fruity [let’s say a little honeydew melon and a little cucumber].

Taste: Oh what joy! Very delicious! Very fresh too! The taste is a palatable persona of the aroma. This matcha has a slight fruity undertone complementing the overtone of grass [but not earthy…let me explain, when I think of “earthy” I taste the minerals from the dirt and maybe a little mushroom…again, the dirty earth…“grass” to me is earthy but as a vegetal characteristic]. The fruit that is playing harmony on the palate is honeydew melon and cucumber [and YES, a cucumber is a FRUIT!]; it is slight but still noticeable…it actually does complement the vegetal aspect rather than overtake the whole flavor profile. You do experience umami (a mouth feel) which is a little drying…but it “fills” the mouth with the extra sensation of taste.

Aftertaste: Well, there is such an experience but not much of one. The aftertaste is a little spinachy, a little fruity and a little vegetal. The drying feel on the tongue still lingers but not for long.

To add to the experience of preparing and drinking this tea, was the color of this matcha…a chartreuse green…nice, bright, vibrant; then it dulled a little when water is added which turns it to a more of a medium-green jade.

I would highly recommend purchasing this matcha! It is offered at a good price for the amount compared to other companies whom offer less at a more elevated price.

A must buy!

I reviewed this tea a month or so ago, but I’ve still been trying to get it to stand out past the third steeping. This time, I used a small (~100ml) banko houhin with a heaping tablespoon of leaf to help try and stretch it across 4 or 5 steepings.

First (140*/ 120 secs): What a rush of flavor! As I take the first sip, I’m smacked in the mouth with vegetal sweetness and a soft mouthfeel that sticks around while you’re waiting for the next cup to brew. Since it’s lightly steamed, the color is far more yellow than green. A fun, balanced cup.

Second (165*/ 90 secs): As the tea transitions from a greenish yellow to a more grassy green, the astringency starts to show. Sadly, that also means the flavor is starting to wane, but it still has that freshness and plum-y afternotes that seems to be typical of Shizuoka shincha this year. A little bitter towards the end, but that usually comes out more in the next infusions…

Third: (185/ 120 secs): A pale, bitter yellow brew. I get hints of spinach and plum, but on a whole, it tastes like all the “good stuff” has already been sucked out of this tea. I know that Banko pottery tends to mellow out stronger teas, but I’m hardly getting anything out of this infusion.

Fourth (Boiled): So it goes.

I had high expectations for this tea in my houhin, but it seems like I’ve still yet to nail the perfect brewing parameters. The first two cups are some of the best I’ve had, but it falls utterly flat afterwards — I’d have to give the nod to the Houryoku in my shincha taste tests!

I have never had a tea give me such a strong sense of deja vu. I don’t mean “oh wait, I think I’ve had this before” deja vu. I mean, “What is that smell? What is that incredibly floral smell? I’ve smelled it before…in the evening…in happier times…” After one cup I’ve got it narrowed down to either summer camp, or sometime in college. But I’m not pushing my brain to really remember. I’m happy to just smell this tea, and linger on the verge of remembering something happy.

This is my first gongfu brewing and I don’t know if I’m doing it right. I’m using the instructions Dave from Verdant Tea sent with the shipment (wow, this is the first tea I’ve ordered that comes with full documentation!) but my gaiwan, which JUST came in the mail today from China, doesn’t have a little pouring spot on the edge, so I’m still very amateurish in my handling of the pouring process. I’m steeping for the correct number of seconds—and then I’m taking a minute and a half to pour! So I’m sure I’m oversteeping.

But this tea shows no signs of bitterness. It is relentlessly floral thus far (rinse, 1 brew which I’m finishing drinking, four brews that went into a pitcher for tomorrow’s iced tea), a light yellowy-green color, with a lovely, almost minty undertone. I’m still learning what people mean when they call a tea “sweet” (besides actual sugar); I think this is a type of sweetness, one I could get used to! Not the slightly cloying sweetness of teas with actual flower flavors added, but the sweetness of really good mineral or spring water, light and cool on the tongue. So tasty and refreshing.

This is becoming hard to describe…I’m going to go get another infusion and add that note later.

Holy Nuts Extreme!!!
Dry: The leaves are curled this way n that… and are feral, vintagey, and smell like sweet leaves n nuts.
Wet: The leaves are fully uncurled, expansive, and green. and veiny.
The first brew is somewhat thick and intensely nutty, and behind that, strongly vegetal. There is a sweetness there too but it comes out more in the second steep (incredibly so in the finish) where the liquid comes out much lighter and more delicate.
Next time, I’ll try a shorter steep time on the first infusion so that the two are more balanced!
As for rebuying this one, I’m not so sure. This is satisfying, but not something I see myself craving.

This is one of the personal-designed teas from Design A Tea that I got a sample of.

The pre-steeped tea is cloyingly sweet smelling, so is the brewed.

The flavor only has the barest hints of amaretto and is otherwise ALL chestnut.

Which does taste great in quality. The black tea base fits nicely with it.

I’m rating this mid-to-high based on the chestnut flavoring, but not higher due to the lightness of amaretto and the scent, and because I personally didn’t think it was awesome, for my own taste preferences. For me, the chestnut is too strong.

But if you love earthy, rich, nutty teas, this is for you. As said, the chestnut is Strong in this one.

I was making this tea for my husband, so I figured I’d do a quick review.

The description from THE O DOR of this tea describes the tea as reminiscent of French macarons and I have to say I agree wholeheartedly with this. There is a distinct sweet almond (very much like fine macarons) aroma once you open the tin and that made this macaron lover salivate. There’s also a underlying note of berries – mostly strawberry – as well.

I brewed for the recommended 3 minutes and tasted. Brewed, the aroma had slight grassy notes, with just a hint of the sweet almond still discernible. The tea definitely had the slightly grassy taste that green teas often have, but it was not overwhelming at all. Upon tasting, the sweet almond and slight berry flavour is apparent in the finish, but not the forefront for sure.

I also made this tea iced and the profile of the iced tea was very similar to that of the hot; the only real difference is the almond flavouring came through a bit more and wasn’t quite as sweet as it was when hot (it took on more of a bitter almond profile). Unfortunately I also couldn’t taste any of the berry either.

Overall it’s a lovely tea, but I think I’d try to find something with more berry flavouring (the almond tends to overwhelm the berry) and less grassiness (it seems like the almond was there to almost try and mask the grassiness).

I decided to let this steep until the bulb had finished blossoming. Usually, I just steep it for about 3 or 4 minutes, even if it’s not finished opening, and then resteep it until it has fully bloomed. But, this time, I wanted to find out what it would taste like after steeping as long as it took for the bulb to completely open.

And it doesn’t taste bad at all. In fact, it’s really quite lovely – not just to look at but to drink as well. The flavor is lightly vegetative with sweet honey tones. The honey-esque notes are accented by the pollen-y taste that is in the tea. Overall, a very pleasant tea to sip.

Picked this one up at a Pilot truck stop a while ago. I had quite disappointing experiences with the other sachets I picked up, so I wasn’t expecting much from this one, but such is cupboard cleaning: sometimes you drink teas you’re not the biggest fan of.

The dry sachet smelled very generically tropical; I could maybe pick out pinapple? But also worringly artificial. I’m starting get a bit skittish about some fruit tea blends since they can go so wrong so fast for me. Anyway, when I brewed it, it was better than I was expecting. That’s not saying much, but the aroma is decently pleasant and not too fake or sickly-sweet smelling. The green tea isn’t obliterated in the aroma or the taste, which is nice. It tastes fairly generically tropical, like it smells, but it’s decent enough. I was surprised to see that there is mint in this, since the combo of mint and tropical fruit sounds horrible and wrong to me, but while the mint flavor is definitely noticable, I don’t hate it. Overall, it’s not a terribly exciting tea, but not so bad that I won’t drink the whole cup.

I had this tea last night because I knew I was getting my Adagio shipment in the next day. I had ordered almost all their rooibos and honeybush samples, so I figured this tea was getting pretty stale and better to use it up before the exciting new ones come in.

Well, I can only guess the tea I had was this one… I purchased a 1 oz. pouch of this from a nearby new age store. After some investigating online, however, I’m almost positive it’s this tea.

Stories aside, I don’t really know what to make of it. The first several sips were amazing. It tastes exactly like what it says – a warm, nutty gingersnap cookie with all the earthy, sweet goodness of rooibos underneath. As I kept drinking it, however, I kinda lost interest and the sweetness of the drink really built up on my tongue. If only all the sips managed to taste as good as the first few…

On a weirdly positive note, though, I had trouble falling asleep last night. After tossing and turning for an hour and going downstairs for a midnight glass of milk, I came back to discover my entire room smelled like gingersnap cookies! Who needs candles anymore?

Finally trying this again. Dry smell is scrumptious, steeped I initially get standard black tea smell, albeit (artifically) sweetened. Upon closer inspection, there is a definite creamy berry sort of aroma, almost reminiscent of a french vanilla cappuchino. The black tea smell is a little disconcerting, not of the best quality. I’m positive I didn’t oversteep it, but it almost gives off that aroma. Looking at the leaves, they are very small and broken up, so I’m assuming that is the source of the ‘bitter’ smell. Hopefully, I am over-analyzing things.

The liquor is very dark and a little ominous. Lets dive in! First sips are (unfortunately) skewed by the onions from my lunch. Onion taste aside, there is a lingering sweet berry taste after the sip, but I get some of that bitter black tea at the front. It blends well with the vanilla to cover it up, I don’t really get a straight up bitter taste, but it definitely lacks the complexity and taste of some of my favourite black teas. This is one tea that only deteriorates as it cools, I prefer to drink it while hot before the bitterness becomes strong.

I definitely enjoy this but sadly have not been wowed like everyone else. I think that with a better base, this tea could really shine but at the moment it is held back by my impressions of the lower quality black tea. I’ve never had another Adagio tea before so I don’t know what they’ve used in this or what they use in general. I took a peek on the site but I didn’t see anything about the tea base. Anywho, this continues to be good but not stellar in my books and it makes me a little sad.

I usually don’t go for an oolong in the morning, but I wanted one anyway. This is another one of my samples from QuiltGuppy, thanks! The dry leaf smells a little bit vegetal, and a little bit floral. Unlike the other oolongs I’ve had recently this is a dark oolong and the leaves are long, spindly and twisted. This made it difficult to portion out into my cup, so I don’t know if I quite got the right amount of leaf; I think perhaps I should have added more. I brewed it “traditional” style using the instructions they gave on their website for that method, as opposed to gong-fu style.

Brewed, the liquor is a medium dark yellow and it smells quite floral with a hint of fruit. There’s also that deeper “oolongy” aroma there too, but I can’t quite pick out some of the darker more complex notes they mention. Despite the fact I think I didn’t add enough leaf, I am very much enjoying this cup. It’s sweet and floral and all around delicious. I’m glad I have enough leaf to brew some more cups and do a better tasting note. Thanks again QuiltGuppy for another fantastic tea!

I really shouldn’t be writing this note at work, but I’ll be doing overtime today anyways so here goes.

I really like this tea! I got it iced in my $1 mug today. The sample with no sweetener was really nice and smooth, but I got a little agave in it on a whim. I usually don’t sweeten my iced teas but with a name like Dolce & Banana, it was just asking for it haha.

I have to say, I hate bananas. But carmelized bananas I can go for – which is exactly what this has hints of. They must have steeped it just right because I’m not overwhelmed with chamomile – it’s just a great compliment!

Not something I would steep myself or drink hot, but super refreshing and lovely as an iced tea! I reccomend a little sweetener to help bring out the carmel/banana b^_^

EDIT: Plus, “Dulce & Banana”, how clever is that name?! haha I’m such a sucker for things with awesome names

I LOVE this tea. It is my ultimate favorite white. It’s flavorful, juicy, malty, fruity and lasts many many steeps. It is an Assam version of a bai mu dan (pai mutan, white peony) but with oodles more of a peachy, nectar, melon type flavor that just persists throughout steeps (ive gone up to 7 infusions and its still got flavor to spare!). Ive tried other assam whites from other estates, but none of them even get close to the quality and flavor of the one sold by S & V. I bought a pound of it last year and have kept it in a tin in my cupboard and even after a year of sitting there, it still tastes and brews like it did when i first purchased it. Im very impressed with this tea.

After a local tea shop was clearing out all of their THE O DOR teas, I ended up buying a tin of the Je m’appelle Dorothee at a greatly reduced price. As I often drink hibiscus-based teas, I figured I would enjoy this tea.

The loose tea smelled amazing – I definitely smelled the pineapple and cherry notes and the aroma had a natural sweetness that tickled the nose. My tin had lots of dried cherries, currants and pineapple bits (and the odd banana chip) – in fact, I’d say it was probably about 40% fruit based on visual inspection. I’ve found with the herbal THE O DOR teas you have to steep to the maximum amount (or more) of the suggested time, so I infused the tea for 8 minutes.

As I’m used to hibiscus-based teas (I often drink hibiscus tea straight), I didn’t find the hibiscus in this tea overwhelming. If you’re not used to this type of tea, or you don’t enjoy this type, the hibiscus could definitely be overwhelming. Often I find hibiscus teas to have a harsh citrus tartness to them that can cause your mouth to pucker, but in this tea, it was more muted than in others that I’ve had. The slight pineapple and cherry flavours round out the tea, giving it a richness that I haven’t found in other hibiscus-based teas, as well as a bit of natural sweetness. Due to the natural acidity of the tea, there’s a slightly dry aftertaste.

As I usually drink hibiscus teas iced, I definitely wanted to try this tea iced. The aroma of the tea is very muted iced, but the flavour is still there. The natural sweetness was more pronounced in the iced version of this tea, which was great because it helped to mute some of the natural acidity of the tea. I also found that iced, Je m’appelle Dorothee has a bit of a citric aftertaste (my guess is if you drink this type of tea sweetened, the citric aftertaste would most likely not be noticeable).

While I really enjoyed this tea and will definitely finish the tin (drinking both hot and iced), I doubt I’ll purchase it again due to high price of THE O DOR teas and it no longer being carried locally.

I’m upping my rating for this tea quite a bit. I decided to brew two cups of this tea with a little honey and it really hit the spot. I’m in love with the creamsicle-like smell and taste. The vanilla from the oolong blends well with the orange flavored rooibos and the floral, apple notes of the chamomile. It’s definitely a good tea to have around the evening when I’m slashing my caffeine intake, craving something dessert like, and wanting something relaxing.

I’ll admit it: I’m afraid of pu-erh tea. Even tasting notes by people who like them don’t sound good to me. Dirt, fish, horse farms? No thanks (and I grew up on a horse farm so that last one sounds really unappetizing). But when QuiltGuppy offered to send me a sample of this one, which she enjoyed and did sound good from her tasting note, I decided to take her up on it and give it a try. Thanks QuiltGuppy, for giving me my first pu-erh!

The aroma of the dry leaf surprised me on this one. I feel like I can sometimes pick out the coconut, and the fig, and the fennel individually, but when I stick my nose in the pouch they combine and I get overwhelmed by one scent: fine bourbon. Perhaps with a hint of bourbon balls (bourbon cream candy with pecans covered in chocolate) but wow if it doesn’t smell like the inside of the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival I go to every year (note: I’m a Kentucky girl, and I love bourbon). I could smell the dry leaves all day! Sweet, a bit molasses-y, oak barrel aged, a hint of rye, a bit of fruit, herbs… it’s like describing a bourbon tasting note.

Anyway! Onto the actual brewed stuff. THIS smells like the inside of an oak barrel previously used to age bourbon: much much woodier, a touch resiny, with a tantalyzing hint of the bourbon notes in the dry tea. I feel like this aroma carries over into the dry tea well, with a hint of added smokiness. It’s almost like the (brewed) tea was aged in a bourbon barrel, like some bourbon barrel ales I’ve had. It’s sweeter than I expected, smooth and full-bodied. As it cools it gets a touch less woody (though still present), and there’s a spiciness at the end of the sip. Still very bourbony, but without the alcohol hit. Wow, I really like this one! Thanks so much for sharing it with me, QG, because I probably would have never ventured there on my own. Between this one and the Milk Oolong, I sense an order to ATR in my future when my samples run out!

ETA: Second steep, 5 minutes (the time recommended on ATR’s site). Wow, this tea is really dark. I looks a bit like a black cup of coffee. It’s less sweet this time, but a hint of sweetness is still there. Not as fruity from the fig or creamy from the coconut, but more charred oak barrel (but in a tasty way!).

Fun facts: dandelion root (an ingredient in this tea) is rich in vitamins and minerals, and is apparently a herbal medicine, which has been used to treat just about everything but specifically things to do with the gut, liver, and kidney. It contains inulin, which might be contributing to the sweetness here. It’s sometimes described as being somewhat bitter, which I’m glad doesn’t come through in this tea. It’s also a mild diuretic and digestive aid. (I got my info from the University of Maryland Medical Center website: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/dandelion-000236.htm)

Green and white teas are teas that belong to spring and summer. I just don’t feel like drinking them much during the colder months of the year. Funnily enough, the reverse is not true for blacks and similar. I can drink those all year around. Anyway, it’s summerly outside and I felt like something sweet and refreshing, but also tea.

Therefore we turn towards these summer-teas, and I just happen to have a sample of this one kicking about in the Bits’n’Bops Basket. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve only ever had good experiences with the samples I’ve had the good fortune to try from this company. Seeing that the lowest amount of points given to this one so far is 83, I suspect I’m in for yet another one of those success-stories.

In spite of the fact that I’m not usually a very big fan of flower scented teas. Flowers so easily take on a soapy quality for me, a very basic and dusty sort of flavour which I don’t find particularly pleasant. Like getting shampoo in one’s mouth while showering. Especially jasmine has a tendency to do this for me.

I’ve never had anything with pao blossoms before, and I’m a little concerned about them being compared somewhat to jasmine in the description. I don’t care much for jasmine, so I’m not sure I’d care for some sort of super-jasmine-y flower either. Mentions of grapefruit, however, calms me down a bit again.

It is indeed very aromatic, rather too much for my taste. I’m not really a flower person in anyway. They’re nice to look at and all, but I don’t much care for the scent. Not just in tea, but in real flowers as well. It becomes too heavy too easily. There are even a certain kind of potted plants which I have banned from the house on account of them being stinky (little pink/purple flowers, large, hairy, dark green leaves). I haven’t the foggiest what it’s called but the boyfriend knew which one I meant and thankfully agreed with me on that one.

So yeah. I’ve got a cup of tea on my desk and it’s positively stinking up my room. Having stood there for a few minutes, the worst of the floral odoeur has wafted off, and I have to put my nose down to the cup in order to smell it. It’s much more pleasant now! Can’t say what it smells like though. It smells like flowers. I can’t find any notes of the actual tea in the aroma. If they are there, they are concealed underneath the flowers.

The flavour is not even remotely as offensive as the smell. To my vast surprise, even with my previous good experiences of this company, I find it’s actually really nice. It’s only slightly basic and dusty floral in flavour. Very very slightly, and yes, there really is a good note of grapefruit. I love grapefruit. I eat one nearly every day. Especially the aftertaste is strong on grapefruit.

It’s hard for me to tell how much of the white tea I’m getting through the flavour. There’s definitely tea in there, but beyond that I can’t really tell. I don’t think I’m experienced enough in white teas for that.

Yet another hit from Shang tea. I’m giving it around 95 points to begin with, but I’m deducting some for the fact that I found the strong aroma so unpleasant. I believe that’s fair.

I did a bit of background research on this tea, revealing that it was indeed grown in New Zealand and that this is one of three different varieties being produced there at the moment (the others are Zealong Dark and Zealong Aromatic). Unlike the other two, this Zealong Pure features “sweet, fresh-tasting leaves” that are “unroasted, bringing out the pure, natural flavour of the tea” (zealong.com). Their website suggests 1 tsp of leaves per cup of water, infused for a minute (at least at first).

Opening the package, I take in the aroma of the dry leaves. Sweet, very clean-smelling. They are rolled into balls, reminiscent of a ti kawn yin oolong. I prepare the water, freshly boiled, but not still boiling. The first minute of infusion goes by. The steeped liquor smells fresh and slightly floral. The leaves have a very vegetal aroma and still smell quite sweet. Sipping this first cup is a joy. From the smell of the liquor, I expected a much weaker brew than what now dances around on my tongue. While not strong, this oolong does have a full body – floral, fresh, and with just a touch of that natural sweetness.

Eagerly, I go ahead and steep the leaves again, for the suggested one minute. The leaves now have taken on a fuller aroma, more “juicy,” but in a floral sense. The smell of the brewed tea is still subdued, but after the first cup, I know this subdued aroma could hold great flavour. I can tell that the flavour has gone, somewhat, from the leaves, in comparison to the first steeping. It is, however, still there with the sweetness becoming a bit more prominent and equal with the other flavours.

The third steep is for two minutes (as per the suggestions from zealong.com). The longer steep-time has brought the flavours and aromas back in line with the first steeping. Full bodied, perhaps even a bit stronger flavour-wise than the first infusion. Ah, it is still delicious, regardless. I go ahead and put this tea through several more steepings. The zealong.com website makes the claim that it will last six to eight infusions. I am satisfied, and gladly would rate this tea a 92/100 on my personal enjoyment scale.

OMG! I think I found a way to use up my peppermint!! I got a big bag of it awhile back and have been adding it to some of my teas as a pick-me-up but 50g of peppermint goes a long way….
I hadn’t tried it with Rooibos because I disliked the mint chocolate rooibos, and of course I’d never considered that it was the chocolate part I disliked! ha!
This was an actual “peppermint rooibos” sample so I will have to see if my homemade version works just as well.
Peppermint on it’s own is too much for me, so this is a great way to cut it. and the rooibos adds it’s own sweetness to.
I wonder if the organic part makes that much of a difference? we shall see…
This is a mood tea so no doubt this rating is inflated a bit.
I can’t help it! This is so very soothing, and smooth. Maybe I’ll try it before bed next time instead of my chamomile.
I need to pick up some regular (roasted?) rooibos as well.

This is a very light herbal from Samovar. I’m used to them being a little heavy on the hibiscus or licorice root that they use as a base or to “sweeten”. With some of their other herbals the licorice can sometimes over power the tea. With this herbal it does not over power. This tea reminds me of my Aunt when I was little. She would always cut up some fresh ginger root and lemon peel and simmer it on the stove for hours. It would make the whole house smell great. I swear that just the smell would help me get rid of the cold that I had. This tea taste just like it without the ginger BURN in your throat and chest. Although I do like the BURN…:)