Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘cornflower tea’

I’m always up for a blueberry flavored white tea!  And it’s rare if I don’t like a nice/clean Pain Mu Dan!  This was the first time I tried TeaFrog’s version and I must say it’s lovely!  It’s a moderately flavored white…not overly so – with plump Blueberries and a hint of floral taste.  My first cup was HOT and it was very good.  My 2nd attempt was ICED and just as lovely.  The only difference I would like to note with the ICED (vs the hot) is that the floral notes seem to come out more with the cold version.  This is a decent blueberry flavored white and I am very excited I got to try it!

You can purchase the Blueberry White Tea directly from the TeaFrog website.

I was told to cut out caffeine for a bit so I went to Teafrog looking for some rooibos decaf amusement and they came through for me with three tisane recommendations. Grabbed them all because I’m self indulgent that way (tea is my only real vise, I swear).

Sitting here looking at the Kalahari Flavored Rooibos and smiling. Teafrog teas are always so pretty (pretty in a gender neutral, men who drink tea are hot, kind of way). The rooibos is a nice red color, looks really fresh, need to ask but it looks like super grade. Don’t have to read the ingredient list to see what’s in this blend. Blue cornflowers mixed with lemongrass and rooibos. The leaves smell almost chocolaty, maybe vanilla, but with something else going on. Really can’t work out what to compare the scent to, mystery blend here.

Steeped it for 6 minutes in boiling water and now I’m waiting for the dark amber tisane to cool. The scent hit me right away but I still can’t make out what it is or whether or not I like it. Still kind of chocolaty but with a grassy hint that’s overwhelming it. Okay weird taste, wonder if the cornflower is throwing my palate off. Tossed.

Brewed some more, steeped it for less time (4 minutes) and the ‘grassy’ taste is gone but I’m still not liking this blend. Quality ingredients that I’ve grown to expect from this tea company so I guess it’s down to personal taste…

You can purchase the Kalahari Flavoured Rooibos Tea directly from the TeaFrog website.

This rooibos blend from Tea Frog Tea is well named – I LOVE this tea!! According to Tea Frog: “Our most popular Rooibos blend, the Love blend is an aromatic delight that you will not be able to resist! This tea is so good, we sample it at every show, and sell out at every show! The scent and flavor are simply to die for!”. The ingredients are listed as Rooibos, Safflower, Sunflower, Calendula Flower, Roses, Cornflower and Orange Peel.

The loose tea is a striking combination of colors; red rooibos leaf and rose petals, pieces of orange peel and sunny yellow calendula flowers, contrasting with vivid cornflower blue. Even before brewing the aroma is heavenly – the familiar sweetness of rooibos with strong orange notes, and although it isn’t listed as an ingredient there is a hint of vanilla.

Following Tea Frog’s guidelines of 1 teaspoon per cup and steeping for 5 minutes resulted in a rich rooibos red (how’s that for alliteration?) cup of tea losing none of its delicious aroma in the process. The taste didn’t disappoint and the combination of flavors is just right – sweet but not sugary sweet with a refreshing taste of citrus. I was able to get a second brewing with a milder but still pleasant flavor.

I haven’t tried yet, but I’m sure that this blend would lend itself to an excellent iced tea – mixed 50/50 with either lemonade or orange juice and float some fresh flower petals on the surface for presentation – yummy!! With the weather getting cooler I’m more inclined to drink my tea hot but as soon as winter is over and the summer returns I will definitely give it a try.

You can purchase TeaFrog Love Flavoured Rooibos directly from their website.

Africana is one of the Rooibos blends from Red Leaf Tea. It combines a rich red Rooibos leaf with bright blue malva flowers and purple cornflowers creating a very attractive loose tea that smells mildly of vanilla. The only ingredients listed for this blend are the Rooibos and the flowers that I mentioned but the description refers to “subtle touches of vanilla and orange” which I assume are added as flavoring.

I brewed a single cup of the Rooibos for 5 minutes; the tea was a nice mahogany color and had the typical sweet scent of Rooibos. The flavor as described was very subtle. A little too subtle in fact, if I hadn’t read the bag I would have thought this was a straight Rooibos. It wasn’t unpleasant; it had the nice sweet, nutty flavor that Rooibos is known for, but I couldn’t distinguish any of the vanilla or orange flavors that I was expecting.

I do enjoy plain Rooibos. There are so many flavor combinations available that it is sometimes hard to find a good Rooibos with nothing added to hide the natural taste. I started drinking Rooibos because it is naturally caffeine free and it made a nice cup of tea to relax with in the evening. For these reasons I did enjoy my cup of Rooibos Africana but I have to say that I was expecting a bit more from it.

Africana is priced a little high for a Rooibos, as are most of the loose leaf teas at Red Leaf Tea, but they have a Points and Rewards program and are currently offering free shipping which sweetens the deal considerably.

You can purchase Red Leaf Tea Rooibos Africana directly from their website.