Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Shanti Tea
Tisane Description:
This herbal blend is an exciting combination of herbs and spices. It embodies the smells and flavours of the African festival season and piques all of your senses creating an experience that walks a fine line between excitement and relaxing escape.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I know I’ve said it before, but, I prefer green rooibos over the oxidized, red variety. The green rooibos (which is not oxidized) has a fresher, fruitier flavor that I really enjoy. Unfortunately, there really are so few green rooibos blends out there … at least when compared to the red rooibos blends. So when I saw that this rooibos blend from Shanti Tea was a green rooibos blend, I was very pleased.
While Shanti Tea does not go into details on their website about the ingredients of this blend, I can see large rose petals, chunks of citrus peel and pieces of dried fruit in there amongst the needle-thin green rooibos leaves. It brews to a golden color that’s full of fruit flavor!
The citrus notes are prominent, and they add a certain brightness to the cup, as well as a tangy taste that offers a nice contrast to the sweeter fruit notes of peach and apple. I taste the floral notes as well, starting out with a very soft rose flavor at the start of the cup, and by the time I’ve reached mid-cup, the rose becomes a little more focused.
Overall, I’d describe this cup as a deliciously fruity, lightly sweet cup – very enjoyable! It is a tisane that I think kids would really like because of its sweet, nectar-y like taste, and because it’s naturally caffeine-free you won’t have to worry about it keeping them over-stimulated … and they certainly don’t need that!
African Summer from Tea Licious
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Tea Licious
Tisane Description:
Honeybush, lemon grass, lemon myrtle, rosehips, eucalyptus, hibiscus, safflowers, marigold and orange.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Summer is almost here! Alas, summer is not my favorite time of year – I prefer autumn and winter … why? Because hot tea is so much better when it’s chilly outside! Yes, it’s all about the tea! However, I am certainly enjoying this African Summer tisane from Tea Licious!
The first thing I notice is the zesty flavor of lemongrass and lemon myrtle which gives it a delicious lemon taste without the pucker-y tartness. Then there is a tangy orange note that melds nicely with the lemony herbs. But even with the zesty and tangy flavors, the overall cup is pleasantly smooth, which has a lot to do with the honeybush, which gives it a sweet and nutty taste.
I was a little worried at first that it might be hibiscus-y, but really, the hibiscus only seems to contribute a little to the color of the cup while adding very little tartness or its syrupy texture to it. That being said, I do recommend exercising some caution when steeping this tea, as hibiscus can quickly overpower a cup when left to steep too long. I steeped my cup for six full minutes, and it turned out just perfect!
There is a soft mouthfeel to the cup, which I think is because of the hibiscus. This tells me that there is just the right amount of hibiscus in it … not too much, but enough so that the flavor and texture is not too thin. Kudos to Tea Licious for doing hibiscus the right way!
This is a very pleasant cup of tea, one that is tasty hot, and very refreshing served over ice! This is one that you can serve to kids as well as adults, because it is naturally caffeine free, and it has a pleasing flavor that everyone will love.
Mountain Kenya Tea from Mark T. Wendell
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Mark T. Wendell
Tea Description:
Mountain Kenya is an exciting and highly invigorating tea, appropriate for those who like a strong cup of tea. For many years, we have offered this small leaf tea sourced from the Tindret Estate in Kenya. Unique in appearance and overall taste, this is one of the finest small leaf teas grown on the African continent.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I am very impressed with this tea. It is strong and flavorful – just what I need this morning when I’m finding it difficult to rev up the engine and start the day.
The cut of the leaf is very small – like tiny grains of black sand! Because of the cut, I chose to steep it for a shorter time (smaller leaf bits means more surface area exposed to water, which means it brews faster), and I found that 2 minutes in my Breville made a perfect cup of tea … even though it is a CTC tea!
Bold and invigorating, this tea has a flavor that rich and well-rounded. It has a sweet, caramel-y undertone that melds wonderfully with its malty character. The closest comparison I can come up with is an Assam; it has that rich, malty quality that is very Assam-like. But, this is sweeter and without an Assam tea’s bitterness. There is some astringency to the cup, slightly dry and cleansing, and the aftertaste is lightly sweet.
This tea has got GUSTO!
Market Chai African Redbush Tea from MarketSpice
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: MarketSpice
Product Description:
Our standard chai spice blend with Rooibos, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Coriander, Ginger, Nutmeg, Orange Peel and Vanilla flavoring. High in anti-oxidants and naturally caffeine free.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had my share of rooibos chai teas in the past: some good, some not so good. This one is one of the best that I’ve tried. The spices are robust, and I like the touch of orange and vanilla and even the nutmeg that’s been added to some of the “usual suspects” of masala chai. It is the strength of the spices that kicks this tisane “up a notch” for me because these delicious spices replace (or mask) that unappealing aftertaste of the rooibos.
In fact, there really is very little of the rooibos that I taste here. I do taste the nutty character of the rooibos, and it is accented well with the nutty flavor of the nutmeg.
What I do taste in this cup is a delicious blend of warm spices. These spices have a nice balance, because the tisane doesn’t taste overly ginger-y, or overly cinnamon-y. It just tastes warm and spicy without being too over-the-top in spices. The vanilla offers a deliciously sweet, creamy touch to the cup, while the orange perks up the flavors, adding a bright little citrus-y taste to the tisane while enhancing the rooibos natural fruity tones that are so often missed.
The rooibos leaves in this blend seem to be a bit smaller (finer?) than I usually see in rooibos blends, so I recommend steeping this tisane in a tea-bag type product such as these Tea Pockets to help keep the spent leaves out of your beverage.
This tisane doesn’t need any sweetener, although I don’t think the addition of some honey or turbinado sugar would hurt anything. It would also make a tasty, caffeine free latte.
This is not only one of the best (if not the best) chai rooibos blends I’ve tasted, it is also one of the best rooibos blends I’ve had. Period. It’s awesome!
Savanna Vanilla African Rooibos from Domo
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Domo
Product Description:
For hundreds of years the Khoisan people of South Africa have enjoyed rooibos tea, not just for its sweet, delicate taste but for its medicinal value. Now Domo has captured the spirit of the wild with a subtle blend of red rooibos and natural vanilla. Domo Flavour-Infused Rooibos is a whole new way to enjoy tea, and thanks to a high antioxidant count and no caffeine, it’s also one of the healthiest teas you can buy. Try Domo Vanilla-Enhanced Rooibos and rediscover the spirit of Africa.
Taster’s Review:
This is completely and utterly YUM! Like dessert-treat yum!
This rooibos comes as a powder similar to green tea Matcha (only it is a reddish-terra-cotta color). I prepared it the same way I would green tea Matcha except that I used hotter water (almost boiling) as rooibos tends to respond better to hotter water, but I used the same Matcha tools to prepare the Savanna Vanilla African Rooibos.
The result is a rich and creamy chawan full of sweet goodness! But, be warned, this IS sweet. And it tastes so creamy and vanilla-y that I almost feel like I should be eating it (like eating ice cream) rather than sipping on it.
The rooibos is not extraordinarily distinct in this – I can taste notes of nut and wood but not a lot of rooibos aftertaste (which is good!) The dominate flavor is the vanilla – and it tastes like it was sweetened with vanilla sugar! Yes, it is that sweet … if you don’t care for sweet drinks, this may not be the ideal beverage for you. But for the rest of us – this is so deliciously decadent that it will help curb any sweet craving you might have!
I love this!