Upside Down Rooibos

I still don’t think the pineapple or cherries come across very well, despite the rather large chunks of both present in the dry leaf I scooped out. Instead, it has rather a heavy maple and brown sugar flavor which still reminds me somewhat of cake, but since I don’t taste the fruit aspects this falls a little short of the mark for me.

You can check out my full review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2013/10/1/tuesday-tea-upside-down-rooibos-della-terra.html

I popped this tea into my shopping cart when I saw that it was made with a rooibos base. Even though I didn’t enjoy the black tea version all that much, it seems like it would have better luck with my tastebuds simply by changing the base! The scent of this tea reminds me of DavidsTeas’ Birthday Cake rooibos. They both have a relatively heavy maple syrup scent. I have to admit that the maple syrup scent is my least favorite part of the Birthday Cake blend simply because I’m looking for cake, not something with maple (although there is always a time and place for maple!)

Sipping… ooh, I like this one so much more than the black tea version. There isn’t a whole lot of pineapple upside down cake flavor — more of a generalized starchy sweetness. I actually don’t think I’d identify this flavor as being cake, but as something “desserty”. I know I’m not being all that specific, but that’s what this tea is like to me. Slurping brings out more of the fruity aspects of the dessert — again, not really specific for cherries or pineapple, but it adds a nice layer on top of the cake. There is a little bit of maple syrup still in the background which actually makes this tea taste a bit like pancakes. Not a bad thing… I LOVE pancakes!

This has now taken the first spot as my favorite tea from Della Terra. It’s not amazing, but makes a decent cup. I had to lower the rating on the Blueberry Crumble blend since it doesn’t taste all that great to me anymore. I’d recommend this tea to anyone who loves rooibos and enjoyed the original version of this tea.

I’m horribly indecisive, which explains my initial ho-hum review and the fact that I finished off my 1oz bag of this tonight. I managed to get 3 fullish teaspoons, which means it will last 2 steeps, but it’s a bit strange. I still think this doesn’t taste much like pineapple but something about it has been satisfying. Sipdown!

This is actually better than the black tea. It smells fantastic. The flavor is still delicious, and it’s like having a lighter cake.

The dry leaf of this one smells strongly of maple syrup. This tea tastes a lot, and I mean almost exactly, like David’s birthday cake. I don’t get any pineapple at all and definitely no cherry. This is good, but not what you would expect it to be.

I’ve been drinking this at work, and every time I brew a cup of this, a coworker wanders by my office and then pokes his/her head in. “What’s that delicious smell?”

“Oh, just my tea.”

“It smells like maple syrup.”

Every. Time. :)

I enjoyed Pineapple Upside Down Cake, from what I remember, so this one seemed like a sure win for a dull Monday at work. I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. No additions.

The dry leaf smells gorgeous – very sweet and cakey! It’s the kind of scent that permeates the whole kitchen, and I find it rather cheering in a sugar-overload sort of way. To taste, this is mostly maple syrup and brown sugar. There are large pieces of cherry (some whole!) and small pieces of dried pineapple in the mix, but somehow they don’t seem to impact upon the flavour at all. I do get sponge and caramelised sugar, though, so I suppose that’s something.

I generally like sweet things, and I like cake, so a maple/sugar tea is probably always going to be a win with me. I feel mildly let down by the lack of pineapple and cherry, but it’s still a nice tasting tea so it’s not really too much of a problem for me. I just keep imagining how great it would be if I could taste the pineapple. What an awesome tea that would be!

I think on balance I prefer the black version of this one, but I’ll certainly have no trouble finishing off this sample. A sweet, uncomplicated, tasty treat!

Mmmm! This one is super sweet and strong, Just like Pineapple Upside Down Cake. I think that the black tea version is a lot stronger and sweeter, but this one is quite similar. This will be perfect for when I don’t wanna be super awake from Black Tea.
I never realized that this was basically the same as the other till I looked it up on here. Glad I picked some up on their BF sale! :D :D

Actually did not realize I had this tea. I was on the Della Terra website just browsing, noticed it, and was interested. A day or so later, I was grabbing some flavoured rooibos to take over to my boyfriend’s mom’s place (since she prefers uncaffeinated teas), and to my surprise, I had a pouch of it! Opened, but probably only because I sampled it out to Janelle, maybe? Anyhow, it’s pretty delicious. Fits my recollection of Pineapple Upside Down Cake perfectly; it’s all that delicious sweet sugary deliciousness, with no pineapple or fruit to speak of. Which I’m fine with, because it’s quite good. No rooibos weirdness, and it lasts through a couple additional infusions, too. Glad I had a random ounce of this one! :D

Oh this smells divine!
Thank you QueenOfTarts for sending me a sample!!

This definitely reminds me of DAVIDs Coffee Cake, lessen the coffee but add more sweet cake to it. And this is rooibos, rather than black. Definitely does give off the nice and sweet aroma!
The woodsy, sweet rooibos definitely comes out when it steeps. oh for some reason, it tastes like how a sweet coffee cake would taste like if it were baked in an open fire oven atop cedar wood. It has the sweet, cake-y smell, but like.. it tastes like red. And red to me is cedar wood and it tastes lovely :)

So I’m studying for Forensic Anthropology, but decided to take a break for dinner. And with dinner, I always watch a show! What better show than Bones hehe :) Every time I watch that show now, I test my anthropology skills. The second Bones said ‘narrow nasal aperture’ and something about the mandible, I knew that the victim was a caucasoid. And now, I’m about half an hour in and they’ve just identified the murder weapon, and I’m all BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA TO THE STERNUM YES. Mainly because like a majority of our final tomorrow is on trauma so that’s a thing I’ll need to know :)

But because of this Forensic Anthropology course, I’m actually understanding everything they’re saying. Whether if its sexing an individual, or figuring out their race or age, I completely understand. It’s actually quite fascinating :) I love how I can watch this show and it’ll still be valuable to my education hehe