Raspmonade from TeaTaxi. . . .

by VariaTEA

This has been the first day in a while that I have had the opportunity to relax. To me, that means sitting by the fire while drinking cup after cup of tea. Now, as much as I like to say I am not impacted by caffeine, I know it is good to switch it up a bit. To that end, I like to mix in a rooibos, honeybush, or herbal infusion amongst all the mugs of black tea, green tea, and oolong.

I brewed up my entire sample packet (5 grams) of this Raspmonade tea by TeaTaxi as a hot tea, steeping it in near boiling water (200F) for 3 minutes, 2 minutes shorter than the recommended steeping parameters as the rooibos began to smell quite strong.

As I drink now, the rooibos is strong but more so because the other flavors are so subtle which leaves little to taste other than the base. I get some berry flavor from the raspberry leaves but lemon comes through mainly in scent.

I don’t know if my understeeping is at play here but this lacks the flavor I was looking for when I brewed this up. I wanted sweet raspberry and bright lemon and I got generic berry rooibos. Definitely not what I was hoping for but still fun to try something new.

 

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Red Rooibos
Where to Buy:  Tea Taxi
Description

Delight in this amazing concoction of raspberry flavored with lemon. A fruity euphoria you can drink hot or cold!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

VariaTEA

Hey there! My name is Rachel. I’m a twenty-something from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who loves dogs and has a bit of an obsession with tea. As a child I hated the stuff since all I ever knew was Red Rose (no offense to Red Rose). However, a few years ago that all changed. I was on a diet and desperate for new flavors without adding calories and that’s when I turned to tea. I started off by going to DAVIDsTEA and Teavana for all their dessert-inspired flavors, and since I didn’t know any better, I bought 100 grams each of about twenty-something different teas. This was okay for the teas I liked but for those I didn’t I needed to find some way of getting rid of them. Enter Steepster.com. This is where I met some incredible tea friends, discovered tea swaps, and learned of so many amazing tea companies. My desire to try all the teas grew and since joining three years ago I have tried over a thousand different teas. I have learned what ingredients I love and I have learned what flavors I don’t like. I determined my go-to brewing method is Western-style with no added milk or sweeteners, though I also enjoy cold brewing, iced teas, teapops, lattes, and smoothies. I have yet to brew gong-fu style but I hope to do so just as soon as I get the proper teaware to do it. About a year ago, I actually stopped drinking tea but as my stash of over 200 teas started aging I decided I needed to respark my interest. I chose to take a 365 days of tea challenge on Instagram in which I post a new tea picture every day. So far it has been rather successful as I find myself drinking (and buying) more and more tea each day. Plus it enabled CuppaGeek to find me and invite me here to SororiTea Sisters.

This post was posted in Rooibos, Tea Taxi

Lemon Raspberry Rooibos from Simpson and Vail. . .

by SuperStarling

If I were going to name this tea, I’d name it “Lemon Lemon Lemon Raspberry Rooibos,” because the lemon is really the main feature here. It’s the spotlight-grabber. It’s the one that turns ALL the chairs around on The Voice.

It’s a very zesty lemon. Not fake or sugary. Like someone actually squeezed out a lemon into a bowl and allowed you to drink some. It’s the real deal. If you like lemon, welcome to the main attraction.

The raspberry is the slacker younger sibling. When it arrives in class, its teachers are like “we expect great things from you, just like your big sister Lemon!” But Raspberry always shows up to class late, in the aftertaste. And it’s a bit underwhelming. There’s nothing wrong with Raspberry; it’s just meek and doesn’t always turn in its homework. We don’t taste it all the time. To be fair, it never really had a chance against ALL THAT LEMON. Perhaps if it’d been born to a different tea, it would have been able to hold its own.

The rooibos adds a bit of sweetness to the ensemble. It’s behind the scenes.

If we’re going with this school metaphor — and I feel like I’ve committed to it by now — rooibos is the mom at home. Rooibos sends the children out with their lunches neatly packed. The influence of rooibos is there, very delicately. But it’s clearly the least of the influences, even behind poor Raspberry.

If you love lemon, and want to go to the Lemon Show, by golly, come on over. She loves all that attention.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Rooibos
Where to Buy:  Simpson and Vail
Description

We have blended this “miracle tea” with black teas and herbs to create a wonderfully refreshing beverage. Enjoy hot or cold.

Ingredients: Black teas, Rooibos, organic lemon peel, organic raspberry leaves and natural flavors.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

SuperStarling

"Hey, everybody! I'm Leah, a graphic designer from Pennsylvania, United States. I live with my husband and rescue mutt in a house with colorful walls. I love fonts, colors, animals, flowers, novels, illustration, geeking out, and -- obviously! -- tea. I've only been heavily into tea for about a year, but I've found I tend to prefer loose blended black dessert teas. I normally drink them hot western style without anything added; if I add in some vanilla almond milk or honey, I promise I'll mention it! When I'm not blogging here, I'm blogging at leahlucci.com/starling or posting to Instagram (super_starling), so come say hi!"

This post was posted in Rooibos, Simpson & Vail