So Long, and Thanks for All the Licorice

I’m not gonna write an actual review on this, because I haven’t drank the sample Stacy sent me yet, & also because I think Sasha should write the first review.

BUT I AM gonna say that it smells AWESOME!!!!!!!!
Cuz it does!

I’m almost ready to break into another package of this tea! That’s exciting. :)

I still love it. SO licoricey, no sweet aftertaste. THE BEST.

What’s also super fun is that once it’s steeped the leaves turn a mossy green. Whee!

mmmmm…another chai i figured i should try this morning since it’s a colder spring day today and i much prefer drinking chai when it’s cold. Let me first start off by saying that this smells like licorice. Black licorice. Which happens to be my favourite. Jelly beans? gimme the black ones! Again, i didn’t add anything to this, preferring to keep it simple and straight but i might be tempted to in future just to see what’s what. Thank you boxermama for this delightful and unique creation!

I haven’t had this one in a while, but decided to try it with a little bit of honey and coconut almond milk. It’s good, but I think I really need to try this one with real milk at least once no matter if it drives my stomach a little crazy.Also I’m really liking teas with guranse bases. I need to try some straight ones.

Whoa, this is THE licorice/anise tea to beat all licorice/anise teas when that is the particular distinct, strong flavor you want (it should go without saying, but you have got to be on board with all things fennel-y…think fennel salad, holiday aniseed cakes, cookies, and scones, star anise pork roasts, absinthe/herbsaint and ouzo, black licorice, the fennel seed you use as a breath freshener after indian food, on and on). I know how divisive it is—so many of my friends here in town loathe star anise in particular, alas—but luckily my husband enjoys all forms of it and dug this. I like that it’s precise—we’re not talking about the warm/hot spices of chai here just because they often go hand in hand with star anise; this is licorice, anise, fennel all over and lots of it (NB I’m talking about my experience of the flavor, not necessarily the actual ingredients which do include some other spices)—and layered—all of those multiple elements from the licorice family. I couldn’t drink it all the time because it is so very much this one thing and one thing only, with superhero-brawny (yet rounded and welcoming, never harsh) aroma and flavor, but I bow down to how thorough a tribute it is. With vanilla pound cake crackers today for afternoon tea, it evoked old fashioned homemade aniseed cake and scones beautifully. I also really like how the cardamom contributes to and amplifies the fennel’s cooling aspect in the long-lingering aftertaste. And I like that this is not candied licorice or licorice root (though I love me some of that as a tea sweetener for sure, don’t get me wrong); it’s straight up “what you cook and eat salads out of and drink cocktails based on” plant/seed.

Oh god, this is incredible. I originally got a little bit in the west coast group order, but drank it so fast that I forgot to write a note for it. So here I am half a year later.

I love how it’s not that really heavy black licorice, but it’s on the sweeter side, a little like Rockies. Or like wintergreen licorice, which according to my mom, is the name for the type of licorice candies that are like peppermint swirl candies, but the swirl is blue instead of red. Sound familiar? I love that kind of licorice.

This tea is perfect as is. No need to dissect the flavours and go on and on about it. Simply put, if you like licorice, do yourself a favour a drink this.

I got my part of the Butiki group order from OMGSrsly today, and also hung out with CrowKettle as well! It was really nice. See, I’m not always a hermit? It’s just too bad that it takes tea to lure me out into public. :P

So I’ve been waiting awhile for these teas and there are so many that I’m excited about, but THIS was the one I thought I’d start with. And it’s really good. It tastes like black jelly beans, minus the insane amounts of sugar. Sure, I could drink Stash’s licorice tea, but this is leaps and bounds beyond that, and it’ll probably be added back onto my shopping list for the next order.

Haha. I’m already thinking about the next order and I haven’t even logged THIS order.

THe texture of this one is almost thick and malty. And I get a bit of tacky tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth-ness that is also similiar to eating strong black licorice. I’m going to resteep it and try it with a bit of milk too!

Jeepers, it took me so long to get this from the border, that I’d completely forgotten I’d ordered some!

Smells strongly of licorice, of course, and tastes pretty much exactly like black licorice. Really, truly lovely drink. There are only so many postiive and yummy adjectives I can come up with for Stacy’s amazing blends!

My dream tea, materialized! I’m drinking this with a touch of skim milk and a half tea spoon of raw sugar. I have also had it straight and I love it both ways, but I was in the mood for sweetness.
Stacy is my hero. The first sip coats your mouth with a warm, comforting sweetness. You first taste the chai spice blend, then as soon as it leaves your mouth it’s 100% licorice. I find myself getting completely lost in it, distracted even. I’ve taken it to work in my thermos to work every day.
It’s perfect! :)

I made a pot of this before bed last night. This was really an excellent tea. The only disappointment was that the licorice flavor wasn’t quite as intense as the licorice smell. I will be reordering this one once I sipdown more teas in my cupboard.