Ahmad Tea

Bought a box of this to see how it would compare to Dammann Frères Tilleul (Lime Blossom). As I’m sitting here sipping, I’m thinking if I could only have one herbal tea in my arsenal, it would be linden/limeflower/tilleul. There’s something about it… So relaxing. That sweet-tart nectary linden bouquet is amplified in the mouth with every exhalation through the nose. It just… derk settles

What would your one herbal tea pick be?

This one is excellent and could be a fallback to the Dammann Frères, that is if I can order it online or get a store around here to carry it. I bought the tea in San Francisco and have since moved. While not nearly as intense in aroma as DF, it’s still as floral and sweet in the mouth with a hint of woody astringency and a delayed returning sweetness in the throat. Syrupy mouthfeel. The bouquet reminds me of the only perfume I own, Dolce & Gabbana The One.

Oh looky, Limeflower is available online.

I am content.

Additional notes: The bag contains mostly crushed material while DF’s sachet is full of fluffy pompom blossoms, the bract that surrounds the flower and larger pieces of broken leaf. When I poked the spent Ahmad teabag with my finger, a short syrupy string accompanied my finger as I pulled it away. Sweet stuff. Liquor color of champagne with a light blush.

Thank you, Derk :D

Well, you learn something every day… :) I looked up Limeflower, and it’s good for anxiety… And is a natural “anti-depressant, sedative and relaxant” and "have been used for centuries to treat anxiety, sleep disorders and hysteria”. I’m a pretty relaxed type of person anyway, but it was still good to know.

This part was interesting too: “It contains mucilage – a sticky substance that can help to soothe irritated membranes of the throat and it is known to decrease mucus production.” I have a bad cold, it’s in my chest. I’m taking Mucinex maximum every 12 hrs to loosen phlegm. One thing about colds… They can kill you if you have a history of asthma.

The health benefits don’t stop there either. Pretty interesting stuff. Anyway, I really needed this tea yesterday. It was light bodied honey-tasting tea from what I can tell at the time. I began losing my ability to smell and taste at that point.

Hopefully, I’ll be back soon with reviews. For now, I’ll work on sip-downs on so-so tea since I can’t taste anyway and need the fluids… And read all your reviews. :D

1 teabag in 12 oz of 175°F.

Update: Reset rating due to my sense of smell and taste were off.

Inexpensive and very tasty as an everyday tea.

Day 1 of my homemade advent calendar: strawberry teas

A bit sweet, some nice black tea flavour (malty but brisk), fairly realistic strawberry flavour (although, it tastes nothing like the high quality flavours you get from freeze-dried strawberries or even dried strawberries).

This tea is surprisingly solid. Sweet, sort of like strawberry flavoured candy, a nice black base, a bit creamy and a thick mouthfeel. I had this with vanilla soy milk and it was almost like strawberry milk but with a great black tea flavour in it.

305/365

The penultimate sample from my Varieteas box, and one I purposefully saved until the days got a bit colder. This one is described as apple, cinnamon and clove with orange peel, but I’ll wager there’s also a significant amount of hibi if the colour’s anything to go by.

I wouldn’t say this one has bags of flavour. It’s mostly tart/sour hibiscus and some fairly prominent clove. I can just about taste the cinnamon, but the apple and orange aren’t really there at all. This one reminds me a little of B&B’s Mulled Wine. I don’t hate it, but it’s not something I’d drink more than occasionally. It’s a comforting, warming, caffeine free option for a cold day, but not particularly unique.

302/365

The mornings are colder at the moment, so I’m finding that I’m drawn to more autumnal flavour profiles. This is a perfect example; cinnamon really signifies autumn in my book – there’s just something about the scent…

This one’s a bagged tea, and one of the last from the Varieteas box I picked up earlier this year. It strikes a nice balance between cinnamon and rooibos, and I have to admit to being more impressed with it than I’d counted on being. The cinnamon is sweet rather than spicy, but by no means overpowering. The rooibos is woody, but at an acceptable level; it’s deliciously smooth, and not metallic or scratchy at all. It pairs nicely with the cinnamon, and the overall effect is pretty much autumn in a cup. One I’d drink again!

260/365

It’s the season for trying things I don’t usually like, apparently. Jasmine is something I’ve never really got on with, along with floral teas in general, although I do return to it from time to time just to see what might (or might not) have happened in the intervening period.

This is a green tea blended with jasmine, and in its dry form the scent at least is fairly delicate. No floral olfactory assault here. To taste, it’s also pretty subtle; a nice, smooth green base with a light touch of sweet jasmine. It’s not too heavily perfumed, which is a bonus for me; it’s more like the scent of jasmine on the air during an evening walk than drowning in a vat of jasmine flowers. An impression, rather than an immersion.

I’d not hurry to pick up more because on the whole jasmine still isn’t my thing. This one’s not so bad, though. It doesn’t make me scrunch my face up, at least.

First tea from my July 2018 Sips By Teabox.

Not too enthused with my box this month, 3 out of 4 teas are bagged, and one has a first ingredient of hibiscus but I thought I’d start out with the black teas since it just feels like a black tea kind of morning.

This is about what I would expect from a citrus black tea that isn’t bergamot. The lemon is pretty strong, though the lime is sort of overwhelmed by it. The tea base is pretty solid but nothing to write home about. The lemony taste lingers in the back of my throat in a pleasant way after every sip. I’ll enjoy this tea, but I don’t think I’ll be purchasing it.

As a recent convert to tea, I don’t have much experience with other earl greys, so I’ll have to rate this with nothing to compare it to.

I find this tea to be mostly okay. It tastes better in the first few sips when it’s hotter, but the taste gets a bit too strong as it cools down. Not a huge fan of this.

This tea is a delightful blend of strawberry and has a beautiful aroma that is very distinctly fruity and sweet. This is yummy. I really love fruity teas and perfumes – and this is another one that I’m very drawn to.

This is one of those teas that I drink only once in awhile, because I find that the strawberry flavor is a bit too isolated – and pretty strong. I prefer blended teas with a mixture that arrives with a beautiful blend of ingredients like a beautiful chord played on the piano or with a symphony. I don’t like perfumes or teas where there appears to have one note played more sharply than the rest. This tea has a very blended, well balanced type taste. It steeps into a very deep, rich, red color.