Chamomile- Chi Whole Leaf

The last of my Chi Whole Leaf samples, and my second favourite so far! I used 1/4 tsp of leaf, as I have for each of the others, and stirred it into a cup of boiling water. I was expecting it to be quite sweet and cloying, but it surprised me by being quite light on the palate. The main flavour is sweet, reminiscent of hay and honey, but there’s also a mild freshness from the mint that stops it from becoming too overpowering. It’s not a combination I’ve really thought much about (with maybe one or two exceptions – Adagio’s Foxtrot, which I loved, springs immediately to mind), but it’s a surprisingly good one.

I had the same trouble with the powder here that I’ve had with all of the others, in that it settled to a sludge at the bottom of my cup, and didn’t really stay in suspension. It still tastes good, though, so I guess that’s just one of those things. This is another of the Chi Whole Leaf teas I’d consider purchasing, but not until my cupboard is well back under control. It makes for a quick, convenient pre-bedtime (or pre-nerve wracking event) tea.

1/4 tsp, boiling water. No additions.

The powder and the tea were a murky khaki colour. I could definitely smell the chamomile when the water hit the powder, but I also got a strong sense of peppermint when I drank it. The overall taste was of chamomile with a light hint of peppermint in my sinuses; the aftertaste was somewhat dry and chalky. I should note that, like other reviewers, I found that the powder for this blend didn’t dissolve well. It collected into a sludge at the bottom of my cup after I first mixed it together.

Full review at: http://booksandtea.ca/2015/09/chi-whole-leaf-tea-reviews/

I like the mint in this tea, but like others, I wasn’t able to get all of the powder to dissolve like I was hoping it would. It was kind of like drinking the last bit of the ramen broth—all the powder that you just chug at the end. The taste was good, though. I’ll have to experiment and see if I can get the powder to dissolve better. :)

Water: 6oz

Leaves: Tea Powder

Steep: Instant

Aroma: Chamomile

Color: Olive

Taste: This actually wasn’t the first tea I tried in the samples sent to me. I didn’t have luck with the first tea at all (didn’t write about). I decided I would try this one using a different technique. The closest I’ve come to this tea in the past would be Matcha. Upon opening the mini sample packet I picked up on the faint aroma of chamomile measured out that I needed. Instead of putting it in a cup, I added the powder to a medium sized bowl, boiled my water & let it cool for 6 minutes to reach the proper temperature. After it was all poured in the bowl over the powder. I then attempted to use my wire whisk to combine the two. The outcome wasn’t pretty I was hoping this time the powder would dissolve but it didn’t it just sat there as I whisked. It was very granular w/ fine clumps settling to the bottom, as the tea liquid floated on top. Some particles sat on top of that and wouldn’t mix in. The appearance reminded me of my Japanese seaweed powder cleansing conditioner. The aroma remained faint, from there I transferred it to my cup. In terms of clarity it was cloudy/murky the granular clumps sank. As for my first sip I got some fine clumps included and that wasn’t pleasant, drinking tea with texture. As for the taste it was like drinking water with a hint of taste not much of anything distinguished. Overall I didn’t find it enjoyable & couldn’t finish the cup after taking a few sips. Even though I used a different technique the result was the same. If you’ve had any luck with these tea please tell me what you did to achieve a desirable result.

Wow. Gotta say this tea really is amazing. I have always been a fan of the almost honey like apple flavor associated with chamomile tea. This has got the flavor down PERFECTLY. This tea is amazing also in calming the drinker. I feel sleepy just typing this review. The only thing I could say negative about this tea is just how cloudy and clumped the liquor is, even with 3 solid minutes of whisking VIGOROUSLY in the chawan. But honestly, that doesn’t matter. This tea is delicious. Just a little messy is all. Sorry tomorrow-me! This was the last tea I sampled by chi whole leaf, and it is the best by far. Hats off to you guys. Now I am going to catch some zzz’s…

Thanks to Chi Whole Leaf for sending me this sample!

I used 1 tsp of powder stirred into 8 oz of boiling water. Like most powdered teas, the powder settled at the bottom no matter how much I stirred. This tea smells like cozy chamomile and mint. The flavor reminds me of Bonomelli’s chamomile – strong sweet apple notes. This came out a little thin once the powder settled, so I pulled out my trusty milk frother for a better blend. I still ended up with some clumping of the ground flowers. The company warns that this is likely to happen, but it still isn’t exactly appealing in either appearance or added texture in the sip. I like the taste of this but ultimately I can’t get over the weird texture (nor do I have the patience to strain my tea). Sipdown!

This one left the most amount of silt in the cup of any of the blends. It makes for a less than appealing visual. The taste is a different story. This was my wife’s favorite of the bunch. It needed just a hint of sweetener before I could separate out anything but the peppermint. With sweetener I could catch the chamomile and the lemongrass. It is a mild relaxing cup. The chamomile never crosses into tart apple tasting.

This tea smells very herbal and dry, it’s slightly sweet. It’s blended rather well and herbal is the best I can really say. One ingredient does not stand out over the other particularly. The powder is green in colour.

Once boiling water is added it has been stirred very thoroughly.

The flavour is subtle but sweet with lemongrass and peppermint coming through towards the after taste. Herbal and some thickness to it which adds dryness but not too badly.

As it cools the chamomile comes through stronger as does it subtle sweetness. This carries on nicely through to the after taste.

This was nice enough though I have never been a large fan of chamomile.

Pics and more info: http://www.kittylovestea.co.uk/2015/07/14/chi-whole-leaf-tea-sampler-review/

Sipdown (115)!

This was my second favourite of the Chi Whole Leaf blends! Again, it surprised me quite a lot how much I liked this one. I finished this one off last night with some milk in it. It was creamy and calming, and had me knocked out not even ten minutes after slurping it down. As someone with pretty bad insomnia/trouble falling asleep that’s impressive.

Last night I slept on my shudders bed, just to revisit it and see if it’s as bad as I remember. For those not ‘in the loop’ I’ve been sleeping on the living room couch for the last year+ because the bed my Dad got me is almost exactly like sleeping on a wooden plank. It’s WAY TOO FIRM. My couch on the other hand has just enough ‘give’.

Well, I fell asleep easy enough on the bed – but I woke up several times throughout the night ‘cause I was uncomfortable and woke up very stiff/sore on the side of my back I’d been laying on. HELP! How does one break in a bed from hell in as short a timespan as possible!?

Final tea of the evening – saved this one for before bed. I am a fan of chamomile tea and this one is no exception. I think the only downside to this one, was that the powder just didn’t seem to want to disperse, so i had a little sludge at the bottom of my cup. All that aside, this was a really pleasant chamomile tea. I added a little slash of honey and sat on the balcony listening to the fireworks go off. I didn’t get much in the way of mint, it’s really just a hint in the background of the cup and that’s fine with me.

Thanks again for sharing these with me Will! I really think these have a place in tea cupboards – especially from the perspective of being able to travel without any fussing about.