If tea were the dating world, rooibos tea would be the Nice Guy. You know: the fellow in the Friend Zone.
The Bad Guy (black tea) rides a motorcycle, neglects your feelings, keeps you up all night, and has cryptic moods.
The Nice Guy (rooibos) is friends with your mom, can balance a budget, and understands the nuances of nutrition and sleep.
You don’t take the Nice Guy seriously, but he’s important. He will be your evening companion when you need one. You can call upon him at any time. He is sweet and smooth, and one day you realize, maybe you SHOULD take him seriously. He could be a major player in your life!
My first thought when trying Roasted Chestnut Rooibos was “this is like a brown tweed jacket.” It’s sturdy and solid. There’s a classic reliability to it. The nutty and earthy flavors contribute to this impression. There’s also a slight sweetness here, a creaminess. I’m not sure if it’s the innate gentle red rooibos or this blend, but this is a yummy mix.
A mix for evening before bed.
Or any time, really. Rooibos will be there, waiting for you.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
Usher in the holiday season with this joyous brew. If you like chestnuts roasted on an open fire you’ll love this caffeine free tisane! The dry leaf has the aroma of nutty, heavenly goodness and the brewed cup explodes with this flavor followed by a light buttery taste. So curl up by a fire with this delicious cup while you read your favorite book and listen to holiday songs. We dare you to try not to sing “that” song!
Ingredients: Red Rooibos, orange blossoms and flavoring.
Brew tea at 212º – steep for 5 minutes.
Caffeine free. Certified Kosher
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bronte Sisters’ Black Tea Blend from Simpson And Vail
The first thing I noticed about this tea was the fruity, sweet smell. It smelled much more like fruit than tea. The tea ingredients include papaya and raspberry, and also marigold petals. I brewed myself a cup, and added a little raw sugar and a splash of coconut creamer. I should have left the sugar out because it is very sweet on it’s own. Almost too sweet if I’m being honest. It definitely has a very fruity taste and perfume. I didn’t taste to any floral notes which surprised me.
I would say this would be an excellent tea for people who really enjoy sweet tea and very fruity teas. The sweetness definitely lingered on my taste buds long after drinking it. I will have to experiment and see if maybe this is more refreshing as an iced tea. I prefer fruity teas iced not hot. And I guess with black teas I like a spicier, less sweet tea. This might even be considered a dessert tea. Although vanilla isn’t listed as an ingredient, I tasted a vanilla essence in the background. As I said, this isn’t my favorite tea I’ve tried, but if you or someone you know loves dessert teas, this would definitely be worth a try
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
The Bronte sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne, lived and wrote in Yorkshire, England. Born in 1816, 1818 and 1820, respectively, the sisters lived very short lives, with Charlotte living the longest at 38. During their unfortunately short lifetimes, each sister produced novels that would become cornerstones of western literature and inspire studies for generations. Emily’s Wuthering Heights, Charlotte’s Jane Eyre, and Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall each found an audience and acclaim that continues to this day. With their novels, the sisters introduced the world to a starkly honest portrayal of English womanhood that didn’t hide the ugliness and intrigue many novels of the time shied away from. Although tame by today’s standards, their inclusion of independent female characters, alcoholism, and abuse meant that the Bronte’s novels faced their share of controversy.
The Bronte family kept an orchard and garden where the sisters spent much of their time exploring, drawing, and writing. Charlotte was more inclined to draw the flowers and the plants than to stop and smell them, but Anne and Emily were happy to get their hands dirty with a little gardening. Emily especially, who was known to be a bit of a recluse, could often be found taking long walks and enjoying nature. Our Bronte Sisters tea blend combines pear, apple, and gooseberry flavors to make a sweet and fragrant blend that’s reminiscent of an orchard stroll. The flavors in this blend meld together in perfect harmony and the taste lingers deliciously on the palate.
Ingredients: Black teas, papaya pieces (papayas and sugar), flavorings, raspberry pieces, alfalfa leaves and marigold petals.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cozy Comfort from Simpson & Vail. . . . .
Cozy Comfort? Yes, please! Whether you are looking for COZY COMFORT because it’s chilly outside or stressful in daily life I think you find something comforting in this tea! It’s called Cozy Comfort from Simpson & Vail.
Black teas, organic cinnamon pieces, orange blossoms, and Black Walnut flavor makes up this flavored black tea. The loose leaf ingredients are hefty and very visible. The aroma and taste on the tongue are very satisfying, too!
The black walnut flavor was totally in check. Prominent but not overdone. The cinnamon was the perfect accomplice. The orange blossoms give it a citrus slide of flavor, too! The black tea base is a nice solid black tea in every way.
I can’t find anything wrong with this tea – nor would I change anything about it.
It lives up to its name…cozy comfort! It gives you the warm and fuzzies while still providing a nutty bitter-sweet and citrus zing to your tongue! Certainly a flavored black tea I would revisit often! Two thumbs up!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Description
This tea blend has been difficult for all of us to name. The fact is, the flavor is called American Black Walnut. But that doesn’t seem like the name of a tea that people might try. We sampled it in our store. Everyone who tried it instantly loved it and wanted to purchase it. When I told them it was Black Walnut they looked puzzled. So we asked people to name it and no one could accurately sum up the flavor profile. Until Pam tried it.
Pam works in the office & store here at Simpson & Vail. Perhaps you’ve spoken to her on the phone. She perfectly summed up the essence of this blend. “It is delicious! It’s like a “throw-back” tea….brings up thoughts of snuggling in a cozy comforter by a fireplace, or being a little kid snuggled in a comforter sitting on your Grammie’s lap, wrapped in the comforter and her hugs. It’s like watching cookies bake in the oven and drifting off to peaceful places on the aroma wafting from the oven. I would call it “cozy comfort tea”… It brings you to that safe, childhood place where you think all is right with the world… I love this tea! Hope you all can find a name for it!”
We did Pam. We called it Cozy Comfort Tea because you’re right; it’s all those things you mentioned … and more!
Ingredients: black teas, organic cinnamon pieces, orange blossoms and Black Walnut flavor.
Brew tea at 212º – steep for 3 minutes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Black Tea Blend from Simpson and Vail. . . . .
Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Black Tea Blend from Simpson & Vail Tea is another offering from S&V’s Literary Tea Line. Although I’m not as familiar with this author as I am the other authors on the tea tribute list I was very excited to try this tea.
A mighty fine combination of black teas from India, Sri Lanka, China, and Taiwan along side bergamot oil is what Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Black Tea Blend from Simpson & Vail Tea is made of. I LOVE having a blend of 4 different black teas in this base. The bergamot oil is hiding a bit but as the tea cools naturally at room temperature it seems to peek out a bit more.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Black Tea Blend from Simpson & Vail Tea describes this tea as a Russian style tea that brews to a bright copper cup with a mellow, flavorful, medium-bodied taste and a lemon-citrus aftertaste. I would have to agree with this. There were slight hints of smoke that were laying underneath as well which were a nice addition to this tea! All-in-All another nice tea from S&V!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson & Vail
Description
Fyodor Dostoyevsky was born in Moscow in 1821 and spent his first sixteen years among the orphans, criminals, and asylum patients with whom his father worked. In 1846, Poor Folk gave the young Dostoyevsky his first taste of literary fame, but it is Crime and Punishment and The Idiot that cemented his legacy. His works examined the complicated relationship between ideology, political climate, and personal upbringing and how they each affect a person’s psyche. His novels serve as a precursor to existentialism, and they are pivotal in the Russian Symbolism Movement.
Tea plays an important symbolic role in Dostoyevsky’s writing, where it often serves as a comforting staple in an otherwise chaotic world. In Poor Folk, he writes that “all the world needs tea” and then later the main character reminisces about a simpler time when he could be “sitting in [their] little parlour at tea with [his] parents—in the familiar little parlour where everything was snug and warm!” The Russian samovar provides warmth and a central meeting place equivalent to the watercooler. Our Fyodor Dostoyevsky tea blend is an approximation of a typical Russian blend of the time and it recreates the flavors that he and his characters would have savored. Sip along with Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, Rodion Raskolnikov, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky himself with this delicious blend.
This Russian style tea brews to a bright copper cup with a mellow, flavorful, medium-bodied taste and a lemon-citrus aftertaste.
Ingredients: Black teas from India, Sri Lanka, China and Taiwan and bergamot oil.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
A Tea for Cold Winter Months. . .Spiced Mulled Wine from Simpson and Vail. . .
A wine tea? That’s a new one. I have seen cocktail-inspired blends. Even beer teas. Never wine. It’s a fun idea though and one I am very excited to try.
Well, this brews up the color of red wine, so that’s a good start. Also it manages to do so without hibiscus which is a plus since there won’t be that oh-so-familiar tartness hibby comes with. It’s also smooth, like a fine wine. It goes down easy and is rather comforting actually. I’m guessing that comes from the “spiced” component of this tea which is like a soft and gentle hug. There is also an underlying fruitiness in the mix but it remains in the background, adding to the overall flavor as opposed to trying to take over, just as the various fruit notes are in wine. The smell also captures wine, albeit with less of the alcohol content.
It’s definitely a unique tea and definitely has many parallels to the wine that inspires it. It’s not entirely accurate though I think that is preferable because a hot cup of wine is just wrong. A hot cup of wine-inspired tea is surprisingly right though and certainly something new and different.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Flavored Tea
Where to Buy: Simpson and Vail
Description
Looking for a winter concoction without the alcohol? Then, this brew is for you! The blend produces a reddish cup with a sweet fragrant aroma and taste. The tannic taste is reminiscent of red wine and it is perfectly complemented by the light spice taste and the earthy undertones.
Ingredients: black teas, orange peel, beet root, spiced mulled wine flavoring and malva blossoms.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
