I steeped this tea for 8 minutes at 212 degrees with 1.5 teaspoons of leaf in about 6-8 ounces of water.
After steeping, the tea is an interesting peachy color-pinkish-orangeish-amber. It smells mostly of honeybush and a little of hops. The flavor combinations available here are quite intriguing!
First sip: SUPER sweet. It has a light, airy quality to the flavor. It’s not as “earthy” as I’d expect with so much honeybush in it (honeybush and rooibos usually ground a flavor pretty well in my estimation).
The flavor is also much more complex than the fragrance, rather than being dominated by the honeybush and hops flavors. It has the sweetness and woodiness of honeybush, but also a touch of lemony/citrus flavor (which brightens it considerably), just a hint of minty or piney freshness maybe, and some other difficult-to-describe notes.
After consulting the list of ingredients (it’s a relatively long one for a tea blend, although not super-long like a processed food or something) I’ve worked out that the sweetness is probably boosted by the marshmallow leaf (although honeybush is sweet on its own too) and the licorice; the bee pollen is probably what I see dancing in the tea liquid, giving it this peachy color; and the cedar is probably what I was mistaking for minty/piney freshness. All taken together, these notes make a fascinating flavor that’s worth exploring!
I’m really glad I got to try this tea–the dried leaf didn’t smell nearly as appetizing as the tea liquid turned out to be, and I’m glad I gave it the chance to bloom (figuratively speaking, that is–this wasn’t what they call a “blooming tea”).
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush/Rooibos
Where to Buy: Beach House Tea Company
Description
Woodland Trek 100% organic loose leaf tea is crafted with honeybush tea with a rich undertone of licorice and sage and snap of organic Oregon hops and a hint of sweetness from bee pollen. This outdoor-rich blend with organic cedar tips invites you to reminisce memories of evenings spent camping or hiking the cascades.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Rose City Rooibos from Beach House Teas. . . . .
Spring and summer are my favorite time for drinking floral teas, complementing the flowers blooming outside of my teacup. So this seemed like the perfect time to try a cup of Rose City Rooibos from Beach House Teas.
This is the first tea I’ve tried from Beach House Teas so I took a look at their website. Family-run business in the Pacific Northwest with a focus on organic and wild ingredients, producing hand-blended teas. They also have an Etsy shop, if that’s more your style. They even offer herb-infused sugar for cooking, and herb infused salts and bath bombs for the bath.
Let’s get back to the tea at hand, Rose City Rooibos. Like many tea blends on Beach House Teas, this blend looks great in the dry leaf with beautiful curled rose blossoms in pink and cream, and the rich russet tones of the red rooibos.
Brewed, this tea is smooth and simple, with the nutty, caramel tones of the red rooibos with gentle floral overtones. The ingredients list says there is peppermint in this blend as well, but the mint gets lost under all the rooibos taste and rose scent. I wouldn’t mind more peppermint in the next batch to help add more dimension to the flavor set of this blend. I usually favor teas with a bit more punch to their flavors, so I might not brew this one again. Overall this was very simple and comforting.
This tea’s description calls this a “liquid spa” and I won’t deny that the floral notes are relaxing, and the rose petals are captivating to look at. A good tea for when you need some relaxing aromatherapy.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Beach House Teas
Description:
Rose City Rooibos is 100% organic loose leaf tea blended with red rooibos tea, rose petals, peppermint, and pure extract. This floral elixir is all about beauty and what better way to surround yourself in beauty than rose petals and rooibos that’s like a liquid spa?
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Romancing the Beach from Beach House Teas. . . . .
First of all, a name like this– Romancing the Beach? So fancy, you guys. Also maybe a little risqué, no?
Sassy name or not, this one had a lot of promise for me, a blend of red rooibos with strawberry and cacao, a touch of hibiscus and rose. Brewed, it’s a beautiful pink (hello, hibiscus!) and smells like a light, floral rooibos. I’ll admit– I had HIGH hopes for the flavor. Cacao? Strawberries? GIMME. But it fell a tiny bit flat on the complexity for me. It was a great rooibos blend, none of that medicinal ick that sometimes is all too present in a red rooibos. But I think I was expecting something more reminiscent of chocolate-covered-strawberries, but I mostly just got a tart, floral rooibos from this cup.
That being said– if I were to make this one again, I think it would be a STELLAR iced tea. Perfect for sipping on a beach– while romancing the beach, even? I’ll defer to Beach House’s expertise on this one.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Beach House Teas
Description
Romancing the Beach is 100% organic loose leaf tea blended with red rooibos tea, Oregon Hood Strawberries, hibiscus, rose petals, rose hips and cocoa nibs because love is always in the air at the beach! This blissful tea is a profusion of hibiscus, exalted by scrumptious strawberries and enveloped with delicious rose petals notes. A delight you will return to over and over again.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Coastal Wonderland from Beach House Teas. . .
Keeping up with my birthday trend today, I thought it would be fun to share a review one of my Sisters wrote about a newer company to The SororiTea Sisters. . Beach House Teas.
Beach House Teas is a company based and founded on the love for sourcing locally and from those locally sourced items-creating amazing artisan small batch teas. To learn more about their story click here or read the review below. The love they have for the teas they create is noticeable in every delicious sip you take. ~CuppaGeek
Some teas make you want to curl up under a blanket. Some teas demand that you ice them and serve them, punch-style, at a rockin’ summer pool party. Some teas totally defy all sense of place, bucking tradition left and right. This tea is totally one of them.
When I think of a winter tea, I think cozy. I think ‘best served with milk and sugar, adding to those five extra pounds of necessary winter padding’. I think of snow, and cold. I definitely don’t think of the coast.
And yet! This tea is not only the perfect winter cuppa, what with its hearty red rooibos and spicy cinnamon– but it’s just as fresh and fruity as it is warm and comforting. Boasting bright flavors like orange peel, juniper berries, cranberries, and hibiscus, this tea’s got it all. It does taste predominantly of red rooibos to me, but that stereotypical medicinal taste is well-tempered by the additions to the point that I can’t even really tell it’s there.
This tea was naturally sweet from the stevia leaf in the dry mix, and does best served just as it is. I will say that for as unique and tasty as this tea was, I almost wished for more of those interesting and uniquely blended flavors to come through. But for a tea that defies all stereotypical seasonal tropes, it’s worthy of a sip for sure. And it’ll be in equally good company with your Santa hat as it will your beach ball!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Beach House Teas
Description
This limited edition holiday blend, Coastal Wonderland is 100% organic loose leaf artisan tea. It captures the sweet flavor and rich crimson color of local Long Beach Washington Peninsula cranberries and blended with red rooibos, juniper berries, and orange peels to bring you in the holiday spirit. With undertones of chickory and hibiscus and a kick of cinnamon, you’ll be surprised by the smooth and calming twist of chamomile.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!