Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Local Coffee & Tea
Tisane Description:
Selby Select Rooibos Loose Leaf Tea is our custom blended Rooibos with orange peel and dried yogurt pieces. Created to celebrate the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, this is our perennial best seller. Each sip releases the aroma of sweet ripe oranges, followed by creamy notes on your tongue. You will think you are drinking Florida sunshine in a magnificently serene garden. Savor and enjoy!
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had an interesting relationship with this tisane. The very first time I tried it, I didn’t really care for it. But the second time I tasted it, I questioned whether or not it was, in fact, the same tea that I had tried the first time around (I received the first sampling of this tea from a friend, the second I received as a sample direct from Local Coffee & Tea) because I was enjoying it. It wasn’t knocking my socks off or anything, but, it was pleasant, and nothing at all like that first cup I had.
Since then, I’ve come to really like this tisane. It reminds me very much of a creamsicle!
The orange flavor is bright and sweet, with just a hint of citrus tartness. It is a very vibrant flavor and it is contrasted with the creamy taste of vanilla yogurt. I think that yogurt was a perfect choice here (rather than using vanilla flavoring), because the yogurt is creamy without being too sweet. The rooibos is sweet, as is the flavor of the orange, and I think that adding a vanilla flavoring would have resulted in a very cloying beverage. As it is, though, everything tastes well balanced: just enough tart, sweet, and tang to please the taste buds.
The rooibos doesn’t lend too much of its woody flavor to this cup, and that suits me just fine. The rooibos does offer a warm nutty note to the cup that is especially apparent in the finish and aftertaste, and it melds nicely with the orange flavor.
This would make a remarkable iced tea in the summer – very refreshing and naturally sweet. I guess I like this one after all!
Patriot Tea (Daughters of the American Revolution) from Local Coffee & Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Local Coffee & Tea
Product Description:
Daughters of the Revolution vowed to “drink tea made from weeds” instead of imported tea. Thankfully they chose herbs, fruits and flowers to make their tea and as a celebration of those early beverages we now present them to you in this beautiful tea!
A CERTIFIED ORGANIC Rooibos blended with lavender the “Herb of Harmony”, rosehip shells, dried red and black currants, rose petals and bilberries. Heady, perfumed lavender notes with a floral, fresh, fruity and mellow flavor. This is a very relaxing tea for consumption any time of day or night. Naturally caffeine-free.
Taster’s Review:
It took me a while to finally taste this tea. But I didn’t hesitate with this tea because I didn’t think I would like it. In fact, I was quite certain I would enjoy it. I love lavender, I love currants, so I felt that this tea had a lot of potential, even though it is a rooibos blend. The reason I postponed trying this tea is because of the name. I wanted to save this tea to review closer to a patriotic holiday … like the 4th of July. But the 4th came and went and I had forgotten about this tea.
So… here I am now a couple of months after July and I figure that now is is as patriotic a time as any. And really, do we really need a reason to celebrate our patriotism? Especially if that patriotism is demonstrated through tea!
This is a delicious rooibos blend. It has a very nice amount of lavender essence, providing a beautiful, heady scent and delicious, sweet flavor without tasting too lavender-y. I love lavender, but it can be a little too much at times. Here, it’s just right. The rose adds a hint of flavor that proves to be very harmonious with the lavender notes.
The elderberries and currants add a tasty berry flavor that is pleasantly tart. That tartness offers a nice contrast to the sweet floral taste and gives the overall cup a nice sense of balance.
This is a very tasty “tea made from weeds!”
Bertha Palmer Centennial Tea from Local Coffee & Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Local Coffee & Tea
Product Description:
A soothing herbal rooibos with licorice root, fennel, peppermint and lemon verbena. Naturally caffeine-free.
When Mrs. Potter Palmer (Bertha Honoré Palmer), the well-travelled and powerful Chicago socialite, first set eyes on Sarasota in 1910, she proclaimed ‘Here is heaven at last’.
She soon owned 80,000 acres of what is now Sarasota County, operated a successful ranch, and made her graceful winter home and gardens at The Oaks on Historic Spanish Point.
Sarasota County celebrates the 2010 centennial of her arrival and honors the significant impact Mrs. Palmer made on our culturally rich and prosperous community. Please join us in raising a cuppa Bertha Palmer Centennial Tea to this incredible woman!
For more information about events throughout the year, visit www.BerthaPalmerAlive.com
Taster’s Review:
I love licorice and I like peppermint, but I don’t always like the two flavors together. Sometimes it works for me while others it does not. With this tisane, it works very nicely!
The rooibos base offers a hint of nutty/woody flavor, but, it iss barely distinguishable in the midst of the stronger flavors of licorice, fennel and peppermint. The lemon verbena is a soft citrus-y flavor that sits in the background and softens some of the sharper qualities of the other ingredients.
The licorice, fennel and peppermint are the dominant flavors here, but as I said before the lemon verbena softens them somewhat, making this combination very palatable. It starts off with a sweet licorice-y taste, followed by the taste of crisp peppermint. The bright, lemony note arrives right before the finish and leaves a cool minty/citrus-y aftertaste.
I like this best when served hot with a drizzle of agave nectar, but it’s not bad iced either. This is a tasty, soothing and very relaxing tisane. Nice!
Selby Select Rooibos Tea from Local Coffee & Tea
Tea Type: Rooibos
Where To Buy: Local Coffee & Tea/SipLocally.com
Product Description:
This is our custom blended Rooibos with orange peel and dried yogurt pieces. Created to celebrate the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, this is our perennial best seller. Each sip releases the aroma of sweet ripe oranges, followed by creamy notes on your tongue. You will think you are drinking Florida sunshine in a magnificently serene garden. Savor and enjoy! Naturally caffeine-free
Tasters Review:
The first time I tried Selby Select Rooibos Tea from Local Coffee and Tea was more than a year ago and I was given a small sample of it to try from a friend. I remember liking it BUT this past month I revisited this little wonder and ended up liking it a whole lot more than I remember! And I will say this…after the 2nd go-around with this Rooibos I promise I will never let it slip my mind again!
Every flavor is intense and fresh! I could taste the citrus and it was cheery and bright! This time around I could pick up on the yogurt MUCH MORE than the first time I tried this tisane and it is a pure delight!
This is a nice Creamy Treat but also orangey, delicious, flavorful, and memorable!
Van Wezel Anniversa-Tea from Local Coffee & Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Local Coffee & Tea
Company Description:
The signature tea for the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, celebrating 40 years of fabulous performances in Sarasota, Florida. A custom blended Rooibos with black and red currants, perfect for an intermission any time, any where.
Taster’s Review:
Tasty! The currant flavor is strong, providing a delicious sweet with just the right amount of tart taste. There is a nice little tangy berry twinge in the aftertaste which is quite nice. Also – notably absent in the aftertaste – is the saccharine-y sweet aftertaste that some rooibos blends host.
I can taste the woody/nutty/somewhat tobacco-y taste of the rooibos here, I am not getting that sickly sweet taste of the rooibos. The flavor of the currant melds well with the flavor of the rooibos, creating a very interesting cup.
I am also getting another fruit flavor in this tea – it is almost like pineapple… but not quite. I am finding it difficult to put my finger on, it is sweet and tropical in flavor but it is not a particularly strong presence in the cup. It does provide a very pleasant contrast though – an intriguing contrast that makes the taste buds perk up and ask “hey, what was that?”
I like this rooibos blend. It is not overly sweet but is still sweet enough to make a delightful dessert cup – or perhaps a sweet treat just before bedtime? It is one that you’ll feel good about serving to the kids too – it is not only loaded with antioxidants (thanks to the rooibos) but it is also naturally caffeine free and sweet enough that you don’t need to add a lot of sugar to get them to drink it!
Very nice, indeed!