The Republic of Tea
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I’ve enjoyed Republic of Tea’s other rooibos blends in the past, so I was glad to try this one from tea-and-cats! This is one I’d consider buying as a work tea. The rooibos is high quality and the cinnamon and other spices are nice. It’s mild and definitely rooibos-centric, but I like it.
Thanks to tea-and-cats for this one! I enjoy trying Republic of Tea flavors but hate having to commit to so many bags, so this is perfect! Unfortunately, this one smells pretty medicinal, and the flavor matches that. It’s just super medicinal and cloying, and unfortunately not great. Better cold than warm.
I don’t really care for red rooibos but I’ve seen some people mentioning they have a strong preference for either red or green so I thought I’d give this a try when I found a tin at the grocery store. I think it’s quite a bit tastier than red rooibos but I’m not in love with it. It’s just a big cup of meh. There are other caffeine-free options I enjoy a lot more. Maybe it would be better for me in a blend instead of straight rooibos? Or maybe I’m just not a rooibos person.
This blend is gorgeous. I love jasmine—the fragrance, the flavour, all the things. And while I like it with just about any tea, I think it works best as a white tea blend. (Oolong might be nice, too? I haven’t tried it.) This one’s super simple and straightforward, and utterly lovely.
Flavors: Jasmine
Preparation
This one has a couple extra ingredients thrown in – blackberry leaf and stevia leaf. Not sure what benefit or flavor the blackberry leaf offers, and I’m not really tasting any sweetness from the stevia. Of course, that means no weird aftertaste either. Maybe because it’s stevia leaf and not the processed powder. Hibiscus isn’t my favorite, but I wanted something without caffeine this afternoon and I hadn’t tried this one yet. It’s cooled off now, so I’m enjoying it.
I signed up for a free virtual assistant training (?) this afternoon. It’s just a little five-day video series, though I’m sure they’ll be asking me for money at the end. Maybe if I like it, I’ll sign up. We’ll see. I’m hoping to narrow down my focus with some of the provided worksheets as the week goes on. I’m working as an administrative assistant now in a semi-large department, but I’d love to break into the world of virtual assistant work. September is approaching quickly and with it our official return to work. Being an assistant was never the plan (I wanted to be an Anthropologist…), but it pays the bills and I’m good at it so here we are. Working from home these last 18 months has really put things into perspective for me though, especially thinking about all that time wasted on long commutes. That, plus some somewhat recent health issues, has me reconsidering if the corporate world is really worth it. Some people live to climb that corporate ladder, but I’ve never been one of them. It’s just so hard for me to step away from my comfort zone. I guess it’s probably like that for most people. Anyway, if you’ve read this far, thanks for letting me ramble on. It’s been heavy on my mind lately. How’s everyone else adjusting to this “new normal” we’re moving into? I’m still nervous about leaving my house, to be honest. I’ve been lucky to be able to stay home through all of this, that’s for sure. I wonder sometimes how this will affect all of us long-term. It’s been quite a year+ and it’s still not even over.
Flavors: Astringent, Hibiscus
Preparation
I’ll be back in the office 2-3 days a week starting next week, and I’m dreading it! So much wasted time each day. I hope you’re able to transition into something you love!
Oh goodness, I feel your pain. I’ve been dreading it too. We’ll be doing 3 days in the office (Tuesdays – Thursdays) at least through December. I feel so stuck. I really hope next week goes well for you. Maybe they’ll ease into things as everyone adjusts. Do you generally like what you do?
Yeah, they’re staggering days so I’ll be the only one in on the days I’m there, which I guess will be pretty low pressure. I’m an event planner for a university, and I really love it. The only problem is there’s a lot of down time, and I’ll miss being able to get things done around the house throughout the day!
The return back was hard for me as I had to give up my side job where I made more for myself than I could at my regular employer. Still not giving up on working for myself one day.
Gettíng “back to normal” is hard for me. First of all, I am vaccinated and everyone in my family is, but still I am trying to behave carefully and avoiding the crowds. I used to do it before, but still it feels a bit different.
As a job, I am just searching now, as I need something after the University and companies behave back in normal as I have been to the interviews. I feel way more stressed about the situations though.
Commuting never was a trouble for me, especially when travelling by train, but I feel like the Czechs think it is over again and yet we will be surprised. Many people think that Delta variant is “a little bit worse”, but “what’s a big deal, hospitals are empty and why I should care”.
Honestly, so many things are changing now (even in my life, and it’s not only job related) and well, today night I had a kind of depression about “free will and free thoughts” of my fellow citizens. I don’t want to read about full hospitals again in the autumn. I do my best I could, but well… “the others”
Martin: I understood! We are also all vaccinated, but so many people are not getting the vaccine and now there is a surge herem especially I have heard of it at the military base. We hardly go anywhere and mask when we do go off, but it is sad how few people are being careful now.
I hope your course works out and you can find something that works virtually Shae!
Both Lex and I have been lucky to be able to work from home, but are expected back in mid-August fully — five days a week at the university. We are both dreading it. There are no restrictions here now and everyone is living like it’s pre-pandemic. The numbers are on the rise again and the government is not being transparent about them (the other day they reported about half the number of what was true…). We’ve both been double vaccinated and will be masking (we have been the whole time), but we’d rather be safe! I also agree about the commute and cleaning — so much wasted time in the day just by being in an office…and I’m not looking forward to the ‘office culture’ as most (all) of my coworkers are excited, not just to be back in person, but for everyone to be together. Sigh. I’m trying to focus on my school and know that soon enough I can hopefully work in my field, at least!
Wishing everyone the best with this transition we’re all working through and grateful for this wee community of like-minded individuals!
Martin – I understood your comments! It’s good to hear your entire family was able to get the vaccine. I don’t want to see hospitals filling up again either.
Sadly, I think it will be left up to the vaccinated to be the ones to still be careful. Even with a vaccine, I’m still worried about being out and will be wearing a mask indoors of public spaces.
A nice, soft smell out of the tin that’s true to its namesake, but primes you for disappointment once you discover that it’s mostly just dusty, dry rooibos once steeped. I kept coming back to this one thinking the next cup would be different, and it’s passable with a splash of milk, but why waste perfectly good dairy? I struggled through the tin and was relieved when this was finally gone.
Preparation
I added milk, and this tastes like a fake tea version of what it’s going for, but it works. I don’t get much chocolate, but I get some tangy berry. It all combines pleasantly. The berry is sort of like the kind you find in the middle of a chocolate. I got this as a free sample, and maybe I’d drink it a few more times, but I probably wouldn’t want a whole tin.
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
Oh hot hibiscus, how I love you!
Okay, really this isn’t as bad as I was expecting. Sure, it’s making my mouth pucker and dry up like a raisin but the flavor’s alright with a little honey thrown in. And of course it tastes better as it cools. This is the last of my opened herbals, so I’ll be moving on to a few teabags next. Glad to get these marked off my list. My husband can have the rest.
Flavors: Astringent, Cherry, Dust, Tart
Preparation
Tastes like chopped Chinese sencha. It’s okay. It has that toasty-biscuity flavor of generic Chinese oolong with buttery dry grass and minerals, some astringency. It makes me feel warm. Not a green I’d want to have to cool off.
Flavors: Astringent, Butter, Dry Grass, Toasty
When RoT describes this as ‘Cuppa Cake’, believe that it’s really leaning into the bakery vibes of still-warm, squishy cupcake crumb. The taste and scent alike are both very buttery and soft with a hint of lemon rather than this being a lemon-forward tea with buttery notes. I can definitely get where some reviewers caught a little grassiness. In my humble opinion, this one tastes better as it cools off, if you can wait that long.
Flavors: Butter, Grass, Lemon
I had this last night, I really enjoyed it!