Spring Clean herbal

Herbal blend
Amoda Tea and BlendBee

All organic ingredients: Rose hips, licorice root, ginger, dandelion leaf, nettle, strawberry leaf, chamomile.



It's New Years Day and I'm opening my slim tea sampler again. There is frost on the little blades of wild brush outside, and a thin coat of ice on the pond. Luckily, that should be about the level of winter I'll have to see in my new place.

I'll start 2016 by trying a new tea for fresh starts: Spring Clean herbal from Amoda Tea and BlendBee. Spring Clean will be a true test, since I rarely drink these herbal heavy hitters usually: licorice and chamomile. I'm interested to see how the dandelion leaf weaves its flavor. I know dandelion is edible, but I've never taken that natural plunge. And I can't say I've tasted nettle before either. I'm hoping that the rose hips and strawberry leaf bring some sweet flavor to the earthy ingredients. Come to think of it, I have some untended rose bushes out my window. Maybe I should make a rose hip tea?



To the nose, the dry tea is ginger-forward. Chamomile and nettle follow.

Directions call for freshly boiled water at 5-10 minutes and 1 teaspoon/8 ounces. I'll go for 10 minutes and 2 teaspoons, since I participate in extreme tea drinking.



The pour is a thick lemon-like yellow. Licorice leads the taste, with a finish that is very warming with the swallow. Excuse me while I creep up on the couch with this and open my Kindle.

Since I doubled the portion, I'm going to add hot water to it now, to see if it cuts the licorice and allows the other flavors to show. Sure enough, I now taste the chamomile better. This is not a thin tisane, so a little bit will go a long way. I would now classify it as a chamomile-forward tea, with the other ingredients as supporting notes to separate it from other blends.



Spring Clean is a bright and calming tea. Hopefully I will get better sleep tonight without fireworks!