Tag: Herbal/Fruit Infusion

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DavidsTea’s Throat Rescue

Organic Throat Rescue by DavidsTea
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$8.98 for 50g

First Impressions

I first sniffed Organic Throat Rescue at one of my local DavidsTea retail locations, and I found it to be quite inviting. The aroma of Organic Throat Rescue is primarily that of ginger and mint. It does look quite beautiful, as a blend. I bought a small pouch to try it out before I opt for a larger tin (there are some cute ones this season…).

Organic Throat Rescue consists of (organic): licorice, fennel, nana mint, anise, ginger, peppermint, nettle leaves, black pepper, cardamom, cloves, marigold, and cornflower blossoms. I did have to look up nana mint because I wasn’t familiar with it, and from what I could understand, it appears to be a type of spearmint (or vice versa).

Preparation

DavidsTea recommends steeping Organic Throat Rescue in 95°C (200°F) water for 5+ minutes. I opted to do an initial steep of 7 minutes.

First Taste

Organic Throat Rescue steeps to a bit of a green-yellow colour. It still mostly has a ginger and minty aroma to it, but I think I can smell a bit of the cinnamon too. The herbal infusion has a really nice sweetness to it, the ginger and mint both provide warm and cooling notes to the tisane which is quite soothing (despite not having a sore throat). I think this would be nice when sick, and with spoonful of honey.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Organic Throat Rescue and found it didn’t have the same flavour balance. The ginger was slightly muted in comparison, and I got a lot of mint in the resteep. I didn’t really like it too much, and would recommend Throat Rescue for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked DavidsTea’s Organic Throat Rescue. The flavour of ginger and mint are nice, and I’m not quite sure which ingredients lent itself to that sweetness – but it was an excellent touch. I can definitely see myself reaching for this when I’m feeling under the weather or on the verge of getting sick. That said, I would definitely add a dollop of honey because I like honey when I’m not feeling well.

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Trader Joe’s Harvest Blend Herbal Tea

Harvest Blend Herbal Tea by Trader Joe’s
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$1.99USD for 48g (20 sachets)

First Impressions

Another one of my cross-border tea haul items! I actually went to Trader Joe’s for the first thing in September and basically was in awe of All The Things – I definitely need to make another trip now that I won’t be (as) overwhelmed by the selection of items. First of my Trader Joe’s tea finds is their Harvest Blend Herbal Tea. It was only $1.99USD, which pretty much sold me on getting it since it was cheap for 20 sachets.

Under the cellophane, there’s the cardboard box – and inside of that is a clever resealable wax paper bag with the tea bags inside. The tea bags are square, no string or tag, not really worthy of a photo. However, the aroma from the sachet is very strongly of cinnamon. It reminds me a lot of cinnamon heart candies that are so popular around Valentine’s Day. I can just make out the aroma of orange peel and ginger.

Harvest Blend Herbal Tea consists of: cinnamon, ginger, hibiscus, natural cinnamon and apple flavours with other natural flavours, chamomile, roasted chicory, and orange peel.

Preparation

Trader Joe’s recommendations for Harvest Blend Herbal Tea are to steep in boiling water (100°C/212°F) for 4 to 6 minutes with optional sweetener. My initial steep of Harvest Blend Herbal Tea was for 5 minutes.

Fun fact, the steeping instructions are on the inside of the box on the flap.

First Taste

Harvest Blend Herbal Tea steeps to a reddish brown that’s a bit murky in colour. The flavour of the herbal infusion has a nice sweetness to it – I can make out the apple, cinnamon, and ginger flavours. It has a nice balance – there’s a gentle heat from the ginger, but it’s not too much that it’s spicy. I really like the sweetness because I wasn’t really expecting it, and there’s a light tartness from the hibiscus that helps keep it interesting.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Harvest Blend Herbal Tea and found it to be a weak ghost-like version of the initial steep. I would say that Harvest Blend Herbal Tea is good for just one steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Trader Joe’s Harvest Blend Herbal Tea. I really enjoyed the flavours in this herbal infusion – it’s really nice to find a seasonal tea that isn’t full of pumpkin or spice (sorry to all the PSL lovers out there…!). I found that the apple flavour was perfect and well-balanced with the ginger and cinnamon. It really made me to think of autumn without being hit in the fact with a pumpkin pie. While I wish that the tea could be resteeped, I’m not to fussed about it since it was such a great price for what will amount to twenty cups of tea. I do think this packaging could do with a little bit of a work, although I do understand that the cellophane is for freshness (and to also prevent product tampering). The resealable wax paper bag is nothing short of genius and I love that the box itself is created with recycled material – almost makes up for the cellophane!

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Chai Castle’s Berry Blend

Berry Blend by Chai Castle
Fruit Infusion / Flavoured
$8.00 for 50g

Chai Castle has provided me with Berry Blend for the purposes of providing an honest review.

First Impressions

When Chai Castle first approached me about reviewing some of their teas, I was asked which ones I wanted to try – and honestly that kind of question makes me feel like a little kid in a candy store because I just get heart eyes about the idea of choosing teas. Berry Blend spoke to me because I’m pretty sure it was in the mid 30s (… Celcius…) that day and all I wanted was iced tea, or an ice bath. The aroma of Berry Blend really speaks to its name – it smells very fruity, you can see all the different fruit ingredients in the blend, and the aroma really reminds me of a mixed field berry jam or yoghurt.

Berry Blend came to me in one of Chai Castle’s sample baggies that are resealable. I really appreciate how clearly all the information is laid out about the teas on their labels. Berry Blend consists of: apple pieces, raisins, beetroot pieces, rose hip peels, elderberries, flavour, red currants, blackberries, black currants, and raspberries.

Preparation

Chai Castle recommends steeping Berry Blend in 100°C (212°F) water for 8 to 10 minutes. My initial steep of Berry Blend was for 10 minutes.

First Taste

Berry Blend steeps to a very bright reddish-pink, and I think we can all thank the beetroot for that amazing colour. The aroma is very fruity and still reminds me of mixed field berry jam like the dry leaf did. The flavour is sweet, fruity, with a touch of tartness that I believe can be attributed to the raspberries in the blend. The natural sweetness from the fruit is really pronounced, and I wouldn’t dare add any additional sweetener because it does not need any – and that really speaks to the ripeness of all the fruits used prior to them being dried.

I had Berry Blend both hot and iced. While it is quite delicious hot, I think it’s even better iced and that kind of mixed fruit flavour is just ideal for an iced tea.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Berry Blend, it didn’t do very well. However, I wasn’t particularly disappointed by it because most herbal or fruit infusions just don’t do well with being resteeped, since the flavours get tapped out with the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I loved Chai Castle’s Berry Blend. Sometimes I find it rare that a fruit or herbal infusion smells the same from dry to steeped tea, and then tastes as what you’d expect it to. There’s usually something missing or less pronounced than what I’d like, but Berry Blend definitely surpassed those expectations. I agree with the 10 minute steep time, and would really recommend having this one iced because it’s so fruity and sweet. If you’re a fan of mixed field berry anything, this fruit infusion is essentially mixed field berry jam in a cup.

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