Posts

Posted on

DavidsTea’s Moringa Mermaid

Moringa Mermaid by DavidsTea
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

My first exposure to Moringa Mermaid was in-store as it was one of the teas that was being sampled that day. This fruit-based tisanes smells amazing – it has a great melon aroma to it, and you can very clearly the apple (!), and melon, and carrots. If you’ve never heard of moringa before, don’t fret because I had to look it up as well. Moringa is a tree that’s native to India, it goes by so many names, and the leaves and seed pods are the edible parts that are frequently used.

Moringa is surprisingly nutrient-rich s it has a lot of vitamin B, C, A, K, and protein (among other things). I found a lot of varying information online about medicinal purposes of moringa, but nothing concrete from a reputable, peer-reviewed source. I did find some sites talking about use of moringa in high doses (although none of the pages really specified what was considered a ‘high dose’) to induce a miscarriage or used as birth control – and then there were other websites stating that moringa was often used to increase nutrient intake during pregnancy for healthier babies and mothers. Long story short, the internet is full of confusing and conflicting information – so if you’re pregnant or looking to get pregnant, I would avoid moringa (better safe than sorry!) before talking to your health care provider about it (e.g. physician, nurse practitioner, pharmacist).

Moringa Mermaid consists of melon pieces, apple, carrots, pineapple, moringa, blackberry leaves, rose petals, and natural flavouring.

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Moringa Mermaid in “near-boiling water” for 4 to 7 minutes. DavidsTea has updated their website to remove the temperature ranges (something that I do not like!), so I steeped Moringa Mermaid at 93°C (200°F) and I opted to do an initial steep at 5 minutes.

First Taste

Moringa Mermaid steep to a bright yellow and has a very fragrant melon aroma. I mostly smell honeydew from this blend, and perhaps some of the pineapple. The rest of the ingredients kind of linger in the background. The taste of this fruit infusion are mainly that of the honeydew, with some apple and pineapple in the background. Moringa Mermaid isn’t as sweet as I thought it was going to be, especially considering the fact that there’s so many fruit ingredients in it.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Moringa Mermaid and found that the flavour was very watered down compared to the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that DavidsTea’s Moringa Mermaid was just okay. I actually quite enjoyed the initial steep of Moringa Mermaid, but found it kind of annoying that I couldn’t taste most of the ingredients in the blend. I think it’d make for a great summer iced tea, and I think if you like honeydew, you might want to try this one. I do, however, wish that there was better information out there about moringa or that DavidsTea had a section on their website about the risks and benefits to ingesting some of the herbal ingredients that they include in their blends. I also wish they would put the temperature information back on their website (it doesn’t matter as much for an herbal or fruit infusion, but it does for green and white teas).

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

Wize Monkey’s Minty Marvel

Minty Marvel by Wize Monkey
Herbal Tisane / Flavoured
$10.49 for 35g (15 sachets)

Wize Monkey has provided me with Minty Marvel for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Spring has me feeling the bright colours lately, and check out the bright aqua that Wize Monkey has chosen for their Minty Marvel! I’m a picky herbal lover, and I really have to be ‘in the mood’ for certain flavours – mint being one of them. I was happy to open up the packaging on these sachets to give them a try. Minty Marvel comes in pyramid sachets, much like the other Wize Monkey blends that I’ve tried so far. The mint aroma is strong, I can’t quite pinpoint with my nose which mint that I smell though.

Minty Marvel consists of arabica leaves and natural mint flavour.

Preparation

Wize Monkey recommends steeping Minty Marvel at 95C (203F) for as long as you’d like. The fun thing about coffee leaf is that, unlike tea leaves, it doesn’t get bitter if it gets steeped for a long time. My initial steep of Minty Marvel was for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Minty Marvel steeps to a beautiful golden orange that is really pleasant to look at. The aroma from Minty Marvel is undoubtedly mint. I get the strong minty aroma right off the bat and it’s got a refreshing aroma that makes me think of summer. The flavour of this minty tisane is primarily that of the coffee leaf base, with a coolness that kind of just coats the inside of my mouth as I drink it. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s conflicting as I’m drinking a cup of hot coffee leaf tea while having this cooling sensation in my mouth. The coffee leaf base has a nice roasted nuts quality about it, and the mint flavour is just kind of hanging out at the end of each sip.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Minty Marvel once, and found it to be mostly the coffee leaf base on resteep. I would say that Minty Marvel is good for one steep.

My Overall Impression

I thought that Wize Monkey’s Minty Marvel was just okay. I enjoyed the coolness from the mint flavouring, and the coffee leaf base was pleasant to taste. I wish the mint flavouring had been more pronounced, since it was aromatically present in the dry leaf and in the aroma of the steeped tea. I think it could be improved with the addition of mint leaves in the blend, or a heavier hand with the mint flavouring. That said, if you’re a fan of the coffee leaf tea base, I think you’d be quite happy with this one since it retains the flavour of the coffee leaf quite well throughout.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Posted on

Maison de la Chicoutai’s Cloudberry Herbal Tea

Cloudberry Herbal Tea by Maison de la Chicoutai
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$15.00 for 30g (12 sachets)

Mint and Honey has provided me with Maison de la Chicoutai’s Cloudberry Herbal Tea for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

Cloudberry Herbal Tea came to me in this cute tin with some lovely floral artwork on it – I love all things floral these days, it just makes for a more cheerful moment. There’s some information printed on the side of the tin about cloudberry about where it’s found (Minganie in Quebec) and its history. The name of this berry in French is  Chicoutai, which means fire – for the colour of the berry. Traditionally, cloudberry is used to help with coughs, fever, and lung ailments. This fruit is high in vitamin C and was important for helping to prevent scurvy, back in the day.

Cloudberry Herbal Tea consists of cloudberry leaves, hibiscus flowers, apple granules, rosehips, berries, roasted chicory root, orange peel, natural flavours, and orange peel. Cloudberry Herbal Tea came preportioned into pyramid sachets, so I just popped one into my teacup for steeping. This herbal blend has an amazingly sweet, fruity aroma to it. There’s a lot of berry aromas in there. I’ve never had the opportunity to taste cloudberry before, so I couldn’t tell you if that’s what I smell from the sachet or if it’s one of the other fruity ingredients (but it sure smells good!).

Preparation

Maison de la Chicoutai recommends steeping Cloudberry Herbal Tea in boiling water (100°C/212°F) for 3 to 5 minutes, and suggests sweetening it with honey if sweetener is needed. I opted to do my initial steep of Cloudberry Herbal Tea for 4 minutes.

First Taste

Cloudberry Herbal Tea steeps to a beautiful scarlet red, I’m not sure how much of that is from the hibiscus and how much is from the other ingredients. It’s such a lovely colour. I found that the aroma is quite fruity – I can smell berries for sure. The taste of this tisane is sweet, fruit, and tart. I’ve found in the past that blends with hibiscus can be a touch too tart, but I don’t find that to be the case with Cloudberry Herbal Tea. It causes just enough mouthpucker to let you know that it’s tart, but it’s balanced out by the sweetness from all the fruit ingredients.

I found there to be just enough sweetness from the ingredients that I didn’t need to add any honey to my cup.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Cloudberry Herbal Tea once, for a total of 6 minutes, and found it to be wonderfully fruity. The colouring wasn’t as intense as the initial steep, and the tartness was considerably less in comparison. The second steep is more fruity and sweet and reminded me of a fruit punch.

My Overall Impression

I loved Maison de la Chicoutai’s Cloudberry Herbal Tea. I’m so glad that Honey and Mint decided to send this one to me! The flavours in both the initial steep and resteep were enjoyable. If you’re not fond of tart, I’d would recommend adding some honey to temper the hibiscus a bit. I think that this would be wonderful iced, the berry flavours would do well as part of an iced tea (or mixed with some soda water). I would recommend resteeping it, because having an herbal tisane that tastes like fruit punch is a wonderful summery treat.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.