Pukka

clouds of chamomile
marigold lavender breeze
floating red roses

black licorice night
blue lavender lullaby
gold dust star shimmer

I intended to do a steep-off chez sherapop tonight between Pukka Love and Tazo Rest (three syllables each, plus a rose connection, too!). However, as I compared the two brews side-by-side, I realized that it was like comparing apples and oranges. They are really quite different, despite some overlapping ingredients.

Love is more about chamomile than anything else. It’s a nice blend with lots of other flowers as well, but 25% is chamomile, and it does dominate.

Love is still in the air…

Love, love, love. I drank two glasses of this bedtime blend while watching Le Corbeau (1943—and naturally banned by the Nazis in Vichy France).

The best line in this provocative film filled with rich metaphors:

“Parce que c’est aussi bête que ça: Je t’aime.”

Could I really go an entire 24 hours without any tea-esque beverage sipped hot? It almost happened today, because though my top-floor space is fully equipped with an air conditioner (which I grudgingly acquired, though now I am grateful…), the living space downstairs feels like a sweat shop!

My solution: take a shower, and then sit in front of the air conditioning until I feel cold. Now I am sipping a bedtime glass of Pukka Love. This is a decent chamomile blend. I stand by my earlier rating, though I still do not taste much in the way of rose. The chamomile itself is very and tasty, and there is a thickness and slight sweetness to the brew—though nowhere near Tazo Rest, which is more like sugary roses somehow.

I consider Pukka Love to be a successful filterbag because I am pretty sure that this blend would taste about the same brewed from a sachet or perhaps even loose. The bright yellow hue of the liquor is the first clue that the chamomile is fresh.

Love is a genuine like for me.

Tonight’s bedtime brew was Pukka Love. Lots of vibrant yellow chamomile is in full evidence in this ever-so-slightly sweet blend. (That would be the licorice root…)

I now consider Pukka Love to be the much less sweet second cousin of Tazo Rest, although from the other side, it could be compared to Harney & Sons Yellow & Blue or other chamomile and lavender blends. In the case of Pukka Love, the lavender is rather low-key, but still discernible. A nice change of pace from straight-up chamomile soliflores—there is lots of chamomile here as well!