Rhubarb Vanilla

December 3rd in my Christmas calendar.

This one made me go ooooh! when I saw what it was. I find the idea of this extremely attractive. I don’t drink a lot of green and even less white, but when I do it’s 99% flavoured stuff, so the base blend here doesn’t put me off at all.

The leaf smells lovely, all rhubarb-y and sweet and exciting. After steeping it smells mostly like rhubarb with only a smidge of vanilla. It gets that funny bubblegum smell. It’s a pink smell and feels rubbery. You’d think this would be a minus, but I think of it kind of like the Assam and cardboard thing, so it’s probably more like something I would find weird if it wasn’t there.

It doesn’t taste like bubblegum, though. Rhubarb is a flavour that goes surprisingly well with tea. I have a rhubarb flavoured black also from Fru P and I’d never seen that before, but I’ve seen it often in green teas. I’m getting a lot of green tea and rhubarb flavour from it, but not so much vanilla. I can only sort of find the vanilla as a side flavour. A hint of it here and there, and I would have liked it to be a lot stronger.

My wish is granted through patience however, because once the cup cools just a little bit more there’s a heavy and thick vanilla-y aftertaste. And this right here at this particular temperature, this is just wonderful!

Oh wow, the leaf expansion. Completely unexpected. I turned away for a second (Okay, well, fine, four minutes.) and just SPLORFA! I swear I did not overleaf.

Anyway, I’ve tried a good number of rhubarb teas, and they all too often end up too tart for my tastes. A little tonguetip-tartness is fine, but not a whole soursip’s worth. This tea isn’t tart at all. On the other hand, nor does it taste of rhubarb. The vanilla element, though, is surprisingly nice. It’s silky smooth throughout, and comes off very rich and natural.

But I would like a whole lot more of it. And, seeing as it’s a rhubarb tea, just a little bit of rhubarb would be good, too.

As usual with Fru P’s teas, I’m left a little confused. One thing I like so much about companies like Mariage Frères or Lupicia, is that there’s a certain level, or profile, or something along those lines, that I can rely on. If it says, ‘Vanilla’, then I know what kind of vanilla to expect, not to mention how present it’s going to be. With Fru P (and many other smaller retailers, for obvious reasons) it’s just a lottery. Sometimes the base tea is great, sometimes very low grade, sometimes the flavouring is top notch, sometimes it’s painfully artificial. The comparison is unfair, I know, but, in the end, that reliability is what makes me commit to a company.

Thanks, Ang!

Anyway, this marks the end of the samples from the EU swap box – it’s been great fun. A huge thanks to those who participated – I loved trying out your teas!

[Sample from the EU Travelling Box, autumn 2013.]

Another from Angrboda. Thanks! To compare with rhubarb green from Fru P.

I fully expected to enjoy the rhubarb vanilla white/green blend more, and I don’t. The vanilla overtakes the rhubarb a bit more than I’d like, though it’s still tasty. The vanilla scent is awesome though. Fru P seems to know her vanilla. I’m enjoying the base here too, yet the rhubarb green just seemed crisper. This one is more comforting (thank you vanilla), and while still great, I find myself wanting more rhubarb. I would still be happy to drink this one semi-regularly though.

I believe that finishes up my envelope from Angrboda!