Giving Tree Tea - 2 Reviews

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Shel Silverstein book that shares a name with this beverage is about how humans are horrible needy beings that will ruin anything if it helps them to “progress.” In the book the boy takes and takes until there is nothing left, and even then he uses ole stumpy as a place to rest his weary body, when he hasn't been back in years to visit. At the same time the book seems to teach that feminine things should be happy to serve. I know it's a childhood favorite to a lot of people but looking at it as an adult that book is a crock.

While they may share names this beverage is of a different sort. They give in the form of vitamin c, calcium, potassium, iron, protein as well refreshment, but they also take your cash and make a profit, which they should. As an added bonus, Giving Tree Tea also donates a portion of each sale to provide healthy meals to people who are struggling with hunger. They should be the basis for a children's book. They give and they take, and they aren't a chump in doing so. Everyone is happy and they are making the world a better place. Sharing and giving are important, but so is your general wellbeing, and don't let a picture book from the 60's tell you any different.

Moringa is a light earthy tea that has some produce like notes in it. Sometimes I think they are fruitlike and other times it's almost like leafy greens. I'm going to go with the latter and say it's the sugar that makes me think of fruit. It's almost as if it's tea flavored water, except it is way healthier. I feel like I could down a gallon of this without blinking.

On Friday I had my first encounter with moringa. I came across it was at a vegan Caribbean restaurant in Toronto called Veggie D'Light and they had a “moringa loaf.” I had no idea what it was, but it was delicious. Now I'm sitting here in the summer heat sipping on a tea in the summer heat and it has entered my life yet again. It led me to looking up what it actually is, and it turns out it is a plant (duh) whose leaves have a ton of vitamins and minerals in them and are extremely healthy. You can brew it as a tea, such as this, or it is ground down into a powder, which is what I assume the restaurant used.

I read online that the tea tastes vegetal like greens, but I don't get that at all. It tastes like some variant of tea to me. In here it does taste a bit watered down, but not in a way that seems like they are skimping. It just tastes like a light tea, albeit slightly earthy. The peach flavoring is also fairly light, but very clearly there. You know, the way that things should be flavored, instead of beating you in the taste buds.

If the great taste of this tea wasn't enough for you, you can also feel like a good person buying it because for every bottle that is sold the company donates a “wholesome meal to people struggling with hunger.” That's a win-win folks. Now I want to head back up to Toronto and get another meal and pair it with this tea. Moringa overload.