Banoffee Rum-ba

2021 sipdown no. 54

This has got a great caramelized banana flavour. The rooibos base complements nicely and adds a bit of a rummy flavour, but I’m happy there’s no actual rum flavour coming through. An overall enjoyable cup. Thanks to Cameron for sharing!

Sipdown! (64)

This was an old subscription tea, from sometime in 2019.

I’ve actually never had a banoffee pie, which is something I should really fix… I love bananas and toffee, so I’m sure I would adore it!

Anyway, this has a very Runt-y banana flavor to me, which isn’t the worst thing, but worth noting. I also get a subtle butter rum sort of note that melds fairly seamlessly with the slightly caramel-y rooibos base.

As good as this one sounds, it’s just okay for me. And I think it’s the combination of the candylike banana with the not-enough buttery toffee. But this tea is also older, so it’s possible it’s lot a bit of its pizzazz over time.

Thankful to not love it though, since it’s not a permanent blend and isn’t available now!

sipdown! revisit of this one via Variatea and this time it wasn’t as good. lot more woodsy rooibos than before, but still nice to revisit

I have 50 grams of this and I am not sure I am happy with that or not. At times, it is just sweet rooibos. At other times it has caramelized banana all over it. However, caramelized banana runts which is a bit odd. It’s good-ish, I think. Mostly I am confused but will be exploring a bit more. Perhaps a latte would be good?

One thing I’ve kind of known about myself, having twice experienced this before, is that I hate living alone. Having my housemate spending an indefinite amount of time elsewhere since I’m still working with the public as COVID-19 continues to spread has cemented that notion. I am alone and reaching for all the comforting teas to soothe the empty feeling. Black teas, shou puerh, sipping down my vanilla rooibos at night. Then I remembered this rooibos gem. Despite not being a fan of banana in any form, Banoffee Rum-ba envelopes me in a happy blanket.

tea-sipper: I love you. Thank you. (And thank you Martin for providing my first taste of this.) I wish I had taken advantage of the link you provided a few months ago. Please return next season, Banoffee Rum-ba.

Two teaspoons of Banoffee Rum-ba (the amount in the teabag) does not make a better mug. One is sufficient.

Sipdown (805)!

Thank you Kittenna for the share – this was actually one of the first samples I tried from your package but I’ve been putting off writing the tasting note because I’m not been totally sure how to capture my thoughts. So, I’m gonna try and do it in bullet point form…

- Initially just tasted like sweetened rooibos
- Flavour shifted as the tea cooled though
- Took on more of a sweet banana taste; like banana medicine/runts
- However very delicate
- As well as a creme brulee/lightly caramelized sugar note
- Plus a hint of cream

I… liked it!? I mean, it was really gentle and it the flavours were also a bit generic and hard to nail down. However, they built up over the course of the cup and grew into something surprisingly solid.

Mixed feelings overall.

Thanks for sharing a bit of this, AJRimmer!  How have I never heard of this specific dessert when I actually had the most bestest banana cream pie this week?  Banoffee seems to be the same banana pie but with toffee instead of vanilla pudding.  An interesting concept I would love to try… it seems incredibly sweet in theory.  Brewing this one up, it doesn’t seem overly toffee with only occasional hints of banana.  I was being reminded of some other tea, and realized it was somehow Della Terra’s Lemon Chiffon?!?!  Or since that one reminds me of B&B’s Key Lime Pie… it definitely seemed like that tea.   How the heck does that happen… maybe the lemon cream flavoring is mimicking whatever toffee flavor should be here?  It’s odd, and since it’s reminding me of a lemon tea, it doesn’t seem much like a banana toffee tea.  I know there wasn’t any flavor contamination — it was stored in the original pouch from B&B.    I think B&B’s banana teas need more banana in general.   This one just fails the execution. 
Steep #1 // 1 1/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled  // 8+ minute steep

I guess I ordered a fair number of caffeine-free Bird & Blend teas. Luckily, they seem to do such teas pretty well. This is one that sounded just delicious despite the base, and yet again, the flavourings do seem to counteract the base sufficiently to make drinking it enjoyable for me (although like with Moondrop Dreams, it would be better with say, a nice Chinese black base.)

Anyhow, this tea is quite potent upon opening the package. Strong banana and alcohol flavours, along with some sweetness. As is not typical of teas, the tea also actually tasted nearly as strong as the aroma, with delicious banana-rum-toffee sweetness. A hint of rooibos, that I could do without, but the strongest flavours are by far the banana and rum. I’m fairly impressed. Not my favourite tea, but it’s yummy and accurate to its description; I will enjoy what I have of it and that’s probably sufficient for me!

Quick note: This tea is going to be discontinued from tomorrow. Anyone who wants it… it’s time for last orders!