Roswell Strange Send Message

This note is for the Goji Chrysanthemum tea offered at Herbal Tree Tea House in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I was there near the end of December to meet up with Kittenna while she was in the city, and have a nice sit down ‘tea date’ with her.

Herbal Tree only recently opened up here in Saskatoon; maybe at the end of August? They offer a selection of sweets to go alongside a large variety of bubble tea flavours and an assortment of herbal teas; some of which are simpler, more "classic’ herbal teas, and some of which had more unique ingredients that I hadn’t seen elsewhere (Jujube dates, for example). They also offer a “tea for two” package for about twenty dollars which includes a selection of cheesecakes and ganaches along with tea served in very fancy, traditional teapots and cups.

In addition to my tea, I also got a slice of Lychee Cheesecake – as per the sales associate’s recommendation (I asked to try his favourite kind of cheesecake). I was really impressed with the cheesecake part of the cheesecake – it wasn’t too dense or too fluffy, and it tasted really good. But the “topping” on top that was meant to be lychee left a little to be desired. I got the floral tones/aspects present in lychee but not so much the juicy fruit taste, so that was kind of disappointing.

The atmosphere of the places is really pretty too! They’ve got some really nice art displayed and the whole place is painted this really pretty, earthy green colour that makes it easy to relax in. Sadly, it’s in a weird area of town (in this tiny “strip mall” section in the middle of a suburban new development housing area) and thus probably not getting the exposure it should; hence why for the two hours Kittenna and I were there, we were the only people to come in. I felt a little bad for the sales associate/server. If it’s that quiet all the time I can’t imagine they’ll stay open long which would be really sad since it was a lovely place.

Our tea was served to us in very, very cute clear glass “bubble” sort of teacups with glass strainers and the sales associate made a very pretty show of presenting us the tea, still steeping, and then straining it – and then left the strainer w. tea leaves on these cute little flower coaster things so we could see the ingredients. I think that description probably doesn’t do it justice; but it was just gorgeous, and super cute. I took pictures of my tea, and of Kittenna’s so if I’ve got time I may come back and edit them into this note.

Before I get into my tea; I just want to rub it in everyone’s face that I got to meet Kittenna (again) because she’s a total sweetheart and so friendly and lovely, and I had a wonderful afternoon talking with her and exchanging tea and just kind of catching up. I met her briefly last year; but our interaction was maybe five or ten minutes and at that point last year we didn’t know one another well yet either. So from talking about tiny baby hands, creepy guys, career ambitions or whatever else it was awesome!

And, the tea itself was good too. I enjoyed two tasty cups of it. It was definitely a softer/lighter tasting tea, with a delicate floral sweetness to it from the chrysanthemum. Really, the chrysanthemum far outweighed the goji to me; though I’ve had probably in the past picking up on the flavour of goji so that may have been a “me” thing since Kittenna remarked at one point that the goji smelled very aromatic – and I could only smell the chrysanthemum. The goji I did taste came off to me like a watered down cranberry flavour which was enjoyable.

I would definitely go to Herbal Tree again to try one of their other blends (perhaps the one Kittenna had; it smelled very lovely), but because of where they’re located I’m not sure if I’ll have the chance any time soon. Bus service in that area is weird, and I like I said up top it’s in a very strange location.

Also; I now really want to try more stuff with goji to further explore whether it’s a “me thing”, in regard to having a hard time picking up on goji flavour.