Rooibush Strawberry Cream

Enjoying a cup of this tonight. Here is my full-length review of this tea: http://sororiteasisters.com/2011/07/20/rooibush-strawberry-cream-from-teagschwendner/

The thing about low expectations is that I often end up happy. I’m pretty picky about my strawberry, because it’s so rarely done well. I strongly dislike “berry” flavour: that flavour that is a hodgepodge of berries that can’t be individually identified. I do very much like individual berries, like blueberries, blackberries and strawberries, but if it’s not the berry itself, the flavour better be done well. And, because I haven’t said it enough in this paragraph, berry berry berry.

Right. So. Strawberry. Lovely on its own, if it’s not very tart. Lovely in some candy, if it’s done properly. Kind of icky as a bubblegum flavour. Ice cream? Maybe. See? Picky.

The other thing is about me and fruit teas. The problem is that we don’t really get along very well. It’s not so much that they’re yucky, just that I can’t get over how weird it is to drink hot fruit anything. I always find myself wondering how it’d be iced, and how that’s how I have to try it next time. Until now, anyway.

This is a great blend that’s blended very well. It’s a nice, berrylicious fragrance, but even better is its flavour, which is that of strawberry jam. I do so like my jam. I steeped it first for maybe 7 minutes, I don’t remember exactly. The second time, I lost track of time and steeped it for about 22 minutes. I’ve yet to ruin a rooibos blend by over-steeping it, so I wasn’t really concerned. The only consequence was that the tea got a bit too cool to sip in a leisurely manner, so I gulped it down and almost brushed myself off whilst placing my teacup in the sink, looking for imaginary toast crumbs.

I think if this had had a stronger strawberry presence, it would’ve been too tart for me to enjoy; as it is, I find it really well balanced. This was in the sampler box I bought from LiberTEAS, and I’m so glad to have had the opportunity to try it. It would’ve never occurred to me to buy this and I would have missed out. I can hardly believe that I’ve found a fruity tea I like drinking hot. Bazinga!

Tea amount: 1 generous tsp/~5.25g
Water amount: 6oz/~175mL
Additives: About ½ tsp Demerara sugar for the first steep and nearly a full tsp for the second one. The first cup wasn’t sweet enough and I could just feel that adding a bit more would help bring forth the strawberry. The second steep was pretty weak in spite of the long steep time (meh, it was worth a shot), but I was right about the sugar. Moar strawberryer.

Sorry TeaGschwendner, this tea needs to have strawberry flavor to be called Strawberry Cream. It smells amazing, but the strawberry flavor is very weak. No creaminess flavor is there, either. I am very disappointed in it. I love rooibos, but I bought this for the flavor, too! On to the next one…

Hmm.. I am still searching for a lovely creamy strawberry rooibos/honeybush, but I haven’t found one that I truly love. This one isn’t bad, but it is stronger on the rooibos and you really have to search for the strawberry. I don’t see why this is called “Strawberry Cream” as the cream isn’t present at all. I will finish up what I have, but I wish that it had more of a strawberry cream flavor. For me, it’s a simple rooibos with a faint strawberry note.