Rainbow Chaser Herbal Tea

229/365

I’ve been curious about this one for a while, but if I’m honest it was a combination of the name and the aesthetic that finally made me cave and buy it. It’s so pretty – rainbow indeed! I steeped this the way I usually would a herbal, which is 4-5 minutes in boiling water, and then realised that the pouch suggests 10 minutes. I took a sip, found very little flavour, and put the leaf back in. This is one that needs a lengthy brew time to really come alive.

And come alive it does. The overall flavour is quite herbally, in a “wildflower field” kind of way. Sort of floral-ish, but with a more savoury edge. In amongst all that are little sparks of brilliance – a soft lemon creaminess, a hint of cooling mint, a touch of sweet, tart fruitiness. It’s the kind of tea that seems to change with each sip, giving the impression that there’s always something new to taste or discover.

I’m drinking this one during the day, but I think it’s the kind of blend that would be well suited to evening or bedtime drinking. It’s soft and fairly subtle, sweet-ish but with a slightly herbaceous quality that stops it from feeling overdone. It’s probably not unique enough that I’d rush out and buy more (although it doesn’t contain chamomile, so I guess that’s a point in its favour), but I’ll enjoy having it around for a while. Did I mention that it’s really pretty?

On another note, I had my appraisal today, during which my line manager basically disagreed with everything I said, and then told me quite plainly that he takes me for granted and relies on my experience to make up for his lack of it. So I told him I’ve been offered a new job, and I figure this whole enterprise was worth it just to see the look on his face. This place are going to be in the shit without me, and it’s finally come home.

Part of me never wanted to steep this, just so I could keep this pretty little tea in my collection, FOREVER! Alas, I did eventually plop the whole sample in a teapot and as the combination of herbs, fruits and flowers steeped, mint notes started enticing me to prematurely pour a cup. I didn’t, but I also didn’t make it through the WHOLE 10 minutes before curiosity got the better of me, stopping the steeping at about 7 minutes in. At this point the cup develops a distinctly lemon aroma, which would usually set alarm bells ringing, as I HATE hot lemon. Luckily, it was more lemon sherbet than Lemsip, so I felt pretty relaxed about giving the blend a taste. The flavour… well it’s actually pretty subtle. I could see why the packet suggested 10 minutes, in order to give full force to the flavours, which are predominantly a floral field taste mingled with gentle lemon and mint. Anyone can see that this is an aesthetically beautiful blend, but none of these notes are particularly punchy or overpowering. It’s perhaps a decent pre-bed sort of tea.

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