Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Davidson’s Organics
Tisane Description:
Rooibos (“red tea”) is harvested from shrubs grown in the high elevations of the cape regions of South Africa. Rooibos has a full-bodied, rounded character, a slight sweetness, and blends well with green tea, black tea, other herbs and spices. Enjoy this red tea based chai with just the right hint of sweetness and spices. Delicious with milk and sweetener. High in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, Rooibos is well-known for its numerous health benefits and calming effects. And it’s completely caffeine-free!
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’m writing this review, it’s rather late in the evening. A little too late to indulge in something caffeinated. Caffeine in tea doesn’t usually overstimulate me but, I am still cautious once it is past a certain hour, because I don’t want to take a chance that I’ll be kept up from drinking too much caffeine. So I decided to try one of my caffeine-free choices, and this Rooibos Spiced Chai is what I grabbed.
Hmm … it’s alright. Not the best rooibos chai blends that I’ve tried. I’m finding it to be just a wee bit thin, not just in body but also in spiced flavor. I taste cinnamon and cloves, but I didn’t taste any other spice notes, and I guess that’s because the ingredients only list cloves and cinnamon. I don’t really consider that to be a chai … but OK. For me to think “chai” I want some peppery spices, perhaps some black pepper or ginger. Some cardamom would be nice too.
But overall, it’s not a bad tasting rooibos chai. It has a nice, honey-esque flavor to it, and the nutty flavor of the rooibos seems to accentuate the warm spice notes of the cinnamon and the cloves. I like the way the earthiness of the spice plays with the natural earthiness of the rooibos. It’s a pleasant, warm and cozy type of blend, and I found it helped to calm and relax me, which is what I want this time of night.
I don’t know if I’d buy this again. It’s not something I’d put on my must have list nor would I make it a staple of my tea cupboard. But it’s tasty.
