I wasn’t sure if I’d like this one but after trying a couple of the other Bonne Maman teas I decided I’d get a box of Contentment too. I’m not usually a fan of sweet and spicy together (spices are fine, spicy not so much) and didn’t really know what a Brazil pepper tastes like so I wasn’t sure if I’d like the tea.
The dry tea smells strongly of anise. Really strongly. The teabags are individually wrapped in the box and I could smell anise before I even opened the box. I still smell anise in the brewed tea but I can smell the other stuff lurking in the background. The tea is…kind of sweet, kind of sour (the black currant?)…with a little bit of a warming tingle that I wouldn’t really call spiciness. It’s okay. Not something I’d crave but I can probably drink through my box of it without feeling like I’m being tortured. So far all of the Bonne Maman teas have had annoyingly short strings on the teabags. I like to be able to wrap the string and tag around the handle of my mug so they don’t dive into my cup when I pour in the water but with these that leaves the teabag hanging awkwardly at the top edge of the cup. It’s not a huge deal but I wish they’d make the strings a little longer or just go stringless/tagless.
I looked up Brazil peppers while I was sipping my cup. Apparently Brazil peppers are in the cashew family and are sometimes sold as pink peppercorns. They’ve been used as folk remedies for just about everything and I guess there have been some studies on its use as a potential treatment for MRSA.
