Aveda

trying it iced for the first time. still has that amazing sweetness!

I love this tea. There I said it. It is quite possibly the naturalist sweetest tasting tea I’ve ever had so far. No sweetener needed. Plus, it doesn’t taste like licorice, which I can’t stand. It also doesn’t taste strictly peppermint, which would be a turn off for me as well. It’s just a nice blend of flavors…very complex. Definitely a dessert tea. If you’re trying to abstain this is a nice substitution and will quell your cravings. Aveda gives out free samples, so go by and try a cuppa.

I recently had to go caffine free for roughly just over a month. It was very difficult but I made it through in part due to this wonderful blend that my Spa & Salon happens to serve and sell. It is very expensive but so worth it. It is very calming and soothing. I plan on keeping this apart of my permanent tea collection. Yum!

Just finished a relaxing 90 minute couples massage at Lifetime Fitness. It was wonderful and I can say it was the best message I have ever had. As for the tea I was offered a drink of water or tea and of course I picked tea. What an interesting experience. It was very soothing, and had some spices. Not sure I can have it all the time. I just don’t think I can even put this in a tea category. I couldn’t even tell it was black tea. Nevertheless, it tasted pretty good in a weird way.

This is definitely an interesting experience. The aroma gets you a hint of that peppermint/licorice/menthol smell found in lots of more generic herbal teas. It also has an oddly rusty smell, almost as if I were drinking from a metal container (which I am not). It’s not what I expected, but that’s not a bad thing at this point.

The first sip is…unexpected. I was looking for a strong menthol flavor and was instead hit by a overwhelming sweetness. I immediately turned to ask the gf if she put a bunch of sugar in it but was cut off by a cough caused by the sweetness that flowed to the back of my throat. In fact, she didn’t add anything to this and it’s just naturally crazy sweet.

A few more sips and I started to acclimate to the intense sweetness of the tea. Seriously, I can’t understand how they make the tea this sweet, but they do, and they do it well. As someone who likes things on the very sugary to the super sweet side, this is something I could drink often – not as often as a good clean oolong, but maybe even like a semi-consistent dessert tea. Now that I’ve had it I can totally understand why it’s served at a salon/spa.

If you’re open to really sweet teas, this pulls it off and does it without help. If you’re a purist, you’re probably not going to like this one.

I have never bought anything in Aveda, and I had a coupon for free lotion (it’s from their brithday club). I remember reading about their tea, and I knew I wanted to try some. I just got a sample cup. It’s crazy sweet. I am not a fan of licorice, unless it’s a background, very background flavor. I could taste fennel, which it is enjoyable in some chais. The licorice was too much for me, it’s the first ingredient on the list, so of course there’s going to be a lot! It reminded me a like some natural medicine tonic.

Just wasn’t a fan.

It’s a bit unusual that this tisane is offered by a cosmetics company, but I suppose it fits with the tranquil spa aura their products are intended to evoke.

This is packaged in a large brown glass pharmaceutical looking bottle. Upon opening, you find what appears to be the leavings from a wood shop floor or possibly the material you use at the bottom of a hamster’s cage. It’s very woody and you need to mix the top few inches fairly well to bring up the finer herbs that have settled.

When I prepared this, I used twice the recommended amount because I wanted to be REALLY comforted. The infusion smelled strongly of peppermint overlaying wood and dirt.

All the snarky adjectives aside, this is actually a really good tisane! I was surprised by the intense natural sweetness which is enhanced by the licorice. If you typically sweeten herbals, try this straight up first. There’s a pleasant cooling effect from the mint and the overall combination of herbs truly is calming.

This infusion proves that looks can be deceiving. I really enjoyed this and will keep the big medicinal looking bottle around. (Hidden in the pantry, but it will be used.)

One important note, you MUST like licorice if you’re going to drink this as it’s very “up front.”

The person I’m staying with during my visit to San Francisco had this tea in her cupboard. The peppermint and herbs give it a unique aroma, and at first sip, interesting is the first word that comes to mind. It leaves you with just a trace of licorice on the insides of your teeth, and the sweetness lingers. For a long time.

In Shanti’s review, she said it tasted like “liquid herbs” and I think that’s the perfect description. I’ve had a similar experience with a rooibos/rosemary-blended tea and in both cases, the sweet finish is nice at first, but by the end of the cup gets cloying. To the point where I can’t finish the entire cup.

It’s definitely worth a try, but in the end, I personally wouldn’t go out of my way to pick up a bottle of this (it comes in a medicinal brown bottle) for my cupboard.

To me, this is an incredibly relaxing tea. I was first introduced to it – as were most of its fans, I think – at one of Aveda’s retail stores. You walk in, and the first thing the sales associate does is offer you a cup of this tisane. At the time, I was very unfamiliar with herbal teas, so the sweetness of this really surprised me. I mean, I could recognize the peppermint “tingle” but the other herbs were completely new to me at the time.

This is a great blend for relaxing. The licorice stands out as the dominant flavor, but it is pretty well blended into a sweet, refreshing brew. Not sweet like sugar, but a more natural form of sweetness. Very smooth, very nice.

Love this tea. So glad I found it here. :)

Ah, Aveda tea. If you’ve ever had an appointment at an Aveda salon, you probably have tried this tea. Or, if you’ve tried their Peppymint drops, this tastes like a tea version of those. Now, I don’t like plain peppermint tea, and I don’t like the hibiscus that most companies add to their herbal blends, so this is a great alternative for me. It’s made up of only four ingredients, all of which are organic: licorice root, peppermint leaf, sweet fennel, and basil. Yes, there’s peppermint in there, but I like it. I just don’t like the way peppermint tea tastes by itself, but I like the “cooling” effect it adds to this tea. Licorice root is the primary component (the tea looks like it’s made up of thick chunks of bark). The tea tastes more sweet than like licorice to me—I know it’s the licorice that’s providing the sweetness, but it doesn’t taste like licorice. Ack, this isn’t making much sense…hopefully you get what I mean though. I’m sensitive to sweet and cloying tastes, but I’m fine with this one because it’s the aftertaste that is cooling and sweet, not the tea itself. . The other thing I like about this tea is that it’s hard to oversteep this tea. It never ends up tasting like a cup of liquid herbs (there’s basil and fennel in there, but I can’t taste them). No single note stands out. It just tastes good, and sweet, and refreshing. I’m giving this a high rating because it has never let me down.

Maybe it’s that I associate this tea with hand massages and haircuts but this tea always takes me to a peaceful, calm place. With artfully matched flavors, this tea is beautifully balanced.

Backlogging:

I had a cup of this last night at my aunt’s house – she has quite a nice tea collection aswell. ;)

There as too much sweet licorice root in this tea for my tastes though. It’s a taste that I’m used to associating with medicinal tea so that’s what this tea reminded me of.

I’ve gone through numerous jars of this tea. I’ve enjoyed it after a stressful work day, after dealing with personal chaos, or when I just feel like I need something to balance or refresh my senses. As a fan of Aveda in general, this really does feel like it belongs in their product line. Somehow it captures the same essence that the rest of the brand embodies. This stuff tastes great (not like licorice, even though it does contain it), has a natural sweetness, and is almost impossible to over-steep.

I can actually feel myself starting a serious cold/sore throat but I was been stuck at a friend’s house all day, far from my stash of Aveda tea. I drank a few cups of teas he had on hand but they weren’t doing much to soothe the scratchiness. So… as soon as I returned to my own home this was the first thing I reached for. It’s not a substitute for medicine, but it makes my symptoms a little more bearable.

Goregous…..soothing tea. It is great for stressful times….

Oh, yes, the highlight of the Aveda shopping experience — to soothe the soul and wallet before you schlep them big fat shampoo + conditioner + balms of sorts bottles home.

I guess you can tell just how (in)frequently i get a haircut.

Is this what they offer you at your appt? If so, I love this stuff! Just was there for a haircut and though the smell of Aveda products (or the chair massage) may have contributed to my sudden calm, their tea is just sweet enough & just refreshing enough to make me feel relaxed. Ahhh… :)

backlogging: I had half of a cup of this the other day, and then realized the tea was out of date (like back to 2008). So, it’s out of my cupboard. I wondered why it didn’t taste like the extremely comforting tea I get in the Aveda stores and salons!

sweet without sugar, a really nice summer evening herbal