Pukka

This has a nice strong ginger flavor. It’s good sweetened, but nothing special. I think I still prefer straight ginger, but I am enjoying the little extra something that’s here. It’s not that spicy. I like it cold and sweetened. I wouldn’t have minded grabbing another bag or two of this from the TTB!

I didn’t realize this had green tea in it, so I brewed it like an herbal, but that seems fine. I taste the turmeric most strongly. I also might taste something else fruity or herbal. It all combines decently pleasantly. It was nice warm or cold, but I wouldn’t really choose to have it again.

A comforting, fruity tea, like a bowl of warm, tart berry jelly you can eat with a spoon. Well maybe not quite that sweet. I do tend to grab this when I see it in a store because I know it is a soothing cup, even if it is pricey for a bagged tea. I can use one bag in 12-16 oz of water and not be disappointed with a weak tea.

1/22/22
Delicious mint flavor. Highly recommend this one if you like a smooth subtle mint instead of an in your face mint. This came in a sipsby box and i will repurchase in the future.

So I was involved in a Yarn and Tea Swap. I was paired with a swap partner across the country, and we sent each other some tea and some yarn and a few other holiday treats. I know she got hers (I sent local yarn and local tea), and my package arrived today, which is lovely.
She sent me an entire advent from Pukka, which is lovely! A new tea every day, and as I didn’t get a tea advent this year, this excites me.
The first tea in it was this “Feel New”, which was a very delicate brew. It tasted mostly of the fennel, so it was very herb-y.
I have a few cups to catch up, but I’m excited to have a little treat this month!

Another little sample excursion from Michelle—these have been fun little diversions at work, and boy, was this a departure from my normal afternoon break choices! There wasn’t quite as much fennel as the time my husband accidentally dumped a half jar into the spaghetti sauce, but it wasn’t far behind! With the cinnamon, the spice mix reminded me a lot of the Christmas pfeffernusse I’ve mentioned having as a kid. Probably not one I’ll hunt down, but it was fun to try and fired up a different set of synapses.

Sipdown 111-2021
Drank the single teabag I had. Truthfully, this is terrible and I couldn’t drink more than a couple of sips. The fennel and licorice is just so strong. Combined with the chamomile…just not good.

I wish I could actually taste the fennel seed here. It’s all chamomile and sweet licorice root, softened by vanilla flavor and honey flavor. Too much of tastes I’m picky about (chamomile, licorice, honey).

:(

Steeps darker than any mint tea I’ve had. When it was still very hot, I thought the flavor muddled and muddy. As it cools, it’s a subtle blend of mints, fresh from the peppermint, some light spearmint (moreso in the aroma), a touch dried cut grass and quite mineral. I don’t know what field mint is so can’t comment on its contribution. Like the flavor clearing up as the tea cools, I notice some body coming out, especially as I swallow. Sweetness in the back of the mouth and throat develops over several minutes.

While it’s not something I’d seek out since I prefer pure peppermint teas, this was a nice change of pace for a bagged mint blend.

Layered rich, warm and spicy-sweet aroma with a strange something – I think it’s the echinacea. The sweetness on the tongue is more mellow than expected, considering licorice root is the first ingredient listed. It is also liquidy brown sugar tasting rather than cloyingly sweet. Its thickness hits on the sip where it transitions to the taste of echinacea-mild orange peel mixed with subtle tart and earthy berry-type flavors and then swallows with the elderberry syrupy flavor and mild ginger mixed with licorice root; lingering tart aftertaste.

Simple conclusion: good enough bagged herbal tea but…

Great combination of flavours. The vanilla gives a creamy note which softens the harshness that I normally find with chamomile.

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #64 overall / Tea #31 for February

Sunday 2/21 Had 4 teabags from old Sipsby box. Drank two cups with 2 teabags in each. A warm herbal brew to have during my 7 am to 3 pm shift. I left teabags in both times for hours so it became a kind of muddy mix nothing distinctive.

#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown #sipdownchallenge

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #61 overall / Tea #28 for February

Thursday 2/18 — So Instacart got me again like they did late 2019 with promotion coupons (this time it’s three $20 off $35+ orders), I placed an order with Target that will come 2/19 morn and about to make one with Fresh Thyme (a grocery store) for 2/19 morn… in both orders I’m ordering small unnecessary items but mostly boxes of tea (which is a unusual since I 99% drink loose leaf tea). I need a little more to fulfill my Fresh Thyme order so it’s between Pukka’s Three Ginger or Three Mint tea.

So easy enough, I’ll just drink them both tonight as hot plain cuppas. I had 2 teabags handy of Three Mint. I enjoyed this one for what it is as well, a simple mint tea. Funny thing is after having both cuppas tonight I took both teas out of my cart in order to try some different kombucha flavors of bottled tea instead.

#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown #sipdownchallenge

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #60 overall / Tea #27 for February

Thursday 2/18 — So Instacart got me again like they did late 2019 with promotion coupons (this time it’s three $20 off $35+ orders), I placed an order with Target that will come 2/19 morn and about to make one with Fresh Thyme (a grocery store) for 2/19 morn… in both orders I’m ordering small unnecessary items but mostly boxes of tea (which is a unusual since I 99% drink loose leaf tea). I need a little more to fulfill my Fresh Thyme order so it’s between Pukka’s Three Ginger or Three Mint tea.

So easy enough, I’ll just drink them both tonight as hot plain cuppas. I had 3 teabags best by 2018 from an old sipsby box of Three Ginger so I thought I’d make that first in my DT tumbler. It did the trick (I love ginger), but not sure I’d buy it again since I have so many other teas in my collection.

#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown #sipdownchallenge

Sipdown no. 25 of 2021 (no. 645 total).

Someone at work gave me a box of these teabags because I was talking about my difficulties sleeping. I see that I didn’t add them to my cupboard, but nevertheless this is a sipdown.

As night time teas go, this rather pleasant. It doesn’t have a lot of flavor, but that’s part of why it’s pleasant. Who wants to be thinking about flavors, good or bad, if you’re trying to go to sleep?

I notice the licorice, but it isn’t strong, which is fortunate because I don’t love strongly licorice tisanes. None of the flavors I would have though would make me dislike this — valerian, tulsi, even chamomile if not well done — are individually discernible, or even discernible at all, really, which is also good. I have no idea what oat flower tastes or smells like, but I am guessing the milder grainy flavor comes from that, and I don’t notice the lavender continually, but it comes through some of the time.

Did it help me sleep? Probably didn’t make much of a dent as my sleep problems are pretty well established by now, but I can’t discount it having a small effect. I have also been trying to cut down caffeine, exercise regularly, not eat too late, meditate, etc. so with all of those causes, who can say what is causing any effects — I am finding it easier to fall asleep, but I still wake up multiple times during the night.

I probably wouldn’t drink this just for fun. It’s better than a purely medicinal drink, but something about the psychology of the name would make me view it as a sleep aid.

At some point, I might get more. Really depends on the state of the cupboard and the fact that I have so many other non-caffeinated options at the moment that I need to pare back.

Happy National Pizza Day! One of my local favorites is a chicken garlic that has lots of veggies and basil on top, so I decided to brew some tulsi (holy basil) as my nightly tisane. This was one of the boxes of tea that Todd brought me back from his once-ago trip to Ireland. Thanks, Todd!

This is a blend of the three different varieties of tulsi (my preference!) I am pretty sure I’ve only ever had tulsi in blends, not straight, and it is interesting taking in the aroma as is… the pepperiness I’ve always gotten in the flavor really comes out on the nose, as well as a sharp citrusy scent, and something that smells like a cross between sandlewood and cinnamon, with an herbaceous/woody undertone. The flavor is mostly what I’m used to with tulsi — a little minty, though lacking any sort of cooling menthol, a little citrusy, and a little peppery, though I’m also tasting a slight roasty note here… tastes a little like chicory, though leaning a bit more dry/herbaceous.

Pleasant and relaxing… I will probably also have a cup of Aesthete’s “La Vie en Rose,” which is a tulsi blend with a strong fennel presence, as I just finished a bowl of Minestrone soup with some very fennel-forward sausage! (Mmm, sausage!)

I have received this UK produced tea from a postcrossing member located in Ontario, Canada. And well, I am located back in Europe. Okay, a big carbon footprint behind this tea.

Anyway, I am always happy to get a tea that I haven’t tried yet. And this one seems summery for me. The suggested brewing time is up to 15 minutes, so I did around 6 maybe? It wasn’t changing colour too much, so I kind of forgot about it.

It’s okay and quite sweet. Licorice sweet. But it’s mellowed by elderberries, which are kind of tart. And it’s somehow decently herbal. In last sips roships took the place.

Ah well. Quite common a bit of fruity tea. Not even sure if I should consider it as fruit or herbal tea. Probably the latter.

Pukka Days of Christmas#12

This is the last of the teas included in the Pukka advent calender. It was far better than what I had feared (not too fond of ginseng, and very fussy about green teas in general as well), refreshing in a way (quite strange for teas in an advent calender, I think), but I must repeat here as well that using matcha for a blend that includes only 2% of it is a huge abuse of the name!
Lemongrass especially and ginger dominate on a very enjoyable sencha green tea base, which gives it a refreshing citrusy touch. I can even imagine taking this blend more often, for it´s very easy to have. And this makes it a nice end of the tasting of the 24 teas in this calender.

Pukka Days of Christmas#4

English Breakfast isn´t exactly what Pukka is known for, but I guess it was a no brainer to have at least an EB in its portfolio. Also, for me, it´s quite strange to combine “elegant” with EB, as the standard EB blend is supposed to be quite strong to wake you up in the morning, while an elegant tea is intended to savour at a moment when your senses are in top shape. So be it…I tried this elegant EB tea this morning, and because I like my breakfast teas strong and full of character, this blend didn´t really impress me, but then again, it was quite OK for a teabag , and also the taste was clean and crisp without too much bitterness at 3minutes steeping. I wouldn´t steep it longer though.
Anyway, from tomorrow I´m back to my normal – loose leaf – breakfast tea, preferentially an African Assam.

Pukka Days of Christmas#9

Although I´m not a berry tea fan, and I´m not particularly fond of blackcurrant either (it must be the only type of berry I don´t like fresh), but I really enjoyed this infusion! Maybe because the dry bitter bite of the blackcurrant is nicely balanced by the other ingredients? Maybe because the resulting infusion isn´t sweet and it rather tastes like a natural blackcurrant juice? As far as I am concerned, Pukka managed to make a great blend here.