Dry: A beautiful tea blend by Verdant. This would not look amiss sitting out in a decorative bowl with its long and luscious tea leaves, orange peel bits, coriander, vanilla bean pieces, and other lovely ingredients. It smells spicy, sweet, and citrusy- very potent from the bag. My husband could smell it several feet away when I was preparing the infuser.
Steeped: Clear golden brown liquor. The fragrance wafting from the teacup is nothing short of potent between the spices, citrus, and a nice tea base as well. If you like flavored teas with only a tiny touch of non-tea flavors, then this is not for you. The name for this tea perfectly describes the lovely aroma around my kitchen right now. :)
Taste: This tea has a nice AM kick! Sparkling orange meets cinnamon and coriander zest. I swear there is even a tiny touch of cayenne to the flavor, though that might be the Zhu Rong peeking out between the layers of actual spices and vanilla. After the initial wake-up sip, it mellows out and the creamy vanilla and sweet potato-y flavors appear blended in with the other notes. This is complex and lovely (as I’ve come to expect from Verdant) and has an almost bakery quality. I feel certain it would make an interesting iced tea as well once it warms up outside. I am enjoying this experience quite a bit!
Yes, spicy is good in the morning!