So, this is a new company for me – and one I had asked my mom to check out ahead of time. In a perfect world, I would have got her to get more than just three different teas but there were so many stores she was stopping at, so I tried not to overload at any one place…
I realized early on that most of what I’d requested was black teas or just caffeinated teas in general so I asked for this one as a bit of a change of pace. Additionally, even though I’ve tried tulsi I’ve never had it on hand to play with before, and I think this particular varietal is a new one to me as well. It smells great though!
I’d love input from others – but how does everyone on Steepster here like Tulsi to prepare your tulsi? I went with a Western infusion, but I’m wondering if this would hold up to being brewed Gong Fu because I feel like it could make an interesting option for late night tea making.
My western brew was great though: obviously it tasted strongly of basil because that’s essentially what tulsi is. However, the company description says “clove” as well, and I was skeptical of that, though I definitely do think this had that strong but sweet sort of spiciness that I’d associate with clove so I think I was a bit hasty in my skepticism. I love clove though, so it was just this wonderful added layer of flavour.
I was REALLY happy with this tea.
Also worth noting, of all the tea places my mom stopped at for me, she said that this was her favourite. She loved getting to speak to the owner (she’s a sucker for that kind of thing; as am I, honestly) and she said she felt very welcomed as someone who doesn’t know much about tea at all, especially because this is more of a specialty store/“store for those who kind of know what they’re doing” (in her words) compared to companies like Davidstea or Teavanna. Her and the owner had a long conversation about how the owner had gotten into tea, and about me as well. They also took the time to explain exactly what all the teas I was getting were, and what made them special/unique and she got to see some pretty cool teaware demoed. You know, the full blown experience. Just, she was REALLY impressed with the experience overall. Coupled with this first impression of their tea/tisanes – I think this is a store to keep an eye on…
I’ve never heard of this store before, but I’m definitely going to check it out soon!
I’ll try and review the other two teas I nabbed from them sooner rather than later; maybe that’ll give you something to keep an eye out for when you do visit :)