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! 

Visit: T2 SoHo

Over the last year or so I'd walk down Prince street in SoHo and notice a jewel box of a store selling tea and teaware. The displays were always colorful and inviting. Every time I passed by I wanted to pop in, but I was always rushing somewhere. T2 is a successful global chain that started off small and grew impressively. They were recently purchased by Unilever and will undoubtedly be expanding even further. I first tried T2 a few years ago when my husband brought back a couple of teas from a business trip to Australia. This was back when they were an Australian chain. I remember we had a breakfast blend that was quite strong and flavorful. T2 is known for inventive blends but they also have a huge inventory of teas and teaware. I was recently invited for a tasting at the SoHo store and was happy to finally find a time for a visit.

The day I visited was chilly and dreary, the sky was thick and grey. One of those days when NYC broods and sulks. It was quite a contrast to walk inside a T2. The store is chock full of colorful, quirky tea displays with interesting items to see at every turn. I had fun looking at teapots and teacups of every size and shape. The vibrant hues reminded me of another popular tea chain, but the design and customer service is a bit different.

If you are curious about a tea you haven't tried, you can taste before you buy. It's one thing to observe and smell a tea, but without tasting it you are basically buying it blindly. I always appreciate the stores that brew up a taste to help you decide what to purchase. I like that the tea is prepared right in front of you in a translucent vessel so you can watch the leaves dance as they steep. I tried the Yunnan golden tips, which is a malty and bright tea with a sweet raisin note. Was it better than Yunnan black teas I've had from my favorite vendors? Not exactly, but it is still a very pleasing cup. I took home their Morning Red blend, which is a zippy blend of keemun and Assam. This tea is smooth with a hint of smoke and honey. I'm very picky with my morning tea, and this one wasn't as bright and bold as I'd like, but for me it's a great mid-morning or afternoon tea pick-me-up.

Yunnan Golden Tips

The T2 store is great for gifts, as the selection is vast and much of the tea comes festive in brightly patterned boxes. The teaware is all designed for T2, and they often add new designs. If you're purchasing a gift, they'll wrap everything up in cheerful paper. The array of colors and products can be a bit overwhelming, but everything is well organized and the staff is quite knowledgeable. There are some nice Mother's Day gift options I was tempted to pick up for my mom, since she's a fan of tea blends. The set called Love, Friendship & Tea comes with a fun cup and saucer, French Earl Grey, and a strainer (which is really too small to actually use). I think my mom would enjoy the experience of opening this pretty package, and I could see her using the tea with the cup and saucer daily. There is also a gift pack called Breakfast In Bed that has two breakfast teas in a trippy box reminiscent of a lava lamp. Having tea in bed sounds like an ideal way to start Mother's Day (hint, hint, Mr. Tea Happiness).

A photo posted by sara shacket (@tea_happiness) on Apr 20, 2016 at 3:24pm PDT

As I mentioned the tea selection is immense, and I was actually interested in trying some of the herbals. I'm not usually an herbal tisane gal, but there are a few with ingredients native to Australia that looked very interesting. I also took home a tisane comprised only of jasmine flowers, which I found intriguing. I've never seen this as a tisane before. I noticed other pure flowers as well, all of which would be fun to use for blending.

I was tempted by a 17-ounce stainless steel flask that looks quite rugged and perfect for my klutzy ways. It has a removable strainer and can be used for both hot and cold teas. You can bring the flask into the store every Friday and they'll fill it up with a tea for free. I certainly wouldn't say no to that.

T2 is a few blocks away from Harney & Sons, and not far from a few places where you can sit down and have afternoon tea. I'm glad to see that there is another tea buying option in the area, especially since Palais des Thés has sadly closed its doors. T2 may be owned by a tea giant, but I really enjoyed my experience in this vibrant store.

I have quite a few more teas to taste and review from T2, so stay tuned. Some may also be making an appearance at the Office Tea Club. Have you tried anything from T2? I'd love to know your feedback on the teas, and the store. Also, let me know if you've noticed any change in the tea quality after the Unilever ownership. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts since I don't have enough experience with them to compare.

Thank you to Jennine and T2 for showing me around the store and for all of the products.

Tasting: Tulsi Teas from Organic India

Tulsi, also known as holy basil is a popular herb for tisanes. It is an herb used in Ayurveda and religious practices, and can also be found in Thai cuisine. If you do a quick search for tulsi online you'll find lots of health claims, such as it reduces stress, supports the immune system, aids digestions, etc, etc. I don't tout any health benefits of tea so putting all of that aside, I recently tasted two Tulsi teas from Organic India. Let's talk about my thoughts on the flavors.

I'm familiar with tulsi because I've purchased this tea from Happy Earth Tea in the past. I wanted something I could drink at night since I'm very sensitive to caffeine, and I hate rooibos. I find tulsi to be soothing and uplifting.

I tried the Tulsi Sweet Rose tea first since it is caffeine free and sounded interesting. The ingredients are an organic tulsi blend, organic chamomile, organic rose, organic lemon myrtle leaf, and organic stevia leaf. The dry leaves had a strong herbaceous, citrusy scent. There were notes of mellow rose and chamomile as well. I wasn't getting much tulsi, but there was quite a lot going on in the mix. The brewed tisane was slightly sweet but barely so, which is nice. I was worried that all I would taste is sweetness but it worked out well. There was a nice floral rose note which was very gentle (if you read my blog regularly you know I only like subtle rose flavors). There was definitely earthiness from the tulsi with a grassy undertone. This tea was very soothing, and is something I'll consider drinking in the evenings. It felt sunny, yet calming. The Littlest Tea Critic loves chamomile tea and I think she'll like this one as well.

I prepared the Tulsi Breakfast tea in the morning, to see how it worked as a first tea of the day. This tea is a blend of organic tulsi leaves and organic black tea. The dry leaves had an earthy, grassy, herbaceous aroma. The herb-like flavors of the tulsi were smoothed out by black tea. The flavors were pure and simple, nothing complex. I can't say that I'd drink this as a breakfast tea since I like a super bold, punchy tea in the morning. Something that will get my mind, body, and taste buds going. I'm sure this tea would wake up my mind nicely, but I think I'll save it for an afternoon pick me up.

Organic India has an interesting story that you can read about here. I was pleasantly surprised to read that the founders worked to train impoverished farmers in India to produce their products with sustainable practices. I have a couple more varieties of tulsi teas to try, and I'm curious to see how they are. Thank you to Organic India for all of the teas!