TeaChat

I've tried a few different brands of pure, unflavoured Rooibos and really don't see any difference between the cheap and expensive Rooibos, do you?

What brand(s) do you buy?

Honestly, I liked a cheap kind I picked up at the grocery more than I liked the Adagio unflavored. I'm planning on putting the 4oz tin I bought up on TeaSwap at some point...

I was wondering this too and ordered a sampler from a different site. It doesn't seem like there could be much wavering in taste of un-flavored rooibos. A lot of times herbal teas are kind of hard to mess up. They generaly don't take much preparation or if any at all. Rooibos I know gets prepared but I believe its done by like an entire 2 or 3 companies who resell it down the chain.

I've tried costly loose and cheap bagged Rooibos, the cheap bagged is just as good, I just thought I'd start a thread to see if others agreed.

j

From what I've observed, bagged rooibos is practically identical to loose. The particles really are about the same size, and neither really expands all that much after infusion. Really, I rather prefer the bagged...same taste, but a greater convenience. (Have you ever tried to get all the pieces out of an infuser basket?! Crazy!)

What brand are you folks drinking?

Is there any info on the net about the farms that supply the rooibos to the different tea companies?

I have only tried two brands so far, Adagio and Red Blossom Tea. From memory they tasted simmilar but I think I prefer the red blossom a little more. I am going to do a tasting session with both to figure it out either today or tomorrow. I am wondering if there is any big difference or if there is even more than one or two manufacturers of the stuff.

I've finished a box of Tetley Rooibos and found it weak and too smooth, I'll be going back to Presidents Choice Rooibos. It costs a tiny bit more but has bigger pieces of Rooibos and brews stronger.

Of the three Rooibos I've sampled, the tastes change so very little that it takes a very fine pallet to even find the differences if you steep it for seven minutes or more. Of the bagged, Adagio, and New Mexico samples I've tried the only differences I've noticed between these selections was at lower steep times (thus cutting down the overall enjoyment and depth Rooibos usually has) and at an even lower temperature (average was 165 degrees). The most common element tasted was the packing or storage medium as the Adagio tasted a little woodier/sweeter than the bagged and the New Mexico sample had a mild hint of coffee as the teashop where it is from is also a coffee mill. Later I noticed the New Mexico version had a coffee aftertaste which added well to the brew but seems to be a factor of the environment rather than the pickers or soil content as some teas tend to regale upon. Until I get some premium samples I doubt I'll find anything and even less will be found as longer steeps tend to remove the subtle differences between the premium and cheap- or so I'd determine from those experiences with rooibos to date.

I found in my tastings that numi's rooibos had a some nice woody undertones like the adagio but not as sweet.