Rooibos

This smells much better than the mango rooibos I tried last night. Still more piney than I am used to, but not bad.
This tastes much better than the mango blend too! It’s still not quite my favorite rooibos (it has the hint of cough syrup to it) but very drinkable and enjoyable.

When I first started drinking “loose leaf tea” (this is neither tea nor leaf, but… whatever) I had been strictly caffeine-free for years. The rooibos in my Adagio herbal sampler was a real standout, and it was practically the only thing I drank. I bought a pound of it, which is still my biggest single-variety purchase ever.

My job has led me back into the world of mandatory morning caffeine, and I’ve since fallen in love with black teas, and it’s been ages since I’ve really had a cup of rooibos. And as I said in my recent post about rooibos caramel, I finally got an infuser that works really well with it… and, I might have to bring it back into a nightly habit.

I finished this up too last night! I had found a bunch of rooibos samples from Adagio at my parent’s house (I think it was my sister’s) but I knew that no one would touch any tisane or tea in that house. So, I snatched it! Nice basic rooibos. A little woody but sweet. I prefer flavored or blended rooibos though.

I brewed an experimental iced tea that’s ~70% green tea and 30% African rooibos and it turned out to be ridiculously delicious! One of the best iced teas I’ve ever tasted, who would’ve thunk it!

Oh yum. It’s been such a long time since I’ve had a decent pot of rooibos—and this hits the spot.
This is one of the few teas that I feel like I’d love to re-purchase when I run out. We’ll see though, because rooibos is a favorite of mine, so chances are I’ll try a bunch of different kinds of rooibos from different companies, too. We’ll see.
In any case, this particular tea makes a fabulous cup! :)

This is a fantastic tisane. Rooibos hits the spot and I recommend it to my friends who are not tea drinkers. Rooibos is great for that particular audience because it may not taste bitter and is like-able from the first sip. I select rooibos for the tea novices or for my friends because most of them drink it without adding any milk or sugar. I cannot say the same about my friends who I have brewed a cup of Gunpowder green tea for. Rooibos is an excellent selection and beneficial health-wise for the drinker. I enjoy drinking a cup of Rooibos before bed time.

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this…
The color is definitely beautiful in a glass cup.
It tastes woody, but there’s a kind of nasty taste hidden within. It reminds me of my high school job at CVS. If you got too close to the tobacco behind the counter, this foul smell would overwhelm you.
I guess I’ll try Honeybush next time, and see if that’s any better.

This is an interesting plant. The dry product in the container smells of pipe tobacco…although a bit more earthy and not nearly as strong. Brewing it brings out the flavor a bit but remains a bit shallow compared to the complexity of variants of the actual tea plant. However, due to the insane amount of supposed health benefits (via antioxidants, nutrients and more) that this plant has to offer, and the lack of tannins oxalates and caffeine that tea does have, I’d recommend frequent consumption of Rooibos simply to promote better health, and then have your favorite teas to please your senses and taste buds. :)

For those not fond of the taste, I’d recommend trying Honeybush, as it tastes worlds better, and since it is from the same family of plants, it shares the health benefits. I’d highly recommend it over Rooibos in terms of taste.

A few more things…neither this nor Honeybush can be oversteeped, (the flavors only enhance with steep time) and both are 100% great for insomnia, relaxation and reducing anxiety, especially when combined with Lemongrass.

With the nights getting a little cooler…Ok it’s more like chillier. I refuse to turn the furnace on unless it get to bone chilling level…

Focus now, lets talk about tea. With fall in the air I have been reaching for more warm things to drink in the evening. Rooibos seems to fit the bill. Being caffeine free I do not have any sleepless nights.

Usually I reach for the flavored Rooibos, but last night I found a sample of Rooibos in my cupboard, decided to give it a try. Boy was I surprized, this is one of my favorites.

When the hot water hit the leaves the aroma was one of a fresh cut hay field. The sweet grassy aroma took me back in time.

The taste was even better, (it didn’t taste like hay) it was sweet and fruity . A pleasure to drink. Tried it without agave first, then later added it to compare. With or without it was still good.

Red Rooibos is something that my wife hates, but for some reason I can’t get enough of. After having tried several different rooibos flavored teas I decided that I needed to simply try it by itself. When you start steeping this it gets red quick and only darkens the longer you steep it. Smells of fresh cut hardwood and wet tree bark are prevalent with the barest hint of cinnamon smoke? Some kind of spice that I have trouble putting my finger on. Maybe it is just my memory of the Rooibos Chai that I enjoy so much. Taste finishes with a pleasant woody wetness that for some reason always makes me think of my grandfathers wood working shop in his basement, additionally it has slight a bitterness that barely hits your tongue at the end. The taste starts with a bit of nut flavor and almost a hint of brown ale hoppiness? Tough to describe to be honest, but a great evening no caffeine beverage that I do need to order more of. This “leaf” is very forgiving if you go longer than 5 minutes when steeping. Although I can’t say I’ve tried more than 8 minutes myself.

I happen to love Rooibos teas, and this one was definetly very good. It seemed to get better towards the end of the cup. I steeped for 5 1/2 minutes, but I’m thinking it might be better with 5-7 minutes.

Its treated me so well. Its less known than most tea, but its so good. Don’t add anything to it: trust me, the flavor doesn’t need help from the likes of you.

Months ago this was my first Rooibos, and I’m just returning to it again. I remember finding it overpowering and woody in flavor, but chalk that up to poor memory, because I can’t attribute any of those qualities to the cup I am sipping today.
This time I only used 1 tsp for 8 oz. This resulted in a very mellow flavor with subtle red qualities. It’s just a plain Rooibos but in my opinion there is a lot going on in the flavor here. It actually reminds me of a Jasmine tea without any of the sweetness, and an earthy background to it.

Rooibos seems to be something that can be varied to each taster. Just increase the amount used or infusion time if you want a more intense flavor, or back off for a more subtle start that won’t overpower you.

This tea is really good. It’s kind of sweet on it’s own. For a non-caffinated herbal tea Rooiboos is great.

Mild taste. Never had it so I don’t know if I didn’t use enough of the rooibos in the steep.

Got this in the rooibos sampler pack and I must say, it tastes like cough syrup to me. I just can’t get past the medicinal scent and taste, and adding sugar just makes it taste more like cough syrup. I definitely need to give this a few more tries, but be warned if you’ve never had rooibos before: you might not like it.

Also, this ruined my silicone Tuffy Teaspot Steeper along with being absolutely terrible to use since it’s so fine. My strainer now smells like rooibos and imparts a very unpleasant taste to my more delicate teas. Only use this in something that you know won’t absorb flavors.

I enjoy this, particularly iced. That said, I don’t have much basis for comparison when it comes to unflavored rooibos.

At first when I brewed this herbal I didn’t like it very much at all. I thought it was too wood-tasting and smelt too much like tobacco. Upon brewing it more and more I’ve actually come to really enjoy this herbal. The deep, smokey, full-bodied taste of a strong brew of Rooibos is great for me. I think at first I was brewing it too light. Now I put just a bit more Rooibos in the tea pot and steeped for an extra 30 seconds. I think that really brought out the real flavor of the drink for sure. Also, the price for Rooibos isn’t bad at all when you buy the 16oz, has a great value (at like .08 cents per cup I believe).

Personally, I find herbals to be perfect for evening/nighttime teas, and this one is probably my favorite at the moment, right next to Chamomile!

The health benefits from the herbal are right up there as well, so why not try this one?

This drink is quite interesting. The scent might be compared to marijuana, but the flavor is quite woody. Delicious.

Starts off with a light woody taste. Slightly sweet/smokey aftertaste. Very unique woody smell.