Ayurvedic Rose Herbal Green Tea

I saved a sample of this from the last tea box – so thanks! As soon as I steeped this, I realized it would not really be my thing. It smells like it would be a tasty dinner, but it’s not what I want in a tea. I’m not too good at picking out individual flavors, especially when there are so many. I can just say that it’s quite savory with some sour rose and a bit of bitterness (possibly my fault) and that I tasted all herbs and not so much the tea itself. I won’t leave a rating since this is all a matter of personal taste – someone else might love this blend!

Teabox Tuesday! It’s in the herbal hours of the evening and I’m quite low on herbals left from my teabox stash, so I’m hoping this green tea is low on the tea leaf since the ingredients certainly make it appear that it is leaning towards more of an herbal blend and I won’t be too jacked this evening. This came from the Discovery Teabox, so thank you to Skysamurai for organizing and to those that participated for sharing!

The dry leaf smelled very peppery/spicy and a bit floral. I still used 175F water but let this steep in my teapot longer than I normally would steep a green tea because I wanted to allow all the herbs to get a good flavor, so I hope the tea leaf in there hasn’t gone astringent… guess we’ll see. The steeped tea is a gingery color and smells very spicy, musty, earthy, and herbaceous. My first thought from the aroma was “Ugh, ginseng!” but, much to my relief, it doesn’t taste like that to me at all. I get a strong lemony citrus flavor from the broth, and I’m tasting a bit slight mint note with a stronger fennel/black pepper spiciness. There is a fresh woodiness present as well… like sandlewood incense? The one thing I’m not getting, despite being called “Ayurvedic Rose,” is any floral component… It smelled a bit floral before steeping, but there is no rose flavor coming through after the steep. I would expect this to be a scent marketed for a men’s bedroom, which sounds weird trying to translate that into a tea flavor, but… there you have it. It’s quite pleasant, though! Certainly one of the more unique teas I’ve tried, too.

Thanks for sharing!

This one was a bonus sample that tea-sipper sent when I purchased from her stash sale.

I admit, I was a bit worried when I saw this one, as I’m not a fan of rose. But I gave it a sniff, and it didn’t seem overly rose-y, so I decided to give it a try. And looking at the ingredients, it looks like the rose is just rose petals and not flavor or essence, so that’s a good sign. Makes me wonder why they put “rose” in the name though.

This is interesting, and I like it. The green tea base is smooth and very mild, with a soft dry grass flavor. I can taste a bit of spice – definitely cardamom and licorice with a bit of clove. They give a lovely warming sensation as well. I’m really enjoying the herbs, though the flavor is hard to describe. I can pick out ginseng and mint with perhaps a hint of rose. The overall flavor is warm and aromatic with a lovely sweetness.

This is lovely and relaxing, perfect for the evening. I bet it would make a delicious iced tea as well. Thanks tea-sipper! :)

This is the second tea that Arby won and had Vahdam send over to an American because apparently they weren’t shipping contest winnings to Canada. Thanks so much Arby! This blend seems thoroughly complicated with green teas mixed with 21 medicinal and exotic Himalayan herbs. Whoa. So exotic I can’t find some of them on wiki. Looking up some of the ingredients is interesting. What the heck is ‘Sund’? Or ’ Badian-I-Khatai ‘? But I was definitely willing to try it and it sounded pretty delicious… and healthy. The blend itself looks like many many fine particles… dusty even. But maybe this will ensure that all 21 herbs will make it into each cup…. or the flavor could be different each time depending on what makes it into the infuser! The flavor is certainly different than other blends I’ve had, but how couldn’t it? Though it does remind me of the MoxTea Viking blend I have. The flavor tastes mostly like a light green tea, slightly sweet and spicy, but I have no idea what many of these herbs would taste like anyway. The flavor is in no way too vegetal which is surprising. The only ingredient I can definitely taste in there is the licorice. The second steep, the ingredients seem to meld together even more, with a stronger yet smoother brew. This blend might have a calming effect which is good (or it’s Massive Attack’s 100th Window I’m listening to at the moment). The last few days have been harsh, so any calming effect this tea might have is awesome.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 35 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 28 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep