Cup of tea Dr Stuart? (Dr Stuart's Detox Tea)

Member Name: JJJJ

Product:	Dr Stuart's Detox Tea
Date:	09/10/08 (538 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Claimed health benefits

Disadvantages: The taste...

Dr Stuart's - Extraordinarily good teas - or are they...

For those of you who have read a few of my reviews, you'll realise that i'm the sort of person who seeks out food and drink which is said to be good for the body. Usually this is to done so I can feel better about myself after a week of eating junk food and general overindulgence.

Unfortunately, quite a few of the food and drink products which are marketed as being beneficial to the body and mind can taste quite nasty. Therefore, when seeing 'Dr Stuart's Detox Tea' in my local 'Holland and Barratt', I decided to give it a go and hope for the best.

The box is beautifully designed and minimalist. Each tea-bag is individually wrapped in a white sealed envelope - the product reaks of quality as well as potential herbal nastiness.

There are 20 'naturally caffeine free' tea-bags in each packet, and the cost of £1.99 seems a reasonable price to pay.

According to the text on the box, Dr Stuart claims to be a practising medical herbalist who has been making botanical based teas with health-giving properties for more than 20 years.

Well Dr Stuart - if you really exist, I hope your product tastes great after this positive build up that i've given it.

The claim is for a "cleansing herbal infusion with dandelion root, burdock root, peppermint and spearmint to help detoxify the body".
A closer inspection of the ingredients also shows that the product contains Artichoke, Milk-thistle, Sage and Ginger, which does indeed sound like a potent mix!

The blurb on the box's label suggests a brewing time of four to five minutes for each cup - this is apparently the time needed to release all of the valuable 'essential oils' into the water. I initially thought that this seemed like a long brew, but I decided 'what the hell', and went for it.

There are also instructions for Dr Stewarts iced tea, which is made by brewing six tea-bags in one cup, and then adding two honey sweetened cups of chilled mineral water to the mix. Possibly one for the summer then, but probably not my cup of tea - if you'll pardon the pun.

So here goes... The taste test.

I took a sip of what is marketed as being the "most aromatic, flavourful and benificial tea possible" and was ultimately quite shocked... pond-water would be this products better tasting brother.

The first wave of flavour is spicy with licquorice overtones - only mildly unpleasant so far, wheras the aftertaste is bitter and lingering - I almost wanted to rinse my mouth out with water.

Yuk.

I suppose if it tastes this bad then it must be good for you... or maybe it just tastes bad.

Anyway, i've got nineteen more tea-bag to use up, and i'm feeling brave - so i'm going to stick it out and stay the course.

On the whole I couldn't recommend this product to anyone, due to its unpleasant nature - however, the beneficial ingredients may well have done me some good. I may well wake up tomorrow with a set of superpowers, who knows.

If you're a sucker for punishment, or have a nasty taste fetish, then give these a go - you may actually be pleasantly surprised.

Never judge a book (or box of tea) by its cover.

Summary: Botanical Nastyness