It’s been a while since I wrote a tasting note! It’s been a busy few weeks, but I’ve also been drinking a lot of tea which means I’m woefully behind. The holidays always seem to be the busiest time of the year, even though a lot of the stuff I am working on isn’t at all holiday-related. Just a lot of work piling up at once, coupled with a really bad immune system that seems to think that perpetual sinus infections are the way to go. Which is probably the worst illness for me to have for a long time—I have chronic headaches for a multitude of reasons (TMJ, migraines, muscle tension, & stress headaches) so having sinus pressure on top of all that is really awful. Tea, however, seems to help—especially TMJ & migraines, which seem to respond well to caffeine.
Anyway, this tea! It was in the RoT little catalog they sent out every few months. Or is it every month? Seems like I get a lot from them! This is their holiday blend, and… well, it’s a pretty generic mix of flavors. Orange, clove and other spices. It’s nice although they included licorice which makes my mouth feel kind of numb. It’s not an ingredient I usually like in blends, especially when combined with clove which has that same almost numbing effect. Clove I love, licorice not so much. Together they both overpower the orange.
It’s not a bad tea by any means, and I’d happily take a cup if someone offered it. It’s quite strong, especially for the rather small bags they have, and it does have a nice holiday vibe. Just not something I would go out of my way to have, there are a lot of similar blends that have a better balance of spices.
Hope your sinuses clear! Tea doesn’t make pain go away, but its soothing effect usually helps a lot :-)