Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Tisane Description:
Brace yourself. This tea has got a serious citrus kick that gets you in a good way. Lemon and lime together is an experience your taste buds will enjoy. The aroma of the tea is subtly sweet, woodsy with a nice lemon cream. The first sip is soft lemongrass with a lingering lime twist and hints of the natural sweetness of the rooibos.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
There are a few things that I do as I prepare to write a review. Probably the most obvious thing is that I brew myself a cup of tea – or tisane, as is the case with this Rooibos Kalahari Tisane from Tea Affair. I examine the dry leaf, smell it, and brew it .. sometimes according to package instructions, and sometimes according to what I think would work best for me.
For example, when given an Assam tea, typically I see 5 minutes as the ideal steep time. However, over the course of the many years that I’ve been drinking tea (more than I want to admit to!) I’ve learned that 5 minutes for most Assam teas is just too long and produces a bitter cup of tea. So, with most of the teas that I brew, I go with my best judgment and seldom does it let me down.
I also go to the website and check out the information that the tea purveyor provides on the tea I’m going to write about. Information like ingredients and where you, the reader, can buy the tea if they’re intrigued by it. However, when I went to the Tea Affair website to find information on this tisane, I came up empty handed. This tisane doesn’t appear to be available on the website. So, I shot out an email to Amoda Tea to ask them about it. They got back to me quickly.
Amoda Tea is GREAT when it comes to customer service, which is one of the main reasons why I’m still subscribing to this service. Well, that, and the fact that I get the opportunity to try new-to-me teas, and some are from new-to-me companies. I love that.
According to Amoda Tea, Tea Affair is a wholesale tea company … so this isn’t a tea that you – my readers – can buy. So, if you’re interested in this tea, please contact Amoda Tea about it!
In the meantime, let me tell you a little bit about this tisane!
Tasty! The citrus notes here are strong – much stronger than I would typically experience with just lemongrass, which suggests to me that the “natural flavors” here include lemon and lime flavors. There is a creamy element to this cup as well which could be from the lemongrass, as I often experience a somewhat buttery note from lemongrass.
I am enjoying the way the earthy notes of the rooibos (a little bit woody with a slightly sweet, nutty tone) contrast with the bright citrusy flavors. It’s a very refreshing beverage and tastes good iced, but is also quite the soothing cuppa when served hot.
Overall, an enjoyable rooibos blend. Not my favorite caffeine free selection that I’ve gotten from Amoda Tea, but, I liked it alright, and it was interesting to learn a little bit more about Tea Affair – a company that I hadn’t heard of before this experience began.
Vanilla Rooibos Herbal Tisane from Tea People
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tisane Description:
Dubbed ‘Rooibos’ meaning ‘red bush’ by the speakers of the Dutch Afrikaans language, this “tea” is only produced in South Africa. This one is from Cederberg mountains in South Africa, the home of rooibos where it is grown at an altitude of 1500 – 2500 ft.
Don’t be fooled by the name, the plant itself is green but the leaves turn red after processing. This flavourful relaxing tea has a creamy vanilla scent and is caffeine free, perfect as a nightcap, or any time of the day!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This Vanilla Rooibos Herbal Tisane from Tea People has a really yummy vanilla flavor, and it has a wonderful creamy texture too – something that’s a little unusual when it comes to rooibos blends!
I tend to find most rooibos blends to be a little “thin” in texture, but I’m not experiencing that with this blend. It has a nice creaminess to it that complements the creamy, sweet vanilla flavor.
The naturally sweet, nutty flavor of the rooibos melds nicely with the vanilla notes, and there is a hint of almond to this cup as well. The flavors marry very well together to create a decadent sweet treat that would make a tasty dessert substitution (with far fewer calories and no fat!) This is the kind of tisane I like to curl up to late at night – it’s cozy, it’s comforting and it’s very yummy!
Currently, the fine people at Tea People are hosting a campaign on indiegogo to help the tea garden workers of Darjeeling and their families. I hope you’ll consider donating to this very worthy cause!
Rooibos Chocolate Banana Tisane from Tea of Life
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Tisane Description:
South African Red Bush or Rooibos Tea is a pure and natural herbal blend. Freshly harvested and finely chopped rooibos goes through a process of oxidation with the aid of the oxygen from the atmosphere and subsequently dried int he sun to produce a deep mahogany red cup of which is one of the most popular and healthy herbal drinks today.
“Tea of Life” is proud to introduce five New Naturally Caffeine Free Rooibos Teas combined with Dark Chocolate with delicious natural fruit and mint flavors for your enjoyment – all day and into the evening.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! I usually enjoy banana flavored teas and tisanes, and being a chocoholic, I’m never one to turn down something chocolate – so I went into the experience with this Rooibos Chocolate Banana Tisane from Tea of Life pretty certain that I’d enjoy it. Even though I’m not always excited about rooibos blends, I thought that the nutty/woodsy notes of the rooibos would meld nicely with the dark chocolate and banana flavors, so I wasn’t too worried or apprehensive about trying this tisane.
What really makes this tisane a winner is the dark chocolate flavor. It is a really rich and wonderful chocolate note. It isn’t a bittersweet chocolate taste – perhaps the sweetness from the banana as well as the natural sweet notes from the rooibos help to soften the chocolate. But I like that even though some of the bitter notes have been subdued, the chocolate is still the main flavor I taste here.
The banana is sweet and it has a really interesting flavor that falls somewhere in between true banana flavor and banana flavored candy. It’s not quite banana runts, but it’s not pure banana either. It tastes more like a banana that’s been roasted in the oven with dark chocolate morsels. The dark chocolate is melted and drizzling over the banana that is becoming sweeter from the heat. A slightly caramelized banana … dipped in dark chocolate. And as far as I’m concerned, that’s the best way for a banana to taste.
The woodsy notes of the rooibos are there, but they seem to play a background note to the foreground of chocolate and banana. And that’s quite alright with me.
This is really tasty!
Spice Dragon Red Chai Herbal Tea from Stash Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Stash Tea
Tisane Description:
Rooibos, an antioxidant-rich herb also known as red tea, combines with clove, ginger root and sweet cinnamon to create a unique, caffeine-free sweet and spicy chai.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This Spice Dragon Red Chai Herbal Tea from Stash Tea is another gift that I received over the holidays. It was one that I hadn’t yet tried from Stash, so I was happy to have the opportunity to give it a try.
I steeped this the way I would usually steep a rooibos tisane: using 195°F water and steeping for 10 minutes. With rooibos, if I use boiling water and attempt to steep that long, I get a sort of sour wood like flavor that I don’t find agreeable. But I found by lowering the temperature slightly, I can steep the tisane for 10 minutes to get a whole lot of flavor out of the blend, and not get that weird sour wood taste.
And this isn’t too bad. It’s strongly spiced with cinnamon, and there is some ginger and clove to this too. I find myself missing cardamom here, because I think that it might offer a more well-rounded spice note, but, as it is, it’s tasty.
I taste mostly cinnamon, and it’s a sweet cinnamon – not that red-hot cinnamon candy type of cinnamon. This is a sweeter cinnamon taste. The clove adds a warmth to the cup, but I don’t taste a lot of ginger. Maybe a little more ginger would add a zesty, spicy edge to the cup.
I don’t taste a lot of rooibos flavor here. I do taste a nutty/earthy sort of flavor that I attribute to the rooibos. This nutty taste marries seamlessly with the cinnamon.
This is kind of a “one-note” type of tisane. I taste cinnamon, and a background of clove and hints of nutty rooibos. Every once in a while I detect the peppery note of ginger. But, it isn’t as complex as other rooibos chai blends I’ve tasted. It has less spicy kick to it than some rooibos blends out there. Tasty, but not the best rooibos chai I’ve ever tasted.
Rooibos Peach Tea from Nuovo Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Nuovo Tea
Tisane Description:
Fragrant, juicy and fruit floral is the best way to describe this peachy flavored rooibos.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This Rooibos Peach Tea from Nuovo Tea is a very flavorful tea, indeed! Lots of juicy peach flavor with hints of nutty, honeyed sweetness.
But before I start talking about the tisane, I have to talk about the packaging from Nuovo! I love the “stacking” tin concept! There are three tins, and they all connect one on top of the other, with the top tin serving as a lid for the middle tin, and the middle tin serving as a lid for the bottom tin. Very cool and a really great space saving idea for those of us who have more tea than they do places to put it!
Today, I’m sipping on the tea that is in the middle chamber: Rooibos Peach! As I eluded to earlier, it is loaded with peach flavor! And the peach tastes sweet and juicy – just like biting into a fresh, ripe peach! Mmm! And while I’m not always crazy about the flavor of rooibos, here that nutty sweetness seems to play well to the flavor of the peach. It brings a slightly honey-esque tone, and a hint of a woody flavor in the distance.
This is tasty served hot, but, its even better when it cools. I drank about half of my cup, walked away for about fifteen minutes because I got busy doing something else (housework, ugh!!!) and then I returned to my cup to find it had become almost “cold.” I took a sip and found out that it’s even tastier like that! This makes a great caffeine-free (and sugar free!) alternative to sodas and soft drinks for your kids. This is the kind of drink that you can feel good about giving to your children!