Steeping: 3 g at 212° in 1 cup for two minutes. . .
This is my first tea of the day so let’s hope it lives up to its name! It’s a rooibos-based blend, but it does have green tea as well so it’s not caffeine-free.
As the tea steeps, I’m watching it and catching a sniff here and there. I’m catching some whiffs of rooibos fragrance and, leaning closer, some honeylike flavor as well (which I at first thought came from honeybush, although I later discovered honeybush does not seem to be in the ingredients list). The liquid is turning dark reddish orange and I notice that a few bits of tea have escaped the mesh as well. (I would recommend using a finer mesh if you don’t prefer having small bits in your tea). It also smells a little bit acidic. The first sip has an interesting hint of flavor that I can’t quite place – citrus maybe? Or perhaps it’s from the rose petal I saw in the tea leaves before steeping. The overall flavor is sweet and not bitter at all or very astringent either; the flavor is welcoming but not too exciting. It doesn’t need any sugar, though, because it’s already so sweet. This tea could be a nice intro to rooibos; it does have some other flavors such as rose petals too, but they’re not too overpowering so you can still taste the rooibos flavor.
It’s good with milk too! Adding milk was actually a very interesting experiment because it ended up bringing out a completely different side of the flavor profile. I’d almost think that I was drinking a totally different kind of tea! That doesn’t happen often (and I do almost always add milk to my tea so I have plenty of experience).
Overall, I’d say this is a great, enjoyable rooibos combination with plenty of sweetness, perhaps a little citrus and/or rose flavor, and definitely no need for sugar. And according to the label it’s also organic and fair trade!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Cup of Love
Description
A revitalizing blend of herbs, flowers, and Green & Rooibos Teas to give you a boost of energy throughout your day. Its effervescent flavor is smooth without the bitter crash of an energy
drink. It leaves the body feeling clean, refreshed, and renewed for all of life’s adventures.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Sunrise Sensation from Vampyre Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Vampyre Tea Company
Tea Description:
White Tea is one of China’s Special Treasures, hand-picked from the youngest and most tender leaf tips and buds grown in the mountains of the Fujian province. It is sun-dried in a laborious and ancient process that captures more of the tea’s incredible health-benefiting properties. Our Bai Mu Dan, or more commonly called White Peony, yields a fresh and delicate flavor that blooms like flowers in springtime, and when mixed with Lemon Grass, Lemon Myrtle, and bits of peel with an infusion of Ginseng and Ginger roots, it makes the most revitalizing blend! Bai Mu Dan White Tea, Lemon Peel-Grass-& Myrtle, Ginseng Root, & Ginger Root
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
White tea and ginger . . .not flavors I think I have ever had together before. I was quite excited to try this combination!
My first impression of the dry leaf is that this blend has a real rich ginger fragrance. I don’t pick up any of the white tea familiar floral notes. I brewed this up with the typical white tea settings and set down to enjoy a cuppa.
Took a whiff of the steeped tea and yet again was greeted with a very heavy ginger fragrance. My first impression of how this tea tastes? If you love ginger, you’ll love this tea.
For me the ginger was quite heavy in this tea but quite a nice change of pace. I’m not sure I 100% love the combination of the floral aspects of the ginger. Intriguing and different for sure. The ginger notes and flavors are very dominating in each sip with the sweet floral like aspects of the tea hiding in the background. You could pick up hints here and there of the lemon peel and lemon grass. I almost wish those flavors would have been hyped up more with the ginger hyped down a note or two. That would have been some great tea! I’m going to try this as a cold brew later today to see if I can get those flavors to pop a bit more. Doesn’t a white ginger iced tea sound delicious?
This tea is good, just not what I was hoping for. But ginger is a newer flavor that I just started liking. This will be a tea I will be revising. With a name like Sunrise Sensation and having a horror aspect to it, I have to try this one again!
