I’m expecting not to like this one because apparently it has “pepper” flavour. We shall see. (Odds are low anyhow, since it’s an herbal blend with 989725353 zillion ingredients, all of which I hate. Haha.) Also, thanks to Janelle for letting me sample all these weird herbals I’d never buy otherwise!
Brewed up, the aroma is… minty? With a bit of weird, and maybe some cinnamon. (IDK what “weird” is. Herbally-weird-ingredient.) It actually reminds me a little of… uh…. that green from Verdant with all the coriander, that tastes like gingerbread… ah! Laoshan Apothecary Green. I had to look it up. And the flavour? Actually surprisingly, not bad. I can taste the fennel, both on the sip and as a lingering sweetness in the aftertaste, but it’s not so potent as to make me gaggy. And the rest really does remind me of that Verdant blend. I mean, I would never buy this over that one (especially since there is the possibility that this blend has lost some flavour, making it more palatable for me), but it’s surprisingly drinkable. Better than All The Raj, that’s for sure. I can feel a bit of heat in the background, now that I’ve had a few sips – seems like it’s something that builds. I can handle that; there’s no overt roasted pepper flavour, which I so detest.
Overall, shockingly not a hater of this tea. The fennel is actually at a great level here to provide throat-soothing, and the rest of the tea is reasonably pleasant.