Rooibos

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.

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.

Another Rooibos morning. This tea is great in any ratio…I used a heaping spoonful today it is just great. This Rooibos has never tasted too strong…only richer. Off to get another cup.

Not one I would buy, ever. I didn’t notice much of a taste at all.

One of my favorite teas of all time and an excellent product from Adagio. Warm and naturally sweet with notes of caramel, vanilla, earth, and just liquid warmth.

Today was date day! Ben and I tend to go out once a week on his day off, which also happens to be game day (not a coincidence) but he got two days off this week meaning we got to spread things out. Makes me happy because the sum of outings on Thursday (other than gaming) would be to my doctor, blech. So, we went to an Ethiopian buffet and walked around River Market, which I found out today is at the very end of the main bus line. Now that I know both a Chinese market and a farmer’s market is at the end, I foresee many adventures in my future, maybe yours truly will get over her silly phobia of taking the bus solo!

So, today we are going back to the beginning, by that I mean Adagio Teas! They were the first company I ordered from (really kickstarting my love of tea to full blown obsession…at the time I was apprehensive about buying online because I wanted to sniff the tea first, an apprehension that very quickly went away) and the first tea I reviewed on the blog, back before it was a tea blog and was just a me rambling blog. Even though I have since branched out massively, I still have a great love for Adagio, it is much like a homecoming. Today is all about Rooibos Tea, the legume from South Africa whose leaves make a delightfully red colored cup of tea! The aroma of the little red leaves is sweet and woody, exactly the way I expect Rooibos to smell! I do not drink it unblended nearly enough, which is tragic because I love the stuff. There are also notes of caramel, a touch of honey, the tiniest hint of pepper and much to my surprise and ending hint of pie crust, which is fun!

Giving the leaves a steeping (yay they didn’t fall out of my steeping basket, tiny Rooibos leaves tend to do that) the aroma that wafts out of the leaves is sweet and woody, like caramel and dried sticks with a little bit of straw. The liquid is very similar, notes of wood and caramel, but with the addition of honey and just a tiny touch metallic.

Onto the sipping! When I logged this tea in my notebook (a grand total of like three days ago) I was feeling a bit queasy, I found out when I was recovering from an ulcer that Rooibos is great for nausea, apparently it has anti-spasmodic properties, so that is probably why. Sure enough drinking the cup settled my stomach, as it has many times in the past, so yay for that! The taste is very typical Rooibos, it starts caramel woody sweet and has a dry finish, though I have found that brewing the tea at just under boiling will make it less dry and more sweet, so if you are someone who dislikes that dryness there is a little tip. I love the woody aspects of rooibos, the closest wood I could compare them too is dry reeds, and yes I know what that tastes like, I am a weirdo. Unlike most Rooibos, this one has a tiny hint of smokiness at the finish, making me wonder what a smoke roasted Rooibos is like. Ah, it was good to have a Rooibos again, must not let myself run out again in the future!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/02/adagio-teas-rooibos-tea-tea-review.html