6 Tasting Notes
Today was the first day of the semester, I’ve got a cold, and I’ve had class all day, so I decided to treat myself to some tea. (Plus, I had cash, which is what normally keeps me from Teazer; this tea ran me about $5 for a medium.) This tea is quite refreshing, and none of the flavors are too strong. I was really worried about being totally turned off by the ginger and orange, but the blend of flavors is really nice. It’s slightly soothing to the throat and nasal passages, which is wonderful, because I really needed that. As someone who doesn’t like orange in my teas at all and prefers to go very light on the ginger, I’m quite pleased. I’d buy it again (if I ever had the money).
I bought this tea because my throat has been itchy all evening and a friend of mine just came down with a flu, but I’m not sure if it’s a stomach virus or a real flu, and I’m an emetophobe, but I really don’t want either one anyway, so I’ve been dosing up on every herb in the house today (oregano oil, olive leaf, black walnut hull, echinacea and goldenseal, garlic, plus probiotics and ginger kombucha). The life of an emetophobe and hypochondriac is never dull. Anyway, on to the tea.
The licorice in this definitely ensures that you won’t want to add sugar. It’s almost too sweet for me, actually, but it almost has a cinnamon sweetness. There is, as other people have said, a sort of kick in the throat, but it’s not annoying and it doesn’t burn. I think that if my throat was actually sore, it might have a really nice effect on it. I kind of wish the earthy, root taste was a bit stronger in comparison to the licorice, and I don’t get very much lemon from it. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing because it’s so flavorful already, but I prefer earthy and lemony to sweet and spicy. I don’t think I’d drink this just for the sake of having a cup of tea, because I’d prefer something more robust for that, but this is a surprisingly tasty tea, and I really love the ingredients.
Preparation
I drink kombucha fairly regularly, but as someone who’s not into the taste of alcohol, I tend to shy away from this brand. However, my local grocery store just started carrying it, so it’s on sale, and I figured, why not? After all, I really liked their line of chia teas, so I figured I’d give them another chance. I grabbed the Trilogy flavor, which is lemon, ginger, and raspberry. I adore lemon and raspberry, but I’m generally not a fan of ginger drinks; however, this flavor rules. I think this tastes better than bucha’s rose verbena, which was my favorite kombucha brand and flavor before today. I never thought I’d find a kombucha I could enjoy and not just look at as something I had to drink, but I think this might be it. It does go flat pretty quickly, but I find that most kombuchas mellow out when they’re flat, anyway.
Tonight, I made my second cup of this tea. I hadn’t meant to boil the water, but I let it get too hot when I wasn’t paying attention. Anyway, onto the tea. I steeped it (covered) for ten minutes. The first thing I noticed about this tea was the spearmint smell, which is lovely and just slightly sweet. Taste-wise, it’s great unsweetened. It’s light (but full), minty, sweet, and towards the end, just slightly fruity. I felt like it got sweeter as I got closer to the bottom of the mug, but the sweetness hit me at the back of the mouth, which is weird to me, but when I watered it down a bit, it got a lot better. I think I was just getting a lot of sediment. It’s a really satisfying tea, and while I haven’t been drinking it long enough to know whether it actually positively affects one’s reproductive organs, a lot of the ingredients have been used for women’s health for many years. I was especially excited to find that it contains cramp bark, which has worked for me in the past. This is an evening tea, for me, and I’m glad I bought it.
