Vahdam Tea Advent Calendar: Day 3 - Turmeric Spiced Herbal Tea Tinsane

 


First off, let's talk about the title they've given this blend.  For all the complaints I see from folk about "chai tea" being redundant since chai is the word for tea..... I'm betting this blend name is equally as frustrating.  I say that because tinsane is the name for what most folk call herbal tea.  It's actually the more correct term since an herbal tea doesn't contain any actual tea.  Hence today's blend is Tumeric spiced tinsane tinsane.



Mini pedantic rant over - on to the actual review. 



Like the chai I had this morning, this blend has a generous portion of cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and black pepper.  On the dry leaf, those spices are present yet entirely overshadowed by the turmeric.  This is utterly unsurprising to me.  Turmeric overshadows nearly everything to my nose.  As a result, I admit to being biased against this blend before even steeping it.  Still - I pressed forward.

The color was as golden/ yellow as I expected but I was surprised post brewing to smell a touch of ginger through the heavy turmeric - not because it's a surprising element to combine with turmeric (it's not), but because the ginger wasn't present visibly or on the nose of the dry blend.

Flavor wise.... it's a turmeric slap in the face.... with a touch of ginger and a slight black pepper finish.... but... with a hint of bergamot on the mid note.  Not the strong bergamot I like from having fresh bergamot flowers or oil in the blend - but the milder and flatter bergamot that you get from adding extract.  And - again, it was all utterly overshadowed by the turmeric.

Halfway through the cup, the ginger and pepper had built up on my palate so that the sips of hot liquid actually felt spicy, which was super interesting.  I had a horrible allergy day and that spice cut through a lot of stuff in the back of my throat - which was super nice.  But I can't say that I enjoyed the flavor.  Even if it was perhaps the best turmeric tinsane I've ever had..... it was still too much turmeric for my tastes.


Final thoughts:  If I'm going to buy a turmeric tinsane for wellness purposes, I'm going to buy this one.... but I still probably won't buy it.

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