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Trudy Ann’s Assam Black Tea

Assam Black Tea by Trudy Ann’s
Black Tea / Straight
$13.99 for 100g

First Impressions

Assam Black Tea was a 2020 Vancouver Tea Festival purchase that I made earlier this month. I love nice strong black teas, and Assam is usually one that fits the bill. Assam Black Tea came in a sealed, resealable kraft pouch in a generous 100g weight.

There’s a strong malty aroma from the dry leaf, it has slightly earthy note to it. Assam Black Tea consists only of organic Assam black tea. Loving the malty aroma from it all though, since it has a nice earthy note to it and it makes it all the more inviting.

Preparation

Trudy Ann’s recommends steeping it in hot water for 5 to 10 minutes. Because Assam Black Tea is a black tea, I opted to steep in 100°C (212°F) water for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Assam Black Tea steeps to a beautiful golden orange. The aroma is mostly earthy. The tea itself has a strong, thicken mouthfeel to it. The flavour has a pleasantly bold mix of malty and earthy, almost some mineral qualities to it. It certainly does pack a bit of a punch to it though, with the strength of the flavours. There’s no bitterness noted with the 5 minute initial steep, I did find a mild astringency at the tail end of each sip.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Assam Black Tea three more times (four steeps total), adding an extra minute for each subsequent steep. I found that the flavour was fairly similar to the original steep, but got slightly weaker with each steep – but still flavourful by the third resteep!

My Overall Impression

I loved Trudy Ann’s Assam Black Tea. I really enjoyed the malty and earthy notes in this black tea. I think it was very pleasant plain, but would be pretty good with some cream and sugar as well. It makes for a nice morning tea because it’s so flavourful and is quite bold, so it’d be a nice punch of flavour to wake up to in the morning. I also loved that it resteeped quite well, so you get some more flavour out of the tea leaves.

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Birch Moon Wellness Co.’s Siberian Digestif

Siberian Digestif by Birch Moon Wellness Co.
Herbal Tisane / Flavoured
$12.50 for 30g (20 sachets)

Birch Moon Wellness Co. has provided me with Siberian Digestif for the purposes of writing an honest review.

First Impressions

This is the third of my reviews of Birch Moon’s Wellness Trio – Discovery Bundle (the first two being: Sweet Zzz’s and Cha-Cha Chaga). Siberian Digestif comes in a colourful cardstock box, much like the other two in the bundle. This one with peach and reds for the motifs. Called a “herbal infusion digestive blend”, I opened up the box and found – like the other two blends – Siberian Digestif comes portioned into tea sachets in a resealable zip top bag.

Siberian Digestif has a savoury aroma to it – it reminds me of oregano and thyme. Siberian Digestif consists of: wild strawberry leaves, senna leaves, rosa canina, immortelle flowers, cowberry leaves, corn silk, oregano herbs, and calendula flowers.

For those who are unfamiliar with some of the ingredients, senna leaves is the primary ingredient in medication like sennaside and is used as a laxative. Rosa canina is otherwise known as dog rose, which is a flower, and allegedly has gastro-protective properties (which was discovered in a study with rats), immortelle is another flower that is thought to have properties that help with upset stomachs, and oregano is thought to help with upset stomachs as well. A lot of these herbal ingredients have been used over time, but a lot of them haven’t been properly studied for efficacy in humans.

Preparation

Birch Moon recommends steeping Siberian Digestif in boiling water (100°C/212°F) for 10 to 15 minutes. I opted for an initial steep of 15 minutes.

First Taste

Siberian Digestif steeps to a lovely orange colour. There’s a slightly sweet aroma to it, I think in part to do with all of the floral ingredients. There’s a bit of a medicinal quality to the flavour – I can’t quite place it. I don’t find it unpleasant like I do rooibos, so that’s a plus. There’s a thickened mouthfeel to the tisane, and I find it easy to drink. I think it helps that it’s slightly sweet and has some floral notes as well.

A Second Cup?

Resteeping Siberian Digestif resulted in a cup that wasn’t nearly as pleasant as the initial steep – it was more medicinal with less sweet. I wouldn’t have a second steep of it for that reason alone.

My Overall Impression

I liked Birch Moon Wellness Co.’s Siberian Digestif. I think if I was having GI issues and suffering from constipation, having a tummy time tea would be a lot easier on the system than taking pills (or worse, a suppository). Luckily, I’m not suffering from such issues at this time, so I can really only comment on the flavour. There is a slight medicinal quality to it, but it’s not off-putting, and it has some nice sweet notes to it. It makes for a pleasantly blended tisane but because I don’t require some of those herbal qualities in my life at the moment, it won’t make for a regularly consumed drink.

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

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Dessert by Deb’s Frosted Winter Apple

Frosted Winter Apple by Dessert by Deb
Green Tea / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

Frosted Winter Apple is an exclusive blend for Dessert by Deb subscription subscribers and is available for purchase by subscribers only at this time.

First Impressions

Frosted Winter Apple was a subscriber exclusive from the 2020 January/February Dessert by Deb subscriber box. This tea came in a foil pouch with a colourful label on the front. The tea has a lovely aroma – it smells like coconut and apples. It does have a nice sweetness to it, which is inviting and reminds me that all of the teas from Dessert by Deb are really sweets/dessert focused.

This blended green tea consists of: green tea, coconut, apple, elderberries, rosehips, and palm sugar. It’s a gorgeous tea, I love the look of it with the green tea blended with the coconut, and it smells lovely. I don’t smell the green tea, elderberries, or rosehips. It looks lovely.

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Frosted Winter Apple in 200°F (93°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Frosted Winter Apple steeps to a pale peachy orange. There’s a bit of an oil slick across the top that I attribute to the oils from the coconut. There’s a sweet, slightly fruity aroma to it. On first taste, I really notice the coconut. There’s some fruity notes that I believe are from the apple – which make it quite pleasant. Frosted Winter Apple has a nice amount of sweetness to it. It’s pleasant to the taste buds, but the green tea base doesn’t shine through very much for me.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Frosted Winter Apple and fond that it didn’t do too well. There was a lack of coconut and apple in the follow up cup.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Frosted Winter Apple. I found the coconut to be very pleasant and worked well wit the sweet, fruity notes. I did wish that the green tea shined through a bit more, and perhaps had more apple flavour versus coconut since apple is the ingredient that pops up in the name. It’s a pleasant dessert tea though, I found it to be nicely sweetened with the fruit and the palm sugar.

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