AmberFreda

Sipdown! This is another sample that was graciously gifted to me from my sister from an Etsy seller that we both enjoy for her fresh quality herbal blends at very good prices. This is her Detox blend, which includes several herbs I haven’t had in tea yet (namely the red clover, nettle, and dandelion) so I admittedly am not exactly sure what to expect from the taste!

The flavor of this tea was quite interesting! It had a very spicy lemon flavor, as I could easy make out the citrus notes of the lemon balm and the spicy heat of the ginger at the back of my tongue, and I could also make out a bit of a minty flavor. But there was something… well… savory about it that I couldn’t quite put my finger on! It reminded me of a nice veggie soup broth, though I couldn’t say exactly what herb or flavor was producing it. It certainly wasn’t unpleasant! Even though that might sound strange, I actually found the tea quite nice, although perhaps with a /bit/ too much ginger (I tend to find Amber’s blends a bit ginger-heavy, especially her Headache Tea which I have to mix with another tea to cut back on some of the overly ginger flavor and heat a bit, since my tongue doesn’t take spiciness that well). Still, I’m kind of digging the sort of savory feel of the overall blend, and since I can’t use the broth packets in ramen (MSG is a migraine trigger for me!) and use tea for ramen broth instead (I have a lemon spice tea that is my favorite for this purpose currently) I’m suddenly envisioning this tea, with its somewhat brothy, savory notes, plus its lemon-ginger notes, as being an even better choice for that! I may have to pick up some of this the next time I restock from this seller.

I received a sample of this tea some time ago from my sister (thanks, sis!) I wasn’t exactly all that interested in the proposed “herbal benefits” (I mean, I’m asexual, I don’t have much need for a tea that acts as an aphrodisiac) I just like sampling teas I haven’t tried yet for the taste, and I hadn’t even heard of the majority of the herbs that consisted of this blend!

The tea has an interesting smell… earthy, but with a cinnamon sweetness. I’m reminded a little of ginger candies. The steeped cup had an earthy smell with a sweet cinnamon scent. I was a bit worried about the flavor, because I’m not much of a fan of ginseng (it tastes like musty medicine to me) but this tea didn’t taste like that at all to me. It was very sweet, with notes of cinnamon and maple and something that tasted a bit citrusy, with this mellow earthiness pulling it all together. It was actually a lot more pleasant than I was expecting — herbal wellness teas typically are put together for the properties of the herbs, not their flavor, and I usually just can’t stomach ginseng. I was really enjoy the taste of the cup!

But then I started to notice an ache in my head… now, I do have intractable chronic migraine (I get around 7-15 migraines a month) so it is entirely possible that it is completely coincidence, but I figured maybe I should look into some of those herbs. What I found most interesting is that gingko biloba, found in this blend, has “terpenoids (such as ginkgolides) which improve blood flow by dilating blood vessels and reducing the stickiness of platelets.” It has actually been used as a treatment by many migraineurs, but just like caffeine, which is also a dilator of blood vessels, it is helpful for some migraineurs, but actually a migraine trigger for others. And I have a sneaking suspicion I may have just discovered that gingko biloba may be a migraine trigger for me!

In any event, while I found the taste of the tea quite interesting enough to explore again, I’m going to stick with my head-instincts on this one that one cup is enough, and avoid that particular ingredient in the future. If you are suseptible to headaches, this just might be a savior or a curse for you! (And as for the “sexy” properties, well… I’m the wrong person to ask, sorry!)

I started off my tea blog a year ago by reviewing a Rooibos Chai blend by Spice and Tea Exchange, which I’ve come to find is more commonly known as the “West Cape Chai” blend. I thought it would be fun to try another rooibos chai blend as a bit of nostalgia. This blend is by an Etsy seller, AmberFreda, and features many of the same ingredients, but it is missing some of the ingredients and its balance is a bit different.

To me, the most notable difference in flavor between this chai and the West Cape rooibos chai I tried before is the absense of the licorice root, which makes this chai have a much spicier flavor profile. Though the rooibos itself provides a slightly sweet base, this chai packs a surprisingly spicy punch, with particularly strong notes of ginger and clove leaving some heat behind on the tongue. There is an almost peppery heat to it. It is a decent chai, but personally, I like the blend of the West Cape version better, as I like the way that the inclusion of licorice rounds out the spices and naturally sweetens up the blend, since I happen to be one of those people that is particularly sensitive to spicy tastes. But if you like really spicy flavors, this version of Rooibos Chai may be more akin to your personal preferences. I did find it quite nice with some warm vanilla almond milk, and it worked well for iced chai as well!

As a chronic migraineur, I have a lot of migraines, so this was one of the first herbal blends for a specific health ailment that made it to my cupboards. Blended by AmberFreda on Etsy, the current blend includes chamomile, feverfew, lavender, skullcap, cinnamon, and ginger. The feverfew, skullcap, and lavender are known to help with headaches, chamomile relaxes muscles, and ginger and cinnamon are great for the nausea that accompanies migraines. At the time that I purchased the blend, instead of cinnamon, cramp bark was used, so I’m sure that has an effect on the overall flavor profile compared to the current blend.

This is a very strong herbal tea, and the ginger especially has a strong scent and taste in the blend. If you like ginger teas, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with the flavor, though I find it still has a bit of a wet, earthy herbal taste. My preferred way of taking the tea is simply blending it with a bit of a strong lemon ginger, as the citrus flavors blend nicely, hide the earthy or herbal medicinal tastes, and make it really pleasant! Even plain, there is no bitterness to the blend from the feverfew, which is nice.

When my head is really raging, I tend to go for this tea. My migraines are severe and this tea can’t stop them, but when the nausea is awful and I can’t eat anything, I usually can manage tea, and this tea is light on the stomach and helps with the headache nausea a lot. Since it does have a strong flavor and is blended specifically for head health, I wouldn’t recommend it for just a general cuppa. Far better tasting teas out there for that!

Full review: https://teatimetuesdayreviews.wordpress.com/2017/01/10/tea02/