Raizana

For what it is, it is nice. Very herbal tasting and dry. The mate helps this tea out a bunch.

Wow, the first tea that I like — sweetness goes well with the tart hibiscus. Smells grassy & herbaceous with a hint of straw. Then the tart astringency of the hibiscus comes through, but quickly quelled by the stevia. All in all a pretty good tea. I imagine this would be awesome iced, as hibiscus always is.

Happy week of E3 all my gamer friends, I hope you have been enjoying it as much as I have. It is no surprise that I am hype over Mortal Kombat X, what with my love of fighting games and mild obsession with the Mortal Kombat franchise. There is also the intriguing Shadows of Mordor which has some interesting mechanics, but I feel I would yell at it for getting Tolkien trivia wrong. Lastly I am super excited about No Man’s Sky, it looks like a game I could become very obsessed with.

Today’s tea is an herbal blend from Raizana Teas with a very chipper attitude, presenting: HappyTea. This tisane (if you are fancy) is a blend of St John’s Wort, Chamomile, Orange Peel, Hibiscus Flower, Yerba Mate, Stevia, and Natural Guava Flavor. I am a fan of all but one of the ingredients, yes, the dreaded hibiscus flower strikes again. The aroma of the dried tea is very sweet and herbaceous. There is the straw-like chamomile flower aroma, a fruity sweetness that is like a blend of pears, oranges, and flowers, and a slight earthy aroma at the finish. Perhaps it is good marketing, but the aroma of this tea makes me happy, it reminds me of sitting out in the sun on a warm spring day.

Ah, well, hello hibiscus, after brewing it decided to join the party with its tart self. The aroma of hibiscus and orange is very strong, there is a lighter herbaceous and floral aroma that is reminiscent of a garden. The liquid’s aroma has tart hibiscus and very sweet oranges with a finish of straw-like flowers.

You know, I do not have anything against hibiscus, personally I love the flowers. As a little girl my mom had a beautiful red hibiscus in the garden, I occasionally would wear the flower in my hair like I was in South Pacific or something like that. It is a beautiful flower that makes a beautiful colored tea, I just wish it was not so tart! After the initial sip and subsequent salivary explosion, the tart is calmed down thanks to the stevia. There are notes of earthiness and herbal, these fade to a gentle fruity sweetness. The aftertaste is a bit of chamomile and the return of the tart. One good thing I can say is thanks to the yerba mate, I no longer feel groggy, and the zinginess of the hibiscus certainly woke me up. I can see people really liking this tea, at least people who like tart teas, because it is well balanced and not just tart.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2014/06/raizana-teas-happytea-tea-review.html

’Here’s Hoping’ traveling teabox Round #2 // Tea #1

I went for this tea after hearing the news that ripped my heart out – Community, the best TV show that will ever be, has been cancelled. I wasn’t even worried about it this year since they said there was a high possibility it would continue! I can’t talk about it anymore, I’ll start crying again.

I thought the tea would NOT make me happy since there is hibiscus here, but the blend is actually a nice balance – the cup is dark, but not hibiscus dark. I can’t tell what would be making the cup this color. I can taste sweet orange, some chamomile, a hint of hibiscus. There is something making it smooth, maybe licorice? And as the cup cools, I think there could be splenda here. Many other teas would make me much happier, but I think any tea could make me slightly less miserable right now. Basically, this show for me is like if one of Abed’s shows gets cancelled. Not cool. Not cool. Not cool. Maybe cable will buy Community like they did one of Abed’s favorites: Cougertown. Tea. I need gallons of it right now.