Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos (Red)
Where to Buy: Design A Tea
Tea Description:
What’s better than an after dinner treat while watching the sun set? Maybe a almond cookie or two or three or four… But all that sugar is sure to keep you wide awake. We took naturally caffeine free Rooibos tea, mixed in a few ALMOND pieces and added NATURAL VANILLA and MARZIPAN (tastes a little like eggnog) flavorings to come up with Marzipan Sunset. A nice substitute to the German known Marzipan cookie… your pants will thank you!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t care much for rooibos, well green rooibos I like quite well, however the traditional red rooibos, well I am just burnt out on it, and find that its difficult to get past that rooibos base flavor. So often I find anything that a tea company tries to blend with a red rooibos base just falls short for me, rarely am I impressed.
Marzipan Sunset from Design A Tea however has been one of my stead fast favorite night time and dessert teas for a long time now. It has been awhile since I have indulged in this blend but I was craving something yummy and thought maybe it was time I put an old favorite to the test.
Marzipan Sunset is filled with wonderful almond flavor that really does taste like true almond, you will find almond pieces in this blend as well, not just flavoring. Whatever flavoring they use is really quite good. You also get a lovely vanilla flavoring as well which makes the blend quite creamy. Its sweet but not too sweet. Some people even add a little extra sugar to this tea when I have introduced them to it. I prefer it without added sugar. I have added cream to this tea on occasion and it is dreamy!
I doubt I will ever fall back in love with red rooibos but Design A Tea did manage to make a solid blend here for late night sipping that does not have that intense rooibos flavor I cringe at. I don’t feel so much even that Design A Tea covered the rooibos flavor up as much as they managed to find quality flavors, and the right flavors at that to work with the rooibos instead of against it.
Brian at Design A Tea is a really nice guy too, excellent customer service and always happy to make your specific blend for you! You can have a lot of fun being your own mix master on his site!
As for this blend, its one of their Signature Blends and I always have kept it in my tea cabinet, after tonights sipping session I am assured it is one I want to continue to keep in my stash.
Toasted Nut Cafe Black Tea from Simpson & Vail
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Tea Description:
For some people, desserts can only be served with coffee. For others, desserts and tea are perfectly complementary. With our Toasted Nut Café you don’t have to be one or the other! This blend combines black tea, almonds, coffee beans and flavors to produce a hearty cup that has a toasty coffee flavor. The black tea flavor comes through with the coffee and toasted nut flavors as an aftertaste. A perfect beverage to accompany a wide range of sweets: truffles, tortes, pies, cakes and more. Or enjoy as is or with a little sweetener and a dollop of cream.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little nervous as well as excited to try this new tea. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve had quite a tumultuous history with the coffee bean. There was a time when I really enjoyed coffee and drank it every morning, but, by about eleven in the morning I would start to feel sick to my stomach. It didn’t take too long for me to realize that it was my morning coffee habit that was causing the nausea, so, it was at that point that I switched to drinking tea. I don’t regret that switch, of course, because I have fallen deeper in love with tea than I ever felt for coffee.
But that being said, there are still times when I miss coffee. Specifically, I miss that bold, rich fragrance of coffee, and I do also miss the robust flavor – but not so much as I miss the aroma. Tea aroma is – of course – amazing, however, there is something that is very eye-opening about the smell of coffee. I miss that sometimes. But I certainly didn’t miss it this morning when I deeply inhaled the bouquet of this tea! It smells rich and delicious with notes of coffee and almond. The faintest smell of black tea is there too, but the coffee notes do overwhelm it just a bit.
My first thought when I smelled it was YUM! Then, thoughts of dismay came to me … what if this makes me sick just like coffee did. I know I’ve had this thought before with other coffee flavored teas, and I think that this will always be a worry whenever I encounter a coffee flavored tea. I guess, when a person goes through that … that always stays with them, right?
Anyway… after brewing, I took a tentative sip, but, was very pleased by the flavor. Yes, it tastes of coffee! Rich, bold coffee notes are the strongest that I taste, followed by a hint of toasted almond that sort of weaves its way through the sip, but is most noticeable toward the finish and in the aftertaste. The tea flavor is there too, and it adds a nice complexity to the cup. I find that this coffee-ish tea is much more flavorful than I remember my morning cup of coffee ever being – even when I’d splurge and indulge in a mocha! The tea really seems to bring out more of the complex notes with hints of dark cocoa, and a smooth earthiness.
Overall, the cup is rich, smooth, and delicious. There are hints of a savory bitterness from the coffee, a sweet undertone from the tea as well as the almond flavors, and a very roasty, toasty sort of feel that is invigorating. It’s really very good.
The word is still out on whether or not this will leave me feeling sick in an hour or two… but, after that time has lapsed I’ll come back and edit this post to add the update!
UPDATE: Well, it’s about four hours after finishing a cup of this tea, and I’ve experienced no nausea. Yay! A great alternative to those who need to steer away from coffee, but still want to experience that flavor every once in a while. This tea gets two enthusiastic thumbs up!
Rainbow Rooibos from Culinary Teas
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Culinary Teas
Tisane Description:
Rooibos is also known as Red Bush or Red Tea. Sean O’Malley! I know you only drink black tea with shamrock cookies – but this herbal tea is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! Fruity with sweet notes, a secret flavoring gives this Rooibos a sweet amaretto like taste.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I brewed this tisane knowing only that it was called “Rainbow Rooibos” so I brewed it the way I would normally brew rooibos – with boiling water for 10 minutes. I didn’t know what the flavor had in store for me.
With my first sip, I could taste a almond-y kind of flavor, with a hint of fruit in the background. Then when I read the description and saw that it had a “sweet amaretto” taste … I like it when my taste buds are on target like that!
The almond notes mingle with the natural nutty tones of the rooibos quite well, and the two flavors together offer a very rich – almost creamy! – taste. My palate discerned the nut flavors first, and then discovered the fruit tones.
The fruit notes are slightly more delicate, but they linger through to the aftertaste, and even become a little more distinct in the aftertaste. Through the sip, it tastes more like a “neutral” fruit, but, in the aftertaste, there is a luscious apricot note. Delicious!
This is really good served either hot or cold, but with the warm months ahead I think right now is the time to be brewing up a big batch of this and putting it on ice! It’s very refreshing and deliciously sweet; something that I think the kids as well as adults would enjoy.
Patisserie from Tealish
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tealish
Tea Description:
A sinfully aromatic black tea blend which captivates the senses. Exquisite, sweet nut flavours from almond and pistachio pieces are balanced with spice notes from peppercorns, cumin and coriander. Like walking in to a bakery in Paris.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea received mixed reviews on Steepster, but I’m really enjoying it.
It is sweet, nutty, warmly spiced, and has a delicious buttery-pastry note that develops as I continue to sip it. Yum! I don’t know that I’ve ever had a pastry with cumin in it, but, I like the hint of smoky spice it adds to the cup.
The black tea offers a delicious background, although sometimes I think it’s a little overwhelmed by the spices in this blend. Every once in a while, I notice it peeking through, but, for the most part, it seems content to play in the background and let the other flavors be the focus of the cup.
The contrast of spice and sweet nutty, buttery flavors seems to be in balance, making for a rich, satisfying cup of sweet and savory flavors. Nice!
Red Rocks from The Tea Spot
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tisane Description:
Our blend of naturally caffeine–free South African red rooibos, vanilla, and almond bits is an herbal delight! Rooibos is full of antioxidants and healthy minerals such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper, and fluoride. It has a wonderfully smooth flavor, and is a great cold buster as well as thirst quencher. It brews into a dark red liquor and has a naturally sweet, earthy scent, reminiscent of pipe–tobacco. You cannot over–steep this tea (the longer the better!) and it is fantastic by itself, or with cream and a bit of sweetener. Red Rocks is the perfect, healthy, all-around herbal tea – a favorite amongst athletes and as mom’s choice for children.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I had been hearing some good things about this rooibos blend over on Steepster, so I knew I had to try it … even if it IS rooibos!
The aroma of the dry leaf is pretty much what you might expect from rooibos: sweet and earthy, with nutty notes (which are further highlighted by the almond) and hints of wood and tobacco. I can also smell the vanilla. The brewed tea smells warm and inviting, like sweet nutty muffins fresh out of the oven.
This is really quite tasty. With most rooibos blends, I’m usually happy if the taste of the rooibos is masked or obscured by the other ingredients, because the flavor of rooibos just isn’t my favorite. But here, The Tea Spot did something a little different, something that I find every once in a while in a rooibos blend … but not often. Here, The Tea Spot utilized the ingredients to highlight the nutty flavors of the rooibos – and they did it well!
The almond and the natural nutty tones of the rooibos work very well together, enhancing the almond notes and adding depth to the overall cup. The vanilla not only softens the cup, but also sweetens it and manages to marry with the sweetness of the rooibos so that it doesn’t have that funky aftertaste that I so dislike. Instead, I just taste a sweet, lingering note of vanilla together with a delicate nutty taste.
This is a very good rooibos blend – one I’d recommend to those who generally do not like rooibos. The flavors here work so magnificently together to create a deliciously smooth cup that is cozy and comforting when served hot, and a tasty, refreshing treat when served iced.