Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Bluebird Tea Co.
Tisane Description:
Hardy British super fruit, much loved vintage cartoon characters, top boiled sweet and crumble of the gods… Rhubarb + Custard really is a pairing made in heaven. This naturally caffeine free, antioxidant rich rooibos tea blend will satisfy your sweet tooth with less than 1 calorie p/cup! Sounds like a super sweet deal to us!
Ingredients: Rooibos, Rhubarb pieces, Calendula, Stevia.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I am sure I’ve probably mentioned this before with previous “rhubarb” teas, but I have never actually eaten rhubarb. At least, not that I can remember. But I’ve had rhubarb flavor in a couple of different teas and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve tasted.
To brew this tisane, I put 1 bamboo scoop of tisane into the basket of my Kati Tumbler and then filled it (12 ounces) with water heated to 195°. Then, because it’s a rooibos tisane (with no hibiscus in it, yay!) I steeped it for 10 minutes.
The aroma: I definitely smell the custard! As I’m not very familiar with rhubarb, I don’t know if I smell it or not. I do smell vague notes of rooibos, but mostly what I smell is custard!
The taste: I definitely taste rooibos. I am tasting that honeyed, nutty flavor from the rooibos. The stevia adds a little bit of sweetness and I’m finding that I am not minding the presence of the stevia as much as I normally do in teas/tisanes where stevia is an ingredient. For those of you who read my reviews regularly, you’re probably aware that I don’t like it when tea companies add stevia or other sweetener to the tea because I like to decide how much – if any! – sweetener I’m going to add to my tea. But here, I don’t taste a distinct stevia taste and the sweetness is gentle and seems to be curbing some of the rhubarb’s tartness so I’m not minding that the stevia is there.
I can taste the rhubarb here. My first few sips, I didn’t really recognize the tartness of the rhubarb, but as I continued to sip, the flavor of the rhubarb developed. It is especially noteworthy in the aftertaste where I’m experiencing that tingly, tarty sensation on my tongue.
And I can taste the custard! It is sweet and creamy and it (together with the stevia) softens the rhubarb’s tart.
This is actually quite a tasty treat. At first, (about my first 1/3 of the cup, really), I wasn’t really sure what I was tasting but I was enjoying it. Now that the tartness of the rhubarb has become identifiable and the custard notes have become more noticeable, I’m really enjoying this custard-y, rhubarb-y tisane.
Another winner from Bluebird!
Organic Redbush Chai from Steenbergs Organic
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Steenbergs Organics
Tisane Description:
Steenbergs Organic Redbush Chai Tea combines with a delicious blend of Steenbergs organic spices with organic redbush tea to create our own wonderful organic redbush chai tea. You brew Steenbergs Organic Redbush Chai Tea in the same way as normal chai tea and can add sugar, honey or milk to taste.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
I have tried a couple of different teas from Steenbergs Organic now, and I must say that I’m continually impressed with their quality products! This Organic Redbush Chai is no exception. This is a wonderful spiced tisane!
I know I’ve mentioned this on more than one occasion, but there is a big difference in flavor between conventionally grown rooibos and organically grown rooibos. The organic rooibos is SO much better. The conventionally grown rooibos tends to have a very woody taste, veering on the side of “sour wood” that is somewhat off-putting. However, I don’t really notice the sour wood taste in the organic rooibos … yes, it still tastes “woody” but, not like sour wood. Not an off-putting woody tone.
And in this particular blend, the difference is important because unlike some other rooibos blends where the rooibos is indistinguishable, here, the rooibos is tasted. The natural woody and nutty flavors of the rooibos, as well as the sweetness of the rooibos, meld beautifully with the spices.
I taste the peppery notes of the ginger and the pepper accentuates the ginger nicely, offering a pleasantly warm taste without coming across as overtly spicy. The cardamom and cloves give the cup a solid background of spice – exotic, warm and inviting. The lemongrass perks up the cup just a little bit without being too obvious a flavor.
But what I’m liking best about this particular blend is that the cinnamon is nicely done. It isn’t overdone – and this is so often the case with chai blends. Here the cinnamon is sweet, yet spicy, but not overly sweet or spicy. It doesn’t taste like cinnamon candy. It tastes the way cinnamon should taste!
Bravo to Steenbergs Organic for yet another well-crafted chai! Very nice, indeed.
Cranberry-Mint African Redbush Tea from MarketSpice
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: MarketSpice
Tisane Description:
Tart yet minty. This tea is a blend of African RedBush, Cranberry and Peppermint flavoring. High in anti-oxidants and naturally caffeine free.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This Cranberry-Mint African Redbush Tea from MarketSpice has a really interesting combination of flavors … and it’s not what I expected at all!
I expected to taste a strong minty taste, and maybe a hint of sour cranberry. And while the mint is indeed strong … that isn’t the first note I experience. I taste a warm, nutty flavor from the rooibos. It is a distinct rooibos flavor, but, at the same time it doesn’t taste like a typical rooibos. It doesn’t have that sour wood taste, or the sometimes funky sweetness that I often associate with rooibos. Instead … it is more of a taste that is sweet, almost honey-like (reminding me a bit of honeybush rather than rooibos!) and a warm, nutty flavor. Hints of wood but not a sour wood.
Then I notice the fruity notes of the cranberry. It is tangy and tart, but the sweetness from the rooibos curbs some of the tart flavor. I really like how cranberry and rooibos taste together. I don’t think I really realized it until I tried this tisane … but these two components work very well together.
Almost at the mid-way point of the sip, I notice the mint. It is cool and crisp … but it isn’t a strong, distinctly peppermint kind of note. The flavor of cranberry as well as the strong presence of the nutty tones of rooibos has managed to tone down the peppermint just a smidge, to give it a sweet, cooling effect without overwhelming the palate with minty taste.
The flavor is really surprisingly smooth. It almost reminds me of a latte … there is almost a creaminess to this cup (and no, I didn’t add milk!) It’s really very pleasant … a very surprising, delicious cup of rooibos! I’m really enjoying this.
Vanilla African Redbush Tea from MarketSpice
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: MarketSpice
Tisane Description:
The addition of Vanilla flavoring and Chamomile to our standard African RedBush provides a rich and satisfying cup of tea. Add honey for that extra zing. High in anti-oxidants and naturally caffeine free.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a really nice vanilla flavored rooibos blend. Normally, chamomile is not my favorite thing, but, I like the addition of chamomile here. It adds just enough of something different to the cup to keep it interesting.
The aroma of the dry leaf is quite distinctive. It smells of tobacco – like the pipe tobacco that my step-mother would buy for my dad as she attempted to encourage him to smoke a pipe. She liked the smell of pipe smoke. I am not particularly fond of the smell of the smoke, but I liked the smell of tobacco (is it called “raw” tobacco when it’s not smoked and still in the package?)
But I’ll be honest, it throws me off a bit when I smell that fragrance in a tea. I find the smell of pipe tobacco pleasant but it doesn’t smell like something I want to consume, you know what I mean? But, once it started brewing, the aroma became much more like rich vanilla and less like tobacco.
The flavor is very pleasant. It has a smooth, creamy vanilla taste with a hint of nutty rooibos in the background. The woody tones of the rooibos come out as well, and I like the way they meld with the vanilla notes. The chamomile is very light, but I can taste that hint of apple-like flavor from the chamomile.
Overall, it’s a very enjoyable tea. I especially enjoy it later in the evening while watching TV, it’s got such a relaxing quality to it. Very nice!
Market Chai African Redbush Tea from MarketSpice
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: MarketSpice
Product Description:
Our standard chai spice blend with Rooibos, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Coriander, Ginger, Nutmeg, Orange Peel and Vanilla flavoring. High in anti-oxidants and naturally caffeine free.
Taster’s Review:
I’ve had my share of rooibos chai teas in the past: some good, some not so good. This one is one of the best that I’ve tried. The spices are robust, and I like the touch of orange and vanilla and even the nutmeg that’s been added to some of the “usual suspects” of masala chai. It is the strength of the spices that kicks this tisane “up a notch” for me because these delicious spices replace (or mask) that unappealing aftertaste of the rooibos.
In fact, there really is very little of the rooibos that I taste here. I do taste the nutty character of the rooibos, and it is accented well with the nutty flavor of the nutmeg.
What I do taste in this cup is a delicious blend of warm spices. These spices have a nice balance, because the tisane doesn’t taste overly ginger-y, or overly cinnamon-y. It just tastes warm and spicy without being too over-the-top in spices. The vanilla offers a deliciously sweet, creamy touch to the cup, while the orange perks up the flavors, adding a bright little citrus-y taste to the tisane while enhancing the rooibos natural fruity tones that are so often missed.
The rooibos leaves in this blend seem to be a bit smaller (finer?) than I usually see in rooibos blends, so I recommend steeping this tisane in a tea-bag type product such as these Tea Pockets to help keep the spent leaves out of your beverage.
This tisane doesn’t need any sweetener, although I don’t think the addition of some honey or turbinado sugar would hurt anything. It would also make a tasty, caffeine free latte.
This is not only one of the best (if not the best) chai rooibos blends I’ve tasted, it is also one of the best rooibos blends I’ve had. Period. It’s awesome!