Dream by the Fire

I was really looking forward to this tea when I ordered it, but I have been mostly disappointed. The rooibos overpowers the other flavors; you can barely taste the cinnamon, and the vanilla is not a good compliment. I have achieved the best results with this tea by brewing it together with apple-flavored herb teas to make a nice autumn/winter iced tea.

I received a free sample bag of this in the mail today when RoT sent me their current catalog. LOVE the label for the tea but right off the bat there are 2 strikes or potential strike…Cinnamon AND Vanilla. Now…I am NOT saying I HATE them…but I don’t usually go for them. I love Cinnamon just usually not in tea and I can take or leave vanilla in any setting or for any reason. BUT…I’m up for the challenge. It scent is unique – not what I expected. Pleasant yet surprising. It brews quickly into a reddish brown. More Cinnamon than Vanilla after the steep to the nose. I seriously think the Rooibos helped this blend quite a bit. The more I sip – the more I enjoy. Mind you, I also oversteeped. You can taste the cinnamon a bit more than the Vanilla but they blend well with the Rooibos into something satisfying and not overpowering.

Pretty good! I like my rooibos teas with some sweetened condensed milk. Heaven! Too bad this one is a limited edition.

A lightly flavored tea. I enjoy having this when trying to unwind.

This smells so good while you’re steeping it and while you’re drinking it! I really like the strong cinnamon flavor, but I can see how some might be put off by it. I am disappointed only by the lack of vanilla flavor, but I added a tsp of vanilla honey. Works nicely with it and gives a little extra vanilla boost. Definitely being harshly judged on here. Samples can do that though.

Very little flavor in this tea. I steeped to the required time and no flavor. I put in 2 sachets and steeped the required time, just the faintest flavor of cinnamon. Not like a good quality cinnamon spice but more like a very cheap candy. Could not taste vanilla at all. I threw it out; I hate to be wasteful but that was just a bad mistake. Republic of Tea has great label art and generally lousy tea.

I absolutely love some of RoT’s rooibos blends, so I figured this one was a guarantee. It does have that strong, clear rooibos taste that I enjoy, but it also has something murky that I don’t like as much. Maybe I’m not liking how the cinnamon mixes with everything else? I’ve been making pitchers of this tea to keep in my fridge, which seems to largely fix my problem. I still don’t love the flavor, but it’s refreshing enough to enjoy.

Oh, look, one more person who got this as a sample! I can definitely taste cinnamon and vanilla, along with that woody background of red rooibos. It’s nice enough, I’m just not really a red rooibos fan. But the balance of the cinnamon and vanilla was nice, so if you like red rooibos, this one is nice.

Herbal and Decaf TTB.

This is a mild cinnamon-vanilla-rooibos blend. Pretty good, but didn’t jump out at me as something I would drink very often.

Herbal & Decaf TTB

This tastes and smells exactly like fireballs and I’m not certain if I like it. The rooibos flavor is totally missing, but the cinnamon isn’t totally fire-y either. I normally hate fireballs and this is much more tame but still a bit strange.