Traditional Medicinals

I got this as a freebie, probably at some tea festival or another. I did a count of my teas today and got 117, but I could be a bit off. Like, some of my Bird and Blend teas I have multiple bags of the same flavor. So I’m probably a little off. But anyway, I decided to start sipping down some of my samples.

This came as a single tea bag in a bag. I read the instructions and steeped it in boiling water, covered, for 15 minutes. The turmeric really stands out, and the ginger hides behind it somewhat faintly. I don’t know what meadowsweet tastes like, but I only pick out these two flavors. It’s mildly spicy, but not as spicy as some turmeric teas I’ve had.

Okay, I read about meadowsweet, and it has a minty flavor, and now I pick up a tiny minty note at the end of the sip. Interestingly, it contains aspirin and was the first source of it.

This is pretty good, could actually use more turmeric flavor.

Not dranking for benefits, just dranking to drank. Brews pretty light in color with moderately strong taste. Nectary sweet body with a richer honey note that pops out. Drying but fresh and sweet and ultimately very pleasant. This reminds me so much of the sweet floral meadow note I get in some younger sheng pu’er.

Not dranking to detox, just dranking to drank. Sometimes I crave nettle tea.

Tastes very much like nettle — nutritious-herbaceous-earthy. Hibiscus body and tang actually rounds out that taste nicely. A hint of berry. No licorice root. I think I like it.

When I see ginger listed as an ingredient, I usually expect it to be the overriding flavour. This is not the case here. I can taste ginger, barely, but for the most part this tastes like turmeric. That’s fine, as I like turmeric; however, it does make for a rather simple taste. Possibly this is intended to be consumed more for health benefits than for flavour, but since that’s not why I’m drinking it, I’d have preferred a slightly more balanced flavour profile.

As this is a spice-based tisane which creates a dark gold brew when steeped, it has some similarities to chai. However, it lacks the sweetness and complexity of chai. It’s not really sweet at all, in fact, so if you like your spicy teas sweet as well, some honey would probably do well here.

Derk generously sent me this tea a couple months ago. I like peppermint more than spearmint, but was happy to give this a try. I steeped one teabag in a 355 ml mug at 205F for 4, 6, 8, and around 30 minutes.

As expected, this tea smelled like spearmint gum. The first couple steeps had a crisp, sweet, slightly earthy spearmint taste. I let the teabag sit for almost a day before making my last two infusions, which were not as flavourful and seemed a bit grassy and stewed. I’m not sure if this was due to the long delay between steeps or the extended steep times. Regardless, this was a pleasant way to end the day, although peppermint is still my favourite.

I received a sample tea bag a long time ago and finally decided to try it. I am not breastfeeding and will not drink it again. I do not like coriander or fennel in my tea. They are both too strong in this one. I won’t even finished this mug, which may be a first time.

What you could find in a tea bag filled with spearmint only?

Yep, it was minty, quite sweet. Easydrinking liquid, no flaws. Probably quite fresh. I prefer peppermint though, when it comes to mints.

Thank you derk for new tea bag to my collection.

How strange that Nature does not knock, and yet does not intrude? — Emily Dickinson

I don’t like pure spearmint, fresh or dried or gum/mints, but sometimes I get wild and eat or drink something that doesn’t sit right with me thinking maybe my tastes have changed. (My definition of wild has changed wildly in the past few years.)

It turns out I’ve made this into my morning wake-up and nightcap every day this week. It’s so sweet and so spearmint and so clean. I can see myself reaching for this when I want mint but not something as strong as my preferred peppermint.

Bananas, though. I will never enjoy a ripe, yellow banana from the peel.

I think I saved a bag of this from a recent tea box. It’s herbaceous in an interesting way. I suppose it probably tastes like itself, though I have nothing to compare it to. I had it plain, and it was nice and refreshing on a busy day. I wouldn’t order a box since I don’t go for herbaceous teas very often, but this one is perfectly fine.

Grabbed a bag of this from the recent tea box. Even though it expired in 2017, it still tastes pretty nice! Earthy and fresh. Not one I would buy a box of, but the flavor was quite refreshing to drink while I was exercising today. General earthy rootiness, not bad. Not a hint of lemon though.

Not a big fan of the taste. I’m not really fond of chamomile. However, as a relaxing tea, it works OK.

I like this tea, however, I love licorice and that is the main flavor I get from this. It is a good evening tea because there is no caffiene, so I drink it before bed.

Another tea from derk! Thank you

Again “simple” day – simple drinks as peppermint tea.

I let the bag in all time, so really long steeping time.

Another very fresh and refreshing peppermint. I can’t compare it to Czech brands, which are weak and dirty in taste.

Very tasty, long mounth-feel. Highly drinkable. If I have to compare with Celestial Seasonings, it’s bit worse, but still highly recommended!

What can I say? It’s just one of those days.

Updated to add – This made me feel horribly sick. Do not recommend.

SIPDOWN of tea sent by derk, thank you!

“Friendship is a sheltering tree.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Nice quote!

It’s 9 pm, I am very tired after 7 hour long inventory check I did today. Went through 250 lady panties, same amount of bras, some socks and tights, lots of pillows and covers, some candles and some candleholders. Amost all the time wearing facemask and gloves. Gloves which we use when counting freezers!

So I am terribly tired (woke up in 5 am), pretty much everything hurts, some minor panic attacks as my nieces visit comes closer.

But to the tea, that is what matters here most I guess.
It’s nice. Refreshing, but as well calming down, it makes me bit sleepy which is good thing, there are some nice notes of passionflower reminding rather passionfruit in taste. Naturally it is quite herbal there as well. I think it is great tea for times like this one.

Thank you derk, once more :). And moreover I just love the wrapper too.

I have prepared this tea to calm my nerves before tomorrow exam. Linear programming. It’s not so hard, but again, procrastination won this round – so I have all my teas (as I said yesterday) in Excel file. I don’t know if I should feel happy about that, because it is really cool, but I spend whole morning doing it. Then, I was rather cleaning, washing up and.. now it is evening, I took a bath (I usually shower) and I was trying to study before.

Anyway to the tea. It’s from derk again, so again kudos to you. It is nice blend of herbs, based on passionflower and chamomile, but it is nice and mild tea. Because it contains lots of other herbs too, I was afraid it will be too herbal. But it isn’t. It was like honey with nice chamomile (what, me liking chamomile?) and sweet note of passionflower.

To be honest, I think it worked well to intended purpose (but bath was good idea too). I am not very sure about the exam, but I will wake up early tomorrow probably and do some last-minute study.

I had big plans today to drink lots of yummy, delicious tea. Instead, I woke up sick so I’m “enjoying” medicinal herbals instead. Not my fav and I don’t know that they are working, but I’m trying my best to keep from getting worse before work on Monday. Next up – one specifically for headaches. Hoping it helps.

Prepared according to direction and not for medicinal use.

It’s fairly light and nutty. Gently sweet with some bitterness on the swallow and a slight tart finish. There’s a creaminess that confuses me. It’s a strange one, like oat straw or milk thistle, like it’s vegetal-based, pervasive and binding rather than butterfat-based and distinctly apparent as I experience in many Taiwanese oolong. I assume it’s from the latex in the dandelion.

As a side thought, I really wonder what the chemical signature is for the cream aroma/flavor in Taiwanese oolong and how it compares to that of animal-based cream. Oh how’d I’d love to analyze the compounds in all the teas I drink by running infusion samples through a GC-MS machine.