Rooibos Vanilla Chai

Tea: Rooibos Vanilla Chai
Vendor: Adagio Teas
Price: $7/4oz
Vendor Description: Masala chai spices in a South African red rooibos base with a hint of vanilla. These spices will dance on your palate while the creamy vanilla rooibos will sing to your soul. Naturally caffeine free for an anytime treat.

Leaf: The leaf for this chai consists of some dried fruit pieces, ginger, cloves, and rooibos of course. There is a very sweet and bold aroma and a definite vanilla feel to the aroma. There is a rather high other to rooibos ratio in this chai mix.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5g, 5oz, 185F, 7 min

1st Infusion: This tea has a light murky color to it. It has a sweet vanilla aroma. The flavor is strong and lightly bitter. The clove portion of the flavor is quite prominent, a bit too prominent in my opinion.

Rating: 3/10

Conclusion: The cloves somewhat did this tea in. The flavor was too rich and drowned out the rest of the flavors in this tea. To an extent it felt like I was drinking a mainly clove infusion. This reminded me of the Coco Chai from Mighty Leaf, but instead of the sweetness from the coconut there was a lot of clove flavor here. I prefered the round sweetness of the coconut, but if you prefer a stronger, sharper, and stiffer chai, this is probably a good choice for you.

Coco Chai

Tea: Coco Chai
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Price: $8.95 / 4oz
Source: South Africa
Vendor Description: Coco Chai rooibos tea is a handcrafted, caffeine-free chai tea made from South African rooibos blended with shredded coconut, red peppercorns and aromatic spices including ginger, cinnamon and cardomon. This twist on a classic chai tea will surprise with its intoxicatingly aroma and spicey but sweet flavor.

Leaf: This is a rooibos based chai blend. It has a mix of coconut, peppercorns and cardomon. There was also some ginger in the mix that I saw. There is a very sweet and distinctive coconut aroma to this tea. It has a much bolder aroma than most chai.
1st Infusion Parameters: 3g, 12oz, 5 min, 195F

1st Infusion: The tea had a golden brown / light reddish hue to it. Again the distinctive coconut aroma was easy to pick out. The flavor was sweet and flavorful, it felt like just the right amount of rooibos flavor in comparison to the flavor of the spices. There was no bitterness or astringency to it. The flavor was just at a right level for making htis without using a milk/sugar mix for this chai.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This tea is a good value. The suggested mix was to use less tea than I would normally have used for a test, and it turned out to be a good amount. The price by itself is quite good for a 4 oz bag. The flavor was well balanced. That said it lacked having a little bit of distinguishing characteristics from other chai aside from being rooibos based. A more prominent coconut flavor might be interesting.

Teabag - Kalahari Reserve

Tea: Kalahari Reserve
Vendor: Kalahari Tea
Price: $3.50 / 20 teabags
Source: South Africa
Vendor Description: Kalahari Reserve is 100% pure red tea, selected from the tender tips of the Rooibos bush. With it's sweet, smooth taste, it can be enjoyed by itself, or with milk, lemon or a sweetener. Rich in antioxidants, red tea tastes great and is naturally caffeine free. It's the healthy drink you can consume all day long.

Teabag: This is another paper satchel style teabag from Kalahari Tea. There are lots of small rooibos bits in the bag. In general it seems like a very mundane red tea bag.

1st Infusion Parameters: 5 oz, 208F, 3 min, 1 teabag

1st Infusion: This tea produces a deep rich red color. There are hints of brown in the hue, but it is still a rather pure red. The aroma of the tea is very traditional for a rooibos tea. The flavor is also very characteristic smooth rooibos. It feels a bit sweeter than most rooibos that I have had and finishes with a light sense of astringency.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: Aesthetically the color of this tea is quite amazing. Unfortunately the methods of packaging that they use along with the paper satchel style teabags that they use don't really help them here. It would be better to use a teabag where you could more plainly see the color and appearance of the rooibos leaf. Aside from that though the tea is very characteristic for a rooibos tea, with the benefit of being slightly sweeter than most. This would be a good rooibos to try if you've never tried one before.

Teabag - Highlands Honey

Tea: Highlands Honey
Vendor: Kalahari Tea
Price: $3.50 / 20 teabags
Source: South Africa
Vendor Description: Our premium rooibos is blended with a delicious honey vanilla flavor to create a naturally sweet brew that is fully satisfying and completely caffeine free. Highland Honey Replaces Kalahari's Honey Red Tea. This tea now boasts a natural Honey Vanilla Flavor that still has less than 1 calorie and less than 1 gram of carbohydrates. Fans of Honey Red Tea just love this new slightly sweet version.

Teabag: Kalahari uses paper satchel type teabags (think Lipton). There is not much leaf in the teabag, but rooibos tends to not need much in general. There isn't a discernable aroma to the tea.

1st Infusion Parameter: 5 oz, 208F, 3:00, 1 teabag

1st Infusion: There is a very strong rooibos aroma to this tea. It reminds me of playdoh to a degree though. It is bold and sweet with hints of honey to the aroma. The flavor has a prominent honey flavoring to it. The flavor is very smooth and sweet which I would not have expected when first seeting the light red hue to this tea. The tea was quite light. There is a very mouth watering feel to this tea. It is best defined by it's smooth honey feeling.

Rating: 8/10

Conclusion: I've never been a huge fan of rooibos, but this one is quite surprising. There are a few things that I would like to see different about it, mesh pyramidal teabags for one. The other is the odditiy of the color of the tea. It seems very light altough the flavor doesn't pair off with this. The flavor is quite enoyable and the price is quite reasonable.

Pumpkin Rooibos

Tea: Pumpkin Rooibos
Vendor: Dragonwater Tea
Price: $6.45 / 4 oz
Source: South Africa
Vendor Description: Rooibos Pumpkin Tea. Rooibos with a fruity pumpkin and cream taste. A must try.

Leaf: The leaf for this tea is very sweet smelling. There are quite a bit of additions to this mix, including blossoms, leaves, and dried pieces of fruit. Nothing really resembling pumpkin though. There is some very interesting green leaf in this mix of red rooibos and brownish hued fruits. It adds a nice color contrast.

1st Infusion Parameters: 1 tsp (2.3g), 5 oz, 6 min, 208F

1st Infusion: Like most rooibos this tea has a rich red color. A red that is somewhat unique to rooibos. The aroma is sweet and fruity, it reminds me of the aroma of a strawberry rhubarb pie. The flavor is very smooth and very sweet. The flavor is light, but is well bodied. It is fruity and sweet, and really does not taste like pumpkin at all.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This tea is somewhat well known. I have heard about it from a few people saying how wonderful it is and it is almost like a guilty pleasure. It is a non-tea, flavored, and mixed. It defies traditional tea. That said, it is enjoyable. It is sweet with no astringency, caffeine, or bitterness. However it's name is deceiving. Nothing in this tea's flavor, appearance, or apparently composition is pumpkin. I really don't know why you would call it pumpkin when it doesn't contain or taste like it. More appropriately named this may have gotten a higher rating, but a lot of a tea is in the name. Thank you to Jessica over at Authoritea for the sample of this.

Chocolate Mint Truffle - Teabag

Tea: Chocolate Mint Truffle
Vendor: Mighty Leaf
Price: $9.95 / 15 pouches
Source: South Africa
Vendor Description: Chocolate Mint Truffle made with rooibos tea, an herbal plant also known as Red Tea from South Africa, is an intoxicating blend of chocolate cacao nibs, mint and rooibos leaves. Rooibos and chocolate are both known to be good sources of antioxidants. Enjoy this guilt-free indulgence, great for kids and adults alike.

Teabag: This teabag has a very noticeable aroma to it. It hints of cocoa like aroma with a definite mintiness. There is also hints of a spicy peppery aroma to it as well.

Infusion Parameters: 1 teabag, 6 oz, 208F, 5 min

Infusion: The infusion has a rich red color. There is a very strong and prominent mint aroma coming off of the tea. There is a light rooibos flavor to the tea itself. The mint and the rooibos flavors blend well with each other. There are hints of chocolate in the aftertaste. The tea has a light astringency, but it accompanies a smooth warming flavor.

Rating: 7/10

Conclusion: This tea was enjoyable. It was warming and smooth. The color was actually quite a sight to behold, and my picture doesn't do it justice. It was a clear ruby red. The minty aroma cleared the sinuses and lungs. Unfortunately the chocolate and rooibos components were not as prominent of flavors as I felt they should be. The rooibos was very subdued and the chocolate was in mere hints. As a mint rooibos this would have faired a bit better, but this is a Chocolate Mint Truffle tea.

Rooibos Natural

Tea: Rooibos Natural - 9000
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $4.00 / 50g
Source: South Africa
Vendor Description: Rooibos is a type of herb originally grown in South Africa. It has very little tannin, resulting in a mild taste of little astringency and it has a fresh crisp smell of dried plants.

Leaf: The leaf for this tisane has a rather normal red rooibos color. I have noticed two primary forms of rooibos, the red and green varieties. This is obviously of the red variety. The leaf emits a very strong rooibos smell, which reminds me somewhat of tanbark.

1st Infusion: The taste for this tisane was very empty. It is not empty in that the flavor is weak, but it feels like there is a certain component of flavor right in the middle of the flavor that should be there, but instead just shows the flavor of the water instead. The flavor for this tea hits you at the very front and then slowly tapers off. It lingers at the back of your mouth for a while. This is a pretty normal tasting rooibos flavor.

Rating: 4/10

Conclusion: This is a very average rooibos. If you are looking for a good indicator of what rooibos tastes like, this is a good choice for you. Personally I have yet to find a rooibos that really peaks my interest, so I was rather unimpressed by this.

Happiness

Tea: Happiness - 8508
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Price: $6.50 / 50g
Vendor Description: Blend of green tea and green rooibos flavored with fresh fruits and flower petals. Refreshing and graceful. "Happiness" is a perfect tea for celebratory occasions with its elegant flower petals.

This tea has probably the most ambiguous name of all teas. When I first opened the sample pack for this tea, I didn't know what to expect. This tea brings a new meaning to the label of being a blend. It is a combination of green tea with green rooibos. Not only that, but to add to this mix there are a number of different flower petals. When I first poured the pouch out I really didn't know what was in there, there was so many constituents.

The blend of rooibos, tea, and flowers gave off a rather strong floral scent. At first I thought that the mixture had the scent of a pear. The aroma was a bit muddled amidst all of the different scents though.

The liquor gave off a strong floral aroma as well, very similar to the dry leaf. This was one of my first times brewing loose rooibos so I had a bit of a difficult time pouring it from my gaiwan. The green rooibos and the green tea did not mix particularly well. The two tastes are easily distinguished from one to another, although it is easy to tell them apart, they don't clash with one another. The rooibos has a very quick and strong flavor on the front end, while the green tea develops over time and tapers off. The tea doesn't really reach its peak until after the rooibos flavor tapers off. Combined the two flavors gave off a very fresh green flavor. The two flavors ended with a high sense of astringency that you find after the long tapering flavor of the tea portion of the flavor.

Rating: 6/10

Conclusion: This tea/tisane is very unusual. I haven't tried anything like it before, but I can't say that its uniqueness is that much of a good thing though. It's a tasty tea, although I don't know if it is something I would want to keep around. If you like rooibos and flavored teas this might be good for you.

Teabag - Jardin Sauvage

Tea: Jardin Sauvage 8511
Vendor: Lupicia USA
Vendor Description: A non-fermented rooibos tea. Green rooibos is flavored with sweet ripened mangos and citrus fruits.

This was a very interesting teabag from Lupicia. It was primarily interesting because it is a teabag made from rooibos. Rooibos does not expand when steeped when compared to most green teas. So the shape and style of the teabag does not matter as much. But it is still packaged in the same manner as the other Lupicia teas.

While I don't have much experience with rooibos teas, I was rather happy with this one. The tea has a very short lived flavor in comparison to most other teas that I have had, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in boldness. This tea is very bold and has a strong sweetness to it. The citrus fruit flavor is very apparent giving it a certain tang to the taste that leaves you with a very clean feeling. The mango provides a lot of the sweetness flavor when combined with he rooibos and citrus leaves you with a clean feeling in your mouth.

Rating: 8/10

Conclusion: While I don't have much to compare the flavor of this rooibos against, I did enjoy it thoroughly. I liked the sweetness of it, and feel that it makes a good teabag because it does not need to expand and does not get restricted by the teabag itself.