So, this is basically DT’s Throat Rescue…
Of course, the idea behind Throat Rescue is not unique to DT (far from it), but as I talked about in my note for T Kettle’s “Strawberry Fondue” there is definitely a difference between tea companies having similar flavour profiles/concepts and what T Kettle has down with the systematic recreation of DT’s core teas – down to spoofing the name, visuals, and ingredients list (including order!) of faaarrrr too many teas for it to be a coincidence.
As a “stand alone” profile/concept, this isn’t really something I would buy for myself. It’s very herbal in flavour while also being quite sweet and cloying with a tea liquor that’s very coating on the palate and throat. However, it’s for all of those reasons that it makes sense as a tea to drink when you have a sore throat – the strong sweetness and coating sensation coupled with soothing mint and ginger are all benefits. Plus, while most of the copy writing on T Kettle’s website feels very clunky to me (mostly just like they’ve not really found their “brand voice” yet) I will say that the line “Wake up feeling like you’ve swallowed sandpaper?” in the tea description is really fun to me. It’s a great way of very evocatively conveying that feeling…
If you are going to compare it to DT’s Throat Rescue – the two are very similar. Even the visual is practically identical if you ignore the few large star anise pieces scattered throughout this tea. I think DT’s is more licorice root forward versus this blend which is more “anise” and while those flavours are similar there IS a difference between them. Personally, I don’t really love either blend that much but I do prefer the taste of anise to licorice root so I would be just slightly more prone to drinking this one. However, I think functionally licorice root is actually the one that’s more beneficial to a sore throat so I guess take that for what you will…
