La Cucina - Tee & Gewürze

A very old tea from Martin! It has no dry leaf aroma… my bad. I should have sealed it properly.

But with a long hot brew, it springs back to life! This is yummy. Definitely my kind of fruit tea.

The aroma is sweet and tart red fruits, red currants and hibiscus. The flavour has notes of orange, cranberry, hibiscus and rose petals. I would have preferred it to be slightly more sour than sweet, but it’s still very nice.

Now I check this tea on Steepster… strawberry? Really? I’d never have got that.

Anyway, thanks Martin! This is a great tea that I should have tried back when you first sent it.

Martin Advent Day 21
Tart fruit flavor. Sort of like apple cranberry? It smelled quite cidery hot, but I refrigerated it to make it tastier. It’s still a little tart for me, but I probably should have done a shorter steep. I don’t like reviewing teas I’ve only had the chance to try once because I’m afraid I’m not being fair! By the scent, I could tell this tea probably wasn’t for me, but I had a fine time with this mug.

Martin Advent Day 13
I didn’t leave a review immediately because I was drinking several teas at once and wasn’t sure which one was this one! Turned out I’d put in the wrong steeper and hadn’t tried it at all! I’m drinking this cold and it’s a bit more herbaceous than I expected. I feel like I taste something like fennel? Probably just going crazy. Maybe this would do better cold brewed because the fruit is a little heavy, tart, and herbal for me. I won’t leave a rating for now, but Martin kindly provided some extra for this day, so I plan to try the rest brewed differently!

Gotta be in the mood for licorice root. First time I tried Klarer Kopf I made the “eugh” face it was so sweet. The flavor profile, for me, is best utilized on days like today — late afternoon, warm outside but not immobilizing hot. It’s like a spicy chai with a base of that licorice root, spicy ginger, ginseng (listed as taiga root), black peppercorns, and cinnamon with herbal accents from basil, eleuthero and yerba maté. I’m unfamiliar with guarana besides knowing it has caffeine. I think I could recommend Klarer Kopf if you make sure not to brew too long because of the licorice root. It has a really nice revitalizing flavor.

It was a rooty and yerba maté kind of day. Started off with ginseng oolong then moved to a can of Guayakí yerba maté when my head almost hit the desk at work. Then this. Here’s hoping I’m not up until midnight.

Thanks again for sharing, Martin, and to your friend Fabiana :)

I used all 10g from Martin in one go, which was between 4 and 5tsp in 10oz boiling water.
Smells so fruity and natural! Good amount of hibiscus gives it the perfect tart edge. I can also taste a pretty floral orange peel in the back of the mouth. The apple is abundant in the mix but not in taste. I don’t have much experience with fruit tisanes so it’s difficult to form an opinion. I enjoyed it and like Züri Leue Tee from La Cucina, this is also a great thirst quencher.

Thanks, Martin!

Prepared hot, 2 tsp to 8oz and guzzled. I drank it so fast I didn’t even pay attention, which I guess means it was a great thirst quencher. The fruits, leaves and flowers made what I remember as tasting like a sweet-tangy mix of natural strawberries? and rosehip-apple? with hints of florals and leafy herbaceousness. Martin aptly described the flavor as forest strawberry. I would have never thought of that.

Cold-brewed 3 tsp to 16oz was probably underleafed and had a much more noticeable herbaceous profile.

Thanks for sharing!

Third loose leaf tea I have received from my Swiss friend. Thank you for all three Fabiana!

I like the colour of the blend. I mean loose pieces of everything. In aroma it is raisins, but as well something bold. Somefruits. Maybe it is maracuja which is mentioned. Maybe oranges. Anyway it smells really great.

10 grams in strainer (I want it strong this time), keeping it all the time in. The water turned into deep red. In aroma it is really nice. Nothing acidic, but oranges and exotic fruits. Why not?

Finally, it is colder, so I can make first sips tasting notes. Sour. But pleasantly sour. Blood oranges, maracuja, as well quite sweet. Fruity mix, but not getting heartburn. Prepared this tea iced must be lovely. I have to try it.
Anyway, it is pleasant. Lots of fruits in, quite long mouth feel for fruit blend. I am not sury why, but it smelled (and tasted) a bit like sour cherries. But maybe my brain is just making shortcuts because of colour.

Overall, good tea for evening.

I prepared this tea early morning before the exam today. Please note, name means in English “Clear head” or “Calm head”, and well me, as an overthinker, needed this en route to University.

The travel wasn’t much helping. Usually it tooks about 35 minutes by train, sometimes less, sometimes more, depends on category of the train. But 35 minutes are safe bet.
NOT TODAY! We had a faulty locomotive and we stayed in middle of the route for 20 minutes. At first, I was afraid that we hit someone (pretty much common thing here, unfortunately). But no, the acceleration was too low. (I am a train-fan too)
Hmm, the train in front of us hit someone. Possible. After 10 minutes of nothing, I started to be nervous. Being late for exams isn’t great. I decided to write my teacher, what I shall do. If I should join other group (we can do exams in 9 students group maximum, as Covid-measures). Or what… No information from train crew, nor train-company app. Weird, if accident happened, it would send a notification.

I have nervously send the email. I took my laptop with me, as I wanted to check a few problems I wasn’t really sure about. And since I have sent the email, we were back en route! Yaay! I had to take the trolleybus, while I wanted to go on foot, but whatever. I was in the University just in time. I could not worry at all while waiting, as I was waiting too short.

The tea HELPED ME a lot. Among prayers. I was nervous, but not with a panic, which was certainly a good thing. I chose a seat near the middle of the classroom, which isn’t the best place for cheating but I didn’t wanted to cheat at all. Maybe it was a better thing for me, as I just could not and wasn’t nervous I get caught if I want to cheat.

I looked on the exam and again, no panic. “Okay Martin, this is something you solved x-times, not a big deal.” "This is clear, it must be this way, or that way?
Of course, I was nervous, but not with panic attack saying “You have seen this, why you don’t know how to solve it, you dumbass?”

This tea HELPS. And apparently, being panic-free caused that I HAVE PASSED THE EXAM.

Of the taste profile, read derk’s note. Yes, it’s awfully sweet with herbal undertone. I have even sweetened it with teaspoon of honey, as I needed to raise blood sugar in the morning. And I took a breakfast which is extraordinary for me as well. I have to thank Fabiana for this tea as well. It’s not tasty, but works.

Another tea from my Swiss friend. She knows I am easily stressed out (and now I am). Clear head. What a simple name. I wonder how it turns out.

Opaque golden (not really, yellow is more correct) colour. Maybe it will clear off. I notice cinnamon, pepper in. As well some weird mix of herbs. Ginger is in as well.

Licorice. Yep, by first sip it is in. It is that weird sweetness there. It stings a bit as well; I blame ginger and pepper maybe. By taste it won’t be my favourite tea. That is clear even after first sip. But maybe it will calm my mind? Who knows?

No rating.

SIPDOWN 61, National Strawberry Day!
Okay, all jokes aside. I am biased with this tea. It reminds me the time we spent together. I hope the situation allows us visit each other again soon! I have received it almost two years ago from my dear Swiss friend. Although great tea, I don’t need necessary to have it again.

Prepared the rest I had as a family tea. Okay, it was way more leaf than I have thought; but it’s gone.

It’s super thick, and I notice more of generic red fruits. But I notice red currants and the strawberries. And yep, orange peels is present well too.

But it’s great against thirst. Oh well, so tasty!

Okay. First tea from my Swiss friend. Thank you Fabiana! Not just only for teas.

They suggest 5-8 minutes. I wonder how much I will actually do. I do not want to care about it :). Maybe I will let it steep all the time.

Maybe I overleafed it. It seems that my biggest strainer is full and there is no space for expanding the leaves. Nevermind. Dry leaf aroma was so nice. I can not make any notes of it, it was so herbal, but with sweet notes as well. I am not really sure what I was smelling.

It started to turn red. Deep, clear red colour. Really vibrant red colour. It started to be more strawberry based, I think about forest strawberries. But it smells weirdly a bit as well. I am not really sure if my nose is not making a fun of me. But I notice aroma like a Brie cheese. Completely odd! It is not a bad thing, but; you know, you do not expect it in herbal – fruit tea. But the base is forest. Forest strawberries. Those small, red things that you eat to make your stomach thing that you ate something.

Flavour profile.
Yep, strawberries again. But it is not artificial. It is also bit refreshing due to peppermint. Maybe when iced it will be nice. Actually I expected it more herbal, but it is more fruity. The herbal is such a nice blend as well. It is not overpowering the strawberries, but certainly not unnoticed.

PS: Rating can be biased now, because I am bit regretting that we had just so little time together and I already miss her.

This is a mild tea. Very relaxing.

I have this every morning for breakfast. It’s mellow and comforting. I love the addition of puffed rice, which gives it a roasted flavour.