Mexican Winter

My first challenge for 2010…will I succeed!?

This was too unique and crazy NOT to try!

It’s certainly ORANGE to the nose with a slight peppery aroma. The coloring is somewhere between a light brown, reddish, orange.

I ended up infusing for 7 minutes – they suggested 5…or between 5 and 7…I chose 7.

After infused it still smells like Orange, Pepper, but with a more Rooibos and Floral Scent added in.

I’m slightly afraid.

Hmmm…odd…Hmmm…interesting…hmmm…good…I think??

I can taste the Orange but not as much as I thought I would based on the scent. I can taste the pepper a little at first sip, not so much in the body of the sip, and a little again at the end of the sip. I guess I can ‘get’ the chili part…I can certainly pick out the Rooibos taste. and the cinnamon comes in as an afterthought.

It’s very interesting, indeed!

But…you know what??? I like it! WOW! Just goes to show you…try something different…you might like it!

I think I got this one from TeaEqualsBliss – it’s another one of those teas that I dug out of the depths of my Cupboard while I was reorganizing that I hadn’t realized I had. It certainly smells intriguing to me – very citrusy and I can also smell the guava surprisingly enough – and it is guava not ‘genericsmell’.

I expected the tea to be much hotter and peppery than it really was – there’s a bit of a bite, but not much heat. It tastes more fruity than anything else, which actually works quite reall with the red rooibos base. Oddly the flavour mutates into something rich and creamy-tasting at the end of each sip. I’ve not quite sure what could be causing it. *shrugs *

This is truly great. I love Rooibos and Hina has blended some chili and guava with the rooibos and the description “Mexican Winter” is exactly what you get. It’s great when it’s cold out with a slight heat in your mouth from the chili. It sounds crazy but it’s well balanced and very flavorful without being overpowering. Just love it.