When looking for something new to try back before Christmas that was caffeine free, I ran across Indigo Punch from Harney & Sons. The photo on their website was as appealing as the description of the blend. Put a purple tea in front of me and it’s quite doubtful that I’ll resist it.
This tea is a blend of butterfly pea flower, fragrant apple pieces and rosehips, bright lemongrass, lemon peel, and vivid raspberry. A natural honey flavour has also been included in the blend, but that didn’t stop me from adding more honey to my cup of tea. While I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d like the butterfly pea flower flavour, as I’d never had it before, I shouldn’t have been concerned. This blend is absolutely wonderful! I greatly enjoyed this tea on many levels. Visually it was appealing with its purple colour, the aroma that wafts upwards when you take the lid off the tin is wonderful, and the flavour is perfect.
Curiosity got the better of me, so I had to look up information on the butterfly pea flower. Seems it has been used to treat several ailments down through the years that include, but are probably not limited to, general pain, the reduction of inflammation, common eye issues such as conjunctivitis, to fight against certain types of cancers, and stimulate brain health. Because it contains a lot of antioxidants, it helps the body fight free radicals that can cause premature aging and are toxic to our system. That means that this tea could be used as an aid to detox the body.
The other thing I learned about this flower is that it has the ability to change colours depending on the pH. It will also change colour depending on how it’s prepared. If you add lemon juice to tea made from blue butterfly pea flowers it will change the colour from blue to purple. Since this blend has lemon peel I’m guessing that’s why it turned out to be such a lovely purple colour.
If I were to offer any criticism at all it would be with regards to packaging. While the label graphics are interesting, I must admit to having a bit of a shock when I opened the tin. It was only half full! What happened?! I’m used to ordering Harney’s 4 oz. tins and they’re always full, but this 4 oz. tin only contains 2 oz. of tea, which is exactly what I ordered and what’s stated on the label. It seems that enough time had elapsed between the time I ordered the tea and the time I actually opened it that I’d forgotten it was less than the usual 4 oz. So, if you order this tea don’t think you’ve been gypped when you find your tin isn’t full. Given how popular this blend appears to be based on the comments on Harney’s website, I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t ditch the 2 oz. tin and replace it with a 4 oz. Of course, the most economical thing to do as the consumer would be to buy the one pound bag. That might be just what I do once this tin runs out. I can then refill the tin from the one pound bag and take it downstairs to enjoy while the remainder of the pound bag stays upstairs to enjoy. Once my girls try it though I get the feeling that some of that pound bag will have to go home with them as well. Might ought to just order two one pound bags to be on the safe side.
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Photo Credit: Harney & Sons
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