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I threw away the bag, but I think it said to use 2 teaspoons for 3-5 minutes. Using one teaspoon isn’t that bad, but the flavor is a lot weaker. Left the leaves in my cup this time and it’s a bit irritating to drink (I couldn’t find the lid for the cup). The one thing I like about this tea is that it never gets bitter (or at least, I’ve never messed it up to where it has become bitter).

Nice and strong with a slight bitterness to it. Goes very well with cream and sugar or honey, though it’s okay by itself too. Solid tea with no surprises.

Okay, I’ll admit it. I don’t really like chai. I bought an entire tin of this to try it out, and I don’t think I’ll finish this even if I had 2 years. It’s the peppercorn and ginger, I’m not used to having that in drinks at all. The tea itself isn’t that bad, but the flavorings just make it seem like something I’d cook with, not drink. I’m not going to give this too low of a rating though, since it’s certainly not that bad for most people if you add warm milk in a 1:1 ratio to tea and dump at least two teaspoons of sugar (the directions actually say to do this, except 1 tsp sugar). But if you think pepper and ginger is weird in a drink, then you might want to stay away from this.

The first time I had this, I just couldn’t stand it. The lavender was too overpowering, and I actually don’t like Earl Grey blends to begin with (and I’m kind of a newbie to blacks), so I’m surprised I actually bought a tin of this. Now, I find that it’s alright, but there are far tastier teas out there. Doesn’t really taste that strong to me (maybe it’s the overpowering lavender?) and a spoonful of honey really covers up most of the flavors, so try not to use honey.

One note: I think I brewed this for too short of a time, because my cup didn’t come out nearly as dark and red as the picture shown. I used a French press, and I noticed most of the tea just sat around in the bottom without moving around. The liquid ended up being a dirty blonde-ish color. You might have better luck with a brewing device that has more surface area.

Oddly enough, this rooibos is actually very easy and pleasant to drink. Upon first smelling, it reminded me almost exactly of Thai iced tea, and when I took my first sip I knew that it would taste good with a nice helping of sugar (I’d have added condensed milk, but I don’t have any on me currently). Sure enough, it was pretty good sweetened and lacked any of the medicinal tastes of plain rooibos. My only complaint is that it just didn’t brew very strong at 5 minutes: as an iced tea it was conspicuously weak.

I can’t say much on how it tastes unsweetened, but this blend certainly makes a nice sweet tea. Just make sure you brew it strong.

It’s a lot more palatable than just plain rooibos for sure. Even plain, the mango flavor covers up the medicinal rooibos flavor that keeps me from drinking unflavored rooibos. However, it’s still heavily scented and kind of ruined my strainer.

Got this in the rooibos sampler pack and I must say, it tastes like cough syrup to me. I just can’t get past the medicinal scent and taste, and adding sugar just makes it taste more like cough syrup. I definitely need to give this a few more tries, but be warned if you’ve never had rooibos before: you might not like it.

Also, this ruined my silicone Tuffy Teaspot Steeper along with being absolutely terrible to use since it’s so fine. My strainer now smells like rooibos and imparts a very unpleasant taste to my more delicate teas. Only use this in something that you know won’t absorb flavors.

Honestly, not bad for a bagged tea. If for some reason you find yourself without a strainer to make loose leaf, then you’ll probably be satisfied just drinking this. Granted, I haven’t really tried any other gunpowder greens at the moment, but this is still pretty tasty and sweet without any bitterness. Also, I have to hand it to the people at Numi down in Oakland, the packaging is pretty attractive.

Well, I’m pretty surprised by this tea. It might just be because it’s my first white tea, but it’s really delicious. Definitely an accessible tea for anyone who is starting to get into drinking loose leaf.