Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: MarketSpice
Tisane Description:
Tart yet minty. This tea is a blend of African RedBush, Cranberry and Peppermint flavoring. High in anti-oxidants and naturally caffeine free.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This Cranberry-Mint African Redbush Tea from MarketSpice has a really interesting combination of flavors … and it’s not what I expected at all!
I expected to taste a strong minty taste, and maybe a hint of sour cranberry. And while the mint is indeed strong … that isn’t the first note I experience. I taste a warm, nutty flavor from the rooibos. It is a distinct rooibos flavor, but, at the same time it doesn’t taste like a typical rooibos. It doesn’t have that sour wood taste, or the sometimes funky sweetness that I often associate with rooibos. Instead … it is more of a taste that is sweet, almost honey-like (reminding me a bit of honeybush rather than rooibos!) and a warm, nutty flavor. Hints of wood but not a sour wood.
Then I notice the fruity notes of the cranberry. It is tangy and tart, but the sweetness from the rooibos curbs some of the tart flavor. I really like how cranberry and rooibos taste together. I don’t think I really realized it until I tried this tisane … but these two components work very well together.
Almost at the mid-way point of the sip, I notice the mint. It is cool and crisp … but it isn’t a strong, distinctly peppermint kind of note. The flavor of cranberry as well as the strong presence of the nutty tones of rooibos has managed to tone down the peppermint just a smidge, to give it a sweet, cooling effect without overwhelming the palate with minty taste.
The flavor is really surprisingly smooth. It almost reminds me of a latte … there is almost a creaminess to this cup (and no, I didn’t add milk!) It’s really very pleasant … a very surprising, delicious cup of rooibos! I’m really enjoying this.
Cranberry Pomegranate from Rooibee Red Tea
Product Information:
What It Is: Ready-To-Drink beverage crafted from Red Rooibos
Where to Buy: Goodies Company
Product Description:
Refreshing and delicately flavored with cranberry and pomegranate, Rooibee Red Tea is sure to please. It’s also rich in antioxidants, low in calories, naturally caffeine-free, and certified USDA organic. What’s not to love?
Learn more about this product here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently, I subscribed to a new monthly subscription with Goodies Company, a company that sends out monthly “foodie” tasting boxes. This bottle of Rooibee Red Tea was one of the products in my very first box, which I received a couple of months ago, but am just getting around to trying it now.
I guess you could say that I’m very often reluctant to try Ready-to-Drink teas. I usually find them to be too sweet for my liking, as most of them seem to be crafted with more sugars and sweeteners than actual tea. Add that with the fact that I’m not wild about red rooibos, and you have a product about which I am – at the very least – skeptical.
However, I’m finding this to be quite pleasant to drink. I like that the sweetener used here is Cane Sugar rather than corn syrup, so it doesn’t have that sickeningly, sticky sweet taste that not only sticks to the tongue but to the teeth. The rooibos is naturally sweet, so I think they should have maybe added a little less cane sugar here than they did, because this is still rather sweet.
The flavors of cranberry and pomegranate are not overtly obvious, they meld well into the flavor of the rooibos to create a very unified taste that is part nutty, sweet rooibos, part cranberry and part pomegranate. I notice that the taste of the fruits is most prominent in the aftertaste, where I get a gentle berry tingle on the tongue that tastes very much of both cranberry and pomegranate, but I think that this could be tastier of the two fruits were better represented during the sip and not just after.
Overall, I enjoyed this bottle of RTD rooibos. It is sweet, yes, and a tad too sweet for my liking, but, it was also very refreshing, and nice to drink after a meal. It managed to curb that tendency to hunt down some dessert when I sipped it right after my meal, and I do like that.
Will I buy it again? Probably not. I might try another flavor of the Rooibee Red Tea if I happened to find it while I was out and about, but, I don’t know that I’d go out of my way looking for the product, nor do I think it would be my first choice of beverages if given a wide variety of choices, but if the choices are limited, and the Rooibee Red Tea products happened to be one of those limited choices, I might choose it.
Grape Sencha from Den’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green, Sencha
Where to Buy: Den’s Tea
Tea Description:
Grape Sencha has a grape flavor plus a hint of dried cranberry and raspberry. These combine into the sweet-tart flavors of our Grape Sencha. Great for iced tea.
Origin: Shizuoka
Harvest: Between First and Second Harvests
Species: Yabukita
Fun fruity and sweet grape flavor. Best selling among our fruit flavored teas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
What a delight! Don’t let the kool aid aroma scare you! This tea is beautifully flavored with natural grapes which you can see right in your steeping basket! Such a beautiful tea to look at and I was tempted to steal one big grape and stick it right into my mouth, but I resisted.
Den’s has never disappointed me when it comes to Japanese green teas. I began my journey with them by getting their $3.00 sampler package and I have not stopped my journey since!
This tea is excellent both hot and iced.
The grape flavor is by no means cloying in its sweetness, it is rather quite natural and juicy. It also is not like a grape juice even though it may smell as such. The grape flavor is an undertone that gently supports the excellent sencha base.
Perhaps the cranberry and raspberry ease the sweetness in their supporting roles, yet as supporters they do not take center stage or attempt to shine too brightly. There is a slight tartness to the cup but only slight.
Not to be outdone by the beautiful dry leaves the steeped color of this cup turns out to be a gorgeous sun shiny yellow/golden hue.
From the boquet-esque look of the dry leaf, to the sunny cup it provides, to the flavor of this tea, everything about it is cheery and joyful.
Happiness in a cup.
Cranapple Oolong Tea from sTEAp Shoppe
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: sTEAp Shoppe
Tea Description:
A fruity Oolong loose leaf tea that will delight your tastebuds with it’s floral fruity presence. This colorful tea would make a spectacular Fruity Iced Tea. Apples and Cranberries are a classic fruit combination that give the floral bouguet of loose leaf Oolong tea a burst of sweet and tart to make a well rounded full bodied tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is one of those that is just perfect for this time of year, but delicious enough that you’ll want to enjoy it all year long!
The Oolong base is a darker Oolong, and it tastes a bit more fruity than floral. The floral notes are there too, but they are faint, allowing the fruit notes to accent the flavors of cranberry and apple.
I like that the flavors are not overwhelming or artificial tasting. This tastes like a very natural cranberry taste – it doesn’t taste unnaturally sweet. The same is true of the apple notes. It doesn’t taste like an overly sweet apple note, but I do notice that the sweeter notes of the apple and Oolong seem to curb the tartness of the cranberry. The result is a cup that is a little bit tart and a little bit sweet. It’s nicely balanced.
Overall, this is a very enjoyable cup. I like it hot, but I think I like it even better iced. The flavors pop a little more as the tea cools.
So far, I’ve been very impressed with the teas that I’ve tried from this company! This is another hit!
Blood Orange Cranberry Rooibos from The Boston Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Boston Tea Co.
Tea Description:
A sweet-tart blend that is going to leave you dancing for joy! Now in a silk sachet you’ll be thrilled to take your new favorite tea with you wherever you go! Sip and savor this blend any time of day, it’s naturally caffeine-free!
Learn more about this rooibos blend here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a tasty rooibos blend that I find more enjoyable as I continue to sip it.
The cranberry and blood orange flavors are about evenly matched and play well together, offering a taste that isn’t too tart or too sweet. The finish is tangy from the berry and the citrus, and overall, I find the cup to be pleasantly fruity, and really quite smooth despite the tart and tangy notes. There is a really enjoyable smoothness to the flavor.
However, I do find myself wishing that I wasn’t tasting so much of the woody/nutty flavor of the rooibos. The autumnal nature of the rooibos does meld well with these autumn fruits, but, I’m tasting just a wee bit too much rooibos and not enough fruit for my personal taste. That’s not to say it’s bad or it’s good – it IS tasty – I just think it would be even more tasty if the fruit flavors were a bit stronger to help mute out some of the rooibos flavor.
Overall, an enjoyable cup of tisane, and something I’d drink again if it were offered. Not my favorite cuppa from The Boston Tea Co. … but it’s still a decent cuppa.