Novus White Mulled Wine tea sounds special. And let me tell you, it is special. Novus very kindly sent me a few samples of this tea to try for the blog after the success of my Novus Egyptian Mint Tea Review. I loved testing out this one too.
In case you were wondering, no, this tea doesn’t contain any alcohol. Novus has carefully mastered the art of blending herbal and fruit tea ingredients to mimic the complex flavours of dry white wine. As a caffeine-free tea, you really can drink as much of this one as you want without worrying about staying up all night or a hangover the next day. Hurrah!
Novus White Wine Tea at a Glance
- Blend: Apple and grapes with a blend of citrus ingredients, ginger and spices
- Flavour: A smooth, mellow muscatel grape tea with floral and spice notes
This is a mellow tea that’s ideal for sipping in the bath! Notes of white wine work well with ginger and spices. The slick mouthfeel and drying aftertaste adds to that winey quality.
Full Review – Novus Mulled Christmas Tea
- Type: Loose leaf and tea sachet
- Ingredients: Apple pieces, grapes, cinnamon, white hibiscus, whole cardamom pods, rosehip peel, sliced almonds, ginger, citrus slices, liquorice, citrus peels, lemongrass, flavouring, cloves, sunflower petals
- Health Benefits: Boost immune system with nutrients and antioxidants
- Flavour Notes: Muscatel, grape, floral, spice medley, mellow, soothing, drying
- Aroma: Herbaceous, white wine, cardamom, lemongrass, citrus
- Milk or Lemon: Neither
- Where to Buy: Amazon or Novus Official Website
I have 3 packets to choose from; the loose leaf, the pyramid sachet pouch and the nicely displayed card pyramid sachet box. I ended up using both the loose leaf and sachet pyramid so that I could confirm for you that they are indeed the same.
The dry aroma is predominantly herbaceous with notes of cardamom, lemongrass and citrus peel. Interestingly, it does remind me of white wine. It has that similar sharp, dry quality in the aroma with a hint of fruitiness from the grapes.
It brews into a very light wine yellow colour. If I hadn’t timed it and checked the water temperature (details below) I would have worried that it hadn’t steeped at all.
Ginger and lemongrass radiate strongly from my brewed cup of tea. It’s incredibly refreshing and lovely just to inhale for a while. As for the flavour, it has muscatel notes that remind me of Darjeeling mixed with floral hints. A medley of spices and a distinct note of grapes come through to create an all-together soothing cup of tea.
Novus White Mulled Wine tea has a slick mouthfeel that becomes slightly drying in the aftertaste. It’s very pleasant and unusual. I love it!
How to Brew White Wine Tea
I brewed for 3 minutes at 95°C water. I wouldn’t brew for longer as it does get quite sharp, almost like it’s acidic. Don’t panic if the tea colour doesn’t deepen – it’s a naturally light-coloured tea.
This would go well with any kind of rich, sticky dessert. Hot fudge cake, sticky toffee pudding… all would be washed down perfectly with this tea.
Why Novus Award Winning Tea?
Novus is based not far from where I like in Essex, England. I love shopping locally and there’s just something so satisfying about buying tea that’s blended in the UK by a UK company.
The quality is exceptional. As I compared the loose leaf to the pyramids, I could very clearly see that it’s the same. You aren’t receiving smaller, more finely chopped tea pieces just because you opt for the more convenient sachet. I love that!
Grape Tea Health Benefits
I’ve focused on many tea ingredient health benefits before, including lemongrass, ginger and many other prominent ingredients in this tea. But grapes are completely new and quite rare as a tea ingredient as far as I can tell.
Grapes are full of vitamin K (healthy bone growth), antioxidants (various anti-aging properties) and melatonin (improves sleep quality). Health has a more in-depth article about the health benefits. To cut a long story short, we all should be consuming more grapes and Novus White Mulled Wine Tea is a great way to do that.
Summary
Yes, I highly recommend this tea. The slightly sweet, wine-like properties of this tea are always great. I do love the spiced, mulled effect in tea, but for this one it’s subtle enough that it isn’t necessarily festive! Try it for yourself.
Tea Recommendation
If mulled, spiced teas are your thing, head straight to my recent review of Adagio Yuletide Toddy for a verified delicious red wine-like fruit tea that goes very well with a dash of whiskey.