Vahdam Tea Advent Calendar: Day 7 - Sweet Himalayan Detox Green Tea

 


I honestly had no idea what to expect from this blend.



Based on the name alone, I thought perhaps something like the Day 1 Himalayan Green but... somehow.. sweet?



Looking at the blend in the spoon.... confused me.  There is a lot going on there.  I could identify the Green Tea of course, as well as the cardamom, and turmeric - but there is a leaf in there that isn't the green tea leaf that I couldn't identify, as well as chunks of root that puzzled me.  I thought maybe... mallow root?  I decided not to investigate until after tasting.


The color was... murkier than I expected.  It was almost the murk that I have come to expect from a pre-sweetened tea.  I assure you that my brow was quite furrowed as I stared and studied this during steeping.


Flavor - the first thing that assaulted my palate was SWEET.  Dear god the sweet!!  And it wasn't sugar sweet it was.... sugar free sweet?  It was such a powerful sweet that I couldn't taste AYTHING else on my first sip.  I got the top note of SWEET that carried itself all the way through until I got the aftertaste.... of stevia?

I was more confused than ever.

I took more sips until my palate was no longer in shock from the fake sweet.  The next flavor that hit me was... something akin to a bitter licorice or sassafras root, but not quite the flavor of either.  Next, I got a hint of turmeric THEN the actual green tea, then a nearly wintergreen mint flavor on the end note that again morphed into the stevia after taste.

I got half way through the cup before I finally had to just look up the company write up on the blend.  Turns out, the leaf I couldn't identify is actually stevia leaf.  So - one mystery solved.  The root is ashwagandha stem - which apparently is described to taste like "bitter dirt".  So, that explained the licorice/ sassafras like flavor I was getting. 

As the tea cools, the stevia and turmeric just get more and more dominant.


Final thoughts:  It doesn't make me gag.... but it is NOT for me.  My tongue is still tingling from the stevia leaf.  No.

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