When I first brewed this tea, it turned a gorgeous dark blue color, the color of dusk. This made it fun to drink, like I was truly drinking a potion. The second time brewing it however, the tea had a blue tint, and a purply yellow, almost gray color. I must have gotten more Butterfly Pea flowers in the first batch. This Tea smells amazing, I am half tempted to throw some on some charcoal briquettes and see if It’d burn as incense. The tea pieces themselves are pretty and look like potpourri. This tea smells like Yuletide, it smells like you are baking every Christmas cookie you could ever think of. Its warm and cozy smell and taste makes it a great tea for the Solstice and for the December and January Full Moons. It is sweet and molassesy and very spicy. You really taste the ginger and the star anise. The star anise makes this tea very licorice forward, but in a warm, rich, woody way, not in the licorice root way of tasting bitter sweet like artificial sweetener. Those who hate licorice may actually like this tea. The tea has the vibe of old recipes, classic and historic flavors of spice breads and fruitcakes. This tea is very comforting, relaxing and invigorating. I enjoyed this tea so much I researched Star Anise’s medicinal properties. I was worried that it had the same contraindications as licorice root. It does not. In fact it has a lot of helpful uses. This was exciting to find out. This tea is better hot than cold. Cold it tasted like weak, diluted, Jägermeister.