Vanilla Velvet

I want to love this. I mean, I adore vanilla, and rooibos is my go-to most nights, although I’m finding red rooibos a bit hit or miss of late. This one, I’m getting zero throat fuzziness though so this makes me happy.

Out of the bag and steeped it smells strongly of vanilla. Steeped, I get rooibos first, then vanilla, and had to add a touch of stevia to make it creamy vanilla awesomeness.

It’s good, it’s just… one dimensional, to me. I wanted zero rooibos taste and just vanilla cream. If I were on the hunt for a vanilla rooibos though, I could see this being a staple for some.

I wanted to try something new this evening after dinner and caffeine free was what I was going for.

This one smells of vanilla and rooibos, and maybe a touch of berry as dry leaf.

Steeped I found more rooibos than vanilla while it was hot. As it cooled I got a little more sweet vanilla creaminess, but still much of the rooibos base. It wasn’t offensive, just very present. I did add my normal touch of sugar and it was a bit much with this blend, thinking the sweetness of the vanilla made it come through as sweeter.

I’m thinking this one would work well on an evening when I wanted something no fuss… that or when I want to be creative and add to it :) Thinking a creamy vanilla rooibos chai for an evening when I want some kick.

Here’s Hoping TTB

With a name like that, who could resist? Unfortunately, this one is nothing special. The woody rooibos base came through strongly with a layer of vanilla and not much else.

Holiday TTB #7: This one smells very vanilla, both dry and steeped. But the main flavor is the roobios, with the vanilla adding a creaminess. I think I associate the rooibos flavor with cookies for some reason, and the vanilla in this only added, making me feel like a cookie tea instead of a vanilla one

Trying this one again tonight to see if I can decide how I feel about it. I still don’t smell the vanilla in the dry leaf, but there is some sense of cream somehow. Tonight this cup doesn’t have much taste. My mouth kind of feels fuzzy from it, strange.

T&C TTB 20/23
I used this to make Vanilla Rooibos cookies and they were delicious. I had planned on saving a little to try on its own but I forgot.

Again thanks to the fabulous people in the Tea and Card TTB for another exciting sample. Aroma is sweet sugary and vanilla. On tasting it the rooibos makes it’s presence known. I’m not always wild about rooibos but it isn’t wildly strong. The vanilla isn’t as good as I had hoped. It tastes a little fake even though it says natural vanilla beans. I could use a bit more vanilla, so I added a bit of a liquid vanilla/stevia. Adds just enough vanilla to satisfy me. It’s a nice cup of tea, it fills the mouth smoothly and leaves a gentle vanilla aftertaste. It is good for an sweet evening dessert drink.

It’s on the icing side of vanilla, for me, with a distinctive handful of rooibos. It isn’t quite what I was looking for but I did get a handful of simple evenings out of it. Goodbye, rooibos!

First impression once I opened the bag was that it smelled like vanilla icing – creamy and delightful, but with a definite “fake sugar” hint to it that I found interesting. I couldn’t wait to try it.

My minor complaint is that the rooibos is shredded fine enough to go right through my infuser basket…but this is what happens with most rooibos, so I can’t blame it on Teajo. :)

Once brewed up it retained that creamy quality laced over the richness of rooibos, but sadly it also kept the fakeness that I was less fond of. There’s a lingering vanilla taste that stays with you, but I can’t get over how artificial it tastes.

If the vanilla flavour had just been knocked down a notch this would’ve been a beautiful tea, but for me this is a bit too overwhelming. I have some Dosha Chai from Teavana that I think this will blend in nicely with, though, in order to cut down the intensity…

Good tea, but perhaps not for me. I’ll be putting this one in the TTB in hopes that someone else will enjoy it more.