Candycane Licorice

sipdown! (181) I was hoping to get to 180 tonight since i HAD time to actually drink tea tonight, but i think that i’ll end just shy of that goal unless i can find another herbal that’s close to being finished. I like this one, and it was quite the contrast to the spicy of the fireside. Of course that also meant that the “sweet” of the licorice was intensified lol. Still though, a neat blend to have tried, though not a restock! thanks again dexter!

Mmmm. This one is just so sweet and subtly minty that I find it so relaxing before bed. Hello lemongrass – you’re welcome here too!

The licorice in this reminds me of Stash’s licorice, which was always my favourite, so I’m happy.

And more from Dexter3657 (I should have that put on my logs automatically somehow, the equivalent of letterhead, ha!). Thank you!

Aw man, I should like this because it’s heavy on ubersweet licorice root which is one of my guilty pleasure tisane ingredients (I totally agree with Cavocorax that it reminds one of Stash’s licorice tisanes, which I loved as a teen staying up late doing my homework). That aspect brings to mind Steven Smith’s Bon Bon which I discovered and got a bit fanatical about over holiday break. But the other components, while definitely in the background compared to the super sweet licorice, include chamomile which I tend to be ehhhh about (like I’ll tolerate it in wellness or sleep aid tisanes for its soporific effect but I don’t enjoy it) and lemongrass which for some bizarre reason I actively hate in tea (love it fresh, love cooking with it…yeah, I dunno either; for some reason it reads like bathroom cleaner which leads to some weird urine smell association for me). All together it becomes something sharply, sickly sweet with a weedy (as in dandelions, not pot), musty (good word, MissB!) evocation and a hint of bathroom cleaner. It’s actually not as horrible as that sounds thanks to the crazy sweetness of the licorice root and the cooling quality of the mint—I finished the cup and I do see the way it evokes candy canes but with more oomph from the other less orthodox flavor additions—but you get the idea. Not my thing. Ah well.

This is a weird tea. I think I’ve gotten used to Simpson & Vail’s amazing Candy Cane (rooibos) that I’m comparing all other candy cane -like teas to that one. This one? Uh… well it’s something other than candy cane.

Most of what I’m getting here is a musty licorice. Chamomile, perhaps? I normally like licorice, and lemongrass (which is definitely in here too). However I’m getting zero mint, zero creamy, just this really weird floral hollow taste after the licorice.

With this lovely review, would anyone else like to try it?

I have never been more aware of the “save to wishlist” button than tonight. Mostly cause I’m thinking, who would wish for this?? Not because it’s awful, not at all, but it’s a weird little concoction.

I received a sample of this from the generous Dexter3657 (thank you, thank you!) and tonight was the night to sip this down. There were 2 scoops worth of leaf in the original baggie so I made all of it. I did not read any of the notes prior but went with a 5 min steep as I do with herbals usually.

The dry leaf smelled of citrus and mint, in that order. The mint was very cool. I don’t know how to describe it. The smell was not overly strong but it was very much mint. Like lozenges. It even tasted a bit like that when brewed, like an aspartame sweetened mint lozenge. I used to drink diet things and now I despise them and am very familiar with the lingering, throat-coating flavour of aspartame, sucralose and the like.

I took two sips of this hot and recognized that it might be like a mojito if I had it iced. So I did. I think it was the only way to drink this. I love mint but not mixed in with licorice. This is my first licorice tea and it will probably be my last. I would love to try mint and lemongrass together, minus the licorice. It would make a pretty tasty iced drink for the summer that, let’s face it, will never come. :)