Pukka

Somewhere I get this tea. Where? Who knows, but BB date is only month away. And in foil bag.

Brewed, after some time in water, it smells mostly after chamomile, licorice and herbs. In taste it is weak, something like cinnamon tea. Apple is not much there, maybe I just expected way more fresher taste of apple. Overall, tea is quite mouthfilling, not much of watery, good for evenings, maybe too herbal for me.

You know the rule with valerian. Don’t do it. Do not smell the dry bag.

Pukka managed to gloss over the foul-footed valerian with a thick, sweet varnish of licorice. It’s tolerable for me, that licorice. Medium intensity. Some oatstraw creaminess floats around. Chamomile is there I guess, demure as it usually is. Lavender wafts in mid-mouth and lingers lightly with licorice into the finish. It’s certainly not a lavender-forward blend. Can’t speak for the tulsi and limeflower.

It puts me to sleep but it’s not soothing for me. It’s something I have to gulp down.

shrug

I love cinnamon but I found the cinnamon flavor of this tea too strong for me.

I liked it but to a tea that is called “Vanilla Chai”, I felt it did not had much vanilla flavor.

Picked this for breakfast at an Airbnb because the box was so cute. I didn’t read the ingredients, so I automatically added sugar, but I don’t usually add any to teas containing licorice, so this ended up way too sweet. My fault, but I could tell that it’s a decent tea. To me, it seemed sweet and a bit fruity. I don’t think I’d need a whole box, but I wouldn’t mind trying it again. I won’t rate since it was a real sugar overload.

Right after being taken out of the protective “envelope”, the bag smells like a lot of freshly ground cinnamon.
Brews a murky, brownish liquid.
Smells mainly with cinnamon, but with ginger spiciness in the background and a tiny bit of licorice. Black tea is not evident.
The taste notes are equally divided into cinnamon and spicy ginger. Cardamom hides in the background, black tea is almost nonexistent and licorice is fortunately very subdued, not like in many other Pukka teas.
I had only one bag of this tea, so I preferred to steep it straight. It would probably taste better when done in a proper chai way, with milk, but even in this form it was still enjoyable.

Smells wonderful, like a freshly grounded cinnamon.
But the taste is very disappointing, watery, bland, without some “kick” or character. Just a bit of cinnamon that tastes just like your local store, ordinary kind, plus o bit of licorice sweetness.

Brews moderately dark and slightly hazy.
Smells nice. Slight roastiness, a bit of cocoa, not too much of licorice and cinnamon, a bit of sweet fennel in the background.
And generally the in taste plus distinct licorice “sweetness”.
Nice tea, rich and complex, not entirely dominated by the two main ingredients.

Well, what can I say… It’s licorice cubed.
Solid pseudo sweetness, sensation of thickness, overhelming taste, every single note comes from licorice.
And although I wouldn’t want to drink the whole package og this tea, one bag is great. But beware, know what you’re getting into!

Given that this is chai, I should probably brew it with milk, but I have only one bag, so I prefer to test it in the clean version.
The aroma is wonderful, warm, with a lot of cinnamon and vanilla plus subtle cardamom.
Unfortunately the taste doesn’t have much in common, but is has way too much in common with Pukka’s ubiquitous licorice and ginger combination. Every drop of chai character is completely obscured by this pair.

Pukka! Adding licorice and ginger everywhere you can in copious amounts isn’t really a way. More creativity, for cup’s sake!

The brew is surprisingly dark.
And it has a strong aroma, very much like European basil, but with even more clove-like notes.
Very herbal, basil taste, rich and complex, with long aftertaste and spicy notes.
I’m pleasantly surprised that the tea made just from one plant (although from three variations of it) can be this interesting. And fortunately Pukka didn’t spoil it with their usually overused licorice and ginger.

Obviously, it smells like fennel, with sweet, almost licorice-ish notes.
And, what shouldn’t be surprising, it also tastes like fennel. It is slightly sweet, slightly thick, with very faint bitter aftertaste and slight spiciness.
Not bad, although a bit one dimensional in my opinion. Three kinds of fennel are too mixed up with each other here to fully appreciate their uniqueness.

Chamomile and other flowers in aroma, but it’s not very strong or overly pleasant.
Flowers, licorice and vanilla in taste, slight sweetness.
Not bad, but too much dominated by licorice that kills a lot of other flavours. Can’t recommend.

Aroma dominated by chamomile, but I can also sense traces of lavender and rose flowers in the background. Not enough, though.
Taste is more balanced. Chamomile still dominates, making me think of pure chamomile tea I sometimes drink when I have stomach problems, so my first impressions are not exactly positive… Fortunately lavender lurks in the back, but rose flowers are barely detectable.
In short, it is not much more than pure chamomile tea and doesn’t have much in common with love.

It’s obvious that lemongrass dominates in both aroma and taste, giving this tea a very fresh, citrusy character. Finger and licorice lurk in the background, only enriching the taste.
Good tea, not overdone with licorice and ginger. May be the best Pukka I’ve had.

Fresh aroma, with lemongrass, ginseng and ginger.
The taste is obviously dominated by the base green sencha tea, with hints of licorice, lemongrass and ginseng. Very refreshing.
But I think that using “matcha” in the name, when matcha constitutes only 2% of this tea, is a serious abuse.

Very fruity, warm, pleasant aroma.
A lot of fruity notes in the taste, especially elderflower. Licorice and ginger are thankfully subdued, because I’m pretty tired of sensing them in almost every Pukka tea.
Nice, warming brew with no pretenses to be anything more.

Aroma dominated by chamomile and fennel.
Nice sweetish taste, also dominated by these two, plus a bit of licorice.
Very soothing and relaxing bland. I liked it, though I prefer my teas that have a bit more character.

Very dark in comparison to other Pukka teas, thanks to roasted chicory root.
Smells with fennel, cardamom and a bit of licorice.
And the taste? Surprisingly rich, malty, a bit toasted, with strong licorice, fennel and cardamom notes, and with subtle orange peel in the background.
One of the best Pukka teas I’ve ever drank.

The aroma is mainly licorice with a bit of nettle and fennel.
The same applies to taste, though the base sencha is discernible in the background.
Too bad that matcha is almost non-perceptible. If I hadn’t read about it on the packaging, I wouldn’t have detected it. That’s why the rating drops down.

A lot of cinnamon in aroma, then licorice, ginger and orange peel. Apple on a low level, only far in the background.
The taste is mainly cinnamon/apple, with the rest in the background. Nice and warming.

It’s quite outrageous to call the product “Matcha Green” if it contains 98% of mixed green teas and only 2% of matcha powder.
After steeping it smells of decent green tea with nice floral and grass accents, but the overall aroma is not strong.
And so is the taste. Not bad, actually, but way too watery. And if I hadn’t known there’s matcha in here, I wouldn’t have guessed.
In short, it’s a passable green tea, falsely claiming to be something more. That’s why my rating gets a negative modifier.