Piper Mint Blues

Almost gave this to Superanna since she loves mint and I usually don’t reach for it, but decided to make it today because a student of mine dislikes almost all tea except mint tisanes.

Did not like. Yes, it was purple. The mint was muddy. Tongue is still muddy minty tasting long after even though I didn’t feel like the mint taste was clean and fresh, so I would have thought it would have gone away by now. No fruitiness.

Not for me.

Decided to brew this sampler tonight after my Thanksgiving tradition of ordering gobs of Thai takeout (typically on the Wednesday before when things are open) and then reheating the leftovers, which last me days, for dinner.

This is one of those “turns blue because butterfly pea flower” herbal blends. I don’t really care about “color novelty” in tea, but I actually like the taste of butterfly pea flower and will drink it straight (I particularly like it the traditional way with some lemon juice and honey). I’m mostly used to it paired with citrus, though this is a minty/fruity blend. My blue cuppa smells heavily minty, with a touch of an herbaceous element, but I’m not getting any fruitiness in aroma. And honestly… even though there are blueberries and blackberries in the blend, I am not tasting them either. I am getting a very nice tasting mint tea, with a fresh and tingly sensation from the mints, with the spearmint being the most dominant minty flavor. I am also tasting the ginger in the blend, but it isn’t really spicy; more, it is adding to some of the earthy notes I’m getting in the tea, as well as a slight warming sensation at the back of the throat. It’s actually interesting, as I’m getting a cooling feeling more on my tongue, and a warming more on my throat… despite being conflicting, it isn’t unpleasant. Usually butterfly pea flowers have a sort of vegetal flavor to me, but I’m not getting that, either… instead, I’m getting more of an “earthiness” beneath the mint that reminds me a bit of echinacea or tulsi.

This is actually a nice “I’ve gorged myself” chaser considering the mint and ginger, which are my two main “help my poor abused GI system” teas. In the end, the butterfly pea flower really is just a “color” gimmick as I don’t think it’s doing much of anything for the blend… just a way to try to make a mint blend “more interesting,” really. But if you like mint, I mean… it doesn’t really need to be interesting?

Anyway, I’m fine with it, mostly because I’m not adverse to pea flower flavor. But since pea flower can be one of those easily aversive flavors, really no reason to recommend this over any other mint / mint and ginger / tummy tea sort of blend.