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My first tasting note since the baby was born!

Made a cup with 1/2 tsp Mandarin Orange Spice (Celestial Seasonings), 1 tsp Peach Tranquility (Teavana), 1 tsp chai spices, and a few pieces of clementine peels. It tasted quite good, lots of orange and spice, so very autumnal and festive, but the peach flavor seems to have gotten lost. I’ll have to try it again with a bit more peach.

The baby was born Thursday afternoon after a relatively easy labor. I’m home from the hospital and feeling pretty good, which is a welcome change from my last son. My toddler has been kind of clingy, but seems to be taking well to being a big brother. The first thing he did when he met his new brother was give him a kiss (so cute!). I’ve already had several cups of tea, but mostly things I’ve reviewed before. So nice to be back!

I’ve tried a couple of flavored Green Rooibos teas, but this is my first time having it plain. I really enjoyed it. It has a mild herbaceous flavor and is faintly sweet. It tastes very summery to me. I will definitely be drinking this often in the future, especially since rooibos is recommended for pregnant women, and doesn’t aggravate my heartburn. I definitely prefer green rooibos to red rooibos. It has a very different flavor that I really enjoy.

I really like Honeybush Tea, and this is no exception. It’s a nice autumn tea, with it’s lovely dark amber color, and smooth, slightly sweet, woody taste. I have a fondness for flavored honeybush, but I think Mountain Rose may be my primary supplier for unflavored Honeybush in the future. It’s less expensive here than on many sites, the flavor is good, and it’s organic. Win-win.

I just got a new order in from Mountain Rose Herbs. I’ve been curious about Marshmallow Root ever since I heard that it can help with heartburn, so I ordered some this time. The liquor is nearly colorless, and it doesn’t seem to have a strong flavor. It’s faintly sweet, and has a tongue-tingling quality that I associate with mint or spicy foods. The texture is also a little thicker than water, which is interesting. Overall, this is probably best used for blending or if you want it specifically as a heartburn remedy. I’m not sure if it’s helping my heartburn yet or not.

I’ve decided to brew Rooibos teas for 3 rather than 5 minutes to avoid the smokey/medicinal flavor they are prone to. It was definitely a success with this tea. The coconut flavor was prominent and relatively natural tasting, with a secondary sweet flavor that seemed to be a blend of pineapple and honey. I was drinking this while making dinner, and I did notice that as it cooled, the coconut flavor began tasting more buttery, and the pineapple/honey flavor began tasting rather artificial, so this is definitely one to drink hot. Overall, a very pleasant tea, though.

This is the last of my samples from Good Life Tea. I brewed 1/2 t in 4 oz. of water. I haven’t been drinking much Hibiscus tea lately, since it tends to trigger my pregnancy heartburn, but I decided to indulge a little today. This made for a very nice change of pace. It was a light fruity tea tasting of crisp, sweet apples, and hibiscus. The two flavors really complemented each other well. I really enjoyed it. I liked it plain, and I imagine it would also be tasty with some spices during the winter.

This is the second of my free samples from Good Life Tea. I used the whole sample – a little over a teaspoon – only steeped it for 3 minutes ( I usually steep Rooibos for 5), and I might try that for the rest of my Design a Tea samples because it didn’t have the smokey/medicinal flavor that Rooibos often has. It was sweet and lightly chocolatey with caramel notes and a sweet woody undertone that I tend to associate with Honeybush. I’ve been craving chocolate all day, so this really hits the spot.

The first of my free samples from Good Life Tea. I steeped half a teaspoon of this in 4 oz of water for three minutes since several people complained about bitterness. The first sip was lovely. Light, creamy, floral, and citrusy. But as I took a few more sips, the bitterness of the tea overpowered those flavors. If they switched out the base I would try it again, but as it is I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a shame, because if the whole cup tasted like that first sip, I would be a big fan.