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Okay, I’m still sick so technically, I probably shouldn’t be trying new teas until my taste buds decide to fully rejoin the party. But c’mon! This one has got to encourage that along, right? I mean, ginger is good for your sinuses and lemongrass just screams healthful to me. Plus, it’s got orange and I’m a sucker for anything orange flavored. Besides, all that spice and citrus has to help my head and chest, yes? Yes.

The dry mix smells surprising – very earthy with a nice splash of sweet orange. I’m thinking mulled cider if cider came in orange flavor. He husband mentioned orange cloves. And I can see that because the more I sniff, the more I end up thinking cozy-by-the-fireplace thoughts. I really was expecting something more summer-day-in-the-sun but that’s really because I got stuck on the “orange and lemongrass” side of things and not the “cinnamon and ginger”.

When my little tea timer went off and I wandered into the kitchen to pour, the whole kitchen smelled sweetly of cinnamon. Nice! Sticking my nose in the cup, I get a very orange-ginger smell. It’s a little sweeter because of the lemongrass and cinnamon, but this smells very similar to my oh-so-adored Samovar Orange Ginger (and thus to a lesser extent, Rishi’s Tangerine Ginger which is just not cool but has a similar-ish taste profile).

My first sip, though, makes me change that assessment. Yes, I can still see similarities, but the cinnamon in this one really changes up the game and puts this in a distinct class. For me, this is officially a cinnamon tea. Cinnamon teas are hard for me because images of Red Hots (or Hot Damn – ah, college!) float through my mind with each sip and I just don’t enjoy that. But while this isn’t quite the cinnamon flavor I’d put on my toast in the morning, this registers just shy of the Red Hot comparison. Lemongrass seems to pick up next, adding a kind of clean lightness to the flavor (which honestly probably keeps the cinnamon from becoming too heavy). The ginger adds a nice warmth to it and I think the orange comes in at the bottom of the taste as a sweetness that couples with the lemongrass. There’s a nice depth to the flavor here that makes this very easy to sip. Uhm, where did the rest of my cup go? No really. Did I drink it that quickly?

This isn’t going to be competing with Samovar’s Orange Ginger for the tingly orange herbal place in my pantry but it is good so I could see giving it the cinnamon place in my pantry. Of course, I don’t currently have a cinnamon place in my pantry. But it’s hard for me to find herbals that don’t make me make a face when I sip so I might have to make a cinnamon place because this definitely ranks above the “only good enough to not make me cringe” category. I’m almost out of all smoky teas in my pantry (how on earth did that happen??) so at some point I’ll be making an Arbor Teas order to get some of their lapsang. I think I’ll throw some of this in too.

ETA: Oooh. Second steep (7:00) is like the cuddly-warm lemongrass steep. Lemongrass with a cinnamon undernote and then a warm tingle of ginger with a splash of sweet orange. Tasty!
2tsp (=2.5g)/8oz