Rooibush Strawberry Pepper

I received this tea in a huge box that Doulton sent me … THANK YOU so much! This is definitely one that I would have wanted to buy just because it sounds a little different!

It is very nice. The rooibos tastes nutty and a little woody but doesn’t have the funky aftertaste or saccharine sweetness to it. The strawberry is delicious … the addition of the pepper is just the right touch to cut through some of the sweeter notes while still allowing the berry flavor to come through.

I like this.

It’s nearly the New Year here on the East Coast, so I decided to relax a little bit before the party I have to attend and have some caffeine-free stuff. So I pulled out more TG stuff, specifically, Strawberry Pepper.

When I heard that they had a strawberry pepper tea, I leapt at the chance to try it! I love it when sweet blends with savory (an aside: if you’ve ever had Moroccan food, they do a great job of blending the two), so I couldn’t pass this up. The leaves smell pretty much entirely of strawberry. It’s a very juicy-tart strawberry. Not particularly overly sweet, like a vanilla-strawberry. Just a plain strawberry. There’s a bit of a rooibos smell underlying the tea. Not very strong, but it’s present.

It steeps up to a very pretty strawberry-red, and the smell coming off the cup is a deep, juicy strawberry. So if you like strawberries, this will definitely get you pumped to taste it. The taste… is interesting! It’s actually a bit more watery than I expected it to be. I wanted a more robust strawberry taste. I might need to steep this a bit longer, even though I steeped it at the amount that TG suggested. The rooibos flavor is completely overwhelmed by the strawberryness. There’s flashes of subtle woodsy sweet, but it’s really just a base to hold up the strawberry flavor.

As for the pepper… it didn’t really come out strong in this cup. There was a slight tingling sensation on my tongue, but it wasn’t a flavor. It was more of a feeling. Maybe my peppercorns all dipped to the bottom of the bag, but I made sure to shake it. Maybe I just didn’t get enough of the peppercorn in there. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t manifest itself as a full flavor, but rather as a bit of heat.

I’m not the biggest fan of strawberries, and I tend to like them somewhat on the sweeter side, or mixed with something creamy (like vanilla-ish things. So if you like tart-ripe strawberries, you’d probably like this. This one would probably be pretty interesting iced as well. And maybe even sweetened a little bit, if you want it to have more of a sweeter strawberry flavor.

Overall, though, I think this is a great herbal to relax with and sip. I actually feel like it’s more of a daytime tea than a nighttime one, and it tastes very summary. It’s not particularly a favorite of mine, but I could see someone else really liking this one and getting into its unique flavor profile. It’s a bit fruity and one-note for me. I prefer a bit more body and oomph to my tea-drinking experience.

Steep Information:
Amount: 6tsp
Additives: none
Water: 1 cast iron teapot full of filtered boiling water
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Berry, Woody
Steeped Tea Smell: Berry, woody, hint of pepper
Flavor: sweet strawberry, woody
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: pepper
Liquor: deep dark reddish-brown

Swap from Meghann M

This was a very interesting tea, a nice smooth fresh strawberry (not sweet like a pie or candy), with a hint of rooibos, then an aftertaste of light pepper.

I am enjoying my cup, I don’t think I’ll buy it again, but I am very much enjoying this.

The kept saying Rooibush, I am assuming this is the same as Rooibos.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Thanks to LiberTEAs for this one…It’s not bad but it is not overly flavorful with the flavors – so to speak…I knew both the strawberry and pepper were there but they were both very subtle. I would have LOVED to taste it again if those two flavors were to pipe-up-a-bit!

This is a lovely tea! If you like the idea of sweet strawberry with a bite you should try this one.
The strawberry taste is rich, sweet, and very authentic. The aroma is fully fruity and redolent of a strawberry grove in full season. The pepper comes out as a robust and pleasingly biting counterpoint to the sweetness of the tea.

I’m sure it could sustain milk and sugar but I did not need any.

Great herbal-tea.