So I just have to say, when you’re sweet tooth is crying out for a treat…THIS. TEA. IS. AWESOME!!
DAVIDsTEA offers plenty of dessert flavors from Red Velvet Cake to Birthday Cake to Lime Gelato to Banana Nut Bread and the list goes on and on. They all capture their namesakes to varying degrees though none quite mimic the flavor of their inspiration quite like Cotton Candy.
This tea tastes as if someone just melted down cotton candy in my mug, which in theory should basically taste like someone tossed a bunch of sugar in the cup but this is so much more than that. It’s sweet. It’s sugary. It’s fruity. It’s candy floss.
It is also a pretty versatile tea which makes for a nice hot tea, iced tea, and even a latte. I have even had a few great smoothies using this tea.So, if you want something sweet but don’t want (all) the calories or there is no carnival around, try grabbing a cup of this delectable offering, which I am happy to report is now part of the permanent collection.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTea
Description
This sweet treat is deliciously nostalgic and ridiculously fun.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Lemon Chiffon from The Love Tea Company. . . .
I am not a fan of plain rooibos, but I have found a few flavored tisanes that use it as the base that are quite good. (I am speaking of red rooibos when I say the cherry flavor is too medicinal for me most of the time. Green rooibos is another animal entirely.)
This blend is really tasty! It smells great and the dominant flavors I get up front are lemon myrtle, lemon, and honeybush. The rooibos really comes as an aftertaste and is not unpleasant. The lavender and marigold are a nice side note, and if I am tasting pomegranate I must be honest and say I wouldn’t recognize it but it isn’t a flavor I am terribly familiar with.
This reminds me a bit of those lemon drops that come in a little tin. Thumbs up for me and I can’t wait to try it iced because it is going to ROCK as an iced tea!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Love Tea Company
Description
There’s a reason why we call this a brilliant blend. Remember that Lemon Chiffon cake that Grandma made? It’s like that, without the cleanup or pinches to your cheek. A rooibos blend that smells like you could eat it straight out of the jar. Since it has no caffeine, it’s the perfect compliment to any after dinner treat.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Peach Melba from Traillodge Tea. . . .
Caffeine doesn’t bother me as much as it does for some people but now that I have to go to sleep at a decent hour most nights to get up early for work, I try to make sure I have a selection of caffeine-free teas for the evenings. So now I am always on the lookout for good caffeine-free options. That is why when I saw this Peach Melba tea by Traillodge Tea in a traveling teabox, I had to give it a try.
This tea is made of organic rooibos, organic honeybush, organic apple bits, organic raspberry bits, organic marigold, and natural flavor. I decided to cold brew it overnight because more often than not, cold brewing tames the base flavors and allows the other ingredients to shine. That was my hope for this tea.
That doesn’t necessarily seem to be the case because there is a lot of honey notes from the rooibos and honeybush. The flavorings are subtle so they are taking back seat to the base which luckily is not medicinal or woody. I do get some raspberry but honestly I am just left wanting more. More raspberry. More peach. Just more flavor overall. If I had blindly tasted this tea, I don’t think I would have determined it was Peach Melba.
As far as rooibos and honeybush teas go, this is not bad but the flavors leave something to be desired. It was an okay drink but by no means Peach Melba. I don’t think this will be added to my line up of caffeine-free teas but it was fun to try.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos/Honeybush
Where to Buy: Traillodge Tea
Description
This is a Trail Lodge Exclusive tea. The inspiration for this herbal tisane came from eating a peach melba sundae, and just like the desert, this tisane is a refreshing treat. The sweet taste of fresh peaches combines perfectly with the tartness of raspberries. It’s as if summer has been captured in a cup of tea. This tisane is great hot or iced. Ingredients: organic rooibos, organic honeybush, organic apple bits, organic raspberry bits, organic marigold, and natural flavor.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rose City Rooibos from Beach House Teas. . . . .
Spring and summer are my favorite time for drinking floral teas, complementing the flowers blooming outside of my teacup. So this seemed like the perfect time to try a cup of Rose City Rooibos from Beach House Teas.
This is the first tea I’ve tried from Beach House Teas so I took a look at their website. Family-run business in the Pacific Northwest with a focus on organic and wild ingredients, producing hand-blended teas. They also have an Etsy shop, if that’s more your style. They even offer herb-infused sugar for cooking, and herb infused salts and bath bombs for the bath.
Let’s get back to the tea at hand, Rose City Rooibos. Like many tea blends on Beach House Teas, this blend looks great in the dry leaf with beautiful curled rose blossoms in pink and cream, and the rich russet tones of the red rooibos.
Brewed, this tea is smooth and simple, with the nutty, caramel tones of the red rooibos with gentle floral overtones. The ingredients list says there is peppermint in this blend as well, but the mint gets lost under all the rooibos taste and rose scent. I wouldn’t mind more peppermint in the next batch to help add more dimension to the flavor set of this blend. I usually favor teas with a bit more punch to their flavors, so I might not brew this one again. Overall this was very simple and comforting.
This tea’s description calls this a “liquid spa” and I won’t deny that the floral notes are relaxing, and the rose petals are captivating to look at. A good tea for when you need some relaxing aromatherapy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Beach House Teas
Description:
Rose City Rooibos is 100% organic loose leaf tea blended with red rooibos tea, rose petals, peppermint, and pure extract. This floral elixir is all about beauty and what better way to surround yourself in beauty than rose petals and rooibos that’s like a liquid spa?
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Kid-Friendly Novelty, Delicious, Gross Swampwater from David’s Tea
David’s Tea company always have the cutest seasonal mugs, and I just can’t help but check out their fall collection as soon as it goes up on their website. Their loose-leaf teas are generally all blends, and tend to be on the sweeter side. That said, it is a colorful and friendly place to get started for those who are new to tea.
This Halloween season, I ordered a cute ceramic jar with glow-in-the-dark ghosts. To get the jar, it came filled with tea, and this blend was such a good time I had to write a review. The tea that came with my jar was Swampwater. This green rooibos blend is flavored with papaya and passionfruit and is decked out with orange and black-cat sprinkles. It smells sweet and fruity in the dry leaf, and tastes even more sugary when brewed. The tropical flavors reminded me of gummy candies or melted popsicles. Definitely a sweet indulgence, but a nice reward for Halloween.
The real trick with this blend is that this tea brews up murky and opaque– like swampwater! It reminds me of those gross-out candy workshops that all little brothers seemed to have in their toy collection. When brewed with hot water, the sprinkles melt to change the color of the brew, and this innocent rooibos ends up looking as densely colored as a cup of matcha, but more brown than green. Even if you like to drink your tea iced, I recommend brewing this hot and chilling it. If the tea is used in a cold brew, the sprinkles won’t melt and you won’t get this sensational color-change magic.
Because of its decaf nature, the sweetness, and the novelty of the color change, this would be a great drink for a kids’ Halloween party. It looks gross and tastes great, and what kid can resist some black-cat sprinkles on Halloween? If you order it soon, you might still be able to get the glow-in-the-dark ghost jar as an added bonus. Happy Halloween!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: David’s Tea
Description:
After we retired this fruity limited edition tea, we never thought we’d see it again. But this Halloween, it rose from the grave one last time. With rooibos, papaya, passion fruit and black cat sprinkles, it’s a spooky blend worthy of any Halloween festivities – and best of all, it steeps to a sinister dark green colour. The scariest part? People can’t seem to get enough of it. So make sure you get your hands on this frightfully delicious tea before it goes back to the grave.