The Good: Decent aroma, Tastes good
The Bad: Dry aftertaste, Not as invigorating as it promises.
The Basics: A very good herbal tea, Twinings Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla is worth stocking up on, despite the extra tea garbage.
In the world of tea, there are many variables I consider when deciding to recommend a product or not. One of the criteria I have only recently been able to truly expand on in the last few months since I finished the Celestial Seasonings tea line, which is comparing teas I try now to other teas from other companies. To date, I have not tried any other teas quite like Twinings Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla tea
Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla is a good tea with a complex flavor unlike any other herbal (or black) tea I have ever tried. The fact that the resulting flavor actually tastes good was more than enough for me to recommend the tea, as well as stocking up on it!
Basics
Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla Tea is an herbal tea from Twinings of London. Herbal teas are not, ironically, made using tea leaves and as a result tend to have slightly different properties from traditional teas, though both are brewed drinks and herbal teas tend to be naturally caffeine free. Twinings has Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla tea available year round and it is part of the new Herbal Revive line, so how long it is available will likely be determined by how long the "herbal" and "organic" fad last.
Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla comes in Twinings' standard tea bags, which are individually plastic sealed, paper wrapped and have a five inch string. A box of Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla tea comes with 20 individual paper-wrapped tea bags. For the bulk pack of six, the twenty teabag boxes are then cellophaned together.
Ease Of Preparation
As an herbal tea, Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla is ridiculously easy to prepare. A single tea bag will make the standard 8 oz. coffee mug worth of tea and could be reused and make a second cup of Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla with a fair loss of flavor. Still, this is a good tea for those who like to reuse tea bags. The second cup often comes out only a little less strong than the first (5/8 - 3/4 as strong), provided the first steeping was not over the recommended time. I tend to make my tea using a 32 oz. steeping tea pot and that works well, though in this method, the second brewing is - at worst - about 5/8 strength.
To prepare Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla tea, bring a pot of water to a boil and pour it over the tea bags. This tea takes only three to five minutes to steep according to the directions. In my experience, it gets no stronger after five minutes and as a rather strong tea, it does not truly need to be stronger than it naturally is.
Taste
Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla tea has a powerful and delicious floral and fruity aroma. The tea is blessed with a wonderful mix of fruit and spiced scents that actually result in the tea smelling like a cherry orchard in bloom. The scent is not of cherries, but of fruit blossoms and the way the scent opens up the nose and invites itself in is quite nice.
The taste, however, is somewhat more problematic. The Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla tea has a strong fruit flavor which is most like cherries (one assumes these are the blackcurrants) and the floral scent reminds one of rosewater when it comes to the taste. However, like many teas, this seems to define the vanilla taste through a strong, dry aftertaste and that is a bit off-putting to the tastebuds.
With a teaspoon of sugar, Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla tea is less driven by the dry aftertaste and it is a delightful, surprisingly robust beverage for an herbal tea. In fact, I served a pot of this to some friends and most were surprised to learn it was an herbal tea, not a black tea. Sugar definitely makes it more palatable.
Milk does not enhance the flavor of this tea and drinking it cold unfortunately leaves the consumer wanting something more to drink that might actually satisfy their thirst.
Nutrition
The Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla tea has all-natural ingredients which sound more like a flower garden than a beverage! With ingredients like hibiscus, natural blackcurrant flavour, and orange peel, there is nothing bad in this tea.
In terms of nutrition, this tea is devoid of it. One 8 oz. mug of this tea provides nothing of nutritional value to the drinker. There are no calories (save what one adds from sugar, which I recommend), no fat, sodium, or protein. There is also no caffeine, because of the all-natural ingredients. The tea promises to enliven the drinker, but I found it to be less of a wake-up beverage than a decent midday treat.
Storage/Clean-up
Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla tea is very easy to clean up after, provided one does not get it on fabric. The tea bags may be disposed in the garbage, or composted if you have a good garden and/or compost pile. If composting, though, one must remove the paper tag, staple and string, which is just a tedious extra step. The tea itself will stain a mug a faint red if it is left there for days on end, but otherwise may be cleaned up easily by rinsing out the vessel.
Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla is a rather dark purple tea and as a result, it will stain any light fabrics it comes in contact with. As a result, it is highly recommended that one not let it linger on anything they wish to protect and not have stained. It may be cleaned off if the spill is caught quickly, but if it lingers, it is not at all easy to wash out of clothes, linens or other fabrics.
Overall
Twinings Herbal Revive Blackcurrants, Ginseng, and Tahitian Vanilla is a very good herbal tea with a robust taste that is unique, though it does not energize the way Twinings claims it might.
For other tea reviews, please check out my takes on:
Yogi Berry Detox Tea
Stash Earl Grey tea
Celestial Seasonings Tropic Of Strawberry tea
6/10
For other food and drink reviews, please check out my index page!
© 2010 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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