French Lemon Ginger

I am a ginger hound. Gingerale, ginger beer, ginger tea, ginger candy, ginger anything, I’ll eat/drink it! Not just for the flavor (which I adore) but I have an as-of-yet undiagnosed stomach condition that makes me nauseous annoyingly frequently and ginger is the one thing that always helps. I have a ton of ginger teas, but the nausea usually hits late at night so I am always looking for a good, solid ginger herbal to add to my cupboard. Right now my go-to is Twinnings Lemon Ginger (yes, bagged, I know!) because it’s very potent, but sometimes I want a more mild blend. Enter The Persimmon Tree’s French Lemon Ginger!

This tea seems to have pretty low ratings, but I guess it’s one of those love it or hate it blends (as ginger teas often are!). It’s mild and smooth, the ginger is not at all overpowering even after an 8-minute steep. I’d even say it was subtle, without the spicy heat ginger sometimes packs. The lemon comes not from lemon rind but from lemongrass and verbena so it’s not punchy citrus but mellow and tame: this is like a toned-down version of those in-your-face herbal blends. Nothing overwhelms, you can even taste some sweet woody notes from the honeybush. A very pleasant tummy-soothing night blend if you’re a fan of ginger! Thanks to The Persimmon Tree for this lovely sample.

Recently I was just looking for a place to buy a can of plain roobois so I could try making my own blends. I stumbled across the Persimmon Tree and discovered they offer FREE shipping via first class mail, even on a little dinky order like mine. Yay! So I discovered I could also get these $1 sample packs which are about enough to make 2-3 cups of tea.

I apologize for the low res picture but I could not get a better one from their website.

This tea is weird, man… WEIRD! I do like lemongrass, ginger and verbena but mixed together with the honeybush, which is kind of earthy and sweet this is a bit of a disaster, IMO. I will certainly finish the sample but this is not going on the repeat purchase list. Ew. the other ones I got do look better! =)

I hate it when my tasting notes vanish into the ether after I hit that submit button!

To get to the short and sweet of it, I was looking for something different today, after finally conceding that yes, indeed, the doctor was right about the apple allergy. So I’m backing off my apple blends and heading towards things like this.

I was hoping that the ginger would have a nice bite, but instead of nipping at my senses it just gummed at my temper. In its defense, I do wish I hand’t used the rock sugar that came with the sampler. It just wouldn’t dissolve, and stubbornly clung to the bottom of the cup. The top was plain, the bottom was syrup.

This is not going to fill the hole left behind by my favorite apples.

Lemongrass! Why is there so much lemongrass? It does have nice scent brewed though. Not really the flavor I was expecting. There is a definitely an herbal taste, but I don’t pick up much ginger.

I received 2/3 of this $1 sample via Lariel through a very lopsided swap.
I didn’t care for this tea any more than she did… it is horrible.

Oh, my stomach is killing me tonight. Too much of a yummy dinner! I turn to this tea because it’s gentle and has ginger and lemon. I must say that if I didn’t “need” this tea that it wouldn’t be my first choice. It’s a bit plain with not a lot of lemon flavor. I’m not the biggest fan of ginger, but find myself drinking it to help my stomach. There is something about that sweet ginger flavor that I don’t like. There is also a strange stale note in this tea — it doesn’t seem to be the freshest tea I’ve had. Off to rest my upset tummy.. oye.

Ick, not a fan. Keep scratching my head that I can love lemongrass so much in food but dislike it so much in tea. It’s like bathroom cleaner, which in turn makes me think faint whiff of urine, bleugh. Huh.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not normally a fan of citrus flavors. I’ve discovered recently that I really enjoy lemongrass, which while citrusy, is much more mild than pure lemon. Today’s tea combines lemon verbena, lemongrass, and ginger with South African honeybush for a mild and soothing herbal tea. There is only a hint of ginger in this blend and it lacks the bite I was expecting, but overall the tea did helped settle my stomach. A small drizzle of honey did wonders for my sore throat, although I decided to switch to iced tea for a little added relief. Yes, I know it’s supposed to get down to -8°F tonight, but sometimes you need iced tea in the dead of winter. I will admit it’s kind of odd to be sipping on iced tea while wearing thermal underwear and being covered in two blankets. I’ve never once claimed to be normal, just keep that in mind.

You can read the full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/12/30/tuesday-tea-wellness-blend-the-persimmon-tree.html