Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: California Tea House
Tisane Description:
Honeybush is made from the Cyclopia sessiliflora plant from the mountains of the South African Cape. It is very similar to Rooibos in taste and health aspects, yet it is naturally a little more sweet. We took the highest grade Honeybush and blended in vanilla bean pieces and marigold petals to create our naturally caffeine-free Vanilla Bean Honeybush.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I had my doubts, but this Vanilla Bean Honeybush from California Tea House is really tasty. It is sweet and it is loaded with real vanilla flavor. I love that the vanilla notes here don’t taste artificial. This tastes like true vanilla. It’s sweet and creamy deliciousness!
The vanilla is the strongest flavor that I’m tasting here. And like I just said, it’s deliciously sweet and creamy. But the honeybush can be tasted too, and it adds a hint of honey and a nutty tone to the background.
I love the simplicity of this blend – it’s just vanilla and honeybush (plus a little bit of marigold petals to add some pretty color to the blend.) But it’s also a really smart pairing, because honeybush – as well as it’s South African cousin, Rooibos – tend to produce a somewhat thin textured liquid, but with the creaminess of the vanilla … it doesn’t feel thin. This feels pleasantly soft and smooth to the palate.
To get the most out of this tisane, I recommend steeping it at a just below boiling point (195°F) for 10 minutes. I go with the slightly lower temperature because this helps to avoid the sour wood taste that sometimes accompanies rooibos and honeybush … while still achieving the maximum amount of flavor out of a honeybush (or rooibos) blend.
Vanilla fans … this is your answer for those late at night cravings! This will satisfy those sweet tooth cravings without any caffeine!
Mirabelle Cream Rooibos Tisane from Hale Tea Company
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Green Rooibos
Where to Buy: Hale Tea Company
Tisane Description:
The aroma is something of a cross between a peach and an apricot. To taste, this tea really does mimic eating an actual Mirabelle plum with it’s tart skin and sweet flesh. The green rooibos brings an interesting savouriness that interacts delightfully with the Mirabelle flavour.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
This Mirabelle Cream Rooibos Tisane from Hale Tea Company is the last of the three teas that I received in September’s tea tasting box from Amoda Teas. The fragrance is to die for! My mouth was watering the moment I smelled it – it smells luscious … like fresh peaches and apricots … and evoked memories of my gramma’s kitchen during the month of August and beginning of September, when the last of the peaches and apricots were being harvested from her prolific trees, and she would be making peach and apricot preserves, as well as pies and cobblers. YUM! I think my stomach just growled from thinking about it … now I want a peach/apricot cobbler with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream!
But I suppose a cup of this tisane will have to suffice since those days have long since past (and I’m not nearly the baker that my gramma was!) And this is tasty … not nearly as tasty as my gramma’s cobbler with homemade vanilla ice cream, but, this also has less fat and fewer calories.
Click on the Pic to go there.
The green rooibos base is a nice choice for these flavors, because the green rooibos has a natural fruity tone to it that accents the notes of plum. I can’t recall that I’ve actually tasted a Mirabelle plum, but I do notice some plummy notes in this tea that remind me of a sun-ripened plum with the juicy, deep red flesh. I notice the sweetness and the hint of sour to those plums. This is sweeter than most plums that I’ve tasted … but I do notice that plum-like tartness to this too.
The flavor is not as peachy or apricot-y as the aroma would lead one to believe … but then, this is not supposed to be about peaches or apricots, but the Mirabelle plum, although the photo of the Mirabelle plum (above right) … those kinda look like apricots!
Overall, I’m finding this tasty tisane to be fruity with a nice contrast between sweet and tangy, with just a hint of cream. I like the lightness of this … it’s very refreshing and it tastes great hot or iced. As it cools, the flavors do soften somewhat, but it’s still a tasty, creamy, fruity drink.
A really nice tisane, I’m glad that Amoda included this in the September box!
Lemon Meringue Tisane from Trail Lodge Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos & Honeybush
Where to Buy: Trail Lodge Tea
Tisane Description:
This is truly a classic tea! It makes a great hot or iced tea. We have finally found the perfect lemon tea. This one has a mild and smooth lemon flavor with a hint of creaminess, reminiscent of lemon meringue pie. It is naturally caffeine free. Ingredients: Rooibos, Green Rooibos, Honeybush, Lemon Bits, Calendula and Cornflower Petals, and Flavoring.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This Lemon Meringue Tisane from Trail Lodge Teas is easily one of the better Lemon Meringue Pie teas/tisanes that I’ve tasted. It’s totally YUM!
The base is a combination of red (or oxidized) rooibos, green (or non-oxidized) rooibos, and honeybush. I think that this is a winning combination. I’m not big on rooibos, but, when they’re combined with the honeybush, this seems to soften that sometimes “funky” taste that goes along with rooibos. And since green rooibos is much better tasting than red rooibos … this brings out the fruity character to the rooibos rather than that woodsy/nutty flavor. Nice! The honeybush still offers some of that sweet honey-esque tone and just a hint of nutty taste that accentuates the “pie-like” quality of this tisane.
The lemon is a softer, sweeter lemon, much like the creamy curd filling of a lemon meringue pie. I taste notes of vanilla too, and this brings a meringue-like quality to the cup. And every once in a while, I could swear I taste just a hint of butter that seems to imitate a pie crust like flavor together with the nutty tones of the honeybush.
This blend works together so well. Sweet, lemon-y goodness! A nice dessert-y treat that you can enjoy any time of the day … you can even make it a late night snack since it’s naturally caffeine free!
Blood Orange Tisane from Chai Diaries
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Chai Diaries
Tisane Description:
The first thing you’ll notice about this holiday blend is the color: a vibrant amaranth red that grabs you by the lapels and demands your attention. Then the aroma: enticing vanilla, sophisticated orange peel, hints of rose and lemon all tangle for a share of the stage in this bold elixir. Finally, the first divine sip.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I have to disagree with the above description … the first thing I noticed about this Blood Orange Tisane from Chai Diaries is not the color. What I noticed is that this is not a one with an overload of hibiscus! Yes, there is hibiscus in it, but, after steeping for six minutes, the tisane is not heavy, thick or syrupy the way a tisane with too much hibiscus would be.
The fact that the hibiscus is not overdone gets bonus points from this reviewer … because as you are probably aware (if you’ve read very many of my tisane reviews!) I don’t like hibiscus! In small amounts, hibiscus can be beneficial to a tisane. It adds a little bit of body and color to the brewed cup, as well as a distinct flavor – tartness! – not to mention significant health benefits. But too much hibiscus can mean a very tart, syrup-like thickness to the brewed tisane. Not very appealing, at least, not to me!
This tisane, on the other hand, is very appealing because the hibiscus is done the right way … as are the other components to this tisane. It is sweet with enough tartness to keep it interesting. The vanilla in this adds a very enjoyable creamy note to the cup, tasting a bit like a one of those creamsicle frozen treats!
While it is good served hot, I found that I preferred it iced! I recommend brewing it stronger when you want this one iced, because the flavor softens a bit as it cools. And brewing it stronger means adding more dry leaf to the teapot … not steeping it longer. Keep the steep time to 5 – 7 minutes to minimize the hibiscus’s impact on the final product.
This is sweet enough that it doesn’t need any sweetener – and this would be a fantastic alternative to overly sugared sodas for the kids (and adults!) in the summer!