Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Green Rooibos

Tea Information:

Sometimes you just want a tea that’s bursting with fun flavour. We think it’s not too much to ask for that flavour punch to taste completely natural. Welcome French Lemon Creme with your luscious lemon and creamy vanilla sweetness. This is built on a green rooibos base, so the blend has extra health benefits from locking in the herb’s natural enzymes.

This tea is available from Amoda Tea.

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Taster’s Review:

I want to start this review by saying:  the aroma of this tea smells just like what the name promises:  It’s lemon and cream.  And it’s lovely!

I was happy to see that this rooibos blend is a green rooibos blend which is my preference when it comes to rooibos teas.  I like the fruity element of the green rooibos rather than the woody/nutty and sometimes gentle smoke note of the red rooibos (the red rooibos is oxidized to achieve it’s color, while the green rooibos is not oxidized.)

To steep this tea, I used my Kati Tumbler.  I measured out 1 1/2 bamboo scoops of the tisane into the basket of my tumbler and added 12 ounces of water heated to 195°F.  Then I let it steep for 10 minutes.  Rooibos doesn’t get bitter because it isn’t tannic like camellia sinensis, so go ahead and let it steep – the flavors will just intensify.  Do be sure to keep the temperature below boiling though, because you may get a ‘sour’ taste from rooibos if you steep it too hot.

Mmm!  This is good.  The aroma of the brewed tisane is still quite lemon-y and because of that, when I raise the tumbler to my lips and inhale deeply, I smell the lemon.  My palate’s reaction to this is to prepare itself for something sour.  But the sip doesn’t start out that way!  Instead I get a sweet, creamy lemon taste, similar to lemon curd.

It isn’t until mid-sip that I start to pick up on the tart notes of the lemon.  They aren’t a pucker-y tart, but just enough tart to let you know that hey, you’re tasting lemon!  The creamy vanilla notes are strong right at first, and then they subside to let some of the bright lemon notes shine through.

I really like the way these two flavors have come together in this.  It’s sweet but there’s enough tart to keep it interesting and to keep it from becoming too sickeningly sweet!  And the rooibos base melds beautifully with these flavors, adding sweetness without taking away from the sunny lemon and the luscious cream flavor.

A really awesome rooibos blend.  I don’t often say that about a rooibos blend, but this one has earned that praise!