teabird

I added this sample on a whim to my Teafrog order, mostly because of how highly they recommend it. Boy, am I glad I did! I’m not even a big fan of orange flavored things, but this is really delicious. It’s not tart-citrusy, but like a very sweet orange and cream flavor. The bright red color (yes, it is very…. vibrant) is deceptive, because the flavor is quite mellow. But strong! I got two good steeps out of this, which I consider impressive for a flavored rooibos. The second was weaker, and more orangey than creamy, but still good.

The high rating I’m giving here reflects the high-quality natural flavoring as much as my personal enjoyment – I was very impressed at that second drinkable steep – though I do plan to buy a tin now.

I would recommend this to anyone who doesn’t outright hate rooibos – the rooibos is still there, but not the primary flavor (much less so than in, say, Teafrog’s Fireside). A small warning, though: if you get a sample of this, the flavor is strong enough to escape the sample bag and contaminate other samples a bit during shipping, so… don’t get any other samples that would be ruined by a hint of orange ;)

2010-08-05 13:25:36 -0400

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Some notes on ratings:

I’d have separate rating scales for tea types if that were possible (probably Black, Flavored Black, Darjeeling/Dark Oolong, White/Green/Light Oolong, and Herbal) because the flavors and quality markers are just too different. A flavored black rated 100 isn’t better than every oolong I’ve ever drunk, just delicious for a flavored black.

Ratings are a combination of my enjoyment and the perceived quality – I do often demote teas a few points for artificial flavorings, small quantity of steeps supported, or weakness of flavor (requiring extra leaf).

I pay less attention to the number than the order of my ratings; I don’t necessarily keep a stock of everything rated 80+, but if two breakfast blends are rated 82 and 84 I consistently enjoy the 84 more.

And in case it’s not obvious? I am not an expert. I don’t even know what I like until I taste it sometimes, but I’m ok with that :) I like learning to like new teas, as well as enjoying the comfort of familiar ones.