Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black Tea & Rooibos
Where to Buy: Téanzo 1856
Product Description:
Delight your senses with the tropical aroma of coconut blended with the flavors of chocolate and vanilla. Your palate will come alive with this union of black and rooibos teas. The blending of the two teas, makes it a “half-caf” tea, since the rooibos portion doesn’t contain caffeine.
Taster’s Review:
This is delicious. It is very well-balanced, with each flavor represented well without one ingredient attempting to overpower the others.
The first flavor I notice is the chocolate. It is strong … and yes, the chocoholic in me says it could be stronger, but I think that the amount of chocolate here works well. The coconut flavor sort of weaves its way in and out of the sip, providing it’s creamy sweet flavor. There is but a hint of vanilla in this blend, but, it is just enough to accent the other flavors.
The black tea is a flavorful black tea – it isn’t particularly bold but it holds its own. The rooibos are probably the least noticeable of the flavors in this cup, but that’s alright with me. They do add a bit of nutty flavor to the background, but, really, what I think they do more than anything is help to lighten the overall cup. I think that the rooibos displaces some of the black tea, which if it were stronger it would overwhelm the flavors of chocolate, coconut and vanilla. The rooibos seems to be there to keep everything else in check.
A very pleasant tea that is light enough to enjoy any time of the day!
Vanilla Berry Truffle from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Product Description:
A rooibos base infused with succulent black currants, organic hibiscus and creamy white chocolate blossoms.
Taster’s Review:
The fragrance of the dry leaf is really nice, it isn’t TOO powerful, but, it has a delicious combination of berry and vanilla notes with a somewhat nutty background. It smells like dessert!
I was about to steep this the way I normally would rooibos – that is, in boiling water for ten minutes. Because the tannins are very low in rooibos, the flavor will intensify from the long steep time without becoming bitter. However, upon closer examination of this tisane, I noticed the hibiscus. And while rooibos blends can benefit from a long steep time, the longer hibiscus is steeped the more tart and syrupy it becomes. And… I don’t like that.
So… I set the timer for six minutes instead. And this resulted in a really lovely cuppa. It is tart, but it isn’t too tart. The tartness accents the berry flavor of the black currant well, while the white chocolate in the blend gives the cup a deliciously creamy, sweet note that helps to offset the hibiscus tartness so that it doesn’t become too overpowering. The rooibos base is nutty and sweet, but, I am not getting that aftertaste that sometimes accompanies rooibos (a good thing!)
This is a skillfully blended tisane: the flavors are well-balanced, and while it is sweet enough to serve as a dessert tea, it isn’t cloyingly so. A very fun cup of tea any time of the day.
Enjoy Rest – Apple Cinnamon Chamomile from Teamotions
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Teamotions
Product Description:
Flavor Profile: Smooth and fragrant with notes of sweet apple and warm cinnamon.
This product is Caffeine Free
Ingredients: Chamomile, Rooibos, Green Rooibos, Orange Peel, Ashwagandha, Cinnamon, Natural Flavors.
Emotional Benefit: Fosters rest and relaxation. Calms and sooths the body and spirit to aid recovery from emotional and physical exhaustion. Helps induce sound, restful sleep.
Taster’s Review:
This is great! And that is NOT something I will generally say with so much enthusiasm about a chamomile tisane.
In fact, when I receive chamomile tisanes, my initial reaction is a sort of cringe, and then I usually stash it away and try to forget about it until it manages to get my attention (usually because I’ll feel badly about neglecting it). It’s not even that I dislike chamomile, because although I can’t say that I love it, I don’t hate it, and I have grown to appreciate it. But, I don’t drink it every night, and I think I probably should as it does provide restful benefits.
The apple flavor is not an overwhelming taste, but it is a natural pairing with the chamomile which tends to have a somewhat apple-y character to it anyway. The cinnamon and apple flavors is what I taste here, with hints of a nutty flavor from the rooibos. The flavor of the rooibos is not a strong taste, mostly what I taste is a nutty sweetness, but no aftertaste and not so much of a wood-like quality that I sometimes get from rooibos.
But as I said, what I taste primarily is apple and cinnamon, and these two flavors seem pretty evenly matched. It isn’t a hot, spicy cinnamon taste – it is a mild, sweet cinnamon that accents the apple tones. It tastes a bit like an apple-y dessert!
If this was the chamomile tisane in my tea cupboard, I’d have no problems at all drinking it every night. In fact, I think I’d look forward to it.
Country Red from Pluff Iced Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Pluff Iced Tea on Foodzie
Product Description:
Pure Red Tea. Smooth, Naturally Sweet, Caffeine Free!
Batch Notes: Caffeine Free. Smooth and aromatic, with a lightly citric sweetness and rich character. Blends well with light sugar for the ultimate red iced tea. Geography: Harvested from the rugged Western Cape Province- windswept and mountainous, a diverse land that produces the world’s finest red tea. Origin: South Africa.
Taster’s Review:
I’ll admit that I didn’t have high hopes for this tisane, and that’s what has kept me from brewing it until now. As some of you are aware, I am not particularly fond of rooibos. I usually like rooibos alright when it’s part of a blend, but, pure, unflavored rooibos? Not so much. And that’s just what this is: pure, unflavored rooibos.
I hot-brewed this last night according to the instructions, using a little less sugar than called for (I used only 1/4 cup turbinado sugar instead of the suggested 1/3 cup). Each of these large teabags makes a half gallon of iced tea. After brewing this tea, I refrigerated it overnight to enjoy today.
The good news: This is not as bad as I thought it would be … it’s actually pretty tasty. It tastes light and sweet, with nutty and woody notes, and a hint of fruit in the background.
The bad news: I still get a bit of that “funky aftertaste” that I often associate with rooibos. But with a little sugar, it is less apparent.
This is not not my favorite iced tea (but they can’t all be my favorite, can they?) but it is certainly enjoyable. It has a light, refreshing taste, and it’s a nice way to keep cool without feeling weighed down with a heavier, caffeinated tea. And because it’s naturally caffeine free (and very healthy too), it’s one you can feel good about serving to the kids. Especially delicious when served with thin slices of lime.
Yunnan Golden Bud from Life in Teacup
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Life in Teacup
Product Description:
Production Year – 2010
Production Season – Spring
Production Region – Yunnan
Taster’s Review:
What a beautiful tea. The dry leaf is gorgeous! It does not possess a strong aroma, but the color is lovely. Once brewed, the liquor has a lightly spiced fragrance with hints of cocoa and leather.
This is deliciously full-flavored. It has a sweet note to it that is somewhere between honey and burnt sugar. It is malty with chocolate-y notes in the background. There is a pleasant set of spice notes to this that meld beautifully with the dark cocoa flavor. It isn’t as spicy as some Yunnan teas that I’ve encountered – this has a stronger sweet presence with hints of the spice.
It is a very smooth tea with a light astringency. There is no bitterness to the cup. It’s just perfectly delicious. An absolutely fabulous cup of tea!
I love it!