The Persimmon Tree, Herbal Balance

The Persimmon Tree Description:
Herbal Balance is a smooth blend of organic peppermint, chamomile, lemon balm, fennel, and licorice root. This delicious herbal tea is caffeine-free and will help restore the balance of your digestive system.

Ingredients:
Organic Peppermint, Organic Chamomile, Organic Lemon Balm, Organic Fennel, Organic Licorice Root

Sample provided by The Persimmon Tree

My Review:
Today is the day after Thanksgiving in America, also known as Black Friday. A day of shopping madness to official kick off the Christmas season, though let's be honest, the decorations have already been up for a month. If you are so inclined as to participate, I hope you found some real bargains. I prefer not to be involved. I'd rather stay home and eat pumpkin pie for breakfast. Of course with the over eating at family Thanksgiving meal, the next day can find your system pretty much the worse for it.

Today's tea (actually a herbal - but the point is the same) is billed to help restore the balance of your digestive system. Sounds like a good idea to me, and just what is needed.

Opening the tin, I catch peppermint. I happen to like peppermint. The other ingredients aren't jumping out at me, though there is a grassy type scent accompanying the mint. I am not sure where it is coming from based on the ingredient list but it smells pleasant.

 The leaf contains lots of chamomile flowers and I can see some fennel. The dry grassy clippings look like shredded peppermint and lemon balm. I've grown these plants before in my garden. I don't know what licorice root looks like and I see nothing that stands out as unfamiliar.

Once again I used my Republic of Tea mug with metal strainer basket. After filling with 205 F water, I covered the mug with the lid. The steep time was roughly 5 minutes.

The result is a tea colored brew that is very pleasantly mint scented. It doesn't show up well in the picture but the leaf has revitalized to a fresh green color. For this herbal leaf, the strainer mug works very well. The mesh is fine enough that none of the leaf slips through.

The primary taste here is the peppermint. It gives a chilly blast to the cheeks as you sip. Following the mint I detect the chamomile and the combination of fennel and licorice root. The chamomile, of course, has a light apple like taste. The fennel / licorice root is lighter and mellowed by the lemon balm. Fennel and licorice root are flavors that might not appeal to some, although I like them both. Here I doubt anyone would find them offensive since they are light and muted. At first, I thought I couldn't single out the lemon balm, as I continued to sip I realized I was catching its scent at the beginning of every sip.

I often drink bagged peppermint teas or chamomile late in the evening as they are caffeine free. This is my first combining of the two. I have to say I really like it. I am not sure how much good it will do at relieving the damage done yesterday, but it can't hurt, and it is quite tasty. Reviewer approved!

You can find Herbal Balance here.