"The primary flavor here in anise, despite the vast array of other ingredients. I liked the flavor, but I didn't notice any particular energy boost." Vanessa’s Teaview: 6.5/10 Other Teaviews: Clay gave it 6/10 Your Reviews: Add your review »

SpecialTeas’ Herbal Energizer tea is, like many of SpecialTeas’ herbal teas, a complex blend. The ingredient list reads like a “who’s who in herb gardens” all-star cast list. The tea is composed of marigold flowers, apple bits, rose hip peels, sunflower petals, blackberry leaves, elderberries and anise. The past herbal blends I have had from SpeacialTeas have also had lengthy ingredient lists, so the long list of ingredients in this blend was not too surprising to me. I was confused about how all of these flavors could come together in one cup. This tea was really a very visually attractive blend of green and yellow colors, and almost looked like potpourri. The tea had a very sweet, fruity scent that was dominated by the apple bits. Once brewed, the tea took on a dark yellowish-tan color, comparable to apple juice, although the apple scent that permeated the dry leaves was no longer detectable. From the first sip I took, I instantly liked this tea, although all I could taste and smell was anise. I am a big fan of anise tea, so I found this tea to be very pleasant,. If you don’t like anise, then this tea is not for you, because there is no doubt that anise is the key (and only) flavor here. The anise flavor in this Herbal Energizer was just a bit sweeter than the plain anise tea I normally drink, and perhaps it is the sugar from the apples or the elderberries that sweeten the blend. Despite the varied ingredients of the blend, I could not taste anything but anise. The anise flavor in itself was not overpowering, but it did do a tremendous job at preventing any other herbal notes from coming through. Since anise is listed last in the list of ingredients, I assume that it is present in the smallest quantity (since ingredients are typically listed from largest to smallest contributions), which makes it even more interesting that the ingredient with the smallest contribution packed the most flavor. In all, this tea was very enjoyable, but also a waste of lots of ingredients. Why bother using ingredients like marigold flowers or sunflower petals if you can’t taste them? I would definitely drink this tea again, but only if it was offered to me. I don’t plan to purchase this tea for two reasons: 1) If I want anise-flavored tea, I will just have the plain anise tea I already have on hand, and 2) I did not notice any energizing or uplifting properties that justifies drinking this blend of herbs as opposed to standard anise tea. This was the first tea from Special Teas that disappointed me, although there are certainly worse teas out there.

— To purchase SpecialTeas Herbal Energizer, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.

Vanessa Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Vanessa's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Vanessa.