Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Turmeric Active
Ingredients: Turmeric root (30%), ginger root (26%), galangal root (14%), liquorice root, nettle leaf, celery seed, burdock root, orange essential oil flavour, triphala fruits (amla, bibhitaki, haritaki)
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2-3
Bags Per Box: 20
Our Review: Not contented with just one turmeric blend, Pukka added this one to the market. And did we need another one? Turns out: yes! This is a totally different animal.
The aroma is lightly orangey with only a hint of the turmeric this blend is named for. You can definitely taste the turmeric when you drink it, but there’s a definite fruity undertone, and a bit of gingery warmth. The other ingredients don’t stand out but blend together to give an overall soothing experience. While their Turmeric Glow blend is 20% green tea, this one is caffeine-free; and despite its name, it feels more relaxing than wakeful. It’s lovely and gentle, and a great one to have in the autumn when the leaves are falling and it’s starting to get cold. It’s also chock full of herbs traditionally used to tackle symptoms of seasonal illness.
Best time of year to drink this: Any time, but especially when it’s cold out
Best time of day to drink this: Evening
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>
Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Turmeric Glow
Ingredients: Turmeric root (40%), pin ho wild jade green tea (20%), liquorice root, cardamom pod, lemon essential oil flavour (6%), lemon whole (6%), lemon verbena leaf
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2-3
Bags Per Box: 20
Our Review: When this first came out, there was quite a trend for turmeric blends. We saw loads of them inundate the market seemingly overnight. Not all of them worked, but this one really does. Turmeric is growing in popularity due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. Taste-wise, it works well in tea because it’s a little like ginger (being in the same family), but milder.
This blend smells a little like an Indian savoury dish. It tastes a little like one, too. We couldn’t taste the green tea at all, which makes it a great way to get the health benefits and wake-up effect of that tea but without the bitterness. It’s nice and smooth, citrusy and a touch spicy – and it just might do the trick if you’ve got the mid-morning munchies but don’t want the calories. But be careful not to spill any. Turmeric stains!
Best time of year to drink this: Any time, but especially when it’s cold out
Best time of day to drink this: Mid-morning and mid-afternoon, in place of calorific snacks
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>
Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Harmonise
Ingredients: Chamomile flower (25%), shatavari root (Indian asparagus), hibiscus flower, rose flower (10%), licorice root, vanilla pod (5%)
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2-3
Bags Per Box: 20
Pukka Say: Balancing for women
Our Review: As expected with any ‘women’s tea’, the smell of this one is like the perfume section of a department store – but with chamomile thrown into the mix.
The taste, however, is more chamomile with a floral edge. It’s a bit like Pukka Love, but more perfumed. We’re not sure you can taste the other ingredients, like shatavari root – and if you, like us, don’t really know anything about shatavari root, it’s a traditional Indian remedy used to address hormonal imbalance in women.
Indian asparagus aside, this one is so similar to Love that we think you’ll either drink one or the other, but definitely won’t buy both at the same time. To help you decide, Love has a more diverse flavour, while Harmonise is sweeter, with a rosy aftertaste. It probably comes down to your personal taste. For us, it’s Love all the way, but you might disagree.
Best time of year to drink this: Any time you feel a bit ‘imbalanced’
Best time of day to drink this: Following meals (it’s sweet enough to replace dessert)
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Detox
Ingredients: Aniseed (40%), fennel seed (20%), cardamom pod (15%), licorice root, coriander seed, celery seed
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2-3
Bags Per Box: 20
Our Review: When first brewed, you can really smell the fennel – but it’s light and gentle. There’s also a soft, subtle aniseed aroma that is lovely, even if you’re not usually an aniseed fan.
The taste is equally subtle and gentle. It’s a settling, cleansing drink that’s great after meals. It’s also faintly sweet (great for avoiding post-meal snacks), but not overpoweringly so. It’s delicately pleasant and instantly soothing to the stomach.
There are many other similar blends (some even from Pukka), but this one has just the right balance of ingredients, making it warming and refreshing at once. Three Tulsi doesn’t like fennel or aniseed, but even she agrees this is a must-have tea that you’ll want to buy over and over again.
Best time of year to drink this: Anytime.
Best time of day to drink this: Following any meals or heavy snacks.
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>
Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Lemon, Ginger & Manuka Honey
Description: A welcoming cup of spicy sweet organic bliss
Ingredients: Ginger root (32%), licorice root, elderflower, fennel seed, lemon verbena leaf, turmeric root, lemon essential oil, lemon myrtle leaf, whole lemon (4%), manuka honey flavour (2%)
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2-3
Bags Per Box: 20
Review: When you first brew this infusion, it smells just like Pukka Three Ginger. The taste, however, is different. It’s like Three Ginger, but with a lingering artificial aftertaste, a bit like soursop (probably because of the manuka honey flavouring). It doesn’t help that it’s chock full of all those lemony plants that are 100% real, yet taste like they were cooked up in a laboratory.
That said, this is probably a good one if you have a cold, to act as an antiseptic and a throat soother; so this blend has its place, even if we don’t fancy it as a casual treat.
Best time of year to drink this: Colder months, when you feel a bit poorly
Best time of day to drink this: Anytime, really – it works as a morning wake-up drink (because of the lemon), but it’s also soothing in the evening
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>
Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Revitalise
Description: ‘A burst of warming organic cinnamon, cardamom and ginger.’
Ingredients: Cinnamon bark (26%), orange peel, elderflower, cardamom pod (10%), licorice root, ginger root (7%), sencha green tea, spearmint leaf, clove bud, black peppercorn
Caffeine Factor: Caffeinated
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2-3
Bags Per Box: 20
Our Review: This is an intensely sweet-smelling blend with a citrus undercurrent. Thankfully, the taste is milder. There’s a hint of green tea, but not enough to overpower the other ingredients. The inclusion of orange peel and spearmint make it refreshing and cooling in the mouth – and there’s a nice, fresh after-kick, too; the ginger really comes out of this one.
If you ever find yourself in any mouth pain, give this one a try, because the cloves will instantly soothe the hurt; the mint is a great digestive aid; and the green tea base makes this a good one to wake up with, in the morning.
Overall, this is a pleasant post-meal drink (not too sweet, not too bitter) that we will definitely be buying again.
Best time of year to drink this: All year round
Best time of day to drink this: After meals, throughout the day (but not too late at night, or the green tea will keep you up!)
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>
Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Lemon & Madarin
Description: ‘An organic citrus sensation to cheer your senses.’
Ingredients: Licorice root, sweet fennel seed, orange peel, rosehip, hibiscus flower, lemon balm leaf, lemongrass, lemon verbena leaf, lemon myrtle leaf, lemon whole (4%), mandarin essential oil flavour, lemon essential oil flavour (4%)
Caffeine Factor: None
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2-3
Bags Per Box: 20
Our Review: Just look at that ingredients list: it’s every artificial-tasting lemon-like plant thrown into one drink. Does the thought fill you with as much horror as it did us?
This blend smells just as worrying as the ingredients list looks; like factory-produced lemon sherbet. Surprisingly, it doesn’t taste as bad as we expected. It’s sort of warm and pleasant, though it carries a sweet, synthetic-tasting aftertaste. There might be some people who would enjoy this as a snack tea.
That said, it’s been over three years since we first bought a box of this stuff, and Three Tulsi STILL hasn’t managed to get through it. She keeps seeing it in the tea cupboard at home and thinking, ‘No, no, not that one,’ and pushing it aside. It probably ought to be binned, now. It won’t be purchased again.
Best time of year to drink this: All year round, if you like this sort of thing
Best time of day to drink this: Again, if those lemony plants are to your taste, this is a good all-day tea
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Lemongrass & Ginger
Description: ‘An uplifting organic lemony zing with a flying finish.’
Ingredients: Lemongrass (48%), ginger root (28%), licorice root, lemon verbena leaf, lemongrass essential oil flavour (4%)
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2-3
Bags Per Box: 20
Our Review: The smell of this one is gingery – a little fiery, but with an earthy undercut, which is pleasant and warming.
Unfortunately, even after five minutes’ brewing time, this is quite a watery drink lacking in flavour. There’s no kick like you’d expect from ginger; and as it cools down, the sweetness of the licorice becomes sickly.
It’s not the worst drink we’ve ever had, but it’s definitely not worth the money.
Best time of year to drink this: Autumn / winter, if you’re a bit run down
Best time of day to drink this: Mornings
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Peppermint & Licorice
Description: ‘A sweet & deliciously refreshing organic thrill.’
Ingredients: Peppermint leaf (60%), licorice root (40%)
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2
Bags Per Box: 20
Our Review: This is one of the sweetest teas we’ve ever tried. You can’t even actually taste the licorice flavour, just the sweetness. It’s like drinking sugar. In fact, the sweetness is so strong that you can hardly taste the peppermint, despite that being the majority ingredient.
Perhaps someone will like this, if they drink their peppermint tea with multiple teaspoons of sugar. Otherwise, this is quite sickly. We couldn’t finish a cup between us.
Unfortunately, we had a whole box of the stuff to get through! Our solution was to give it away, one sachet per person, and run away before they realised they’d been tricked into thinking we had been generous!
Best time of year to drink this: No idea. It’s DISGUSTING. Good for digestion…but DISGUSTING.
Best time of day to drink this: We’ll say it again: DIS-GUST-ING.
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>Brand: Pukka Teas
Flavour: Love
Description: Organic rose, chamomile & lavender flower tea to warm your heart
Ingredients: Chamomile flower (25%), limeflower, elderflower, marigold petals, liquorice root, rose flower (5%), lavender flower (5%)
Caffeine Factor: Caffeine-free
Organic Ingredients: 100%
Price Range: £2-3
Bags Per Box: 20
Our Review: This one is truly beautiful. The aroma is subtle but pleasantly floral; the scent of chamomile and lavender steaming out of the cup is instantly relaxing.
Drinking it is just as soothing. The combination of flavours is ever-so-slightly sweet, which cuts the chamomile taste. The overall effect is a soft, gentle drink that (as the box promises) warms you from the inside out.
This is a great night-time tea, if you’re not fond of the traditional chamomile and valerian root blends. We managed to drink several boxes; we couldn’t get enough. For that reason, we’re rating this a must-have tea for your kitchen cupboard. Just be sure to have it hot, so the taste of the liquorice doesn’t overpower the rest of the drink.
Best time of year to drink this: All year round.
Best time of day to drink this: Evenings and night-time, to soothe and relax you before bed.
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to our blog so you don’t miss out on tea reviews, new flavour announcements, recommended tea accessories, and much more!
]]>