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!
Organic Orangetopia Rooibos from Amitea Organics. . . .
Even though we are in the midst of pumpkin flavored and heavy spiced teas, I still yearn from brighter and more vibrant flavors. Mainly, because in my neck of the woods, the days have certainly been gloomier and more on the rainy side.
The other day I remembered that I had picked up some samples from Amitea Organics, an Etsy Tea Shop. If you aren’t familiar with Amitea Organics, take a moment and check out their wide variety of amazing teas. I’ve been a fan of theirs from the very beginning and just love the flavors they are able to capture with their hand blended creations.
Since this is a green rooibos base blend, I decided to go ahead and brew this tea up with fresh boiled water at 212F and allowed the tea to steep for 5 minutes. With the rest of the flavors being primarily orange zest and safflower petals, I wasn’t worried about any kind of oversteeping.
After allowing the blend to steep for a bit, I also allowed the tea to cool. Took my fist sip and was happily greeted with the warm fresh flavors of orange and a sweet vanilla honey note from the green rooibos base. Sunshine in a Cup is what I’ve nicknamed this tea. This blend is simple yet vibrant and so happy to deliver flavors that are more reminiscent of summer. I wouldn’t say this blend reminds me of a cremsicle but with a bit more orange and vanilla, you probably could easily get there.
I’m a huge fan of all things flavored orange, so this tea was right up my alley. I enjoyed several cups of this tea hot and should have saved a bit for a decent cold brew, but couldn’t resist. The flavors were just so soothing and warming, I just found myself gulping this tea prepped hot down.
This blend is one to keep close for those warm snuggly nights in the not to distant winter future that my area will see. Being one that doesn’t love chai blends, I’m always on the look for blends that give you that warm and fuzzy feeling, and this blend does just that.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Rooibos
Where to Buy: Amitea Organics
Description
Light tasting Green Rooibos makes a fantastic base for just about any flavors and additions. This Orange herbal blend is juicy and fruity. The perfect caffeine free iced tea, or enjoy it piping hot on a cold evening, it won’t keep you awake, and might just soothe you to sleep!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Carrot Cake from Tea Taxi. . . .
I am a carrot cake fiend. Like I have an insane amount of love for carrot cake. All things carrot cake. In fact, when I go to the Cheesecake Factory, I almost always leave with a piece of carrot cake and a piece of carrot cake cheesecake. Once I got home from the Cheesecake Factory and noticed the carrot cake slice was smaller than normal and we complained and took the slice back. We got yet another piece of carrot cake and another piece of carrot cake cheesecake as an apology for making us drive back there and I practically cried over leaving the “small” (if you ever got a slice of carrot cake at the cheesecake factory, you know that even half a slice is huge) slice there. I was 22. Oh and did I mention I was on a diet at the time? One that focused on portion control, so yeah, I am a little carrot cake obsessed. That means I had high expectations going into this as I do all teas named for this beloved dessert.
Though the scent here is creamy and cinnamon, this misses the mark just a bit. It nods at carrot cake without actually capturing the flavor. It is creamy but bland. There is a thickness that lends itself to the cream cheese icing but lacks the tang. Carrot sweetness is present but just doesn’t blend with all the other components in this blend. And the nuttiness, though having potential, is layering on the rooibos base gesturing toward the idea of baked goods but ones that have maybe soured just a bit.
If anything this is carrot muffin. Carrot cakes younger, more annoying brother who pretends to be as awesome as carrot cake but just isn’t. This one was disappointing though in fairness it was up against some pretty high standards.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Tea Taxi
Description
Ahh, carrot cake… A classic that makes you melt inside everytime! The good news is, you can now enjoy it on the go thanks to our delicious flavorsed rooibos!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Gingerbread Rooibos from Market Spice. . . .
I was a little nervous about this one. Like I’ve said before, I don’t usually like ginger. So I definitely approached this blend with trepidation. I wasn’t sure if it would be too spicy, like ginger sometimes is. I also don’t usually like rooibos, it sometimes has too much of a woodsy taste, too earthy. My hopes for this tea was more of a gingerbread cookie with icing.
My wish was granted! Once steeped, this blend smells like I am baking gingerbread cookies and mixing vanilla icing in my kitchen! I was so happy because the rooibos is basically undetectable. Its super smooth and sweet with a hint of cookie. The ginger is less spicy and more sweet, like the kind of ginger you taste in gingerbread cookies. I did add agave which definitely cut the spiciness and added some sweetness, but this blend definitely was reminiscent of cookies regardless.
I finished my cup in less than 5 minutes that’s how delicious this was. It was smooth and reminded me of those little gingerbread man cookies covered in vanilla icing. I actually love this blend so much that I wish it was caffeinated so that I could have it in the mornings. If it had caffeine I think it would be one of my favorites, especially in the fall/winter. I would really recommend trying this even if you don’t generally like rooibos because it definitely wasn’t a typical rooibos tea. Very yummy! This was the first blend I tried from Market Spice, but I will definitely be trying more in the future!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Market Spice
Description
This tea doesn’t appear to be available now but click below for rooibos blends that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
I Dream of Macchiato Dream from Steeped Tea
I don’t discriminate when it comes to tea and coffee, I like them both, hot and iced, and I often find myself drinking one or the other depending on my mood. I was very intrigued to try a rooibos tea with real coffee beans mixed in the dry leaf. Visually, this blend is intriguing, with the fine red grains of rooibos mixed in with dark, roasted coffee beans and chunky cocoa shells.
The smell of this tea is amazing right from the start: there is the sharp, earthy, depth of roasted coffee beans, the sweet decadence of cocoa, and the bright vanilla nuttiness of the red rooibos. Without even brewing a cup, this tea smells like a mocha dessert or java ice cream.
Brewed hot, the cocoa and coffee take over, completely masking the rooibos. This can be a benefit– I’m not always in the mood for the particular taste of red rooibos, though its caffeine-free status is hard to beat. The brewed tea has a smooth mouthfeel, warming and coating my throat, and the sweet flavors almost trick my tongue into thinking we’re having dessert instead of tea.
Even with the coffee beans, there’s not as much caffeine in this blend as other black teas or full-on coffee, so there is more flexibility as to when you can indulge in Macchiato Dream. I’m not as ambitious as some SororiTea Sisters when it comes to building lattes, but I can already tell that this tea will be a winner when mixed with milk and sweetener.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Steeped Tea
Description:
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
