TeaChat

For those of you that haven't seen my post in the "Other" forum, me and my wife are new converts to loose leaf tea and have purchased a bunch of different samplers. We are trying at least one new tea a day and rating them from 1 to 5 (5 being the best).

In this thread I will talk about the rooibos teas we have tried so far.

Rooibos - We thought this had almost no flavor at all which was dissapointing since it have a great aroma. One we won't be getting again.
Rating: 1

Rooibos Vanilla - The first rooibos that we tried, surprisingly good considering I'm not a huge fan of all things vanilla. Great aroma and an enticing flavor; one we'll probably stock for normal consumption.
Rating: 5

Since my last posting I've had the rooibos berry and earl grey. I enjoyed both immensely; perhaps it's just the plain rooibos that we didn't like? They all have a pleasing color and aroma.

Here's a question, just how do you pronounce rooibos?

I'm saying: roo-e-bows

Roy-boss!

At least that's what it says on the Republic of Tea tins. ^_^

This article by Chris also says that it is pronounced roy-boss:

http://www.teamuse.com/article_040501.html

I thought the plain rooibos was very blah also. I have been adding it to the herbal blends though and it gives them a deeper, richer type flavor for some reason. The sour apple or apple cantata with rooibos and caramal rooibos are really yummy. I went through and tried all the teas by themselves and "graded" them, now I love to mix. I can honestly say that I have many "mixed drinks" every day.

I don't find the plain rooibos blah at all. I think it has great woody undertones in the flavor and I really like it. I will shamefully admit that I haven't tried the rooibos from Adagio yet, only the bagged rooibos from Choice Teas - the organic rooibos. It's very good for a bagged tea.

I love Adagio plain rooibos. Its especially good with sweetener. I just received my rooibos sampler today and will be trying the blends too.

I'm not a huge fan of plain rooibos, but I find it to be a great canvas for other teas. In addition to the already flavored ones (peach is my favorite) I've also experimented with other herbs. Last night I was poking through the teas I got with the herbal ingenuitea starter and decided to mix the spearmint with the rooibos. I was very pleased at the way they mixed, the rooibos layed in the background while still calming the aggresion of the mint, perfect for night-time.

Carnelian wrote:Last night I was poking through the teas I got with the herbal ingenuitea starter and decided to mix the spearmint with the rooibos.

Add some chamomile and you have a nice version of foxtrot. Which adagio makes with peppermint.

marz910 wrote: Add some chamomile and you have a nice version of foxtrot. Which adagio makes with peppermint.

I could in fact do so since I have the chamomile

i just bought my first bit of rooibos vanilla, and the aroma just overwhelmed me. i smelled the vanilla and i just had to have a cup. so i made one...and i couldnt taste the vanilla at all! i let it steep for 7 minutes and it tasted pretty plain. i tried making another cup adding two teaspoons instead of one, and it was the same taste. then i decided to add sugar and it tasted just like cake! it's amazing, and now i wont be moping around that i have tea i dont like anymore. but does anyone have suggestions to make a great cup without the sugar? im curious as to whether im just doing something wrong. thanks in advance.

Another rooibos is Lemon Sunshine (from Metro tea). If you are feeling a bit under the weather because of allergies or a sore throat, add a pinch of organic mint tea and sweeten with honey for a modern version of a teaspoon of honey and lemon! Holding an aromatic and warm cup of this tea is so much nicer!