When I opened the sealed bag, I did not remember what the tea had looked like when I had purchased it a few months ago. I was disappointed to see that the chamomile was finely grounded almost to powder and that there were not any entire flowers. A rooibos is usually always made up of small pieces, but this one is even finer than all the others I’ve had. Even the tiny holes of my new strainer are not small enough to prevent it from spilling into the teapot. And the strainer is quite difficult to clean as some pieces keeps getting stuck in the holes; I do not have this problem with any other rooibos I have which cannot endear this one to me.
Next let’s come to the tasting. The brew is not really clear, as a result from the dust spilling. The smell is quite nice, strong on chamomile with the sweetness brought by the rooibos.
The taste is ok, but keeps disappointing me.
Two months ago, while staying in a nice hotel in Malaysia, I had a chamomile after dinner that was the best I ever had; the following morning I discovered with pleasure Gryphon tea. This chamomile was just plain flowers steeping in hot water, but the taste was fresh, mild with no hint of bitterness or unpleasant aftertaste, well really perfect. I had not asked for the brand of the chamomile then, which I regret.
Since then my expectations have highly risen. And that’s probably the reason why I’m disappointed here. The hashed chamomile has a hint of something slightly bitter in it. And the rooibos base from Le Palais des Thés is too weak to add enough creaminess to compensate for it.
The verbena rooibos was a better blend than this one IMO.
I’ll try it iced though.
205 °F / 96 °C
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