Chamomile Flowers

Tomorrow is the big day! I could use something to help me wind down! Chamomile to the rescue!

The pyramid sachet was mostly whole leaves with a little bit of dust. Not enough to result in sediment resting at the bottom of my cup.

I’m not usually a big fan of Chamomile all by itself. In blends, its ok, but, by itself, it’s usually pretty lackluster. But, this one is pretty good. I can taste a distinct apple-y note. Sweet and pleasant.

I’ve decided not to rate this one numerically, though. I like it for what it is. But I don’t generally like what it is… if that makes sense.

Okay…since I have been slacking on my chamomile themed teas and tisanes I figured I would bite the bullet and try a bunch of them today. I have also been slacking on my bagged teas…so…here’s to another! CHEERS!

smells and tastes fairly…FLAT…even for a chamomile. At least it doesn’t present that funky stale floral aftertaste that some tend to.

it’s so-so, I suppose…or a bit less than so-so

This is one of my favourite chamomile teas, and, also, a SIPDOWN! The first thing I notice about it on opening the packet is the strong honeyed scent. It’s almost like opening a jar of fresh honey. Sweet, slightly floral. The chamomile is whole flower, another of my favourite qualities in a chamomile tea. They rehydrate when wet, fill the bag like little golden-yellow beads, and turn the water a bright, sunny yellow.

It may be nice to smell and pretty to look at, but it’s also equally pleasing to taste. Naturally sweet, slightly floral, with an overriding hat-like flavour and a slight green-apple like sharpness to the aftertaste. I tend to leave the bag in all the while I’m drinking this tea, which is maybe slightly heretical, but I find that as it steeps the apple note becomes more predominant and defined, and this is something I can appreciate in such a naturally sweet tea. It adds a pleasing edge, and is a perfect counterpoint, to the otherwise strongly honey-like flavour.

This is a tea I always find genuinely soothing. It’s my post-interview drink of choice, which is why this post is also a sipdown. I’ve had six interviews in the last four weeks, and I’ve been drinking this almost compulsively both before and afterwards. I finally got offered a job on Thursday, so I can leave off this particular tea for a while, but it certainly helped to calm my interview fear which always seems to strike particularly badly.

Calming, uplifting, sunny. Perfect!

Oh, goodness. I’ve had chamomile tea before, but always a blend, never pure chamomile. This smells and tastes just awful. Not flowery, not with a hint of natural sweetness (as implied), just kind of flat. If this is how pure chamomile smells and tastes, I need to stay away and stick to blends.

This tastes like a normal chamomile. Perfectly nice, nothing special, just what you’d expect.

Now that I’ve (finally) tried most of the teas from the advent calendar, I feel ready to offer my verdict for this company, which I’ve tried at last after years of wanting to. I enjoy their branding. It’s cute and inviting. Their flavors are pretty basic, but they do a solid job. They’re much too pricey, so I probably wouldn’t make another order unless I got a super deal (I did have somewhat of a discount on this order). Additionally, I was surprised to find that the seasonal flavors were not included in the advent calendar. Luckily I bought small boxes of two of those flavors separately, but I would have really enjoyed more seasonal flavors rather than a bunch of basic flavors that you can get anywhere.

Sipdown! This was a sample that came with my purchase at the Coffee & Tea Festival. Frankly, I like this a whole lot better than my actual purchase. The roomy pyramid teabag contains whole chamomile flowers. Dry, the leaf smells like apples. Brewed, it smells like crisp golden apples. The flavor is very nice. It’s sweet and slightly savory. This actually reminds me of Bonomelli Camomile, although these flowers come from Croatia and those come from the Lombardy region of Italy. I would happily keep this on hand.

I don’t like writing bad reviews however, I was really disapointed with this. It looks beautiful, as all Teapigs teas do however, it just doesn’t taste great. It’s Chamomile but a little bitter, a little dull, a little meh! I love Chamomile teas before bed however this version, which with whole flowers I feel shold taste better, sadly just doesn’t do it for me.