I’ll be totally honest, when I picked up this teabag I was expecting a calming herbal blend. Chamomile and mint are soothing ingredients, ideal for after a heavy meal or in the evening. But I was completely taken by surprise when I realised this is actually a green tea mixed with herbal ingredients.
Can the calming notes of chamomile and bright notes of mint work together with fresh and invigorating green tea, or will they work against it? I brewed up a cup of Vahdam Chamomile Mint Citrus tea to find out.
In the full tea review below, you’ll find my tasting notes, brewing method, and some info about Vahdam as a tea company, plus links to buy this tea online.
Vahdam Chamomile Green Tea at a Glance
Izzy’s Rating
- Blend: Green tea with chamomile, peppermint leaves and citrus ingredients
- Flavour: Warm, minty green tea with notes of hay
This tea was pleasant but it lacked any citrus notes and wasn’t well formulated. The ingredients clash – warm vs bright, relaxing vs energizing – and leave my tastebuds feeling a tad confused.
Full Review – Chamomile Mint Citrus Tea
- Type: Tagged pyramid sachet
- Tea: Green tea
- Additives: Chamomile, lemongrass, orange peel, peppermint
- Flavour Notes: Minty green tea, hay, mellow, warm
- Aroma: Lime, grapefruit, mint, fresh orange zest, chamomile, hay
- Milk or Lemon: Honey or lemon to taste
- Where to Buy: Amazon
Opening the packet, the fragrance coming from the dried tea is phenomenal. It’s citrus-led with notes of lime, grapefruit and freshly zested oranges. There’s also a touch of mint that gives it a highly refreshing vibe. No chamomile at this stage.
Once it has brewed into a golden yellow sunshine shade (slightly cloudy) it all goes downhill, unfortunately. All freshness is zapped out and instead it smells sweet and hay-like from the chamomile. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE chamomile tea, but it’s just not what I was expecting from a Chamomile Mint Citrus green tea.
As for the flavour, it’s not too bad but definitely not great. There’s no citrus flavour whatsoever, instead the chamomile and mint battle it out to take over the green tea base.
- Mint + green tea = bright, grassy, cool, refreshing.
- Chamomile + green tea = mellow, hay-like, warm, comforting.
- Mint + chamomile + green tea = oddly bright and warm, but neither in great strength.
The chamomile makes the green tea warm and hay-like, but the mint adds sweetness and brightness. It’s just a confused mess with a thick texture and slight tingle from the mint leaves.
Ultimately, I finished my cup of tea. The flavours are okay, they just aren’t harmonious. It’s drinkable, but it’s not satisfying. Compare this to your favourite green tea or herbal blend and you’ll see what I mean.
How to Brew Green Tea with Chamomile
Chamomile and mint typically do well with long, hot brews. But green tea requires a lower temperature and shorter brew to prevent scalding the leaves, so you’ll need to drop down to 80°C (or let the kettle cool for five minutes before pouring) for this blend.
Let your tea steep for two minutes and take a sip – you can brew for another minute or so if you like it stronger.
Add either lemon (brighten the flavour) or honey (soften and sweeten the flavour)if you need a little extra.
Vahdam state that this is a low caffeine tea, but if you’re super sensitive to caffeine then avoid drinking it in the evenings regardless. In my opinion, this is best as an early afternoon tea.
Why Buy Tea from Vahdam?
Vahdam is all about sourcing the finest ingredients and tea leaves from India, paying farmers fairly and enriching the tea growers’ community. They source their green tea leaves for the Chamomile Mint Citrus blend from the Himalayas and mix with chamomile flowers, lemongrass, orange peel, and peppermint leaves to create this tea. They don’t state where these flavour ingredients are sourced from.
The quality of the tea in the teabag isn’t great – the leaves are quite small pieces – but at least we have some whole chamomile buds in the mix. Clearly more citrus was needed from the lemongrass and orange peel, as it wasn’t present in the flavour whatsoever.
Vahdam sells this tea in pyramid sachet-style teabags (that’s what I’ve reviewed) or in loose leaf format. Judging from the pictures alone, the loose leaf tea seems to be higher quality so I definitely recommend trying that if you want to give this tea a go.
Summary
Ultimately, this tea wasn’t bad, it just has a few blatant flaws and an overall confused vibe about it. It needs more citrus – that would go some way to bringing all the ingredients together – so if you decide to buy this then definitely pop a slice of lemon or orange into your cup once it has brewed.
You can find both the teabag and loose leaf version on Amazon. Let me know how you get on in the comments below.
Tea Recommendation
If you want a tea that has a clear purpose, then I recommend you read about Whittard Dreamtime Tea next. It’s a herbal rooibos blend with chamomile, honey, apricot and a whole host of sleepy flavours to help you drift off.
