Sonnentor

Derk was so kind to send me a few tea bags of teas she has ordered thanks to my gift coupon.

Honestly, I am not sure if I would ever buy this tea, as the name is something I just disagree with; but in fact, it’s better than expected.

I wanted some savory, spicy and warming tea, but not chai of any kind; and this one delivers so well.

I completely agree that it’s hard to describe, but thyme or oregano is most present, with black cumin a little behind and some warming up black pepper(corns), that are especially welcomed in those, upcoming winter, days; with rain instead of snow.

Now, I know that I shouldn’t judge the tea by its name (or box)

Martin, thank you for sharing two bags of this herbal blend—I am afraid I have not done the first one justice because I preceded it with several extremely sweet marshmallow chicks that were in my Easter basket. So my first flavor impressions may not be very accurate. It definitely leads with a nice, fresh peppermint vibe, with an undercurrent of dried flower petals—that must be the echinacea.

I’ll stay out of the sugar before I try my next cup, but even with a candy-coated mouth, it is pleasant and calming. I could go for some calm—last night, there were three tense, pacing adults and three pacing, yowling cats in ready-to-duck mode while a series of nasty storms went through. Tornado warnings missed us by just a few miles, but all is well. Just a handful of small branches down in our yard. Amen and amen.

Yesterday, I hugged one of my girls who was serving as command central for the supply organization squad (I should hire her to rearrange my craft room), and then she said, “I’m hot and thirsty and my throat hurts and the boys took all the water bottles!” Guess what woke me about 3 a.m….

Doc Martin (our Martin, not the one on PBS) to the rescue! I had not yet tried this little sample of linden leaves and buds, but his handwritten prescription for colds and cruds was a cuppa, plus a teaspoon of honey. Done. I put the honey in before trying the leaves straight up, so I don’t have an accurate taste descriptor. For the moment, let’s call it “kind of like chamomile, but not.” At any rate, it’s gentle, sweet, and soothing the rawness. Between that and a backup squad of zinc lozenges, we may have dodged the bullet. Thank you!

Cheery, indeed! I looked this up on the Sonnentor website and the array of ingredients (there’s a little picture of each one) looks like a spring bouquet. We grow apple mint every year and I use it as a tea/juice/water additive constantly while it’s in season, but I’ve never seen it used in a commercial tea before. It’s a very subtle mint that doesn’t overpower the blackberry, raspberry, or strawberry leaves, all of which are also very understated. But together, it’s a really pleasant herbal blend. Martin, you’re the best!

2024 sipdown no. 1

I couldn’t put my finger on the scent at first, but this smells exactly like bread and butter pickles! I mean, I enjoy bread and butter pickles, but I don’t love the idea of drinking them.

The taste has peppermint, but it’s muted. I see the ingredients note elderflower. Sadly I don’t get that. I could see there being echinacea here. Thanks for sharing Martin!

2023 sipdown no. 114

This is a nice enough herbal tea. The orange flavour is a bit muted, but better muted than cloying. Thank you*Martin*!

2023 sipdown no. 110

I have purposely not been looking up any of the teas from Martin prior to steeping them and was pleasantly surprised when this was lemongrass. The green tea is very much present and the lemongrass is equal/slightly behind it. Quite well balanced and not all lemongrass. I really enjoyed this cup, so thank you for sharing Martin!

2023 sipdown no. 104

We arrived back from Ireland on Sunday evening and what was awaiting us but an awesome tea parcel from Martin! The mint was very mellowed out by the other ingredients and quite enjoyable overall. Thanks Martin!

There are so many teas here, I can’t wait to get into more. :)

A little bit of sore throat is never fun. What’s worse, it’s just a few days before my 2 weeks vacation starts. And on Saturday I need to be ready for wedding I am invited to.

Lime Flowers to the rescue.

Wonder where I caught it. My brother? AC? Train with sick students as yesterday a new school year started?

English can be so misleading. Lime, while it is linden; Tilia in Latin. Natural remedy against cold. So yes, Michelle, I have another tea to the rescue. Though I have no more sore throat, but just a common cold with lots of blowing my nose. And everything at work was taking me twice as long as usual.

Anyway, I bought this tea while shopping on Sonnentor; partially as a trying something lovely — I still remember http://steepster.com/teas/aalia/95296-lipovy-kvet-ze-svojetic which I sent to derk and it seems it’s not carried in my store anymore, which is sad, and partially because I just needed something for free shipping I think. And at last, herbal tea against colds are always useful.

Well, it is lovely, though probably not that much as previously mentioned one. This is more about the flowers itself though (yellow parts) while the other one was more about green part of the flowers.

Honey-ish, sweetish, floral cups which helps me with getting mucus out. Soothing my throat, highly flavourful (but also high dose), just something that should be tried by anyone who likes caffeine-free teas.

A sipdown! (M: 10, Y: 72)

A sipdown indeed; but I did not had the final mug. It was my dad… and I just remmber trying it, but I haven’t wrote any notes… and now it’s gone.

Can’t say much, as I just don’t remember it much. But orange flavour was there, and although not so strong as Fresh Orange by Teekanne which is staple in our cupboard, it was finished and apparently it was great too. At least my dad drank it almost all by himself, while he wasn’t confident on first sight.

Finally, the last of the Sonnentor teas – thank you Martin <3

Fresh herbs are the best. The quality here is outstanding.

No frills, classic herbal tea taste with ingredients you don’t find in many, if any, American herbals — applemint, hemp leaves, birch leaves, hazelnut leaves, mallow, mugwort, sunflower petals and bee balm (plus peppermint). Some of the leaves – like birch and hemp – are quite large! The mints taste more spearmint-like than the mentholic NW American peppermint, but it’s still nice and cool. Overall, a very clean taste with a sweetness that is balanced by both tangy-bright and earthy qualities. When leafed heavier, I can taste something like fruity apple. A certain thickness is cut by a mild astringency which be felt in both mouth and body. Good after-dinner drink and also a refreshing first sip of the morning should I have fallen asleep the night before while waiting for the mug to cool.

It’s catch-up time: the heat was so miserable for such a long stretch, I didn’t want to waste new tea or samples from friends on a cup that got two sips before my internal temperature started to boil. So with apologies for the delay, thank you, Martin, for my first Sonnentor tea!

This is a bagged green tea with lemongrass, simple and understated. The lemongrass whittles any vegetal edge off the green tea base and adds a little crispness to the cup. The Sonnentor website calls it “zingy.” I think I’d tweak that down just a little bit, maybe to “perky,” but it’s all relative, isn’t it? Tomato, to-mah-to…

This was gifted to me from Derk (who I believe got it from Martin), thank you both!

It has a pleasant aroma… citrus forward, leaning a bit more pithy-orange, with a fair bit of florality on the nose as well. Tried a sip and it tasted vaguely citrusy, so I decided to take Derk’s suggestion and add the second teabag to the cup to try to strengthen the flavor. That made a world of difference! It’s pleasantly tart with a nice citrusy flavor that falls somewhere between kumquat and orange for me. A subtle florality comes in towards the end of the sip, mostly of elderflower but I can get the lavender in the aftertaste. Very pleasant, and I’m happy to get the chance to try it!

Acquired through the generosity of Martin! Thank you, tea friend.

I got this because of the ingredients (I love Sonnentor herbal teas for their creative blends):

blackberry leaves sweet org, hibisucs org, black carrots org (10%), mango org (10%), buckwheat herb org, lemon balm org, pineapple org (7%), bananas org, aronia org, orange peel org, lemon peel org, liquorice org, chili ground org (1%)

Blackberry leaf sweetness up front, followed by muddled, earthy fruitiness and a hint of chile pepper heat in the back that’s too mild for me, but probably perfect for others.

I’ve nearly finished the entire box but can’t seem to articulate my impression beyond “strange” mostly due to that front-loaded sweetness. My personal past Love Story was spicier and punctuated by plenty of acidity — not so sweet and smooth and down to earth :P It might be fun to conceptualize my current relationship in tea form. What kind of ingredients bring to mind love? And goofiness. Lots and lots of goofiness!

Possibly a first acquaintance with sea buckthorn? Thanks to Martin’s generosity <3

Tart and fruity in a jammy no-sugar-added, cooked-down way, citrusy. It tastes like it looks, orange with a brown tint. There’s some earthiness to this brew that brings the pucker down from hibiscus heights. It’s simply not the same kind of tart! A whisper of lavender is nice here. A little bit of sweetness on the backend aling with elderflower. Salty-citrus zest (kumquat?) aftertingle.

Something about this sis o familiar. It reminds me of late fall in northeastern Ohio… But why?

Best 2 bags per 300mL! Don’t want that flavor watered down.

Sipdown prompt: A blend made in your home country — not really sure about that, as Sonnentor have at least two production facilites (one in Austria), but I will hope this one is blended and mixed in Czechia.
Not a sipdown yet, but 2 tea sachets remaining

As usual… yes; almost a sipdown. And, just after reading my first note, it was a free tea? I completely forgot about that!

Anyway, drank in the afternoon and remaining two bags will be finished hopefully still in January. I mean, it shouldn’t be a big deal… right?

What to write about this tea? Well, it is mellow green tea with nice amount of lemongrass. It is not overdone with other ingredients, artificial flavourings or such things. Both ingredients being distinctive enough and lovely. Organic sourcing is a plus for me.
Would I buy that again? As a daily drinker, why not? But I don’t drink greens that much.

I bought a few teas for my brother’s birthday, a spices mix for another brother; and I took some linden tea for myself too.

They added a whole box (of tea bags though) of this tea for free (and one tea bag sample). So, thank you Sonnentor! I haven’t been expecting it at all.

Their series of greens and mostly flavoured ones are new on their webshop; and this contains 80 % of chinese green tea. Sadly they don’t say the region or such. And 20 % of lemongrass. Both ingredients being organic, at least.

Honestly, I am pleasantly surprised by this. I thought that using 20 % of lemongrass would be too much; but it seems it’s well blended with green tea and it was mellow, grassy with that lemongrass profile, which isn’t distinctly lemony, but not grassy either. A refreshing drink too and in the end… I think I will finish remaining 17 (now 16) tea bags quickly and if I put maybe a half of them to the TTB…

Another herbal tea by the Austrian company Sonnentor, with a handful of ingredients that aren’t commonly found in American herbal teas. Here we can find black caraway AKA black cumin AKA nigella AKA black seed, thyme, rooibos, savory, purple carrots, black pepper, common hollyhock and caraway.

In-your-face profile that warms and invigorates when you don’t want a typical chai-spice caffeinated tea. Its spicy herb character will clear your nose and overtake your palate. Difficult to describe but it tastes robust and peppery, more like oregano than thyme; lots of black cumin; green-brown-red-black. Not necessarily savory even though it contains the actual herb savory :P

Gets the blood pumping and feels like a brew that would cut fatty meals very well! Sonnentor suggest pairing with roasts, cheese and hearty spreads. I can see how Heavy Metal would complement those foods greatly.

Another thank you to Martin!

This is a really well composed herbal tea if you’re looking for a stomach soother.

The ingredients are green oats, stinging nettle, fennel, cardamom, juniper berries, birch leaves, hyssop and Ceylon cinnamon. It’s a sweet and green but not vegetal-tasting tea whose clean flavor mostly comes from the fennel, cardamom and minty hyssop. The oats and fennel give a fuller mouthfeel than you’d find with typical herbal teas.

I find myself brewing 2 bags of this to 300mL following lunch. I could see it going really well with a light meal of flaky white fish.

Thanks Martin!

This tea has several ingredients that aren’t available here. Base is from green oat (35 per cent of blend) for instance.

Birch leaves. Yes, I have heard using it as herbal here. Hyssop. What’s that actually?

Anyway it tastes pretty similar to other Sonnentor teas. Very herbal, but with strange (but lovely) aftertaste. Yes, juniper berries make the flavour a bit uncommon with piney flavours as they do. They were a bit musty, but in such a small bag I am not surprised :)

Enjoyable evening cup.

Also… 20th December means one more thing. My mother is turning 60 today!

While yesterday I had two citrus fruits in tea, now I have two types of cinnamon here! Cassia cinnamon and Ceylon cinnamon.

Actually it is not long ago since I found out there are different cinnamons and their flavours are, often, very different. Sometimes we have the sweet, similar to Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Spice and then there is another type, which has got more earthy flavour. Sadly, here you never know which one you are buying, when buying spices. It’s usually labeled just “cinnamon”.

Anyway to the tea. I came home almost frozen (well, it is not that cold, but strong wind gusts), in the office maximum was 19°C (66°F). I decided not to move to the warehouse and back, so I almost spent all the work-time in the office. Also, between 10 pm yesterday and today 11 am about 15-20 cm (min. 6 inches) of new snow.

Ah, sorry; I digressed again. The tea. Warming up spices on first sniff, cinnamon being most prominent, naturally. When brewed it was really cinnamon, but with something that reminded me oolong a bit. Maybe lemongrass-blackberry leaves combo? I don’t know.

While sipping, it is indeed nicely warming up my body, but cinnamon was quite flat in flavour, with little herbal undertone and that’s it. Coconut flakes and lemon peel wasn’t apparent in taste at all. If I wouldn’t check the ingredients for this entry, I would say there is none of them in.

Another single herb tea and this time it is lemon balm; and again it is herb we have in our garden, so nothing new for me.

What is new for me is that the latin Melissa means honeybee and well as you can see, German name is Melisse (Zitronen means Lemon) and it is not a coincidence, as it was (at least) once planted as a pasture for bees.

But to the tea… yes it is pure lemon balm, with its herbal note and little lemony as well. It’s fine and there weren’t any bad, for instance, bitter notes.

Delightful and relaxing.

I feel fire. And many spices. Star anise being the strongest. Certainly it is a warming up blend. But flavour-wise it is so… so complex, however the flavours overlap themselves and it finishes as a muddy spicy tea.

Turmeric is fairly strong in this one as well. Interesting blend, but not much for me. I prefer noticing the spices more separate.

PS: 13 days late I received my advent calendar from Your Daily Tea Cup, and as I barely drink Sonnentor and Nabo teas, I will postpone drinking them on January probably. I am not able to wait till June as a countdown to my birthday!