Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: East Pacific Tea Co.
Product Description:
Our Foreign Affair blend features buds from flowers of the Provence region in France. This rooibos tea is the most deliciously aromatic combination currently offered.
Taster’s Review:
This rooibos blend is beautifully fragrant. The dry leaf beacons me to brew it, while the brewed liquor beacons me to sip. The lavender and rose perfume the tea so pleasantly, while the fruit notes come through to cut through some of the floral notes just enough so that the tea doesn’t become all about the flowers.
What I like best about this blend is that the flavor of the rooibos is quite subtle. I can taste the rooibos, but only mere hints of a nutty, woodsy taste, and none of that weird sweetness that often comes from rooibos. The rooibos here seems quite content to let the fruit and flowers do all the work – and that’s quite alright with me.
The lavender and rose are a delightful pairing. Together, these two flowers give a slightly sweet, decidedly feminine taste to the cup. It is not unpleasantly sharp or bitter. The fruit flavors of blueberry, raisin, black currant and red currant offer a light tartness and just enough sweetness to the cup without going overboard.
The tea finishes soft and slightly tangy. It is a pleasing contrast of flavors: sweet and tart; fruit and flower. And it makes for a refreshing, restorative tisane that is delicious any time of the day, but especially in the evening when you want to succumb to the relaxation it offers.
