I had been drinking rooibos semi-regularly for a while, until one day my usual dealer was out of stock. Desperation made me turn to an impressive but expensive little tea and coffee bean shop just off Aberdeen’s high street – http://dft.ba/-9PBo (not my image, twitter account or self).
Anyway, I was in a rush so i had a quick look around and grabbed the only rooibos i could find. I’ve seen teapigs for sale in a few other shops, mainly cafés, so i wasn’t sure what to expect, but i gave it a chance anyway. And i’m glad i did, the tea is a delightfully smooth drink with slightly fruity, earthy tones. The caramel isn’t overpoweringly sweet, it’s a good compliment, something i wouldn’t have expected. And it’s only really present on the first steeping.
That was another pleasant surprise – yes, these are teabags, but they’re triangular based pyramids made of some high quality silk like material that doesn’t stain or absorb water like filter paper ones. And as long as you don’t rip it when undoing the string, you can re-steep them at least three times. Supposedly biodegradable too. I added five minutes per steeping, starting at roughly five minutes with water fresh from the boil. But since rooibos doesn’t contain any tannin you can be pretty lax with your timings. This more than made up for the somewhat meagre fifteen bags included in the pack.
All in all a good, convenient, staple tea if you can find it for a reasonably price. I’ve been drinking it probably more than anything else lately so i’ll definitely be looking to get some more.
