Rooibos Jasmine

I absolutely adore jasmine – I’ve had it in herbal blends, green teas (I love pearls especially), white teas, oolong teas, and black teas. But until this evening I hadn’t tried jasmine rooibos.

A very interesting aroma to the tea. The Jasmine seems a bit stronger than I’m used to – but that is a good thing!

A nice flavor – a pleasant balance between rooibos – naturally sweet and nutty with woodsy notes – and jasmine – sharp, floral, and amazing! Yeah I did mention that I love jasmine right?

So far… I’m liking it.

When I first got this, I was a really big fan. Over time, I’ve become less and less interested in it. It’s good for a no caffeine jasmine option, but I’ll be ready to switch back to regular jasmine tea once I’m back in regular tea drinking.

However, I do like it more than most rooibos!

This tea is a winner. Love the rich, dark red color and pleasant jasmine aroma that just won’t quit. It’s also got a smooth, sweet taste that lingers on your tongue without getting bitter for a great combo of color, taste and aroma.

This was one of the stranger offerings in my Adagio herbal sampler. Maybe it’s just me, but rooibos and jasmine just don’t seem to go together; I associated rooibos with sweet (chocolate, vanilla) or spicy (chai) but not florals like jasmine. Ah well, it’ll be an adventure right?

Uhm, not really.

I brewed this approximately to the package instruction although I was a little iffy on the water temperature (the tin said 180 degrees which surprised me as I thought tisane = boiling?). I don’t have a thermometer and I was feeling lazy (damn you paper writing!) so I just let the boiled water sit for a minute or so to cool down a little. Steeped 7 minutes with approximately 1 teaspoon of leaves for a cup of water.

Both the dry leaves and the liquor had a strong jasmine smell with maybe a bit of “woodiness” underneath that I assume was the rooibos. The taste? Pretty much zilch.

When I sipped while breathing in I got the strong jasmine floral scent, but it felt like my taste buds didn’t have anything to work with at all, no matter how much I slurped or swished. When I held my breath there was nothing indicating I wasn’t drinking hot water. Even when I exhaled after a sip the “after taste” was more the scent coming at my nose via my mouth then any true flavour.

I know jasmine teas in general are more about the scent then the taste but other examples that I’ve tried at least had some flavour. My taste buds feel left out.

Jasmine tea is good, and roobios tea is good. Together they make an interesting combination, but each entity loses that which makes it special.