Hugs and Kisses

I was digging through my cupboard for a comforting dessert tea today and was reminded that I’d ordered a set of 3 about a month ago that had totally slipped my mind. Usually I put untasted teas on the kitchen table so I remember to try them before putting them away, but for some reason the Valentine’s Day set went straight into tea storage. They were a total impulse buy (I had a 30% off badge + free shipping on the sneeqpeek sale, so it was dirt cheap) that I regretted once I got them. The only one I was actually interested in was the raspberry chocolate one—I don’t like rooibos and I don’t really care for peach tea either, so I just kind of shoved them out of sight.

But this pretty pink tin caught my eye today, and I looked at the ingredients: rose petals, chocolate, vanilla, cream, and almond?! I love all of those! Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad. There is one dessert rooibos that I LOVE because the flavors mask that weird medicinal taste. And this tea did smell great, like a latte in a tin. So into the tea pot it went, and the result smelled amazing. Almond + vanilla smells (and tastes) just like marzipan, which is actually pretty hard to capture in tea form. At first sip this is heaven—chocolatey, creamy, marzipan goodness with a gorgeous floral undertone. If the rating was based on that first taste this would be a 100 for sure: it was perfection. But after I actually swallowed, total medicinal rooibos took over my palate—not mild medicinal, but “oh god I just chugged cough syrup” medicinal. Disgusting! I let the tea cool and added some milk and that quality took a back seat to the magical flavor combos, but it’s still there sadly. Just a hint, but enough to make me question if I actually like this tea.

From my wonderful husband for Valentines day. :)
Shame it took so long to arrive and so I’m drinking it post Valentines. Never mind.

The blend looks beautiful with red rooibos mixed with rose petals and blue flowers. It smells like a floral vanilla.

It tastes similar to the smell but the rooibos is not overpowering. Instead I can taste both rose and vanilla before the sweet rooibos gives it a caramel finish. Its smooth, sweet, creamy, floral and delicious.

Sets my day at work :)

Such a pleasant tisane to see and smell dry! The flower petals provide a pretty pop of color, and you can distinctly smell the vanilla and even a bit of almond and cream.

The flavoring in this one is stronger than I’ve come to expect from Adagio’s flavored rooibos. Generally, they tend taste overwhelmingly of rooibos with a tiny hint of flavor, but this one really strikes a more even balance. It’s got kind of a generic creamy taste, a little bit sweet and floral — I don’t notice any almond and certainly no caramel!

I’m giving this one a moderate rating because I have a strong preference for rooibos blends with even more the taste of the base more covered up, but I would really recommend this to bigger fans of rooibos.