Nocturnal Bliss

Sipdown no. 64 of the year 2014. A sample of yet another no-longer-offered Samovar tisane.

I think I bought this one because of the name. I wouldn’t have bought it because of the ingredients as a main one is lemon myrtle, which for a while during my search for the perfect lemon tisane almost ruined lemon flavor for me. The lemon myrtle and some sweetness which may be the stevia is the main smell of the dry leaf and the steeped aroma is also heavy on the myrtle.

So go on, Samovar. Do your magic and make something amazing out of lemon myrtle! The thing that, standing alone, got one of the lowest scores I’ve ever awarded on Steepster for tartness, soapiness and all manner of unpleasantness…

And it’s pretty darn close, but it’s a lesson to me that lemon myrtle and I will likely never get along. If Samovar can’t do it for me, it’s unlikely anyone can. This isn’t tart, and it doesn’t cross over to soapy, but it has a savory quality that makes it a bit lemon brothy with too much of a bitter edge and aftertaste for my palate.

I have to give it points for making lemon myrtle at least tolerable to me, but alas, this is one I would not have reordered had it still been available (which it appears not to be on the Samovar web site). Perhaps a first in my Samovar experience, but somehow heartening as it proves that those behind their blends aren’t infallible.

Just received this blend today. As soon as I opened the double air tight (nice touch Samovar) canister, I could smell the myrtle, yum… Brewed it up and poured it into my favorite yunami and the smell of myrtle is still strong but not overpowering. Can pick up the flavor of the cornflowers now and the honeybush has mellowed the myrtle just enough. What a crazy, interesting choice of herbs for this one. Really happy with it but I think I’ll steep it longer on the next go, was worth the wait to get it here. You can tell that someone really took the time to get every detail of this blend just right.

Backlog: Last night as I was curled up in front of the television before heading to bed, I was sipping on this tea. It’s decent. I tasted the nutty flavor from the rooibos, and I liked the combination of lavender and lemon myrtle. I wish the stevia wasn’t in there, but I didn’t notice too much aftertaste from it. Not my favorite bedtime-type tisane, but, it was alright.

This was way, way better than I thought it was going to be.

And I’m not really sure why I doubted Samovar in the first place!

Anyway, takgoti sent me a sample of this. From the dry leaf, I was expecting some lemon hurricane to attack my tastebuds. It’s… LEMON. Very lemon. Not like fresh-squeezed lemon juice, but more like a lemon candy. Or candied lemon peel.

But there’s really nothing in the scent other than lemon.

So I steeped this up and watched as the water turned pretty red-orange. Oh, it’d be a good point to mention that this is my first honeybush! … And for some reason, I always feel like a pre-pubescent teenager whenever I see/type that, since it just looks dirty.

Anyway, the smell coming off the infusion is exactly like those Lemon Drop candies that used to come in those cardboard boxes that they sold in my cafeteria. In elementary school. I never really liked them (there was an almost weird texture problem with them), but the smell is right there. Actually, the taste is exactly Lemon Drop as well! I should probably point out right now that this is the best lemon-based tea I’ve ever had. Everything else has tasted like I just guzzled a pint of Lemon Pledge. Or Lysol. Or some other generically-lemon cleaning product.

The sugared notes from the stevia really counterbalance the tartness of the lemon in a very wonderful way. It’s really like lemon candies. Or lemon pastry without any baked flavor. Or lemon custard. I think you’re getting the point.

I’m not getting really any taste from the honeybush, but I kind of doubt that’s the real point. It’s just the canvas on which to splotch sunny yellows.

I don’t think I could drink this every day, for sure, but when I’m craving sweet-tart lemon, I know where to turn!

My, y’all are prolific. It took me a good chunk of day to catch up with your lovely words. [I say that as if it weren’t obvious by the fact that I probably now compose the entirety of anyone who is following me’s main column.] I M IN UR TIMELINE, ATTAKIN UR UPDAYTZ.

In the interest of newness, I’ve decided to log a tea that I didn’t drink today, but haven’t said anything about yet. Nocturnal Bliss is both an ideally nocturnal tea as well as blissful. If you don’t like Rooibos [like I know at least a couple of you do not] then you probably aren’t going to like this either because…uh, this is a Rooibos-based tea. But for those of you who DO enjoy a little red tea, you might have an appreciation for this one.

The lemon flavor is a little strong in this one [and in that aspect almost reminds of Earl Grey, in a strange way], notably in the aftertaste. If you breathe in after taking a sip you really get a hit of it. I wouldn’t call the tea sour by any means, but it is definitely present and would like you to know it. The corn flowers are pretty to look at, but I’m not sure what they add in terms of flavor. The stevia I can taste as well. [That is, I think I can – I’m not 100% sure what stevia tastes like but I think I’ve had it in other teas before and I’m pretty sure I tasted what I think stevia is in this tea. I am too tired to check that last sentence to make sure it makes sense.]

The final verdict is that I enjoy this one, but not as much as I like Ocean of Wisdom, so once I’m done it’s gonna be nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, hey hey hey, you know what to this one. Definitely worth a try if those flavors appeal to you though. I have yet to be disappointed by a Samovar tea.

So After 4 cups of this I have finally finished this nice sample. I love it, it is the perfect way to end a stressful night. At first I did not think I would like it, but after the first sip it might be a buy :)

Perfect tea to lull me to sleep after a yucky day.

Very nice tea. I bought this tea without knowing it and I like it very much.

Excellent tea, very mellow and soothing. Great night time, just before bed tea.