Chamomile Vanilla Bean

Had this late last night to help knock me out. It worked – until 3:00. Should have made another cup!

For those who have expressed concern. My job interview was short and not so sweet. The owners told him to hire kids out of school so they don’t have to pay them much. So I am still searching.

I have been living under the impression that I don’t really like herbal teas which is clearly wrong since I love them. I’ve loved them all along since my go-to bagged teas (aka “lazy teas”) are all herbal. So why did I think I disliked them? I think I had one bad experience with over-steeped, bitter hibiscus and just wrote them all off. But I’ve since re-discovered my love for them and am on an herbal tea kick, so I was thrilled when I saw this in my samples from Fusion Teas. I’ve been debating over which of their samples to try first since they all sound tasty, but today it’s late and I need to go to bed so I grabbed this one.

You know those fresh from the fryer donuts you get when you go apple picking? The ones rolled in brown sugar with a crunchy crust and amazingly soft & fluffy insides? Yeah, the dry “leaves” smells very much like that. The stepped tea smells more chamomile-y, but the taste is still donuts! Donuts & chamomile. There are a bunch of ingredients that I’m not tasting individually (coconut, lemongrass, etc) but I think blended together they’re adding to that bake-y taste. Chamomile and vanilla are definitely the dominant flavors (which you’d expect given the name) and with a bit of honey this is divine.

I really shouldn’t be drinking this tea. Really. Honeybush gives me an awful awful headache and I have a cat who wants attention who is interfering with everything I do right now. I could probably drink it now, it’s a good temperature, except I’m pretty sure the cup would get head booped right down my shirt. It’s taken me 5 minutes to write this paragraph.

Well, it’s sweet. It’s definitely sweet. I’m not in love with stevia, I actually dislike it quite a bit so that’s tempering my enjoyment of this. And it’s definitely giving me a headache, or bringing back the headache that I just managed to get rid of. But I definitely taste the vanilla and chamomile and they are very nice. Not picking up a whole lot of coconut but it’s quite creamy considering I didn’t put any milk in it. I don’t really pick up any lemongrass either.

So yes, I think if I could get over my sensitivities, this would be a pleasant cup but as it is, it is going into my swap bin.

So I’m a sucker for Chamomile teas. I’m about to rip open a cheaper bag of tea from my infant drinking days and plant me some of these little flowers in my garden if they’re truly that easy to grow!

This blend, however, left me a little disappointed. The vanilla bean, coconut, licorice, ect. were all so strong that I was left with an extremely sweet cup with very little tart or tangyness (which I would have expected from that lemongrass). The complexity of the sweet ingredients kind of left the chamomile overpowered! The Honeybush also left that roasty flavor in the back of my throat. I knew that the ingredients in this tisane were strong, but I didn’t realize HOW strong! I just took another look at the package, and it looks like there’s stevia leaf in this – no wonder there was a lingering sweetness that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

If you’re looking for a vanilla-forward, sweet blend, this one definately fits the bill! I didn’t like this tea because of my own personal flavor preferences, but the dry goods were high quality and they steeped nicely – so I’ll recommend.