Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Rooibos Tea’

For the last few weeks I’ve been stricken with an odd quandary. At the end of my day, I found myself too tired to brew up tea. Even the herbals. There was a time – not long past – when a good tisane was what the end of the day (or night) required. That ritual fell by the wayside in favor of…well…zoning. Tonight was about to be such a night until I turned to my “It’s All About the Leaf” box (yes, there is an actual box dedicated to this site).

One of the samples I forgot about in the fray was a Mighty Leaf offering. How this escaped my notice (and memory), I have no clue. I love Mighty Leaf, and their tisanes are topnotch. They made one of the best citrus chamomile fusions I’ve ever tried, and don’t get me started on how they made yerba mate drinkable.

The nighttime cup o’ “Thud!” I was turning to this time was aptly dubbed “African Nectar. From the name, it was obviously a rooibos base. In fact, I expected it to be straight rooibos with, maybe, a few other additives. Well…there were more than a few. Along for the rooibos ride were hibiscus (a mainstay in a lot of rooibos blends), rose petals, mallow blossoms, and marigolds. Natural flavors and natural tropical flavors rounded out the medley. Why flavoring had to be mentioned twice, I dunno. Emphasis, maybe.

What I loved best about this? It came in a sachet! Perfect for the lazy, lethargic steeper that I was at 2AM. To the sight, however, the contents didn’t look like the floral menagerie I was picturing in my head. I saw one marigold and a few other pieces, but for the most part, it was just rooibos. Smelled quite tropical, though.

Brewing instructions were dead simple. On the bag, they said to brew for five minutes. That’s it. No water temperature listing, no cup size, nothing. They simply expected you to fill a cup with hot water and dunk the bag in. At two past Witching Hour, I was quite okay with this.

I didn’t time the infusion as much as watched the clear mug dark from gold to crimson – really cool effect. The cup smelled as tart and tropical as the un-dunked bag did. It’s very promising when the natural flavoring can hold up to a long steep. To the taste, there was a mild citrus tang and hibiscus bite on the front, followed by the requisite rooibos nut-sweetness in the middle, and – not surprisingly – it ended on a floral note. There was also the texture of nectar, just as the namesake promised.

In my limited experience, it’s hard to find tisanes that do exactly what they promise. This did so. I think that should be Mighty Leaf’s credo: “We do what the name says, damn it.” (Okay, maybe phrased differently.)

You can purchase Mighty Leaf African Nectar Loose Tea or Mighty Leaf African Nectar Tea Pouches directly from their website.

The NecessiTeas’ selection of rooibos teas reads like a decadent bakery menu. Chiffons and cocoas and various sweet temptations are elements of every item. My first sniff of the Orange Marzipan dry mix sent my taste buds crazy, craving sugar cookies with almond flavoring–because the almond is what hits you first, strong and sweet.

The heavy almond scent dissipates a little once you steep the tea. But rooibos is complemented well by sweetish flavors and the blend is still cookie-pleasant. Orange flavor is present, but stays modestly in the background.

As tea ingredients, oranges and almonds have the potential to turn on you if you don’t steep carefully–oranges go sour, almonds go bitter. But in the case of this culinary concoction, it’s all good; well balanced.

You can purchase the Orange Marzipan directly from the The Necessiteas website.

Ah, this tea smells tasty. The aroma of the dried leaf is very fruity, if also a bit floral. There are some spicy tones as well. It would appear the mixture is composed of rooibos, rose petals, and perhaps some dried citrus, among other things.

For my first infusions, I steeped a teaspoon and a half of this for five minutes in a cup of just-boiled water. The Shanti Tea website does not give many details regarding this tea, but judging by the fact that it has rooibos, I decided on the tea measurement and steep times. The steeped cup smells of sweet fruit, with big hints of apricot and citrus of some sort. The impression of the first sip is…subdued. Quite a bit of lemon and orange flavours, but not a lot else that stands out. More sips bring out the rooibos and mixed fruit flavours. They blend quite well, and the tea makes for a pleasant evening cuppa.

On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate this tea a 68/100.

You can purchase the African Carnival directly from the Shanti Tea website.

First let me say that I have an affinity to almonds. Love them especially hot almond milk tea. Roasted almond just sounds that much better. Not too sure about the red rooibos as I’ve only had rooibos a handful of times.

Remember my review on Shanti Tea’s Cherry Sencha and how I said that Cherry scents always remind me of Cherry Children’s Tylenol? Well, this tea’s dry leaf smelled even more potent than that and I felt a little dizzy. It reminded me of my aversion to Cherry scents.

Anyway with regards to the taste, I think I must have some kind of allergy to rooibos or something because after every sip I got a headache. It was getting to the point that I just did not want to drink anymore. That combined with the heady, dizzying aroma did not make it a good experience. It felt like a mini hangover. It must just be me because my co-worker liked it and did not experience the dizziness or headache I did. I’m sorry I don’t think I can offer a fair review for this. Well, at least I now know that I must stay away from rooibos. Imagine that, me being allergic to a tea…well technically rooibos isn’t a tea, but you know what I mean. It just puts a damper on things.

I have read the reviews on this tea and they all seem favourable What I can say is rooibos and almond are both quite potent and the combination makes it very rich and bold. There is no subtlety here, packed full of flavour. As it cooled the taste started to develop a sort of minty taste. I tried to drink as much as I can for this review. It is right for some but I can’t take it. I have another East Pacific Tea I have to review (White Jasmine) and I am looking forward to that. Onwards and upwards as they say…

You can purchase the Roasted Almond directly from the East Pacific Tea Co website.

7 minute brew time with boiling water

Very pretty blend. Green and yellow “grass” like cuttings are sprinkled throughout this lemony blend.

Champagne colored brew.

Lemon grass is the dominant flavor. This blend would be great added to another tea for that just right lemon addition.

As I neared the end of my cup, I noticed the astringency of this herbal blend, which makes me really think that using this as a mix in with another tea would really be the best use for this one.

Overall, a good lemony cup of herbal tea.

You can purchase the Lemonade directly from the Shanti Tea website.