Pukka

Here’s a new (to me) herbal tea from Pukka I haven’t tried. I don’t really know if I need to detox anything but the combination of fennel, licorice, aniseed and cardamom seemed like it would be a really good digestif.

This tisane steeps up to be a golden yellow and tastes about as I was expecting it would. Not really something I would drink for the sheer joy of it, but it isn’t too bad. Smells and tastes very strongly of fennel and licorice which drowns out the cardamom a bit. I can’t say that I love the flavor but I think this will be very handy to have around in case of a stomach ache. If you hate the flavor of licorice, be sure to skip this!

Another not whole leaf “whole leaf tea” in not-sachet (claimed to be sachet) filter bags from Pukka, a company whose marketing editors appear to be severely linguistically challenged—or not. (See Pukka Perfect Day…) I’m trying to be as charitable as possible, so in more closely examining the box, I found this sentence:

“We use sachets to protect the high essential oil content of our incredible organic herbs to bring you the fullest flavor.”

This text strongly suggests that the people at Pukka believe that the word ‘sachet’ refers to the sealed envelopes in which their old-fashioned filter bags are stored. So they appear to be boasting about not using the flimsy fold-over thin paper envelopes favored by firms such as Lipton and Salada. In those sorts of teas, of course, there is no flavor really to preserve, so why would they use a foil-lined or air-tight pouch or “sachet”, as Pukka prefers to call them.

This still does not explain Pukka’s further assertion that these “sachets” contain whole leaf tea. Are they suggesting that the tea is whole leaf because it came from whole leaves? But what tea does not begin as a whole leaf? In other words, if that is what they mean, it is vacuous and cannot be considered a virtue, and therefore a selling point, of this specific tea.

The tea base of Gorgeous Grey is said to single-origin Dunsandle, both organic and free trade. It brews up light golden brown, closer to yellow than orange or red, and seems closer to a Darjeeling than the stouter black (Assam-type) tea which I prefer for Earl Greys, as I drink them with cream.

Both the lavender flower, said to comprise a whopping 5% of the ingredients, and the bergamot and lemon essential oil are so light as to be virtually undetectable in the dried tea. I’d have concluded that this tea was just plain old, except that the “best before” date is: 2016.06.01. What? Another three years? I thought that tea was supposed to be dated for two years from production. Hmmmm….. Not chez Pukka.

This is a fail. Sorry. Charity can extend only so far.

Someone needs to talk to the people at Pukka, since they obviously have severe language barriers. First, they claim on the box of Perfect Day that this is whole leaf tea, which it is not. Second they claim that the box contains twenty sachets, when in fact it contains plain old filter bags. If this is not an English-as-a-second-language communication breakdown, then it’s just good old-fashioned false advertising.

The finely grained (= not whole leaf) tea brews up light golden brown veering toward orange and is said to be single origin Nam Lanh tea from the rainforests of Vietnam. It is also said to be organic and free trade. I’m not sure whether I should believe any of this, since the bags are manifestly not sachets, and the tea inside is manifestly not whole leaf.

The tea is okay. There is a light flavoring of licorice. Again, they claim that there is 18% licorice root here. I frankly doubt it, because the bags do not smell at all like licorice, and as we all know licorice root has a very powerful scent and is extremely sweet.

Perfect Day tastes like a middling Ceylon tea with a smidgeon of ground licorice root thrown in. I tried it three ways: first with cream, which wasn’t very good, so then I added sugar. Then I brewed a second cup and added two large spoons of sugar but no cream. That was the best solution. It’s not very good unadulterated, to be perfectly frank. It’s not bad, but it’s not good.

I am tempted to return this box on principle, given all of the falsehoods of the text. The tea is drinkable but this is not what I thought that I bought. Maybe they thought that no one would notice????

My malaise with allergies has been continuing today. I was hoping they would have gone away after I left the East Coast but they are still lingering! Even after I took an antihistamine I continue to have problems.

I remembered that nettle is supposed to be good for allergies so I decided to brew up a large mug of this. Lo and behold I experienced some relief within 15 minutes of drinking the stuff. This is great because my Mom uses a steroid nasal spray and I don’t really want to go down that road if I can help it. I think I’ll go have another cup of this right now. Tastes pretty good too.

My teenage years are long behind me, but I’m afraid the stress of my injury is making my face break out – BOO!

I bought this a while ago but only tried it a few times but I figure now is the time to see if it can really do anything. I steeped some up and put it over ice because it’s warm today. Makes a very pleasant iced tea so I decided I will make some more and stick it in the fridge for later. Predominate notes are mint and licorice but I really like it & it also seems to be good for an upset stomach. The licorice isn’t overwhelming like some other teas I’ve tried.

After lunch tea here! I got this at the Berkeley Bowl last night which is a huge grocery store in Berkeley. They have a pretty large tea selection but I was looking for something with nettles in it (for allergies) so I picked this one up. I haven’t seen Pukka teas in any other local store. They also had tins by Harney and the Tao of Tea, among others.

Dry teabag smells very licorice-y, which I assume is due to the licorice and fennel. The overall flavor is herbaceous, with a sweet note and a very slight minty element. Due to the fennel and mint element, I believe this will be a decent digestif and I like the flavor. This actually exceeded my expectations. Licorice haters be warned, this is not the tea for you… Looking forward to trying some more organic herbal teas by Pukka.

The Three Mint Blend is interesting. You typically find peppermint or spearmint teas, or a mix of these two, but I’ve yet to find another tea that adds the field mint into the mix. The flavour of spearmint is particularly strong, but with this tea, it’s subdued enough by the other two mints to be an enjoyable tea. Perfect for a nice cold winter day.

Needs a lot of seeping time for the flavor to really kick in. Really herbal, spiced flavor and helps my tummy to calm down a notch.

Light perfume of rose and lavender with the soothing taste of chamomile. Perfect tea to unwind on a Friday afternoon at work.

I absolutely love this tea.
I brewed it with boiling water, added some milk after 3-4 minutes and then kept the bag in while I drank it. Helped me through so many mornings :-)

Big fan of this tea for after dinner. Helps with digestion and I can’t get enough of the light black licorice taste.

I like this tea in the mornings or before bed with honey. Flavor, even unsweetened is sweet by itself and easy on the palate. Simple cup of calming, pick-me-up cup kind of tea.

A tea I save for cloudy days, when I’d rather stay indoors. Bought originally because of the description (Amour!) and notes (rose and lavender — I’m a fan of floral teas), but didn’t turn out to be a favourite (I’m not too fond of the taste of chamomile, and it’s the strongest one here). Be careful not to oversteep! Otherwise, a lovely companion for a grey day and a book. A clear, soothing tea, it’s best when you can see the steam rising from your mug.

I was thinking this was an herbal tea, rather than camellia sinensis. Whoops. I hope I can sleep tonight!

Pretty tasty, I like it. I don’t know that I would buy a whole box, since I don’t generally like bag teas, but if someone offered it, I would definitely drink it.

I am on a mission to taste different Chais. I really enjoy the Pumpkin Chai and the Coco Chai Rooibois from David’s Tea and the Chai Spice from Stash.
I find that this one has too much cinnamon in it. Just when you smell it you can tell. Also, I hate that they added liquorice. It makes it too sweet for a Chai. I like my Chai spicy!

sipping some now…taste delish! Now hopefully my belly stops aching

It has a nice flowery blend. There is also this sweet aftertaste at the back of my throat (same one as in Celestial’s Tension Tamer) that I just cant place…common ingredients are chamomile and licorice but i don’t think it is either of those.

I really like that sweetness at the end…if anybody knows what it is..and the other teas that have that – pls, let me know :)

Thanks for this sample, Kasumi!

The front of the envelope that the teabag came in says, “organic whole leaf tea for a smoother flavor.” With a pedigree like the one found on the back of the envelope, I was expecting a little more, but it isn’t bad.

I made two steeps of about six ounces each using 170 F water for two minutes. I did taste a sip at 30 seconds but still basically just had hot water. I guess since this is a blend and in a bag, it takes a little more time. There is a hint of grain, and a sharp but light celery taste. I don’t think I would go out of my way to get more of this one, but if you want an everyday green to keep in a desk drawer at work this probably isn’t a bad choice.

It is a bit odd because I occasionally get a sour taste, other times a sweet aftertaste, then an oat taste…but it isn’t consistent. And all this in just the same 12 ounces of tea.