Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Lupicia USA
Tea Description:
Caffeine-free green rooibos tea is scented with Californian honeydew melon.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yes, this is a rooibos. Now, I have never been a big fan of rooibos. Quite the opposite. I am such a grump about anything with even a little rooibos in it that I avoid it like the plague. While it is a green rooibos, and therefore lighter and grassier in character, I was still skeptical. But a tea friend of mine just had to have me try it. So try it I did. The dry leaf alone sent my nose and I spinning down memory lane. Funny things, noses.
This tea reminds me so much of my favorite flavor of boba, it’s unsettling. For anyone not in the know, boba, or bubble tea, is an incredible liquid substance that comes in a plastic cup. Originating from Taiwan in the early 80s, it’s not so much a tea as it is a delicious, typically creamy beverage that can be made of tea, fruits, or a powdered mix better known as milk tea. Milk tea comes in a crazy variety of flavors, one of the most popular in the world being Honeydew. It’s sickly sweet, and creamy to the core. What makes this into boba is the large, round, gummy-like tapioca pearls. Oh, and the fat straw you sip the pearls through. It’s something that I almost always sneak into a movie. I highly recommend it!
I don’t know, just something about sipping down a creamy honeydew flavored slushie followed by chewing on those yummy gummy tapioca pearls makes me feel all fuzzy inside. Cures any sadness and cools down a sweaty brow.
Everyone close to me at least knows what rooibos is, thanks to my audible distain of the stuff. Now even my man huffs at the mere mention of it. Until this one. I liked it so much, that I almost didn’t tell him what is was when he asked for a little sip. Everything about this tea is delicious, juicy honeydew. The smell of the light green rods of the green rooibos, is exactly like the ripest honeydew you could ever imagine. As I brew this cup, I can just imagine biting into a fresh slice of pale green honeydew melon. I think the realism of the flavoring is what makes this blend. I don’t get that harsh artificial flavor I could have been assaulted with. Even while sipping on a pot of this tea is bringing to mind the velvety smooth fruit and the sweet juice. It’s so uncanny how spot on this tea is! It’s rich, broad, and smooth, I can imagine how great this would be iced.
I’d wager it’s better than the boba version.