139 Tasting Notes
This is an interesting tea. The vinegar is not too strong, but still detectable. A pretty nice tea, but not one I see myself ordering more of.
I love rooibos. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with tea in the first place; I had been an avid coffee drinker. I don’t taste the nutty taste that people are always talking about, and because of which some don’t like rooibos. To me it’s just delicious.
However, I don’t usually like fruity teas. Cirtus is ok, but not strawberries, apples, etc. The rare exceptions are the tart flavored fruits.
This rooibos is one of those exceptions. It’s not too sweet, and the tartness of the currants makes it an excellent tea. I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did, but I think I have found another favorite rooibos.
Smells like coffee and tastes like coffee, but it’s not coffee. This tea is playing tricks on my mind. I’m not sure if there is any advantage to drinking tea that tastes like coffee, instead of simply drinking coffee. Nevertheless, this is pretty good.
So far I’ve tried it with nothing added – good, then I tried it with milk – even better. Next I will try it with milk and a bit of sugar.
I am enjoying this, but it’s still weird.
I had a slow beginning with this tea, but after several attempts (with different times, temps and tea amounts) I have found the right combination. Not the very rounded tsp I use for most teas, rather a leveled tsp. Not the suggested 3-5 minutes, rather 1.5-2 minutes.
I guess my taste buds are just a little different.
Those first couple of cups also helped me get accustomed to the idea of flavored houjicha. I love houjicha, just never considered it as a base for flavored tea. But the flavoring works so well with this tea.
Now I can say that this tea is TOTALLY worth the effort. It’s got the roastiness of the houjicha, and the sweetness of the pear and honey, all blending together for a good cuppa. A unique tea.
In a word: DELICIOUS.
Preparation
This tea’s name is misleading. It’s more of an orange rooibos with a hint of vanilla. Actually, orange rooibos is one of my favorites, so I’m happy with that blend of flavors, but it is not the cinnamon-vanilla taste I had expected. That said, as an orange rooibos is it is quite delicious.