Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Art of Tea
Tisane Description:
Sweet enticing chocolate swimming in a deep velvety base of organic rooibos and refreshing mint leaves. The perfect answer to a dessert tea. The finish is smooth, complimented by a touch of vanilla.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Hmmm … not bad. Not my favorite rooibos blend, and not my favorite tea from Art of Tea, but this Velvet Tea Rooibos Blend makes an enjoyable cuppa. My biggest complaint with it at this point is the name, because while I can see the “Velvet” part of the tisane, at the top of the page on the Art of Tea website, on the index tab thingy, this tea is called “Red Velvet Tea.” I can even *understand* why it would be called that since it’s a rooibos blend (which is also known as “red tea”) and the chocolate-y notes are kind of velvet-y, however, the name “Red Velvet” conjures up too many thoughts of red velvet cupcakes, and this does not taste like red velvet cupcakes.
But that doesn’t mean that it’s not tasty.
It is chocolate-y (although the chocoholic in me does want more chocolate), and there is a nice minty note to this. The mint is cool and crisp and it gives the overall cup a delicious taste that is reminiscent to an after dinner mint. A nice dessert tisane.
I can also taste the apple in this, and it adds a little bit of sweetness to the cup without messing up the balance between chocolate and mint. The rooibos flavor is not very distinct, but that’s just fine with me. I taste vague “nutty” tones to the cup but I find that these seem to enhance the chocolate nicely, giving the cup some depth.
It’s a nice cup, tasty for later in the evening when you want something sweet to curb those cravings, and this won’t ruin your diet. (Yeah, I hate that word too.) It’s good, and I’d drink it again.
OYGFIB? (Orange You Glad Frank Is Bananas?) Rooibos Blend from 52Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tisane Description:
Orange you glad Frank is bananas? It’s true, I might be a little crazy. That twinkle in my eyes could very well be the sun shining in through my ears. But hey, my insanity might just be a great gift to the tea-drinking world. Like this week, in which I’ve created this awesome blend of caffeine-free African Rooibos with freeze-dried oranges and bananas and organic flavors. It’s a lip-smacking, tongue-tickling, tangy sweet treat. So again, I’ll ask, orange you glad Frank is bananas? Get yours today.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This OYGFIB? (which translates into Orange You Glad Frank is Bananas?) Rooibos Blend from 52Teas tastes a lot like a smoothie. A warm smoothie, since I’m drinking it hot, but, the flavors of orange and banana together really remind me of a smoothie.
When I poured my first cup of this tisane, I could smell the distinct aroma of the woody rooibos. Since I’m not a big fan of the taste of rooibos, that scent worried me a little bit, but, the first sip changed my mind. This is tasty.
The bright citrus-y notes of orange are what I taste first. It is sweet and tangy, but not too tart. The banana is a little less distinguished. I can taste another fruit in this, but I can’t say that it tastes definitely like banana. When I take a casual sip, it tastes like orange blended with a nondescript, bland fruit that lends a little bit of creaminess to the cup. Not a bad taste … but again, I can’t say that it tastes like banana.
But when I slurp the tisane, then the banana comes through more distinctly. With the aeration of the slurp, I notice a pleasing balance between banana and orange. Sweet, and yes … still a little creamy, and tangy. Fruity!
It’s an enjoyable tisane. Not my favorite from 52Teas, but I like it and I’d happily drink it again.
Passion Fruit Flavored Rooibos Blend from Octavia Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Octavia Tea
Tisane Description:
Lemon myrtle is more lemony than a lemon itself. If you didn’t know that already, this tea will show you! The citrus hits you, mingles with the tropical fruit and continues to linger. The hibiscus plays its part in adding beautiful colour and a tartness that tones down the sweetness of the tropical fruit, creating a more true fruit flavour.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of this Passion Fruit Flavored Rooibos Blend from Octavia Tea really blew me away! It smells AMAZING! The combination of the passion fruit, peach and mango essences, together with the notes of citrus from the lemon myrtle … create a really ambrosial fragrance that … knocked my socks off!
OK … so my socks are still on, but you get what I’m saying, right?
And … I’m loving what I’m tasting here too. This is really yummy. But … for the purists out there who think that tea should taste like tea and not like a sweet, fruity drink … this tisane is NOT for you! This is a sweet, fruity drink!
In fact, one of the things I like best about it is that I’m not tasting much of the rooibos base. As I’ve said on numerous occasions, I’m not a big fan of the woodsy tasting herb. Here, just hints of the nutty, honeyed taste of rooibos comes through.
And I’m also happy to say that even though I steeped this for seven minutes, I didn’t get a heavy hibiscus note … nor did I get that heavy syrupy thickness that comes with steeping hibiscus a long time. The hibiscus here has been thoughtfully blended … adding just enough to give the cup just a touch of tart flavor without overpowering the blend.
The lemon-y notes from the lemon myrtle is bright and flavorful, and it really perks up the other fruit notes. The passion fruit, the peach and the mango … make delightful partners in this blend … so sweet and juicy!
This is a tisane that kids would love because it has a lot of sweet, fruity flavor. And it would certainly be better for them than that sugar-y soda … not only would it be less sugar, but rooibos have some great health benefits, as does hibiscus. And I love that the ingredients in this tisane are organic, too!
A really tasty tisane! This one gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me.
Loose Leaf Red Chai Rooibos Blend from Chico Chai
Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Chico Chai
Chai Description:
African Red Tea (Rooibos) and exotic organic spices are hand-blended to create this naturally caffeine-free herbal chai. Blended in small batches, by hand in Chico, California. Only Organic Ingredients and Fair Trade Organic teas are used to make Chico Chai.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
This Loose Leaf Red Chai Rooibos Blend from Chico Chai is a really pleasing rooibos chai! What I’m really liking about this is that the base tastes very mild, allowing the spices to come through in a really warm and delicious way.
The first flavor I notice immediately is a licorice-y taste – Anise! Then notes of cinnamon and a slight peppery note come through. The other spices are more difficult to pick out … because they’ve melded together to offer a very unified sort of “spiced” taste. I like that … I like it when a chai just tastes “spicy” without it tasting like too much of one spice or another. There is a really enjoyable balance here.
Another thing that I’m LOVING about this rooibos chai is this creamy note that I taste just beneath the spices. The creaminess is something that I can’t ever recall tasting with other rooibos chai blends … and that’s what is setting this apart. That creamy note gives this an almost “latte” sort of taste without the milk, and it softens the edges of the spices too.
This tastes warm and cozy – like a big, comfortable blanket that keeps you warm when the weather’s cold outside. It’s the kind of flavor that you want to curl up to in front of a fire. It tastes sweet and spicy without any sweetener, but as with most other chai blends, I do prefer this with just a little bit of sweetener (I went with organic turbinado sugar!) – sweetener helps bring out the flavor of the spices just a bit, and I like how the sugar and spice create a cup that’s nice. (OK, a silly little rhyme, but I couldn’t resist it … sorry.)
A really awesome rooibos chai – and that’s coming from someone who is less than enthused about rooibos blends in general. This is something I’d happily drink daily!
Vanilla Coconut Black Tea Blend from Octavia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black Tea & Rooibos
Where to Buy: Octavia Tea
Tea Description:
As if the individual ingredients weren’t tasty enough on their own… brought all together, this blend delivers YUM in spades. The apple does well in this blend and the red rooibos base stands its ground. You’ll probably want to make a whole pot of this one.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
My monthly tea tasting box from Amoda Tea arrived a couple of days ago, and this Vanilla Coconut Black Tea Blend from Octavia Tea is the first tea that I’ve tried from it. This month, Amoda Tea has selected Octavia Tea as their tea company of the month.
And this is Vanilla Coconut tea is really YUM! The black tea base is fairly mild – there’s not an aggressive black tea taste here. The rooibos adds some lightness to the overall cup too, I think, so we get an earthy, slightly woody background of flavor that is a bit on the lighter side. The base does more to complement the flavors of vanilla, coconut and chocolate (YES, chocolate!) than stand on its own in this cup. Everything seems to meld together to create an enjoyable union of tastes.
The vanilla is what I notice most prominently. It is sweet and creamy and adds a certain decadent quality to the cup. Then I notice the delectable flavor of the coconut. The coconut is not quite as strong a flavor as I think it should be, given that this tea is called “Vanilla Coconut” but, I do like the accent of coconut flavor here, and I find that more coconut notes come through if I slurp the tea. It might not sound like a very well-mannered thing to do – slurping the tea – but it certainly does enhance the flavor, and since i’m sitting here by myself at the moment, I’m going to slurp!
The chocolate is a soft flavor but, I like how it seems to accentuate the flavor of the black tea. These two flavors are very synergistic, they seem to play off each other very well … each flavor benefiting from the presence of the other.
And then we have the apple bits. Usually, the apple bits do more to increase the visual appeal of the blend than really add a whole lot of flavor to the cup, but, as the tea cools and as I reach the end of my cup, I am starting to pick up on hints of apple-y flavor. The apple adds a little bit of contrast for the palate, a slight sweet-tart taste that’s very enjoyable.
This isn’t the first tea I’ve tried from Octavia, but, it’s nice to be sampling their teas again! Thanks to Amoda Tea for making Octavia Tea the focus of your tea box this month!
And speaking of Amoda Tea, they have made some changes to their box which became effective this month. The first thing that I noticed – the box is a little smaller. (The boxes are super cool, they’re flat (maybe 3/4 of an inch?) and they’re about 10″ long, and about 4″ wide.) The samples are also smaller – just enough for a pot of tea. And with the smaller sizes came a smaller price. I’m really thrilled with the changes that Amoda has made to their monthly box!