Boston Marathon and David's Tea - The Chai Collection

I was in Boston last week. Boston is such a neat city, besides all the history of the place there are so many things to see and do there. Whenever I get a chance to go to Boston I take it. While I was in Boston I took a walk over to the David's Tea store on Washington Street, the staff was friendly and I was relieved to read that they are safe. I saw signs for the Boston Marathon and even though I am not into sports I thought the Marathon would be something interesting to see.

I am deeply saddened by what happened at the Marathon. Three people killed, including an 8-year-old boy, so many injured... Such a thing should never happen.

Of course there are already rumors circulating about the Marathon bombing. Please verify before you click share or forward. Snopes and ThatsNonesense already have pages up on the Boston Marathon. Also there will probably be fake charities run by scam artists using the Boston Marathon so be careful who you donate to. The One Fund is a genuine charity set up to help the victims.

Some Tisanes - Montana Gold and Evening in Missoula

This week I am reviewing two of my favorite herbal teas. Yes, I know herbals/tisanes are not really tea but I make them with hot water and really like them. Both are blended by the Montana Spice and Tea Company, there are quite a few places to buy these teas online, these I got from TeaSource.

Montana Gold is a rooibos tea with orange rind, clove and cinnamon. I steep for about 6 minutes with boiled water. Here is my Steepster review:

Montana Gold

I need to get more of this tea, I drank the last of it the other day. Either hot or cold it's good. No sweetener needed. A great tea to drink late in the day without any caffeine to keep you up.

A lot of cinnamon taste, hints of citrus. The cinnamon is stronger with the second steeping. 

Evening in Missoula is my favorite tisane. It smells and tastes a little like birch beer. It has just about everything in it, but none of the ingredients are overpowering. Here's the ingredient list:

• Blackberry leaf
• Chamomile
• Damiana
• Lavender extract
• Lemon peel
• Papaya leaf
• Passion flower
• Peppermint
• Raspberry
• Red clover
• Rosehips
• Spearmint
• Star anise
• Strawberry leaf
• Vanilla 
• Wild cherry bark
• Wintergreen

Evening in Missoula

 I might attempt to blend simpler teas and tisanes, but home made Evening in Missoula is out of my league. Steepster review from a couple months ago:

I started drinking this tea recently but it’s quickly become my favorite tisane. All the herbs blend together perfectly, nothing overpowering the other herbs, an aftertaste like birch beer. Tastes good hot or cold, though it tastes a little sweeter if you let it cool. It doesn’t need any sweetener, though I sometimes add a little honey.
I usually steep it 6 minutes but it can probably steep for less than that, I’m used to black teas and this tea looks light yellow in my glass pot but it’s stronger than it looks. This tea can be steeped at least twice and still taste as strong as the first steeping.
This tea is something of a cure-all too.

 It is a very relaxing tea. I really need to order more of this tea too, I have been scraping the bottom of the bag so the picture of the tisane leaves is not the fairest.

Both tisanes are usually found looseleaf, but can be found bagged. I prefer looseleaf but getting Montana Gold bagged might be better than loose because rooibos likes to escape most tea strainers.

Nature's Leaf Tea - Soothing Charm Throat Tea

I got a sore throat so I decided to try my sample of Nature's Leaf Soothing Charm Throat Tea. Here is my Steepster review:

Only a few days after I get this sample I came down with a sore throat. So I give this herbal a try. I know there's other stuff in this tisane but all I can taste is the chamomile, it's overpowered the tea. I added some honey and it is soothing my throat a little, but not much more than any other tea would.

It's not bad but I don't think I would order it again. Chamomile doesn't really effect me, but it might help others fall asleep. Also the vitamin C might be helping me with my sore throat/possible cold behind the scenes.

I was hoping that this tea would be a little more like Celestial Seasoning's Throat Tamer.

I should also note that my throat was a lot less sore a day after drinking this tea, and my cold got better, so maybe it does work.