Holiday Embrace Herbal Tea

I don’t like this one. The orange is tart and weird. I put it in the fridge to try to help the flavor, and it was still bad. Maybe it’s the cranberry that’s contributing to the weirdness. I usually rebrew rooibos, but not this one. It really needed some vanilla or marshmallow root in there to soften the tanginess.

Plum Deluxe Advent Day 19
Still catching up. Why so many rooibos and honeybush blends in this advent?
Smells strongly of orange and cranberry. Nice and tart. The flavor is actually quite nice. Like a spiced cranberry sauce with orange zest. The rooibos is just quite distracting for me. This would’ve been great on a black base.

Plum Deluxe Advent Calendar – Day 19

This has a very orangey smell in the packet. Orange rooibos sounds good to me, so that bodes well.

It came out a little bland even though the color is quite dark. I do get a bit of tart orange, and also some hibiscus which makes it even more tart. I’m honestly not getting spices at all, which makes me wonder if my sample is unusual since I saw others mention them. Perhaps a hint of clove, which goes well with the orange. There’s just a little bit of wood coming from the rooibos itself as well.

Overall, it’s fine, and I don’t really mind the hibiscus. It is sort of a cranberry orange rooibos for me, as I didn’t get any spice. Fairly pleasant, but not something I would order.

(today’s advent teas: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI_SUdFAQD3/)

Advent Day 19

No! Bad hibiscus, bad! The very start of the sip is okay, but it quickly goes to a weird metallic taste that feels like I’m eating turkey. Anyone know what I’m talking about when I say that? The cranberry doesn’t help with the turkey association. Gah!

The dry leaf smells just like the “Red Rooibos Cinnamon Chai” from earlier in the advent… that is, like a holiday candle. Only this one has a more citrusy orange aroma with the spice. As the cup steeps, I’m getting cranberry aroma coming out as well.

I’m getting mainly the clove coming forward on the sip, with a more subtle cinnamon spice. Next, the citrus orange is popping pretty strongly. Only after my cup cooled down a bit was I able to start tasting the cranberry (which has always been a difficult note for me to taste in teas, despite loving cranberries, so I was glad it started coming forward). And the rooibos is blending smoothly for me, no off-putting notes from the base like I’ve been getting from their honeybush recently.

To me, this is just a much better version of the “Red Rooibos Cinnamon Chai” from earlier; the spice blend tastes about the same to me, but it’s a much more rounded flavor with the tart cranberries and bright citrus. I think this is probably one of my favorites of their rooibos herbals so far.

Plum Deluxe Advent Calendar – Day 19

This one is a cranberry chai and it definitely captured that. The front of the sip is all fruity and tart with the spices kicking in at the end. You also get some honey from the rooibos base. It does enough to reflect the flavor its meant to and to scream holiday but I am okay with just this sample.