Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
My helper Kelley has been hounding me about making a Rumchata blend for a while, so I decided to finally give in. She also thinks we should do a Hobbit tribute tea called “Second Breakfast” but when I tell her that second breakfast should include bacon she shrieks at me that I’m a sick man. (You should know that whenever we blend the bacon teas, she whines about it for at least an hour after we’ve finished. In her defense, the bacon flavoring is VERY pungent when we first blend those and admittedly it’s not my favorite scent either.) In any event, I think she’s got a real winner here. This is a sort of spiced, creamy rum with elements of horchata, almonds, cinnamon and other spices and a sweet creamy finish. Honeybush seems a natural compliment to it. I think you guys are going to like it a lot.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
When I learned that 52Teas’ tea of the week for the week of December 9th was to be a Rumchata Honeybush blend, I was excited to try it! I haven’t tried Rumchata and I didn’t even know it was a real thing until the other day when I saw a bottle of it in the liquor section of my local grocery store. But, I LOVE horchata and the idea of horchata mixed with rum sounds pretty darned yummy to even this tea-totaler.
And it is yummy! When I first opened the package, the smell of rum is pretty strong, so I worried a little that this would taste all of rum and not so much horchata. But, there is a nice distribution of the flavoring here, I taste rum, but I also taste horchata … and actually, I might taste more horchata than I do rum.
The cinnamon notes are nice and warm, and the almond notes add a touch of sweetness as well as warmth. This blend doesn’t go overboard with the cinnamon. It’s a light touch of cinnamon. And there is a creamy, vanilla-y, rice-like note that I taste that mimics the horchata flavor.
The honeybush base is a nice choice for this blend, although I can’t help but think that a genmaicha blend would have worked even better. (The toasted rice flavor would have been just the thing to elevate the horchata flavor.) But I do like the nutty, sweet flavor of the honeybush here. It adds a nice backdrop for the flavors.
Overall, a really tasty honeybush blend. I drank my first cup of this straight up with no sweetener or other additions and it was delightful. I like it better, though, when I brew it strong (I add just a little extra leaf) and then add a light sprinkling of turbinado sugar (about a pinch worth of sugar) to accentuate the spices and just a splash of almond milk. The almond milk really does wonders for this blend. Rice milk might work well with this too!
