74 Tasting Notes

55

I have mixed feelings about this tea. While I enjoyed the bright, deep cranberry color and flavor of this tea, I didn’t like the stevia. I don’t care how ‘natural’ stevia leaf may be, I just don’t like that flavor—it’s artificial-tasting to me. Its taste represents artificial sweetener to me, and I can’t get past that. And I enjoy hibiscus-heavy teas. My favorite is Celestial Seasonings’ classic, original Red Zinger. That’s the tea that made me fall in love with hibiscus tea in the first place.
I ended up mixing a teabag of this into different combination teas I brewed. I can only recommend RoT Natural Hibiscus with reservations. If you would ordinarily add stevia or other artificial sweetener to your tea, then you’ll probably like this. If you like to add some extra color and flavor when you improvise a mixed tea blend, this works well. But it isn’t among my favorites.

Flavors: Artificial, Berries, Cranberry, Hay, Hibiscus

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 5 min, 30 sec 5 tsp 45 OZ / 1330 ML

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74

Moringa Oleifera is a plant native to the foothills of the Himalayas in northwestern India. This is one of The Repubic of Tea “Super Herb” teas. Research is still being done on the properties of Moringa, but it may be efficacious in maintaining healthy blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
BECAUSE I COULDN’T FIND TWO OF THE THREE SPECIFIC INGREDIENTS IN THE PRE-SET LIST (AND COULDN’T ENTER THE MISSING TWO, BEZ IT KEPT REJECTING THE TWOUNOFFICIALONES, SO THEY WOULD NOT APPEAR), I AM LISTING THE THREE INGREDIENTS HERE: Organic Moringa Leaves, Organic Rooibos Leaves, Organic Mango Flavor.

This was a pleasant, light tea. I steeped it for the recommended 7 minutes, to make sure I got the full flavor. Predominantly grassy, lightly sweet, with that hint of mango, I liked it. I would try it again, but until there’s more research on its properties, I’m not sure how it will interact with whatever medicines I take.

Flavors: Green, Mango, Straw, Sweet, Warm Grass

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 7 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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86

This is light and delightful. While the lemon and green tea flavors are well balanced, I’d say the lemon is a little more pronounced.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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72

A simple, plain tea in the best possible sense. It tastes pure, basic and honest, just what one wants.

Flavors: Grass

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML

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72

I like this tea, and am sorry to have come to the end of this tin. I did indeed find it a “merry and bright herb tea”, as per The Republic of Tea’s label. First of all, I am a hibiscus tea lover, so those of you who are not, can leave now. (You’re out there in vocal droves. This doesn’t concern you, haters—this review is for those of us who love it.)
This tea has a nice depth to its flavor. The natural bitterness of cranberries has been nicely alleviated by the sweetness in the hibiscus and spices. I made this cup without sugar or honey, so I could taste it honestly by itself. It’s got a nice, clean flavor, very strong and direct, yet mellow.
I like to blend a bag or two of this with other herbal teas, particularly those with orange and/or spices. It is perfect for the holiday season in both taste and its nice bright red color.

Flavors: Cranberry, Hibiscus, Perfume, Spicy

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 20 OZ / 591 ML

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62

This is a fine, lemony tea. I’m not familiar with the taste of ginseng, so while I might be tasting it, I’m not aware of it. It’s got a nice, clean taste.

Flavors: Honey, Lemon

Preparation
7 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 18 OZ / 532 ML

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54

What a waste of money. Not that it wasn’t tasty, but really, eleven dollars for 2.12 ounces (60 grams) of herbal tea? We are not talking exceptional Chinese Pu-ehr or something, but used grape skins with herbs and a little dried fruit. I drank it hot, not iced, because it seemed to me like it would have been even weaker had I added the recommended 2 cups of ice. It has a somewhat watery taste to it, even with just a pint of water steeping the bag.
The flavor is good, sweet ( I had added a spoonful of honey to the pint of tea), with a nice melony quality to it (melons taste of water). The whole cachet of “Chardonnay fine wine grape skins” (as stated on the label) reeks of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” to me. Just because Republic of Tea bought the fancy grape skins and figured out a way to market them to us dehydrated—they’re still weak, and cost way too much for the small amount of tea provided in only six bags. There’s approximately 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon’s worth of leaves per each large teabag (which they called a pouch). Do yourself a favor and buy some good quality organic fruit juice instead. You’ll get your money’s worth as well as nutritive value.

Flavors: Apple, Honey, Honeydew, Melon

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

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50

Not proud to admit it, but I’ve been scared of rooibos. First of all, is it “ROY-bose” or “ROY-bus”? “RUE-ee-bose” or “RUE-ee-bus”? Reading that’s it’s also called “red bush tea” and that it comes from South Africa, while interesting, doesn’t help. I’ve had it (and made it) in blends of herbal tea, but as it was always mixed in with other tastes, I never knew exactly what it contributed aside from its lack of caffeine. Even the old Tazo African Red Bush teabags (which, alas, they no longer make or sell) combined hibiscus, lemon verbena, orange peel, rosemary, lemon balm, citric acid and natural flavors. I used to like those teabags. I’m sorry they’re no longer available.
But rooibos by itself I had never had. So I bought this small 4 oz tin (with a nice see-through hinged lid) in order to really try it. Aside from throwing in a spoonful when blending myself a pot of something without caffeine at night, I’d never used it. So here goes.
First of all, be prepared to use some kind of filter paper, otherwise the tiny little seedlike bits can escape even tiny-meshed tea strainers. No, I didn’t do research to find out what part of the red bush this tea comes from. Doesn’t look like leaves, maybe it’s seeds—it’s certainly tiny enough to be little seeds. Yeah, the bulk of them will be caught by the mesh—but there’s enough residue of dozens of tiny specks, you’ll want to use a coffee filter over a mesh if you want to keep them ALL out of your tea.
The tea has a pleasant-enough flavor. It’s not bitter, kind of nutty, kind of raisin-y tasting. I feel like I should be eating a slice of nut bread or raisin toast while drinking this, as it would certainly go well. Don’t know what the health benefits of rooibos are supposed to be (yes, I’ll be looking that up, too), but while not the usual tea flavor of camellia sinensis, it’s a cozy-tasting hot beverage. I’m having this unsweetened, so to taste it by itself. It tastes “healthy”—like it should go along with organic toast or oatmeal, or other good-for-you foodstuffs. Unless you’ve grown up with it, it is not the usual breakfast beverage. This will be a plus for some people, a minus for others who’d rather have regular tea or coffee.
The upshot? It’s not bad. I will have to give it a number of more tries for my tastebuds to get over the “different” factor. But I think it could be just the thing for a cool fall morning, especially with some nice baked goods.

Flavors: Bread, Brown Toast, Grain, Nutty, Oats, Raisins

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 4 tsp 40 OZ / 1182 ML

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92

A few months ago PBS had a big sale on anything Downton Abbey, coinciding with the end of the series. I used the opportunity to snap up tins of the teas I’d liked when sampled, this being one. It’s the end of August now, and I’ve finally dug in the tea cupboard enough to where I’d been squirreling this away. (Try to bury my faves so I drink up the ones I’m not as fond of.)
I made the first cup unsweetened. I wish I’d used a little less water in the pot. I tend to forget that Republic of Tea should put more in each teabag than they do. Still, a nice smooth fruity black tea, not bitter. I was careful to only steep for four minutes, rather than longer. (Sometimes to make up for smaller teabags, I steep for longer than usual, hoping that will make up the difference. Often that works, but other times, it also renders the tea more bitter. I didn’t do that here.) Bates’ Brambleberry Tea is a pleasant, smoothly drinkable blend, nice and summery with understated fruitiness.
The rest of the pot was sweetened with honey, which brought the fruitiness way into the forefront. I shall have to chill the rest and describe this when it’s an iced tea.

It is now two days later, and I’ve pulled the carafe of the above tea, chilled, from the fridge.
How refreshing! It almost has a melon-like flavor to it now. It’s sweet, cold, and thoroughly enjoyable. I highly recommend this tea—especially as an iced tea!

Flavors: Berries, Melon

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 6 tsp 62 OZ / 1833 ML

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Seems to me there’s a thin line between true discernment and pretentious twaddle. I’ll write what teas work for me, why I like them or not. I’m not the connoisseur some folks here are, but I think you will get a fair assessment of whatever tea I write about.

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