This tea's acceptability to one's palate really comes down to whether one enjoys licorice. If the unexpected flavour of licorice in your cup of tea is a welcome and pleasant surprise you may well enjoy this tea. If it is not, or if you object to licorice being a prominent flavour (more so than lemon) without being advertised as such, this tea won't make the grade. I fall in the latter camp. I was expecting a melodic blend of lemon and chamomile only to find that licorice (which, it turns out, is the second ingredient), overpowers them both. Even if I enjoyed licorice, I would have been puzzled by the total lack of its advertisement on the packaging.
The flavour ends up being a sort of semi-sweetness that lingers on the sides of the tongue. The calming effects associated with chamomile are present but delivered via an aroma and flavour that doesn't smell or taste as a calming tea should. This is a licorice-spiked flavour sensation that produces a chamomile effect afterwards. There's a disconnection in this that I am not keen to experience again.

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Comments:

Alex Zorach wrote: on December 10th, 2013

Hello, and welcome to RateTea, and thank you for your first review!

I would absolutely not expect licorice in a blend labelled and sold as "lemon chamomile", just like you say. It also seems odd that they don't even mention it in the commercial description of the tea, the little caption or blurb that gives people an opportunity to judge what to expect.

Licorice is a strong flavor and I think it greatly changes the character of an herbal blend, both by imparting its own unique flavor, and by making it sweet. It's also an herb with strong medicinal effects (and important to avoid for people with high blood pressure) which is yet another reason to prominently advertise its presence.

So I completely agree with you.

It's hard to find but if you ever have an opportunity to try the Citrus Chamomile from Novus tea, I enjoyed that one; it doesn't have any unexpected strong flavors, just lemon (from lemongrass) and chamomile. If you like lemon and chamomile, I also strongly recommend Rishi Tea's Chamomile Medley, only available loose-leaf. That one blends lemongrass and lemon myrtle, and has a hint of spearmint. It's my favorite herbal tea of this style.

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