Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: TeaGschwendner
Tea Description:
Dessert in a teacup! The dazzling combination of Italian Panna Cotta, tart rhubarb and sweet cream combine for a flavor as delicious as the aroma.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Rooibush Panna Cotta Rhubarb Cream is probably the longest tea blend name ever…
Well, not really. It is pretty lengthy, though. And tacking on the “TeaGshwendner” certainly doesn’t help.
Ok; starting off with a confession: Not only have I never had Panna Cotta, but prior to trying this tea I didn’t know what it was either. I most certainly had to do an internet search, but now that I do know what it is I’m actually kind of embarrassed I didn’t. What originally caught my attention with this one was absolutely the rhubarb; I’ve been on a bit of a personal rhubarb kick lately: beer, pie, jam, yogurt and of course tea.
Dry, there isn’t a whole lot to this tea. It has a very, very mildly fruity scent but nothing super characteristic of rooibos and apart from one small little piece of cube shaped rhubarb my measured out leaf is all fine pieces of rooibos. As the tea was steeping, it started to smell a little bit stronger but still mostly maintained a predominantly rooibos only sort of scent.
The taste thankfully delivers some flavour although not nearly as much as I’m wanting. The whole front end of the sip is straight rooibos – albeit a pretty good one without any medicinal or woodchip kind of notes present. That said, people who dislike the taste of rooibos, good or bad, will want to steer clear of this one: trust me, you’re going to taste a lot of it. The other flavour kicks in the end of the sip and the aftertaste. And it’s pretty subtle; a bit of sweetness and a little bit of tang similar to the natural tartness of rhubarb. It’s also a little bit apple-y. I’m struggling a little bit to pick up the cream/custard of the ‘Panna Cotta’ but there is something about the tartness of the rhubarb that reminds me a little bit of Greek Yogurt, so perhaps that’s more derived from the panna cotta.
I don’t sweeten my teas, but I could possibly be inclined to add the tiniest pinch of sugar to this one because I just have that gut feeling that it’d make a world of difference. However, without the sugar the flavour of this one is definitely lacking. However, this could be a winner for someone who doesn’t mind rooibos and who is looking for something subtly flavoured.
Rooibush Strawberry Cream from TeaGschwendner
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: TeaGschwendner
Product Description:
South African rooibush naturally sweetened by the satisfying blend of strawberries and cream.
Ingredients: Rooibush tea from African, flavor, strawberry leaves and strawberry pieces.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of this tisane is so delicious. It smells like strawberries and vanilla cream!
The flavor is quite nice too. The strawberry and vanilla flavors seem pretty evenly matched. I don’t really taste one over the other, and I’d say I get an even amount of strawberry and vanilla flavor in each sip. What I don’t get a lot of is the flavor of the rooibos… but you won’t hear me complain about that.
Oh, sure, I can taste a hint of nutty flavor in the background, and it is a distinctly “rooibos” flavor, but, it is not a strong presence. The strawberry has a sweet with just a hint of tart taste, and the vanilla is soft and creamy.
For best results with this tisane, I recommend steeping it in a Libre tea glass like my Libre Glass n’ Poly Mug. I just put a couple of heaping teaspoons of the rooibos into the main chamber of the mug, add the boiling water, and let it steep for eight minutes. Then I screw the filter lid on tight, and let the fine mesh of the lid strain the tea as I sip (and not ONE of the uber-thin, needle-like leaves of the rooibos slipped through).
Using this method allows the rooibos to continue to steep as I sip. Since rooibos has very little tannin, it doesn’t become bitter if you steep it a long time. It just gains flavor! By the time I was halfway through my cup of this tisane, the flavor was intense and very yum.
