Licorice Spice - Herbal Tea

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ingredients: licorice root, cinnamon, orange peel, star anise, sarsaparilla; natural flavors of vanilla, orange, clove, cardamom, and cinnamon

subjective analysis:
This tea (which, incidentally, was the first Stash Tea product I tasted) is amazing. Classified by Stash Tea as a "dessert tea," it's incredibly sweet, but amazingly, it contains no sugar: the sweetness of the tea comes from licorice root, which is fifty times sweeter than sugar cane. This tea is very deceptive, though, cause while most sweet things hit your tastebuds immediately, you can't really taste any sweetness at all in this tea until you're nearly finished swallowing your first sip; the sweetness comes on mainly as an aftertaste, and it hits the back of your throat and the underside of your tongue in waves of unobtrusive flavor. And yes, this awesome, "subtle, but intense" form of sweetness is caused by the licorice root (be sure to steep this tea for a long while, though - at least five minutes is good, while ten or more is my ideal). Truly a dessert tea, this tea would be best with desserts that have a nutty tone to them, such as hazelnuts, almonds, or walnuts, but trust me: I don't mind drinking it on any occasion! Rating: a hit!