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“Dry leaf nose: Aromas of fennel and anise, with a light sweetness and a hint of chili. Liquor: Golden clear. Flavour: Very sweet and medium bodied. Strong fennel and anise flavour with a sweetness...” Read full tasting note
“Well, all I can say is BLECH! I shouldn’t have even tried this, as I vehemently HATE fennel and anise and anything that tastes remotely like black licorice, but… It’s really cold out and windy out...” Read full tasting note
“Man, I’ve had a lot of tea today! And I think I’ve found a winner from the bunch in this fiery sweet tea. I love licorice, and licorice things. Fennel, anise, stevia (which I find a bit licoricey,...” Read full tasting note
“Not a tea I’d choose for myself, but my roommate brought some back with her after trying it at her local DT during Reading Week. So what the heck, may as well try it! Both steeped and dry, the tea...” Read full tasting note
Light a fire
According to ayurveda, kaphas are calm, even-tempered and dependable. Sound familiar? If you’re a kapha, you know you sometimes need a little extra get-up-and-go. This herbal tea should be just the ticket – it has the perfect balance of mellow sweetness from fennel and licorice root, with a good dose of zing from hot red chilis. So if you want to turn up the heat, a cup of this ought to get you up and moving.
Ingredients: Fennel seeds, anise seeds, licorice root, chili peppers.
DavidsTea is a Canadian specialty tea and tea accessory retailer based in Montreal, Quebec. It is the largest Canadian-based specialty tea boutique in the country, with its first store having opened in 2008.
Dry leaf nose: Aromas of fennel and anise, with a light sweetness and a hint of chili.
Liquor: Golden clear.
Flavour: Very sweet and medium bodied. Strong fennel and anise flavour with a sweetness added from the licorice. The chilies make the liquor hot and spicy, especially if you get a whole one in the steep. Very interesting: feels soothing, yet hot on the throat and palate.
Well, all I can say is BLECH!
I shouldn’t have even tried this, as I vehemently HATE fennel and anise and anything that tastes remotely like black licorice, but…
It’s really cold out and windy out tonight*, so I walked into my store looking for something to warm me up and make my walk home a bit more tolerable. I didn’t know whether I should go with something spicy or just something comforting. So the SA brought this over and immediately I say to her “I hate fennel” and she states that she does too, but that this tea helped her stay warm over the weekend when it snowed and the store had no heat. Fair enough, I thought, but I sniffed a few others (mostly the other new Ayurvedic teas) as well. I was deliberating between this, Turmeric Snap, and New Delhi Delight. While the New Delhi Delight smelled warm and earthy from the cumin, I wasn’t sure I wanted to drink it, and I probably would have been happiest with the Turmeric Snap with the Ayurvedic blends.
That said, it is quite warming, and as I paid my $2.50 or so, I am drinking it all up…I can’t stand to see it go to waste. I will definitely have to cleanse my palate later, and make a tastier brew.
I’m not rating this, as I don’t think it is fair to, based on my bias toward the ingredients.
*for us wimps out west on Vancouver Island at least…
EDIT: since I rated Turmeric Snap on accident, I am rating this, and not a high one, but it is noted I have a bias towards the main ingredients.
Man, I’ve had a lot of tea today!
And I think I’ve found a winner from the bunch in this fiery sweet tea.
I love licorice, and licorice things. Fennel, anise, stevia (which I find a bit licoricey, do you?), I love it all. And this tea is just that, fennel seeds steeped with some tiny, wicked hot chilis.
This is the kind of kick I love! The tea is sweet from the fennel, but warms my throat with capsaicin heat. I got two little peppers in my infuser, so I figure my heat level was pretty high in this cup, and I definitely wouldn’t want it to go much higher, lest the heat turn to fire. I also wouldn’t steep it much longer than the 5 mins I did this time. But this is interesting and exciting enough that I can definitely see myself drinking a cup of this in the afternoon for a kick, or maybe even after a workout.
I guess this makes me a happy kapha, hey?
Not a tea I’d choose for myself, but my roommate brought some back with her after trying it at her local DT during Reading Week. So what the heck, may as well try it!
Both steeped and dry, the tea smells licoricey (anise), and is weaker in the hot tea. The taste is quite mild to begin with, and ends very sweetly, which is a bit surprising and odd. Reminds me of… . an icky experience I shouldn’t mention. Just the sweet aftertaste, I mean. I’m not tasting any heat though, which is contrary to what other people have noticed. There was only one chili in our pot though, so maybe that’s the reason.
Anyways, as I don’t care for licorice, this is definitely not a tea for me, but I imagine that if black licorice is your thing, you’d be all over this one.
I finally got around to trying this one and WOW I have been missing out. I initially thought that the mix of fennel and chili would be odd but it’s an excellent match. This tea starts with a nice sweet black licorice flavor with the heat and chili building at the end with each sip. This tea is wonderful in the evening given the stomach soothing properties of fennel and the lack of caffeine – but would be great anytime.
I tried this one before and loved it. I am a fennel and licorice fan. I made it iced this time and the sweet and spice of the chili pepper really work well together with a bit of honey and orange zest. I am pretty much the only one who liked it though. There are apparently few fans of fennel and licorice in my life. It’s odd considering my Grandma made us all drink a tea similar to this when we were sick.
I also just discovered—I’m so behind in tea and everything else—that Davids doesn’t make this one any longer. I am going to have to try to blend it myself. Now to find bulk fennel seed, licorice root, star anise and dried chili peppers.
Flavors: Fennel, Licorice, Spices
Not going to rate this because I screwed it up but OMG it was awful. I knew I wasn’t going to have time to let the tea steep because we were on our way out the door to meet family for breakfast so I decided on an herbal tea since the “leaves” can be left in. Well not this tea. Ugh. After 20 minutes I could finally take a sip of it while driving (it was also in my Timolino mug so it stays super hot) and all I could taste was the chili pepper. So spicy. And I like spicy food but this was uncomfortably hot. I think I even burnt my tongue.
Looking forward to trying this one again when I can steep this one properly. Hopefully it will be better.
I was very excited to try this, and see just how blazingly hellishly hot it was. The description and reviews promised a good bit of heat, though I have a hard time gauging what other people mean by that.
I’m a bit jaded to spiciness. I am from the southwestern US, where Taco Bell’s “hot” sauce got complaints for being too mild, so they added another level of heat just for this market. Most nationally-available “hot”-flavored products don’t impress me a whole lot—sure, I can detect the heat, but I think it’s cute that Flamin’ Hot Cheetos think they’re a macho food.
I assumed that a Canadian company’s definition of “hot” is kind of on that level. But, just in case, I spent a few minutes mentally preparing myself to be in Stupid Capsaicin Tricks. Just in case. ’Cause the description and reviews said this was pretty hot.
With a 5 min steep, I couldn’t taste any heat or even any chili flavor. Just fennel and anise and licorice. Awww. It was pleasant enough, since I like fennel just fine. But it tasted like just fennel tea, not at all like SPICY fennel tea.
The scoop I brewed didn’t have a chili in it. I am going to try again, being sure to include a pepper. But I sure hope that’s not necessary to get some heat, since I don’t think there are enough peppers in my package to put one in every cup. Perhaps a longer brew time will bring out some spice?
