Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Secret Garden Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Our secret, scrumptious blend. Perfect afternoon tea or as a digestif after a heavy meal.
Ingredients: Rooibos, safflower and rose petals, blackberry leaves, natural flavors
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
This – brewed – smells AMAZING. I am picking up on distinct vanilla notes. Creamy and luscious!
And it tastes delightful. I’ve never made any big secret about the fact that I’m not the biggest fan of rooibos. I’d much rather sip on camellia sinensis. But, when I shouldn’t be drinking caffeine (later in the evening) but I still want something “tea-ish,” rooibos is a good alternative.
To brew this tisane, I went with my go-to temperature for rooibos: 195°F and I steeped the tisane for 10 minutes. Because rooibos doesn’t have the high tannin content of camellia sinensis, you can steep it longer to get the most out of the flavor. I brewed this in my Breville tea maker, using 2 bamboo scoops of tisane to 500ml of water.
Now, most tea purveyors will tell you that you can (or should) use boiling water for rooibos, but I recommend dropping the temperature slightly. I find that when I steep rooibos with boiling water, the flavor becomes “funky.” It has a weird taste that I want to describe as “sour wood.” Like a tisane that was made out of steeped sour wood and sweetened with saccharine. I’m not a fan of sour wood (not that I’ve actually tasted it, so I guess I should say that I don’t think of myself as a fan of it) and I really don’t like saccharine. So, I did some experimentation, and I found that by lowering the steep temperature a little, the saccharine-y sour wood flavor goes away and then I experience rooibos as a sweet, nutty, slightly woodsy flavor that I much prefer to the saccharine sour wood.
I noticed the delightful vanilla fragrance immediately as I began to pour the liquid into my favorite teacup. And this has a delicious vanilla flavor. I taste light floral notes as well and hints of berry. And of course, I do get some notes of nut and honey from the rooibos.
It all comes together in a very delicious way. It’s smooth and creamy. The vanilla notes meld with the natural nutty flavors of the rooibos. The hints of berry tickle the tip of my tongue in the aftertaste.
It’s a very relaxing tisane, and it has a dessert-y taste to it, making this an ideal tisane to choose for after dinner. (A fat-free dessert substitute, perhaps?) It’s sweet but not too sweet.
I like this one best served hot. It doesn’t need any additions, it has a nice sweetness to it without adding anything. A splash of milk might be nice if you want to enhance the creaminess of it, but I found it to be really pleasant and creamy without the addition of dairy.
Tuk Tuk Chai Blend from Tay Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Tay Tea
Tisane Description:
This Thai inspired chai is bursting with flavor. Red vanilla rooibos tea provides the base for this infusion mixed with lemon grass, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I really love autumn and one of the main reasons for that is because as I’ve said before, hot tea just tastes better when it’s chilly outside. When that chill of autumn nips the air, it just feels better to hold a steaming cup of hot tea in my hand to warm me up. And no blend of tea does that better than a chai blend.
To brew this Tuk Tuk Chai from Tay Tea, I used my Kati Tumbler and measured out a heaping bamboo scoop of the tisane into the basket. I generally use some extra leaf when I’m brewing a chai blend because I like my chai blends strong. If I’m going to go latte with a chai, I add a scoop and a half of leaf, but since I didn’t want to go latte with this particular blend, I just used a heaping scoop. The rest of the parameters go like this: 195°F for 10 minutes. Remember, with rooibos, you can steep it extra long without worry that it will get bitter!
This chai blend has an interesting combination of flavors. The rooibos base has a honey-like flavor with earthy/nutty undertones and these flavors accentuate the earthiness of the spices in this blend nicely. The cinnamon, cardamom and ginger add a pleasant warmth that is well balanced. I’m tasting each of the spices without one overpowering the rest. The lemongrass adds a bright splash of flavor to the cup. And the vanilla softens the edges and adds a delectable sweet and creamy note.
It’s sweet and spicy, earthy and bright. It has a very satisfying warmth to it. It’s something that would be a nice, uplifting drink in the morning and a wonderfully cozy beverage for later at night. And because it’s naturally caffeine free, it’s something you can drink at any hour without worry that it will keep you up all night.
Lavender Cancer Fighting Tea from Georgia Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White & Green Teas & Rooibos
Where to Buy: Georgia Tea Company
Tea Description:
Our signature blend, designed to boost the immune system and helps fight cancer. Boosts interferon production to help the body fight off infection while going through chemotherapy. Contains high concentrations of Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). Made with only the best white, green and rooibos teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Lavender Cander Fighting Tea has a lot going on: it’s a white tea, a green tea, a rooibos and an herbal. So to brew it, I decided on a fairly low temperature (I went with 175°F) and steeped it for 3 minutes. I’m happy with the results!
This is tasty! It has a really lovely flavor! The lavender is strong enough to be a lingering presence throughout the sip, but it isn’t overpowering. Lavender is one of those flowers that when overdone, it imparts a soapy or perfume-y flavor to the tea. That didn’t happen here. The lavender is sweet and quite wonderful here, and I love the way it melds with the blueberry flavor. This is not a flavor combination I would have thought much about before trying this tea, but the fruit and the flower are quite compatible.
The tea has been nicely crafted, because I can taste each of the components and the way it has been blended, it would seem that the best of each ingredient is captured. It tastes quite nice. I get a sweet, nutty flavor from the rooibos without that sometimes funky, sour-wood kind of flavor. I taste a light freshness and lightly brothy texture from the green and white teas. I’m getting a lovely note of lavender and the blueberry is sweet and juicy. The currant adds just a hint of tartness to bring some balance to the cup.
The way the green and white tea come through with the floral notes of lavender and whispers of rose evokes thoughts of walking through a garden – the taste of the air as a gentle breeze carries the essences of the flowers and surrounds the garden with it’s soft perfume. It’s quite enjoyable.
This tea has been crafted to be help prevent cancer. Now, I’m not a doctor nor do I pretend to be or claim to have all the answers when it comes to tea’s health benefits and how it helps to fight cancer/prevent cancer. I don’t really even know if it does. I’ve heard that it does. I don’t drink tea because it’s a healthy drink, I drink it because I enjoy it. But, if these ingredients also offer me some health benefits, then why not drink something that is both tasty and healthy?
Oh Canada! Rooibos Blend from David’s Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos & Honeybush
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Tisane Description:
Looking for a taste of Canada? Try this red rooibos tea. It’s sweetened with (what else?) maple syrup and sprinkled with delicious maple leaf candies. Plus it’s 100% diplomatic (well, caffeine-free) and tastes great in both our official languages. With green rooibos, honeybush, caramel and toffee bits to shake things up. A truly authentic Canadian experience.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The brewed tisane smells scrumptious! It smells like a pancake breakfast and it’s making my mouth water!
To steep: I used my Kati Tumbler and added 1 1/2 bamboo scoops to the basket of the tumbler. Then I added 195°F water to the tumbler and allowed the tisane to steep for 10 minutes.
And it tastes a little bit like a pancake breakfast too. The nutty notes from the rooibos and honeybush add a “pancakey” like flavor to the rich maple-y notes of the flavoring. The toffee and caramel notes enhance the sweetness (this is a very sweet pancake breakfast, mmm-kay?)
But really, even though I’m getting notes of rooibos, honeybush, toffee and caramel, this tisane is really about the maple! Sweet, delicious maple. Not like the weird corn syrup with maple flavoring. This has a real maple-y flavor to it. It’s sweet and luscious!
If you’re a fan of maple, this is a tisane you should try. It has a very dessert-y quality (obviously) so it would make a tasty low-cal/non-fat substitute for dessert or a great treat for the sweet tooth late night craving! And it’s naturally caffeine free!
Gentle Slumber Organic Tisane from Good Life Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos & Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Good Life Tea
Tisane Description:
This blend of rooibos, chamomile and peppermint is powerful mix of herbs known for their calming effects. Chamomile is the ancient herb from the Roman empire and has been used to bring about restful sleep. You can actually see the chomomile flowers in the blend. Rooibos is a relative new arrival, only used in the last 200 years as a tisane. Grown only in the Cederberg, South Africa rooibos is naturally caffeine free, and is loaded with anti-oxidants, which prevent a many diseases. It is the reddish brown leaves in the mix. The last ingredient, Peppermint has a huge calming effect on the stomach as a digestive and gives this tea nice finish which lingers for a bit. Peppermint is the green leaves in the tisane.
Enjoy this tea to bring calmness to your day or just prior to bedtime. Because it contains no caffeine, its safe for children to enjoy. Create a nice evening ritual with this herbal tea.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I know that I’ve often said that I’m not a big fan of rooibos and I’m also not a big fan of chamomile. Oh, I like both of these herbs alright. I’m just not wild about them and I can think of other herbs I like much better.
Like peppermint. I like peppermint. And what makes this Organic Gentle Slumber so tasty IS the peppermint. The peppermint is the strongest flavor in the cup, so I can drink this tisane without tasting too much chamomile or rooibos. Bonus!
But even though the peppermint is strong here, it isn’t an overpowering flavor. There is some nutty flavors in the background. A touch of honey like flavor. A whisper of floral tones in the distance. And these flavors add a little bit of dimension to the cup so that it’s not all about the zesty peppermint.
And even though the peppermint is zesty, overall, I find the tisane to be soothing and quite relaxing to sip. It’s a comforting drink to enjoy before bedtime and the chamomile and rooibos are both known for their calming properties.
A great choice to inspire a good night’s sleep!
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