Starwest Botanicals Organic Dried Licorice Root - Herb for Loose Leaf Tea Blends, Candy, & Baked Goods, Cut & Sifted, Certified Kosher, Non-GMO - Bulk 1 lb Bag

This stuff is so good. The cut is pretty small, the pieces are about the size of a piece of short-grain rice or smaller. What's awesome about this though is the sheer potency of the root. I use just a teaspoon of the stuff, boil it for 10 minutes to make tea, and it's super sweet and strong. I only had whole licorice root from a local shop that I had to cut up myself prior to this, and it was nowhere near as strong as Starwest's product. Apart from that, the bag is resealable which is great, and you get a TON of product for pretty much by far the lowest price I've seen anywhere. Licorice root has been used for thousands of years, and is perhaps one of if not the most commonly-used ingredient in Traditional Chinese Medicine herbal recipes. It's supposed to help heal the adrenal glands, and upon some googling, I found it actually does stimulate the production of aldosterone in the kidneys/adrenals. This stuff is just awesome for any tea or herb enthusiast, and forms the foundation of frankly the majority of useful herbal concoctions.

With all of the herbs and supplements I use, I make sure I thoroughly research to find the cleanest product possible. I’ve purchased several things from Star West and all have been excellent. Solid quality and good value. I use this tea for its antiviral properties. It has a great taste, and a sweet flavor that doesn't require adding anything else to it.

I decided to try this because licorice root is very soothing to the mucous membranes of the digestive tract, helping to support and repair the protective lining of the stomach and intestines, and maintaining the those barriers against excess stomach acid. I also love the taste of licorice. When it arrived, I started out with the idea of chewing a wad of these roots. At first I was not impressed because I had hoped it would taste more like candy licorice. Instead it tasted a bit earthy (in a good way), but little licorice flavor. Then I discovered there is a nice (very mild) after-taste of licorice that lasted quite a while. But, what I really love is making licorice tea with it. I have some small cotton bags to use for brewing "loose" tea that I used for this. Again, the flavor was a bit earthy at first, but a wonderfull after-taste of mild licorice that lasts. I got into the habit of refilling the cup with water at room temp and just letting it sit with the bag of roots in it. The small bag of roots lasted many days of refills giving me lots of pleasure as I continued sipping at the refills throughout the days. I was beginning to wonder if the roots would ever be drained of flavor, but they were after mayby 10 refills. Also, I did seem to feel like I had a calmer tummy, though that is just a subjective feeling.

smells really earthy but the taste is sweet and subtle

I started drinking this tea to raise my BP and improve digestion and liver function. I had no idea it would be so delicious. If you love the taste of licorice, this is for you. It also has the perfect natural sweetness, which was really unexpected. Love it. And what a good price for the quantity and quality.

I didn't know this product was from Egypt, that may have swayed me against this brand. I was hoping the picture would be an accurate representation of the grind of the root but the grind seems much finer than what is pictured. I also found what seemed to be a small piece of hard plastic or glass. It was small but I like to chew the root instead of making tea so if I hadn't seen that small particle it could have really hurt my mouth. The root has good flavor and would be perfect for someone wanting to make licorice root tea. **Update** I have found more particles (small rocks) in the bag. I guess some rocks got in the grinder and were ground up with the licorice root. Again, the root has a good flavor and this is currently the best price for licorice root that I've found. I guess a few small rock shards wouldn't disturb tea brewing but if your looking to chew on the root pieces like I do, look out for the shards.

I am always pleased with the products I purchase from this company. Always fresh and fit descriptions given. The prices are always good.

This is excellent tea! It is difficult to find plain licorice tea. Most have all sorts of other spices added. This one is plain, organic licorice. nothing added. I previously purchased Chopped Licorice-4oz-Ideal Licorice Cut for Licorice Tea which was good, but a bit "chunky" - although it still had a good flavor. This one looked similar, but the picture is fortunately misleading! The actual material is more shredded than shown in the current amazon picture (which looks more like sliced logs!) I've attached the picture of the tea I received - it is clearly smaller (thus more surface area = more flavor!). If you like licorice, you will enjoy this tea. An excellent buy. I am always apprehensive about buying something with zero stars... buy every product starts somewhere! I hope amazon continues to carry this one. .