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“I am becoming a rooibos blend snob. Not avoidable. Some rooibos I can not drink and sound woody and musty, other blends I love and leave me with a wonderful comfortable glow. Mariage Frères´s...” Read full tasting note
“Not at all sure what to expect from this one, but it seems appropriate for my bedtime tea before my trip to be from MF. Thanks, cteresa, for this sample! Brewed at 90 degrees for about 4 minutes...” Read full tasting note
“A friend gave me a cup of this, and I was a bit suspicious at first. I don’t normally like rooibos tea, but this particular type was a winner! It was a bit citrusy, a bit spicy, and a bit floral,...” Read full tasting note
“cteresa kindly sent me a sample of this, and I was very excited to try it, especially as we seem to share rooibos tastes and Mariage Freres teas are not easy to get over here! Glad to say we still...” Read full tasting note
Scents of citrus, Oriental spices, and marigolds complement this ‘Red Nile’ tea, extending a voyage begun with Thé sur le Nil (T955).
Its simultaneously lively yet mild taste offers an exotic range of flavours for late-night dreams of distant lands.
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I am becoming a rooibos blend snob. Not avoidable. Some rooibos I can not drink and sound woody and musty, other blends I love and leave me with a wonderful comfortable glow. Mariage Frères´s rooibos blends are of the good kind. And this Nil Rouge is pretty special to me, a totally balanced :rooibos and lemongrass and some citrusy thing which seems to me to be verbena but is probably lemon or orange or even bergamot.
It has became a staple for me now. Though not sure which I love best, this or Marco Polo Rouge.
A word of warning : I used to brew rooibos very hot and very long, but I am changing that. This particular blend I think should not be left for too long, pour it after 5 minutes or even less. And do not use free boiling water, 90 or 95 at most for optimal deliciousness.
Not at all sure what to expect from this one, but it seems appropriate for my bedtime tea before my trip to be from MF. Thanks, cteresa, for this sample!
Brewed at 90 degrees for about 4 minutes (didn’t have the patience for the full 5), it smells wonderful, full and spicy, which will be interesting as I’ve not encounterec a rooibos with only spice in it before. It’s very refreshing – and I can’t help but wonder if I should have brewed this for the full time after all! The spice is definitely there, and the floral tones are subtle, but I think I’m missing something here as not even the pungent rooibos is coming through very clearly. It seems to me like this might taste better on a hot day nearer the Nile, rather than a freezing night in England…
Sadly as I’m doing this from a tablet computer I can’t use the sliding scores, so I’ll leave that for when I next try this very promising tea :)
A friend gave me a cup of this, and I was a bit suspicious at first. I don’t normally like rooibos tea, but this particular type was a winner! It was a bit citrusy, a bit spicy, and a bit floral, but not too much of any of those. I don’t really know what else to say but if you (like me) generally avoid rooibos, this one is worth a try!
I think Mariage Freres makes great rooibos mixes – and rooibos is one of those things where IMO quality really really matters, bad rooibos is pretty bad! But Mariage Freres rooibos are all pretty wonderful.
Thanks for the tip! Now I’m thinking I’m going to have to investigate more of their rooibos mixes!
They make some great rooibos. And just a warning, their vanille borbon rooibos mix is IMO wonderful but the vanilla is very very subtle – I consider it plain rooibos mentally rather than flavoured rooibos. Do give that one a miss unless you like and want an almost plain rooibos. But it is very good quality rooibos
Thanks for the tip!!
cteresa kindly sent me a sample of this, and I was very excited to try it, especially as we seem to share rooibos tastes and Mariage Freres teas are not easy to get over here! Glad to say we still seem to share tastes of rooibos(es?) – er, rooibos blends, as I liked this one a lot. Not quite as much as Yumchaa’s Chilli Chilli Bang Bang, but I’d have been sad if I had preferred it to the Yumchaa, for reasons of unavailability mentioned above.
I brewed up the whole sample in my Cha Cult (which cteresa and I both also happened to get from Yumchaa and which works perfectly for rooibos) last night and then shared out big cups between Cara and myself. I liked the rooibos base a lot – it has that good woody taste, that isn’t at all dusty or bitter but has a hint of vanilla I think – and the citrus flavours were lovely. Like others, I didn’t even know what I should be looking out for in the “Oriental spices”, and, perhaps for that reason, didn’t get much spicyness, but it was so flavourful I didn’t mind that.
Thanks again for the sample, cteresa!
if you sometimes go to London, Mariage Frères opened a corner at SELFRIDGES (400 Oxford Street)
Ooh, good to know, thanks! I haven’t been able to get away anywhere for a while, but can’t wait to get back to London. Yumchaa (which I’ve been to before), Postcard Teas and now Mariage Frères too! I can see spending a lot of money on tea. :)
Definitely one of my favorites rooibos
The blend is both subtle (much more than Rouge Rushka) and not so subtle (less than Marco Polo Rouge). The citrus scent can be very easily identified but it’s nicely blended with other flavors that do not make the citrusy taste overwhelming. I’m currently drinking the second half of my second box of this tea. I’m not sure I will replenish this supply at Christmas, but I know for sure I’ll buy it again in the next years.
Depending on the moments, I tend to prefer Rouge Bourbon when I’m in the mood for a sweet sugary-feeling vanilla taste, or Marco Polo Rouge, when I’m in the mood for a very mellow evening drink, or this Nil Rouge, when I feel like having a drink feeling slightly more refreshing.
I was wavering about restocking on Marco Polo Rouge or Nil Rouge – ended up deciding for this one, just due to the fact that Nil Rouge was available by the weight closer to home. But I know I will end buying and rebuying more or each in the future, they are both so very wonderful on different ways. And I got my eye on trying Rouge Provence as well!
Rouge Provence might be nice; but I need to smell it to check that there’s not too much rose in there.
I personally have my eyes on Surabaya, Bloemfontein and Kimberley…
The interesting thing at least about the green Provence version is the thyme IMO and maybe the rosemary – it´s not uppermost but anchors it. I really got to write something about it, as soon as my nose is working well again. Rouge Provence smelt mostly of red fruits, but I got to use a lot more of my other teas before I let myself buy some of it!
This is a very good red tea – not as powerful as Surabaya, but still very yummy. There is a pervasive but not overpowering citrus, plus hints of sweet spiciness that I haven’t fully identified yet, because they are interwoven with the natural sweetness of the rooibos. I prefer this one without milk and sugar; just my preference for teas with a citrus base.
I found this tea on my first trip to Paris. I was looking for a decaf tea that had a little citrus flavor and this was the first tea that was suggested. It smelled delicious, citrus-y and a tiny bit floral. I am also not a fan of rooibis but I love this tea and buy it when either I return to Paris or a friend goes :-)
