Raspberry Leaf Herbal

This is from StarFevre a while back! Thank you! I was expecting a harsh brew for some reason, but no, this is a nicely balanced delicate blend. I thought the raspberry leaf wouldn’t be this light, but it seems like the raspberry leaf in Bird and Blend’s teas. Very agreeable and delicate, not overly savory or vegetal. I’m tasting a lot of vanilla which is nice, as there is supposed to be vanilla here. There is also only a hint of chrysanthemum in these full blooms. The rooibos is a nice base. I actually like the resulting flavor here! The second steep has more of a herbal flavor, not as special or vanilla as that first cup, but not bad.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 4 minutes after boiling // 6 min

Here we go, the last tea from this month’s Blends Club. I don’t have any experience with raspberry leaf, so I have no concept of what this might taste like. I will say that this is the most annoying tea ever to measure… It’s big fluffy raspberry leaf mixed with tiny pieces of citrus peel and rooibos, so you have to stir it ten times to give it anywhere near combined, and even then the rooibos immediately plummets to the bottom, taking most of the citrus peel with it. Ugh. I had to empty my pouch into a tin to be able to leaf this properly and make sure I got some of everything. Not off to a good start! The dry leaf smells vaguely sweet and musty, I guess from the raspberry leaf? I steeped about two teaspoons for 5 minutes in boiling water.

Once the tea is steeped, I can definitely smell the rooibos along with that odd musty somewhat raw herbal/grassy scent. The taste is pretty meh, I guess I’m not a fan of raspberry leaf. It’s very musty and dry in the mouth, but the aftertaste is nice enough. I guess I could draw some connections to chamomile…? But in a weird raw herb way. Not for me!