Spiced Green

This is one of the teas that I’ve added in as my “local” tea to the GCTTB. It’s one of their most popular blends and one that I find has a very interesting (and unique in my experiences so far) spice combination.

Dry the tea is quite visually compelling, you can definitely see all the spices mixed into it; my one “complaint” though is that the green tea portion is made up of smaller broken pieces of leaf, it’s not necessarily a bad thing but it made me wonder exactly how much of the green tea I’d be able to taste once it had been steeped. The aroma though… oh ya I liked it from the first time I smelled it. The mix of spices was warm and refreshing, and there wasn’t anyone spice that was predominant over another. At the same time they weren’t all muddled together, I could distinctly smell each spice (except for maybe the clove) layered and interweaving with each other to form a complex but wonderfully full scent profile. I don’t however get much from the green tea, a few grassy undertones but that’s mostly hidden by all the spice.

The steeped liquor is a deep, clear gold (almost orange-gold) and smells of spice over top of a deep almost dried hay scent from the green tea. The peppermint is the highlight of the scent profile at this time, while the fennel, cardamom and ginger bring a bit of warm sweet heat to the mix. I found it to be a very compelling scent, though much darker than the dry profile.

Now, bear in mind that I over steeped this one a touch (the wonders of phone calls where someone says to you “it’s not working, fix it for me!” ah well :)), but even at that I didn’t find it bitter at all which surprised me. The green tea (yes I can taste them!) base delivered some warm dried grass/hay notes, forming a wonderful foundation to lift the spice medley up to new heights and giving it a remarkable, well rounded flavor profile. The spice mix isn’t too heavy either, my mouth has a pleasant tingle at the end of every sip and I’ve got a lingering aftertaste of peppermint which is very refreshing. I also found that the spices distinct flavors have soften at this point, but that’s a good thing in my mind as otherwise the tea could taste very “disjointed”.

You just can’t beat teas that just hit all the right notes: fresh, warm, spicy, just sweet enough… Yum. It’s overall a lovely tea, one that I’ll be keeping in stock for some time to come.

Great Canadian Travelling Tea Box

Hmm… something about this one isn’t quite doing it for me. I’m not sure if it’s the licorice or the fennel… maybe the pepper? It kind of reminds me of the same flavor I experienced with the Davidstea Love Elixir for Her, so I think it’s the licorice. While I have a mini argument with myself, I’ll wrap up this tasting note with a “it’s not bad, but not for me” ending.

GCTTB

I quite like this one. Thankfully the licorice root isn’t overpowering the rest of the tea, turning it into a sweet hot mess. I dislike i when licorice does that! I wish the ginger was a little more present in this one, so that it was a bit spicier, but overall it was pretty darn good! Love travelling tea boxes!