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I will say this is a fairly decent rooibos if it doesn’t position itself as a vanilla rooibos. It is very smooth, sweet and nutty – you know, just what a good rooibos should taste like. BUT WHERE’S THE VANILLA!?? I can neither smell or taste it! Too bad.

I am grieving… because after having been stored in my cupboard for a year, this tea has become stale and lost its charm. When I bought it in Singapore a year ago, it had the most amazing aroma, whether dry or brewed. It’s the refreshingly sweet aroma of fresh mint and strawberries! The green tea base was lovely too. Somehow, I think the tea was too wonderful to be named “Weekend in Shangahai”, for I had visited Shanghai and didn’t think it’s such a nice place. I had a hard time deciding whether I liked it or Weekend in Casablanca (which I bought at the same time) more. My rating for this tea was based on my first tasting experience with it.

And what did I find today? The sweet bouquet was still there when I opened the tea tin, but it was much less intense. That did not really bother me… but the weird, foreign taste in my first brew did. I couldn’t really describe it but it tasted like Chinese herbs. You know, herbs stored in the old drawers of Chinese pharmacy for ages and sold for medicinal purpose. I was shocked. Then I thought maybe it was because I used the same cup to brew a hibiscus tea yesterday (Of course I washed the cup after using it. But evil hibiscus does sound like the culprit right? I admit that I’ve never liked hibiscus :P). So I got more dry leaves from the tea and brewed in another cup.

This time, there was less foreign taste. In fact, there wasn’t much taste in the liquor. It was bland, with only the faint aroma of mint+herbal medicine. That really broke my heart. I guess this is the punishment I deserve for buying tea at a rate much faster than my consumption. :( Oh god… I promise that I will drink more tea every day from now on…

I agree that the name of this tea is misleading. There is hardly any orange flavour in the liquor and it is not exactly sweet! But if you like spices, especially cinnamon, you will probably love this tea. In fact I think Tea Forte’s spiced teas are generally spicier than teas of other brands. The tea smells strongly of cinnamon, but the taste of cloves is more present in the liquor. The end of the sip can be a bit bitter. I only detect sweetness in the last few sips of my cup, but still, it has more to do with cinnamon than orange…

Knowing that this tea contains hibiscus and rosehip, I didn’t expect much from it… until I smelt its lovely aroma as it brewed. It took me a while to recall that it was the aroma of Lupicia’s Sakurambo (it turns out that one of the ingredients, acerolas, are known as West Indian cherries. No wonder!)… and I love Sakurambo!! Sadly, a tea with hibiscus is after all, a tea with hibiscus. I was greatly disappointed as soon as I took a sip. The liquor was decidedly fruity, but it was BITTER. Perhaps it was the result when the tartness of hibiscus/rosehip was combined with the sweetness of cherries. :( I didn’t enjoy it…

A very light tisane, which may have something to do with the large size of my mug. But it’s good to have a light chamomile tea because sometimes the herbal taste of chamomile can be really intense (to the extent that it’s bitter) and off-putting. This Ronnefeldt’s version is slightly sweet and therefore more drinkable.

A pretty nice Christmas tea! Though I couldn’t get much white chocolate flavour until the second steep. Since white chocolate contains cocoa butter instead of cocoa solid, this tea tastes somewhat creamy and vanilla-y rather than chocolate-y! The apricot flavour was soft. Since I used a larger mug to brew this tea, it was fortunately not as strong as other reviewers even though I carelessly oversteeped it (over 5 minutes!) when I brewed it the second time!

At home, I always enjoy my teas straight. This is because in this way I can know how the teas REALLY taste like, and of course, I admit that I am just too lazy to buy sugar or milk. :P I am usually quite happy with my plain teas, but from time to time I do encounter teas – mainly full-bodied black teas and chocolate teas – that makes me blame myself for not having any milk at home! This festive tea is clearly one of those guilt-provoking teas. It has the most enticing aroma of cacao and hazelnut. The liquor is flavourful; I really enjoy the nutty flavour (coconut + hazelnut) and dark chocolate note. If it could be just a little sweeter and creamier… it would be 100% like chocolate truffle, albeit in liquid form! Maybe I should really stock up with milk and sugar…

As a herbal tea this was not bad, though I always like “real teas” more than tisanes. The alarming ruby red colour of the liquor would probably activate the hibiscus alert in everybody’s head, but trust me, this tea was not tart at all. In fact, it was quite sweet, thanks to the blackberry leaves and other sweet flavourings! The dominant flavour in the cup was berry/plum, and there was a sweet warming note (reminded me of bakery) which could be attributed to cinnamon. Ginger was barely detectable other than a hint of spiciness on my tongue. A very Christmassy tea and that’s why I was drinking it on Boxing Day morning. ;)

Thanks my friend Ka Kui for this b-day gift! A very beautiful and sweet flowery tea. It has all the flowers I like (in terms of flavour): jasmine, rose, osmanthus. The flavour of rose is the most salient, followed by that of jasmine; osmanthus is least detectable but I am quite sure it is responsible for the honey-like sweetness in this tea. This is a great tea to start the morning – especially for people who live in a concrete jungle like I do – because it makes you feel being in a garden under soft sunlight. ;)