Banana Coconut

So I thought that since I got my sampling done from my swap with Stephanie I would finally get back to my Persimmon Tree samples I ordered when they were doing their big promotion packs. I was very hesitant to try this one seeing as I am not a fan of rooibos tea at all. The dry leave did contain a little of it, but seemed to be mostly chamomile and lemongrass. It smelled interesting, I do not know how to describe it but I did pick up the banana scent. After the steeping was almost through…AH HA there you are rooibos! I smelled it! This made me even more nervous. I tried it unsweetened first and could only pick up chamomile. I can’t complain because there was no rooibos to be found :D (happy girl!) I added a little sugar and I found the banana! a tiny bit of nuttiness comes out too! Sadly no sign of coconut anywhere, and even the lavender that says it is present. I will resteep with both sugar and cream this time and will get back to you! I also will have try this iced as per moraiwe’s suggestion in her tasting note. I would have never thought to make this an iced tea.

Ahh rooibos, my nemesis. We meet again.

Weirdly enough, I don’t smell it in the dry leaf. Instead I catch the aroma of chamomille and coconut. Little light on the banana. But I don’t dislike chamomile, so I figured we’d give this a shot. I started smelling the rooibos at about the three minute mark while steeping, but kept going to the 5 minute mark, fingers crossed.

The result? All that worrying for nothing. The chamomille and floral aspect is pretty overwhelming. Too overwhelming really. I get the slightest hint of banana and coconut with a touch of caramel. But if I’m not really looking for those other flavors, it tastes like a pot of sweetened chamomile with a tiny banana aftertaste.

So, in an attempt to bring out the other flavors and beat back the chamomile with a honey drizzle shaped club, I added some honey. Success. Banana then chamomile. Still loosing a lot of the coconut and caramel to chamomile, but at least I taste banana in my banana tea. It’s a tasty tea no matter what, though and I have a cold steep that I popped in my fridge just under an hour ago to see how that changes things up (hoping for coconut!)

Either way, I didn’t taste rooibos. So in my mind, that is a huge success.

This is super heavy on the chamomile and the little flowers were stuffed at the top of the sample baggy and I had to decant into something where I could actually get some of the blend.

This isn’t horrible, but I don’t really get banana or coconut from this. Mostly chamomile, maybe a mild sweetness but I added sweetener. I’m not the biggest fan of chamomile since there was an incident a year or so ago when I had the stomach bug, enough said. This I can manage to get down without reliving that awful experience but it’s not something I’ll be drinking again AND the remains of the packet are now living in my swap box.

2 tsp + sweetener in 16oz steeping mug

Smells and tastes a bit like bottled pina colada/creamy tropical cocktail mix, and I think the unmistakable rooibos smell contributes to the feeling it’s a mix rather than the ideal fresh ingredients by lending it an overly sweet and vaguely plastic element (I think the lemongrass is contributing too…it’s strange, I adore lemongrass when cooking but have noticed in tea so far I find it makes things smell chemical, plastic, once even vaguely urine-y, ick). It isn’t bad really, and if you like pina coladas (cue music) that have that sort of flavor you might dig this. But personally I don’t love it and there are so many dessert tea possibilities out there that I have loved I don’t think I’ll ever re-up.

Sample from chrimabro – thanks!

The chamomile in this is strong – very very strong. I can’t really taste any other flavors because of it. I can maybe taste a smidge of banana or coconut sometimes but the chamomile is what comes out the strongest. I’m a bit disappointed since I’m not a large chamomile fan. It definitely tastes better with sugar – but I just put in the sugar and didn’t mix it (I didn’t have a spoon. I am feeling lazy.) so all the sugar is at the bottom and the tea is now sickeningly sweet.

I’ll have to resteep this tea with sugar from the very beginning. Hopefully it will improve. But so far, I’m not inclined to buy this.

[Backlog] – I really enjoy a rooibos tea blend, but I especially love one that has chamomile, too. Many of the chamomile blends that I’ve tried in the past have been mixed with strange herbs or things that I don’t like. I’m so pleased to see that this one has rooibos, chamomile, lemongrass, coconut, lavender and banana. That’s it! Nothing weird or funky here.

This blend is so delicious! I love the strong chamomile flavor, the banana (you can actually taste it!) and the sweet rooibos. I feel like I should mention that the chamomile is very bright and bold so if you’re not a fan, this blend likely isn’t for you. The chamomile, banana and rooibos blend so well together – sweet, soft and very comforting. I don’t taste a whole lot of coconut, but if I really look for it, I can find it in the background.

One thing this blend could do without is the rather soapy lavender. It’s not strong enough that I can’t finish the cup, but I think this blend would be better without it. Actually.. now that I’m thinking about it, that soapy note could be from a combination of the coconut and lavender. The rooibos is surprisingly a bit mild. It seems to hug the other flavors with its woody sweetness and doesn’t take over.

If you’re looking for a soothing and tasty blend, I highly recommend this one. It’s caffeine free so it can be had any time during the day or night!

Additional notes: Tasty yet old. With coconut. Not much to say, otherwise, but it’s aging nicely!
TCM is having a Toshiro Mifune 24 hour movie marathon today! It’s his 100th birthday today! I wish he were still around to enjoy it. His movies have certainly been a help to me, I’m a fan, so I’m glad they are featuring his movies.

Backlog:

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I didn’t expect to like it a bunch given the fact that it’s not just a rooibos blend but a rooibos and chamomile blend. I guess my liking it had less to do with the fact that there’s rooibos and chamomile in the blend and more to do with the flavors of banana, coconut, caramel and a touch of graham.

It’s tasty. It’s sweet and a little bit dessert-y. A nice, caffeine free treat for late at night.

Here’s my full-length article: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/09/13/banana-coconut-tisane-from-the-persimmon-tree/

I have come in a complete circle with my tea drinking today. Started the day off with decaf teas and pain killers, then got productive and drank a bunch of oolongs, and now I’m back, winding down with more decaf teas before I take pain killers to sleep. xD
This one actually tastes a lot better today than it did with the sample I got a couple weeks ago. I bought a tin of this in their sale last week. Glad I did.
For some reason it tastes a lot better.
It really does taste sweet and like bananas. A soft banana flavor.
I don’t taste much of the chamomile this time too! This is great! Good tea to wind down with. (:

Sipdown (136/143)!

First tea sample from my swap with Cameron B.! This one appealed to me primarily because of the banana in it – I was very interested to see how it would play with a rooibos base or the chamomile.

I have to say, I really didn’t smell or taste the rooibos at all in this; if I couldn’t see the abundance of it, I might not have even known it was there. However, I don’t have nearly as much of a rooibos sensitivity as most people on Steepster seem to have, and I am somewhat sensitive to chamomile so those two things should definitely be taken into consideration.

The chamomile for me was very present and kind of distraction; I felt like it didn’t fully mesh with the banana/coconut, although I think I understand the intent behind including it, and even if I was kinda distracted by it I did feel soothed drinking it, which is a weird and conflicting set of feelings. The coconut was steadily present throughout the whole cup (I’ve had a few coconut teas from this company now, and I’m beginning to form the impression that they do coconut pretty well). The banana fluctuated a little for me depending on the temperature; when it was hotter I didn’t notice it as much but as it cooled down I thought it was more present and powerful, and definitely not as masked by the chamomile. I also want to note that all banana I tasted, no matter how strong, slightly reminded me of a not quite ripe banana. You know, that “green” peel kinda flavour?

On the whole though; this was drinkable and fairly enjoyable if not very bemusing.