Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘rooibos’

Today I’m reviewing to herbal teas from Mighty Leaf and I’m excited because they are one of the few companies I know of who offer high quality in sachets.  Perfect to have in a pinch if I’ve forgotten my finum because they tea pouches are large enough to let the tea infuse properly.

Opening the package and I can immediately tell that I’m going to love this tea.  The citrus smell is intoxicating.  It has Egyptian chamomile in it and the flowers are whole and appear to be really fresh.  There’s no dust in the pouch at all, just pretty bits of herbs and fruit.

Steeping it at 205 F for the full five minutes because I want to get every golden bit of the tisane infused.  The color was immediately a light yellow then finally went to a nice golden orange.  Love the way rosehip warms up the color of a brew.  Can smell all of the other herbs now and they are balancing out the citrus perfectly.

Yeah! It tastes as good as it looks and smells, I was right, this is a great blend.  I can feel my heart rate slowing, the days stress leaving me…  Would it be insane for me to let this tea pouch dry out and use it as a sachet in my lingerie drawer?  hmmm… yes, it smells that good.

Now on to the African Nectar.  Rooibos is a friend of mine, we go back a long way and she’s never let me down.  This tea pouch fine enough to contain the rooibos, helps that it’s a higher grade so the needles are longer.  Blends looks like it’s mostly rooibos, with bits of the other ingredients.  Can see the marigold in it, which is good (I have a ton of marigold at home and add it to most of my teas, just to up the health benefits of my teas).

This blend has so much of a citrus scent that I can barely smell the rooibos, expecting that will change when I stop analyzing the pouch and add water to it…

Steeping this one the same as I did the Chamomile Citrus, boiling water for five minutes.  The rooibos is darker wet so now I can see the other herbs as well as the stems.  Excellent leaf to stem ratio though, Mighty Leaf did not disappoint.  It’s infused to a nice dark, reddish brown and it smells divine.  The rose and hibiscus are now dominating the scent and the citrus smell is completely gone.

It tastes like rooibos but I think the rose is killing it, bit too flowery, almost perfumey.  Letting it cool.  The pouches are completely biodegradible and they literally look like the sachets that girls use to scent lingerie (do guys do that too?).  Tea has cooled now and it still has that rose taste, fantastic if you like flowers in your tea, not working for me though.  Still a really good quality tea though, impressive.

You can purchase the Chamomile Citrus and African Nectar directly from the Mighty Leaf Tea website.

As my husband handed me the box from Mike, I could smell this tea! And I have to admit my comment was “something really smells in there!” The fear in the back of my mind was Rooibos. Had I requested another Rooibos? The fear was subsided when I opened the box to reveal this silver tin of Honeybush tea. I have only had honeybush tea once before and on that particular occasion the honeybush strongly resembled a woody rooibos.

Honeybush is a mild, caffeine free herbal tea. I was hopeful that I would like this tea. As I put my teaspoon into the tea leaves, I noticed something…what is that? Chocolate? Yes, tiny chocolate pieces of goodness throughout this blend. Since I could not locate any brewing directions I just went with standard recommendations 4-5 minutes steep time with 1.5 tsp per cup.

Chocolate. Did I mention the chocolate??? This is very good chocolate tea! Smooth and rich. One cup will do ya kind of tea. And the best part is that it is caffeine free, so this may well become my nighttime tea. Halleluiah. It is really hard to find a good nighttime tea. I would never have pegged a honeybush to fill that need in my tea cupboard, but this jewel of a tea did just that for me. Go ahead and pick up a tin of this tea, it just may be your tea too!

You can purchase the Chocolate Honeybush directly from the Sanctuary T website.

I was recently contacted by Zhi Tea about sampling one of their teas as an iced tea, part of a campaign they are running this summer. Being that I never turn down any kind of tea anytime, I was of course, more than happy to participate! I had the choice of 4 teas that they chose as capable of making great iced tea, the Ginger & Lime Green Rooibos, Berry Hibiscus, Turkish Spice Mint and Tropical Green. I chose the Berry Hibiscus, as I enjoy fruit iced tea a bit more in the summer heat, more refreshing.

I tried this tea 3 ways, the first was the suggested method in the letter that arrived with the sample, brew 5 minutes, double strength (2tsp/cup) and pour over ice. Then I did the same method, except with a tsp of sugar added. Finally, I did it “Arnold Palmer” style, mixing half and half brewed tea with lemonade. The following are my personal thoughts on the results.

Method 1 – boiling water, 2tsp/cup of tisane, pour over ice, drink right away. My first impression is that I prefer my iced tea really cold, and this method does not get it really cold. It cools it down, but not cold enough for me. The taste of the tea is what I expect with any hibiscus blend, that is somewhat sour. I can taste a bit of cranberry in the background, but the rose hips and hibiscus just overwhelm any other fruitiness. I did find it somewhat refreshing, and interesting that the sourness was not a powerful pucker, not completely undrinkable, just basically what I expected. Usually sugar can pull out fruit flavours, so that is what I tried next.

Method 2 – boiling water, 2tsp/cup of tisane, pour over ice, add 1tsp sugar, stir and drink. Now, I am not really a fan of adding pure sugar, but I did not have any honey or other sweeteners at hand, so white refined sugar it is. As I mentioned, you can usually coax out fruit flavours with sugar, but in this case, I still found that the hibiscus and rose hip overwhelmed the other fruit flavours, nothing jumped out at me. I definitely did not like the addition of sugar. I preferred the first method without sugar, as it did nothing to pull out flavours or mute any sourness. (I need a better word for sourness, it sounds so negative, and it was not an unpleasant sour – maybe add suggestions for this in the comments section for this post!) On to the third method – the way to make ANY iced tea amazing!

Method 3 – boiling water, 2tsp/cup of tisane, blend with lemonade, chill and drink. Now in my experience, this method will make even the most borderline teas an amazing drink. The lemonade adds a natural sweetness, and highlights fruit flavours, as well as mixing well with any green or black tea I have ever tried it with. In this case, it was a definite improvement, tho fireworks did not go off in the sky. It did bring our more of the fruit flavours, unfortunately that included the cranberries, so a more sour-ish kind of pucker. It was still refreshing throughout, and very drinkable.

As a first experience with Zhi Tea, it left me wanting a little bit, but honestly it was not unexpected. Any fruit blend with hibiscus and rose hips together is bound to be a little sour or bitter. In retrospect, I should have chosen a different blend to try, and that is 100% my fault on that. Zhi just provided what I asked for.

I did not dislike this tea as an iced tea, it was refreshing (definitely better cold than lukewarm), so if you are going to prepare it, then leave it to cool in a fridge overnight. The sourness was not as bad as I have had before, I do like a little pucker, but I would have liked more fruit flavours to come to the fore in this tea. All in all, not too bad. If I was asked to rate it out of 10, I would give it a solid 6.5, tho it is not as bad as that seems, just not good enough to reach a 7.

My thanks to Zhi Tea for allowing me to participate in this iced tea sampling, and hopefully in the future you will see more Zhi Tea reviews on It’s All About The Leaf!

You can purchase the Berry Hibiscus directly from the Zhi Tea website.

On a shopping trip the other day I saw a box labeled Chinese Red tea. Chinese *red* tea? I’ve never heard of that, I’ve heard of white, green, black, herbal, oolong, honeybush and rooibos teas, but not Chinese Red. I’ve heard rooibos called red, but don’t think Rooibos grows in China. So what is this red tea? Then, a package arrived in the mail with a packet of Bai Lin Gong Fu in it, and it said Red Tea on it! YAY! I get to try this thing!

Then, I found out that Chinese red tea is the local Chinese name for black tea. Oh. Phooey. I was hoping for a whole new experience. But upon further thought, I don’t know how many non-blended Chinese black teas I’ve had – most have been Indian, Sri Lankan, blends, or flavored. So this is still something new. Excellent. Time to open the packet.

This leaf is absolutely gorgeous. Light brown fuzzy leaves make up about 50% of the sample. And the aroma is luscious. Malty, with hints of cocoa and sweetness. Once brewed up, this is a lovely light orange. And the flavor? Mellow, smooth and sweet smelling. If it wasn’t for the caffeine content, this would be the tea equivalent of wrapping up in a blanket in front of the fire for a nap. I tend to sweeten my black teas, and I am just fine drinking this without any additives.

As an introduction to Chinese red teas, this is a great start. I look forward to trying others, especially if they’re at all like this one.

You can purchase the Bai Lin Gong Fu directly from the Canton Tea Co. website. Save 15% right now when you use the code LEAF at checkout!

Todays tea is the Kalahari Tea, Red Tea Kalahari Reserve. I personally love Rooibos tea, the sweetness and nuttiness of it. I was looking forward to a good cup of high quality Rooibos tea, with a name like Reserve, it sounds pretty exclusive!

From the Kalahari Tea website: “Kalahari Reserve is 100% pure red tea, selected from the tender tips of the Rooibos bush. With it’s sweet, smooth taste, it can be enjoyed by itself, or with milk, lemon or a sweetener. Rich in antioxidants, red tea tastes great and is naturally caffeine free. It’s the healthy drink you can consume all day long.”

First of all, I heated the water to 100 deg C, pretty standard for Rooibos. I brewed the teabag for 5 mins., again, pretty standard. There are no instructions on the bag teabag package, and it is not very attractive, with just a typed name on it. It would be nice to see some sort of design, something to say that this is more than a boring old teabag!

The tea is a deep amber, again, what I come to expect from a Rooibos tea. The taste is slightly sweet, with some spicy notes – unique for Rooibos, as I have not really tasted any spice in a straight Rooibos before. Unfortunately, that is the end of the distinguishing characteristics for this tea. The brew is bland, almost stale tasting. I don’t detect any nuttiness whatsoever, and I found that I did not enjoy the tea at all. Not an offensive taste, just non-memorable. I am still waiting an enjoyable Kalahari Tea, and I am sure that it is there, I just have not found it yet!

Can anyone suggest which of the following is a good tea to review from them: Ruby Grapefruit White Tea, Cherry Vanilla Chocolatte Red Tea, Highlands Honey Red Tea, Safary Lullaby Red Tea – I really don’t want to do any more negative Kalahari reviews! Leave your comments below.

You can purchase Kalahari Tea Kalahari Reserve Red Tea directly from their website.