08.29.08
Product Review: sen cha green tea mints
posted by Regena Rafelson | 5 comments
Since I gave up drinking coffee some eighteen months ago, my need for breath mints has been eliminated. Tea drinking simply does not give rise to Dragon Breath, that fearsome halitosis that can incapacitate victims up to ten feet away. Coffee drinkers who smoke have been known to disable a charging black rhinoceros at twenty yards, but I digress.
Vacationing on the Long Beach peninsula in southern Washington state requires at least one trip to Jack’s
Country Store in Ocean Park. This store has everything, and a thriving mail-order business to boot. One of the more endearing features is a large display of glass jars, filled with an assortment of small things, from lollypops to butane lighters. These jars are conveniently located near the cash register, where your home supermarket might display tabloids. These jars contain stuff you probably can’t live without.
In front of one of these jars was a hand-lettered sign: GREEN TEA MINTS. Each little envelope, priced at $.29, contains “3 loose leaf mints.” I could have lived without sampling these, but then I would not be doing my duty by T Ching to explore all things tea. The tiny package (1.3 grams) goes on to claim “fresh Breath Therapy in lively lemongrass.”
The mints are leaf-shaped and light green in color. The ingredients are a blend of organic green tea extract, organic lemongrass, fresh ginger root, natural flavors, Lo Han Guo (?) and sorbitol, xylitol and calcium stearate. You can taste the ginger and the lemongrass - a refreshing departure from the membrane-burning peppermint or cinnamon overkill of most breath mints. The packaging is attractive, and makes clear, “Also available - 1 oz (28 grams) Retail Units.”
These are also available in “Delicate Pear” and “Original” flavors. Each uses a blend of organic ingredients, as well as sorbitol, and xylitol. So, the consumer can indulge in the mints without ingesting empty sugar calories. Three mints offer the equivalent of a cup of green tea. My favorite would have to be the Lively Lemongrass.
Perfect for your purse, glove box, or desk drawer, Sen Cha green tea mints offer you a defense when you have been indulging in garlic butter French fries, or to offer to co-workers who get a little too close when they tell you the latest office joke.
Image 1 is courtesy of SenchaNaturals
August 29th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Thanks for the review, Regena. I tried them and found them tasty and refreshing.
I also checked out Jack’s online. What a cool place. They really do have everything.
Luo Han Guo is a fruit grown in China that has been used medicinally for hundreds of years for lung yin deficiency (coughs, sore throat, inflammation). The leaves are also used to treat similar problems. More recently it is being put to service as a alternative sweetener.
Love the breath check photo!
August 30th, 2008 at 12:13 am
I have some samples of these; love the packaging. I’d like to hear anyone with a shop’s experience in the sales turns as we have not added them yet but are also interested in those bars reviewed here.
September 1st, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Regena, I am getting a sample this week of a Rooibos ‘granola type’ bar from a small co. in Los Angeles. It is made with Rooibos, fruit, pure agave nectar and oats (I believe). If you would like to find out more, I can give you a link to the company so you could possibly review it.
September 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Regena,
The health food store located just down the street from my home has this product on the counter (only in the large tin style, not the individual easy to carry at least for us guys small single serving one) but your posting has now tempted me to try them next time I’m in the store. I think, like you, that the lemongrass might be the best to start with so I’ll let you know after I purchase some. Thanks for the info.
Peace
Fr. Patrick
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:28 am
Interesting article I’ve been debating whether to stock these bad boys myself.