Review: Rooibos Rocks Sampler Tin

Tea reviews are fun to write, and give me the opportunity to share my tea tasting adventures with you. They can be helpful if you are mulling over what teas to buy, or looking for a particular brand or variety. Keep in mind that taste is subjective, and depending on how you prepare the tea and the water you use, you may have different results. I usually prepare the tea as instructed by the vendor, unless otherwise noted. If at first you're not happy with a tea, try adjusting your water temp, steep time, and amount of leaf. Keep experimenting and tasting!

If you've been following this blog for any length of time, you'll know that I don't particularly care for rooibos. I know countless people that swear by it, but it just doesn't usually grab me. So, when Rooibos Rocks reached out to send a sampler, I was hesitant. But then I decided I've been keeping an open mind lately, and it has led me to try some interesting things. So, I decided to agree to accept the sampler tin. I'm glad I did, as I learned there are a couple of tisanes I didn't know I liked.

First off, rooibos is not tea. It doesn't come from the camellia sinensis plant. Rooibos (pronounced roy-boss) is an evergreen shrub found in the Cederberg region of South Africa. To create the tisane, the needle-shaped leaves are picked and allowed to oxidize. Green rooibos (which is included in this sampler pack) is not allowed to oxidize so the flavor profile is a little different. 

The sampler contains four types of tisanes: natural rooibos, chai rooibos, honey bush, and green rooibos. Here are my thoughts on all four types...

Green Rooibos

Green Rooibos: Even though natural rooibos isn't my favorite thing, I enjoyed the green rooibos. It still has a faint flavor that I associate with rooibos, but it's very mild. It's sweet and a little bit earthy. It also has hints of dried grass. I can definitely see myself reaching for this gentle tea in the evening.

Honey Bush: I was pleasantly surprised by this tea. It has a strong honey note, of course. It's smooth, mild and very sweet, reminding me of the honey notes I get when I sip chamomile, if that makes any sense (but not necessarily the floral notes). I don't care for chamomile, but I liked honey bush quite a bit! It would be a nice way to unwind after a stressful day.

Natural Rooibos: Since I'm not the biggest fan of rooibos, it makes sense that I'm not in love with this tisane. The strong after taste just isn't for me. It reminds me of the way I feel about cilantro (not in taste, just in idea)- I can taste it even in a small amount in any dish, and it it just isn't for me. It's slightly sweet and earthy and has a vanilla note, but there is something I just can't describe that lingers for ages on my palate. Almost tobacco-like, but not exactly. It's consistent with every rooibos I've tried.

Chai Rooibos: Since it has the natural rooibos, I wasn't the biggest fan. The blend is mildly spiced with chai flavors. The ingredients cite cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, pepper, and ginger. I mostly detected ginger and cardamom. But it could also be that my brain had a hard time tasting anything but the rooibos (again, a trait that's similar to cilantro for me).

I am a sucker for good packaging, and the sampler tin is adorable. It's colorful, sweet, and would make a great gift for the rooibos-lover in your life. Thank you to Rooibos Rocks for sending this sampler tin. If I hadn't given it a try I never would have learned that I enjoy honey bush and green rooibos. The tea is sold on Amazon, and you can visit the Rooibos Rocks website for more information. I'll be passing the natural rooibos and the chai on to a few people, but I'll be keeping the honey bush and green rooibos for myself! 

Review: Rosali Tea Box

I'm a born skeptic. My parents were both immigrants raised primarily in the Bronx and they rubbed their skepticism off on me. I question most things, especially those in business of selling. When I was first contacted to try a subscription box from Rosali Tea, I wasn't sure if this would be like so many other subscription boxes of generic teas without much information. But I started to doubt my skepticism once I saw the beautiful box with the three teas inside. Upon further inspection I knew this would be one of the exceptions to the norm.

Founder Rosa  has worked hard to source her teas and prides herself on the curated selection she sends to subscribers every month. There are three box options per month. For $14.95 you get 3 teas at 1oz each. That gets bumped up to 2 oz at $19.95 and 3 oz at $29.95. I like that you can choose your size. The teas come with disposable tea filters to make sure you have a way to brew your loose leaves. Each tea comes with a nice card with a description and brewing instructions.

The box is more of a drawer, with a lovely leaf design on the outside. I like it when vendors send reusable, useful packaging and this is definitely something I'll be reusing. But lovely packaging cannot tell you anything about the tea. So, here's what I tried:

Milk Oolong: I've had milk oolongs before with dubious origin. It's hard to know if the one you have is the real thing. I've been asking tea friends and doing some research and I've learned that if the scent is too overpowering, or you have a slight film on the top of your brew, you probably have a flavored oolong. The buttery flavor will dissipate after the first steep as well. It appears that the tea in this box is the real deal. This is Taiwanese oolong from the Jin Xuan cultivar, which is what you should look for if you want the good stuff. The dry leaves are buttery, creamy, and sweet. It reminded me of vanilla buttercream frosting, but with a slight greenness to it, if that makes any sense. My first two steeps were very buttery, and reminded me of movie popcorn, which isn't really a bad thing. I tasted a sweetness and mellow floral flavor as well but the buttery and cream notes dominated. By the 3rd infusion there was less buttery flavor and texture, but it was definitely still in the background. The sweetness and floral flavor was more present, getting more of a light oolong characteristic. I think I'm not a fan of the milky flavor in general, but I do appreciate the complexity of this tea. This week Rosali is selling it separately for anyone that is interested in purchasing just this tea.

Hibiscus Orange Nectar: I'm not too keen on rooibos in general, I'm just not a fan of the aftertaste I get from it. But the dry leaves smelled like an orange creamcicle, so I was a bit intrigued. I knew just who to share this tea with, The Littlest Tea Critic. Ingredients are rooibos, orange, hibiscus, rosehips, apple, rose, vanilla, and citrus flavor. The nostalgic creamcicle flavor was also quite strong in the brewed tea. I do think vanilla works well with the natural rooibos flavor, and the hibiscus and orange masked a bit of the aftertaste I don't usually care for. It really tasted like a creamcicle to me, mostly from the juicy orange and smooth vanilla. The Littlest Tea Critic and I both enjoyed our sips, but we agreed that this isn't a tea we'd drink every day. She's just like her mom, she's not a big fan of flavored teas. But if you grew up eating creamcicles, this is a fun treat to have! The flavors also taste clean, without any chemical aftertaste.

Sencha Matcha Bliss: Now this tea, is more my style. This beautifully vibrant, sunny green tea perked up my afternoon. The dry leaves are pure vegetal sweetness like sugar snap peas. The brew is delicate, grassy and sweet. I get a hint of savory umami as well, especially as it cools. This is a light and refreshing tea and even though it has a good amount of caffeine, I couldn't resist having a small cup in the late afternoon. I felt a burst of sunshine on my face even though it was an overcast day. A soul satisfying cup, for sure.

So in the growing space of tea subscription boxes, Rosali Tea is one to try. Thank you to Rosa for this beautiful box. I wish her all the best with her new subscription service! If each month has teas as interesting as these, she'll do quite well indeed.

Tasting: Two New Teas from Honest Tea

Cooling off in Brooklyn Bridge Park with a sprinkler and ginger oasis from @honesttea #brooklyn #tea #VSCOcam

A photo posted by sara shacket (@tea_happiness) on Jul 26, 2015 at 10:32am PDT

I'm going to start by saying I only drink bottled tea when I have no other option. Usually when I'm stuck in crazy summer weather with the sun melting my eyebrows off. When I do seek out bottled tea, I usually do an unsweetened one. I recently had the opportunity to try two new herbal teas from Honest Tea. I admit, I was beyond skeptical. I don't usually drink bottled, and never do I have herbals!

Well, these two teas have opened my mind a bit.

The Ginger Oasis was very refreshing on a day that was thick with humidity. I enjoyed the zingy ginger and tang of lemongrass. The ingredients listed are organic rooibos, organic and natural flavors (this is always a vague description that I find confusing), organic ginger root, organic lemon grass. My only quibble is that I could taste the rooibos more than I'd like to. I've never been a huge fan of rooibos. But still, I was surprised at how balanced and flavorful it was.

It's a classic NYC summer day- hazy, hot, and humid. Cooling off with a quiet moment and a soothing cinnamon iced herbal tisane from @honesttea.

A photo posted by sara shacket (@tea_happiness) on Jul 21, 2015 at 10:43am PDT

I pulled out the Cinnamon Sunrise herbal tea during a sweltering, hectic day. I took a few moments to relax, and sipped from the bottle. I love cinnamon, and I really enjoyed this tea. It is strong and flavorful, bursting with cinnamon. The strength of the cinnamon and subtle spice of ginger does a nice job of masking the rooibos, which is just fine with me. This is a tea I will definitely seek out. The ingredients in this are organic rooibos, organic cinnamon, organic and natural flavors (again, this is vague), organic ginger root. This is a good tea to choose if you're looking for something bold, but without the caffeine jitters.

The fact that these are caffeine free makes it easier to reach for them later in the day. Thank you to Honest Tea for the samples.

Tasting: Pekoe Sip House

Lately I've been highlighting companies that offer sustainable tea while supporting the community and farmers. Today's tasting reviews are for Pekoe Sip House, another company making a difference. They have three cafes in Boulder, CO and recently launched an online tea shop. Pekoe Sip House offers sustainably sourced tea blends and contribute to the financial and environmental success of their community. You can visit this page to learn more about their strong values.

No Pain Rooibos

The company generously allowed me to select two teas of my choice to sample. I decided on the Sweet Spice Black Tea and No Pain Rooibos. There were many interesting teas to try, but these two grabbed my attention first. 

Let's start with the rooibos. I'm not usually a fan of rooibos, I don't enjoy the taste. But I wanted to keep an open mind so I asked for a rooibos blend. I've started to enjoy teas I never thought I would, so why not give it a try! 

The ingredients for the blend are: organic rooibos, organic apple, fenugreek seed, cardamom, lemon, black pepper, cinnamon, clove, ginger, and turmeric. The leaves have a very strong cardamom, masala chai-like scent. Rooibos and lemon are also quite prominent. The brew has a similar chai/lemon aroma. It has an interesting flavor, one I haven't encountered before. Earthy, tart, sour, spicy, and sweet all at once. Many flavors playing off of each other. I particularly enjoyed the clove, ginger and citrus notes in the brew. The tea is warming, sweet, and cozy. The rooibos flavor is quite tame within the spicy carnival. Ginger and turmeric are known to provide pain-relief. I'm not going to tout the health benefits of tea, but the headache I had before I started drinking the blend started to dissipate by the end of the tasting session.

Sweet Spice Tea

Now, on to the Sweet Spice Tea.  This is a whole leaf black tea blend, with orange peel and cinnamon oil. I think I may have mentioned awhile back that I love cinnamon tea in the colder weather. It's a super comforting, warm flavor. The leaves are spicy, sweet with a hint of citrus. It smells as good as it tastes. This tea honestly tastes like one of my most favorite spicy cinnamon teas but without the sneaky artificial flavor. The dry leaves have more of an citrus tang than the brew itself, which is fine by me. It is tingly, spicy, and satisfying. There is a pleasing sweetness as well, perhaps from the cinnamon oil. This is a tea I could drink daily in the winter, especially on blustery, snowy days. Imagine snuggling by a fire, looking out the window at gently falling snowflakes. This tea is the perfect enhancement to a peaceful winter moment. 

Thank you very much to Pekoe Sip House for the samples. Best of luck with your new online shop. If I'm ever in Boulder, I will make a beeline to one of your cafes! If you are interested in purchasing their teas, you can visit the online shop.