Very uncharacteristically I felt inspired for a rooibos tonight. It’s been a while since the last one, but some of you may recall my utter shock and surprise when Cteresa shared a rooibos with me that I found really pleasant. In spite of the fact that, by itself, I don’t like rooibos. Enjoying the one that Cteresa sent me so much was really one of those Earth-shaking experiences, and it made the boyfriend suggest that I could try some of the ones that he had brought with him when we moved in together.
I tried one or two and it wasn’t really a huge success. I discovered that it’s entirely possible that not only does it have to be flavoured with something in order to be drinkable to me, but it has to be flavoured with something sweet too. The lemon-y one that he really enjoys didn’t really do the trick for me. There is both a caramel and a vanilla one in stock and I’m sure I’ve tried one of them with modest success, but I can’t remember which one. I don’t appear to have posted about it either.
So I knew it would have to be one of these two and let the boyfriend decide for me. He picked vanilla, which suited me fine. What with my persistent vanilla phase and all. Come to think of it, the one Cteresa shared with me was something vanilla-y as well. I can’t remember what else it had, it was some kind of fruit. But definitely vanilla, which makes me both hopeful and concerned about trying this one.
Please don’t let the perfect vanilla tea be a rooibos. I’m not sure I could bear that.
It smells strongly of both rooibos and vanilla at the same time. The vanilla here is sweet and all creamy so that the aroma leaves an impression of a sort of slightly spiced custard.
The flavour is pretty nice as well, actually. It’s… still rooibos-y and I could probably live with it being a little less so and a little more strongly flavoured, but the vanilla is coming through clearly and very sweetly. I do like the one Cteresa shared with me better, though, with its fruity aspect as well. I’m sort of missing that a little here, even though I can’t even remember what sort of fruit it was. Completely drawing a blank on that one and I can’t, frankly, be bothered to look it up right now. It’s late.
Yeah, this is quite nice. But I am sort of relieved that the quest for the perfect vanilla doesn’t stop here.
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To me the vanilla and rooibos is like vanilla wafer cookies kind of dry at first and then it gets better in your mouth.
Yes, I can see what you mean. I think my immediate thought might have been custard because I got a colour association with the flavour that was sort of the same shade as custard. So it was the first thing that occurred to me. Perhaps I actually like your comparison better.
I see what you mean on flavor…and wet…I think of rooibos as kind of dry so I imagined cookie…in my wierd brain. You are the one who actually tasted it!!!
I don’t really care for Rooibus either-I think it’s too medcine-y tasting. The only Rooibus I have ever enjoyed was TeaGschwendner’s Winter Magic. TG’s vanilla rooibus was not that good and was medicine-y. Still hoping to find another good Roobius-I need something to drink at night without caffeine.
Bonnie, that is true. :) When I see people talk about how they’re not sure they’re doing it right or something, I always try to make sure to tell them that it’s not actually possible to do it wrong. But sometimes, a little prompt can clear up a lot of things. Like for example your wafers. :)
Scott, I can see what you mean about medicine. For me it’s like chewing a pencil, but apparently when flavoured with something sweet, it becomes manageble. As long as it’s not coffee, I’ve never had much of a problem with caffeine before bedtime though. It’s more because after Cteresa shared that wonderful one with me, I’ve started to wonder if perhaps I’m missing out. :)
It was raspberry vanilla (with a hint of rose petals) from yumchaa. Awesome tea IMO!
I think vanilla is pretty good with rooibos, but to be totally honest, rooibos is one of those things where the rooibos has to be GOOD rooibos. Quality of the rooibos is a killer – the flavours help, but if it´s bad rooibos, there will be no miracles. I like Yumchaa and Mariage Freres better for rooibos. though I do warn you off Rouge Bourbon, that is practically plain rooibos, the vanilla is there just as a hint, just a hint of vanilla in a bar of chocolate. And there are some very good random rooibos, no particularly famous blenders, and sometimes there is a lot of very bad rooibos, even from reputable sources.
I love good rooibos, it´ s not just the no.caffeine (though I am sensitive to it), a really nice good cup of rooibos can leave this sort of hum-vibe, a very cozy nice feeling, pretty different from caffeine, but just a really good nice feeling. Like the aftermath of eating a good plate of pasta maybe!
Yeah, I could remember it was from yumchaa because I tried to order some and site broke. I just couldn’t recall which one. I had several of theirs in the basket when I made the attempt actually
if you mean to again, try yumchaa.com , I think they have problems with their .co.uk mirror. same price and everything in either
I didn’t know at the time that the co.uk was a mirror site, so I just gave up and ordered something else elsewhere. If memory serves that’s what turned into the massive LPdT order. :) So not a complete loss. :p
:) I am considering a massive tea order from them myself!
I wish it was me. I’m so needy for a tea order right now, but I have to wait another three months or so. I really need to get this wedding out of the way first and I prefer to set as much money aside as I can, so no buying of anything at all (not household or wedding related, obviously) until August.
Oh, that is an excellent reason! wishing you the best!
To me the vanilla and rooibos is like vanilla wafer cookies kind of dry at first and then it gets better in your mouth.
Yes, I can see what you mean. I think my immediate thought might have been custard because I got a colour association with the flavour that was sort of the same shade as custard. So it was the first thing that occurred to me. Perhaps I actually like your comparison better.
I see what you mean on flavor…and wet…I think of rooibos as kind of dry so I imagined cookie…in my wierd brain. You are the one who actually tasted it!!!
I don’t really care for Rooibus either-I think it’s too medcine-y tasting. The only Rooibus I have ever enjoyed was TeaGschwendner’s Winter Magic. TG’s vanilla rooibus was not that good and was medicine-y. Still hoping to find another good Roobius-I need something to drink at night without caffeine.
Bonnie, that is true. :) When I see people talk about how they’re not sure they’re doing it right or something, I always try to make sure to tell them that it’s not actually possible to do it wrong. But sometimes, a little prompt can clear up a lot of things. Like for example your wafers. :)
Scott, I can see what you mean about medicine. For me it’s like chewing a pencil, but apparently when flavoured with something sweet, it becomes manageble. As long as it’s not coffee, I’ve never had much of a problem with caffeine before bedtime though. It’s more because after Cteresa shared that wonderful one with me, I’ve started to wonder if perhaps I’m missing out. :)
It was raspberry vanilla (with a hint of rose petals) from yumchaa. Awesome tea IMO!
I think vanilla is pretty good with rooibos, but to be totally honest, rooibos is one of those things where the rooibos has to be GOOD rooibos. Quality of the rooibos is a killer – the flavours help, but if it´s bad rooibos, there will be no miracles. I like Yumchaa and Mariage Freres better for rooibos. though I do warn you off Rouge Bourbon, that is practically plain rooibos, the vanilla is there just as a hint, just a hint of vanilla in a bar of chocolate. And there are some very good random rooibos, no particularly famous blenders, and sometimes there is a lot of very bad rooibos, even from reputable sources.
I love good rooibos, it´ s not just the no.caffeine (though I am sensitive to it), a really nice good cup of rooibos can leave this sort of hum-vibe, a very cozy nice feeling, pretty different from caffeine, but just a really good nice feeling. Like the aftermath of eating a good plate of pasta maybe!
Yeah, I could remember it was from yumchaa because I tried to order some and site broke. I just couldn’t recall which one. I had several of theirs in the basket when I made the attempt actually
if you mean to again, try yumchaa.com , I think they have problems with their .co.uk mirror. same price and everything in either
I didn’t know at the time that the co.uk was a mirror site, so I just gave up and ordered something else elsewhere. If memory serves that’s what turned into the massive LPdT order. :) So not a complete loss. :p
:) I am considering a massive tea order from them myself!
I wish it was me. I’m so needy for a tea order right now, but I have to wait another three months or so. I really need to get this wedding out of the way first and I prefer to set as much money aside as I can, so no buying of anything at all (not household or wedding related, obviously) until August.
Oh, that is an excellent reason! wishing you the best!