Green Rooibos

I hate red rooibos. Completely loath it. So I was terrified to try the green version, but I was suckered into it by RoT’s savory greenbush blends… and I love ’em. This is my 1st unflavored greenbush.

The liquor is not green at all. It’s bright orange… like BRIGHT orange. It’s pumpkin almost verging on blaze orange. The aroma is light and slighty fruity.

What an interesting tea… It’s smooth, woody. My grandfather was a wood worker by hobby before he retired so I smelled so much wood I could almost taste it as a small child- and I really think this is what wood would taste like if you licked it. There’s also a slight fruity note. And warmth. Warmth in the flavor, beyond the temperature. Almost like faint notes of cinnamon. Pretty good!

After a disappointing cup of hazelnut honeybush which I ruined by adding honey (how on earth do those not go well together??) I decided to try the green rooibos to see if that would help me sleep. It’s after 2 am so, I’m getting concerned that I might never fall asleep again after last night’s insomnia.
I opened the package and got a really nice green scent. I can’t really say more than that, it didn’t really have any particular notes that I picked up on and it didn’t really smell like red rooibos that much.
Brewed it had a little more of that creamy rooibos scent. Also, for some reason I was expecting it to brew up green – it’s actually a really nice apricot orange color.
It’s really strange to drink – there isn’t any particular flavor, but there is a sweet/dry grassy flavor/sensation that hits the back of the roof of my mouth while I’m sipping it.
It’s completely unlike red rooibos.
I’m already feeling sleepy! I like the way that rooibos makes me sleepy better than honeybush. Honeybush kind of made me feel like I was being sucked into sleep against my will. Rooibos makes me tired in such a way that I actually want to go to sleep.

Ordered a sample of this out of curiosity, as I’d never tried green rooibos.

Dry leaf: Thick smell of hay and candied dates. Needles are slightly dry/crumbled and dusty compared to the red rooiboses I’ve tried, maybe this is a slightly old batch?

Steeping: Very attractive, bright golden colored brew. However, LOTS of crumbles etc. got into the tea, so I poured it through a paper coffee filter into my cup. The smell while steeping reminds me of a Darjeeling or Ceylon tea, but with hints of citrus and fresh hay.

Drinking: Very smooth and still has a flavor similar to red rooibos, but more citrussy and grassy, with slight hints of grape skins or raisin. Also somewhat comparable to Ceylon black tea. Something about the flavor is “dusty”, not a bad thing, but difficult to describe.

Reminds me of: A horse farm on a hot, dry day

Summary: Intersting, caffeine-free herbal tea somewhat reminiscent of Ceylon, but with a more grassy, citrussy side.

Pros: Cheap, good for a night time tea, nice smell and color, smooth
Cons: Gets through mesh strainers

I tried the Green Rooibos today, and I cannot complain. It is exactly what it claims to be- Green Rooibos. Sweet and woodsy.

I really like this, and I have no idea why. Its…odd.

I’m a budding rooibos fanatic, I love the taste and being naturally decaf makes my life a heck of a lot easier. I’ve read several reviews on here about green rooibos and have been curious for a while, so when I recently bought a few random samplers from Adagio (thank you free shipping on Cyber Monday ll definitely be picking up a 3 oz of it next time I can.

I made mine with about 2 spoonfuls of sugar.

This is bit of a departure from my usual white and black tea varieties. I do enjoy Roobios so I thought why not give this a try. It was interesting to say the least. I found it to be difficult to pair just the right accompaniment. I like to pair my tea with food and find that this one was a bit more difficult to determine. I finally decided just to go English style with some biscuits and strawberry preserves. Though this was a bit of a cop out it did seem to work OK. I must admit I usually try a bit harder to be a true tea foodie.

Despite not loving red rooibos, I thought I’d try the green stuff. This is my first experience with it.

The dry odor is sweet, very sweet. Surprising. Nothing like red rooibos. It… um… smells, to me, exactly like orange Tang.

I liked orange Tang as a kid, but fortunately, this smells very different in the cup. It actually has an odor slightly reminiscent of green tea. Slightly. The odor in the cup is actually not very strong… I was concerned that I’d brewed it too weak, until I tasted it.

The flavor has a grassy note and a back-of-the-tongue sweetness that is surprisingly like green tea – although this may only be because I haven’t had real green tea in ages. This certainly isn’t a green tea substitute. It has its own charm… sweet and almost fruity, but there is also a warm flavor of alder wood, as if I were drinking from an alder cup. There’s also a tiny bit of astringency, barely noticable, but it helps keep the sweetness from being overwhelming.

I don’t normally like light-bodied, fruity teas, but this one is a keeper. I’d like to try a different green rooibos and see how much variation the flavor has.

This was my first green rooibos tea experience. I figured I should try without any frill before I explore the flavored kind. Turned out really good – I didn’t know what to expect and what I tasted was nothing like red rooibos that I knew. This tastes almost like Hojicha (Japanese roasted green tea) with a hint of sweetness in aftertaste.

I am now excited to try different flavors.