Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Rooibos Tea’

I have tried a lot of Rooibos tea. I have had a lot of Fruit Tisanes. Over time, they can tend to blur together into a single impression. For Rooibos teas, there is almost always a sweetness, no matter the flavouring. For Fruit Tisanes, tangy. So when we received a sample of Cranberry Crush from East Pacific Tea Company, I was anticipating that this was going to be just another flavoured Rooibos.

In cas you had not guessed, this tea is a combination of Rooibos, Cranberries, Orange Peel and Hibiscus. When you look at this tea, you can see all of these ingredients mixed together. If I had not dug into the tea, and read the ingredients, I never would actually have noticed the Rooibos. There seems to be a very small ratio of it in this tea, leaning it more towards a supporting role in a Fruit Tisane, rather than the dominant role in a Rooibos mix.

The smell of the tea is strongly orange, with an undertone of Cranberries. With Cranberries, Orange and Hibiscus, I expected the tang that you get from a Fruit tea, but I was unsure of how the Rooibos was going to show up in this.

As it turns out, I need not have been afraid. This tea brings the best of a Rooibos, with an underlying supporting sweetness, and the best of a Fruit Tisane, with a tart fruity cranberry flavour. The Cranberry is most definitely the star in here, but the orange does not back down either. The Hibiscus plays a background role, which is just fine with me, as it is not my favorite addition to a blend.

Hot, I like this tea, but cold, I can see a whole new window of opportunity arise. I know even without making a cold version, that this tea will shine as an iced tea. Typically I make an “Arnold Palmer” iced tea, blending 50/50 with lemonade, but this one I think I will have to try as-is.

Overall, this is a great tea for someone that is not a Rooibos lover, but also may be tired of the typical Fruit tea. I enjoyed this offering from the East Pacific Tea Company, and I am looking forward to digging into some of their other samples!

You can purchase the Cranberry Crush directly from the East Pacific Tea Co website.

The scent from the sample is strongly woody.

I measured out 1 tsp and got a large caramel cube!

5 minute infusion; WOW!!! The creaminess of the caramel is coming through and (thankfully) leaving the woodiness of the rooibos behind. It tastes just like a caramel chew. This has turned out to my favorite rooibos blend from Tea Frog. This tea is yummy and definitely going on my list of night time tea selections.

You can purchase the Caramel Cream directly from the TeaFrog website.

Broke into this sample as soon as it arrived, the smell from the pouch is heavenly. The main flavor in this tea is orange. Nice tea to drink at night since there is no caffeine. Sometimes Rooibos can taste woodsy, but not this one. The taste is milder. This is a nice warm cup brimming of orange notes. I am left wondering where is the gingerbread note?

Overall, a good choice.

You can purchase the Gingerbread Orange directly from the TeaFrog website.

This blend is identical in smell to BTC’s Berry Medley. Berry Medley is a black tea blend while the Berry Twist is a red rooibos blend.

This tea is caffeine free, which is always a good thing to have in your tea cupboard for those late night cups of tea. For me, the aftertaste of the rooibos is too strong and left me wanting a cup of Berry Medley. If you like red rooibos with fruity notes, this is the tea for you! Enjoy.

You can purchase the Berry Twist directly from the Boston Tea Company website.

Smell in bag is of vanilla and cream-Whoa-I can’t get the water boiled fast enough!

A 3 minute infusion releases the cream notes. This tea is perfectly balanced, the bergamot is present but not over the top. No need for sweeteners, I did add a splash of milk to bring out the vanilla and crème more.

On an Earl Grey scale, this tea would be ranked as a mild one…a GREAT mild Earl Grey with a creaminess you will have to experience for yourself. For me, the search is over! I can now join with Picard…”Earl Grey (de la crème) Hot.”

You can purchase the Earl Grey de la Crème directly from the Distinctly Tea website.