Tropical Papango Rooibos

Samurai TTB #29

This one exceeded my expectations! There were about 2 tsp left in the bag, so I went ahead and overleafed my cup last night. The resulting brew was so delicious! Super sweet and fruity with none of that nasty medicinal flavor I sometimes get from rooibos. I definitely tasted the papaya and maybe a bit of mango, but I was also weirdly getting banana, even though that isn’t listed in the ingredients at all. Overall, one of the nicest fruity rooibos blends I’ve had in a while and something I’d consider purchasing next time I order from S&V!

STTB Tea

I took a few cups worth of this out of the box before I mailed it off.

I’m not too impressed with this blend, but I’m glad I could try it before I order from S&V (which will be a long time from now…why do I end up with more teas that I started with every time I do a sipdown challenge?) I like rooibos, but I find most fruity rooibos blends are overpowered by the rooibos and there isn’t much in the way of realistic fruit flavour to come through. This blend has some little cubes of dried fruit (maybe mango, it is lightly yellow, almost clear) but the fresh fruit flavour just isn’t there. I couldn’t make out the papaya, but I did get some fruity (generic) and some mango notes. I had to concentrate to distinguish it as mango.

Oddly enough, the hot cup had more distinct fruit flavours while the coldbrew was mostly rooibos. This is the opposite of what usually happens for me with rooibos blends.

Overall, not a bad cup but nothing that stands out from the many other fruity rooibos blends in my cabinet. The fruit flavours aren’t strong enough (or perhaps the red rooibos wasn’t a great choice for the base – I could see this working out with a green rooibos)

From the Samurai TTB.

I can’t say I was really impressed by this one. I liked the way it smelled in its pouch so I thought I’d give it a try. I like rooibos, I know a lot of people don’t, but I do also like to taste the other flavors in a flavored rooibos. It smelled vaguely fruity before steeping, though I wouldn’t call it tropical, but afterward it tasted only like plain rooibos. I sipped a bit, put it in the fridge for later, had a few sips cold the next day, put it back in the fridge, and there it languished until I dumped it three days later. It’s not that it was bad. It wasn’t. But it was unremarkable. I guess forgettable is the right word, because I kept forgetting it until it was just too old to drink. I almost always finish my cup, unless it’s awful, but this one I just forgot.

Thanks for adding to the box, AJRimmer!

Thanks so much again for the swap, AJRimmer!  This is how I’ve never run out of new teas to write tasting notes for… there has always been teas that are new-to-me because of so many swaps over the years. :D  This is actually tastier than I expected.  The rooibos is okay – but it does have that woody flavor that reminds me of a barbecue sauce for some reason.  But then there are fruit cubes in the blend that add a nice sweetness to the rooibos.  The fruits: papaya and mango, for a fun twist on the name PAPANGO.  (You can even get these papaya and mango cubes separately from S&V for pretty cheap if you want to try them that way. I have tried both the mango and papaya before and they are delicious.)  So a few cubes in a teaspoon along with the rooibos lends plenty of sweetness to a refreshing cup.  You can even add more of the fruit cubes to the blend if you wanted.  The second steep is full of flavor too.  I really appreciate that S&V blends their own teas (and SO MANY blends) because I am guaranteed to find unique teas from S&V, more than any other tea shop.  I hope everyone at S&V is doing okay during these tough times.
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 20 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  5 min
2020 Sipdowns: 32 – TeBella – Almond Shortbread

I’ve given this one three tries to see if I could make it taste delicious. I’m afraid I’ve failed. It just tastes and smells so chemically. It’s like floor cleaner. I don’t usually go for tropical flavors with red rooibos, but I figured if anyone could do it, it’s S&V. Unfortunately not. Perhaps I just received an off batch since other reviewers had a different experience. The only way to make this tea tolerable is to drink it cold. Then the negative flavors fade to the background, but they’re still there.

Herbal & Decaf TTB

I believe Allan K put this in the box, so thank you! I actually did a little research on the company and I’m definitely going to take a trip to stop by their store when it gets warmer out! As for the tea, it’s definitely on the sweeter side for me, but the mango and papaya make a strong appearance while letting the rooibos shine still. This is definitely one of my favorite rooibos blends so far! It’s a perfect blend of rooibos and flavoring which is really hard for me to find.

Brewed this as an iced tea today. It has a very strong taste of the rooibos and the sweet taste of mango and papaya. However, the rooibos is a little too strong for me. Still, it makes a refreshing, caffeine free iced tea. Bought this with my order the other day not realizing I already had it. It was already in my cupboard, ah well.

Brewed this in a 16oz Teavana Glass Perfect Tea Maker with 5 tsp leaf and 2 tbl rock sugar for 5 minutes in boiling water then poured it over ice.