Woah. So this is the last tea that rounds off the loose teas that I have in my cupboard that I’ve tasted in their bagged incarnations. And this one is probably one of the most different.
I shared the cup with my mom, who was amazed at how fresher and interesting this tastes as opposed to regular, garden-variety chamomile. It brews up to a beautiful light yellow. Let me tell you, this one is a real chore to clean out of the infuser basket in the IngenuiTEA. Or probably any infuser, for that matter. The blossoms, while adorable, break up a lot in the water and require multiple rinses to remove all the pesky residue. It’s pretty annoying.
The other complaint that I have is that after the first layer of beautiful, full blossoms of chamomile, there seems to be a lot of crumbled dust in my sampler tin. I think there might be full blossoms under that, but I really can’t tell. It’s a bit disappointing if they’re all smashed to smithereens in the tin, though.
The taste of this is a lot better than I expected it to be, actually. I like chamomile, but only really when I’m feeling under the weather. It’s always really sweet, almost to the point of being cloying. I’ve found as I’ve drunk more and more tea that I’m losing a taste for stuff like this. I was surprised at how light yet rich this one was! Although it steeps to a pale color, the flavor is very, very refined. I never noticed that chamomile tastes like apples, but it does! Like fresh apples from an orchard, scented my the flowers around them. Or something poetic along those lines.
Anyway, this was pretty enjoyable. Does this mean that I want to drink chamomile every day? No. But this really is much better than a lot of the bagged stuff.
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I feel the same way that you do about chamomile. As it is, I rarely drink it straight, it’s usually blended in some kind of mix. Even then, I don’t drink it often.
I’ve noticed that breaking up thing about chamomile blossoms, though. I’ve never brewed chamomile anything in my version of the Ingenuitea, but maybe submerging it in water would help? Like dunking it in a bowl. I’m not sure how feasible that is.
It’s pretty pesky, that damned chamomile… I really don’t want it steeping up with better teas. :(
Golden Moon sampler set comes tomorrow in the mail and I’m super-excited! Plus I have trips in the near future to pick up stuff from Teavana and Dean & Deluca!
Squeee! It’s going to be an exciting tea month for you!
Have you ever used those T-Sacs? I’ve been thinking that those might work for the small stuff that often escapes a mesh infuser, like chamomille and rooibos.
@Jillian, I use a different brand but they are AMAZING.
jeez I like this tea but the cleaning is annoying as hell I agree!!
I know exactly what you mean, it’s sooo ridiculous to clean out of the ingenuitea filter. Good review though.
I find cleaning it is easier if you dump as many of the leaves right away, let it dry, shake it again, and then rinse. Of course if you want to make more and don’t have time to let it dry, just dump then rinse.
I feel the same way that you do about chamomile. As it is, I rarely drink it straight, it’s usually blended in some kind of mix. Even then, I don’t drink it often.
I’ve noticed that breaking up thing about chamomile blossoms, though. I’ve never brewed chamomile anything in my version of the Ingenuitea, but maybe submerging it in water would help? Like dunking it in a bowl. I’m not sure how feasible that is.
It’s pretty pesky, that damned chamomile… I really don’t want it steeping up with better teas. :(
Golden Moon sampler set comes tomorrow in the mail and I’m super-excited! Plus I have trips in the near future to pick up stuff from Teavana and Dean & Deluca!
Squeee! It’s going to be an exciting tea month for you!
Have you ever used those T-Sacs? I’ve been thinking that those might work for the small stuff that often escapes a mesh infuser, like chamomille and rooibos.
@Jillian, I use a different brand but they are AMAZING.
jeez I like this tea but the cleaning is annoying as hell I agree!!
I know exactly what you mean, it’s sooo ridiculous to clean out of the ingenuitea filter. Good review though.
I find cleaning it is easier if you dump as many of the leaves right away, let it dry, shake it again, and then rinse. Of course if you want to make more and don’t have time to let it dry, just dump then rinse.