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Herbal Rooibos Blend by Samovar
Origin: Organic, fair trade South African rooibos, organic peppermint and natural essential oils of bergamot and peppermint blended in the U.S.
Flavor Profile: Exhilarating crème de menthe balanced by evergreen, pine, wet leaves and a glimmer of bergamot.
Tea Story: Organic, antioxidant-rich, fair trade rooibos and organic peppermint are blended with natural essential oils of bergamot and peppermint for a cooling-yet-warming, invigorating-yet-grounding, caffeine-free tisane. A pungent, minty balm yields warm scents of evergreen sap and dark chocolate. The blend is light-bodied and clean, with a gentle mouth-coating of mint oil and a finish of lemon zest and pine needles. The aftertaste of fresh peppermint lasts and lasts and lasts…
Samovarian Poetry: Vivifying peppermint and replenishing rooibos renew and refresh. Breathe deep and begin again.
Food Pairings: Mint Redbush is the epitomic pre-bed and dessert soother. Drink it on its own, hot or iced, with or without honey or organic raw sugar, or pair it with anise-pine nut biscotti, sugar cookies or dark chocolate or vanilla bean ice cream. You can also branch out with this tea – it’s amazing iced with a splash of lemonade, infused into cream to top Génoise cake, incorporated into a marinade for grilled pork tenderloin or infused into vodka for a “tea” cocktail.
This tisane really surprised me. I was expecting an ordinary mint rooibos blend.
The peppermint is extraordinarily strong in this blend – so strong that it practically eliminates any rooibos flavor whatsoever. The addition of bergamot curbs some of the peppermint notes – this doesn’t taste like mouthwash.
It is rather delicious. I can taste the pine taste to this – it is quite unlike any rooibos blend I’ve yet to encounter! Very good!
I’m trying to learn my lesson about over-caffeinating on the weekends. After two 12oz steeps of Troika, I’m switching to something decaf for a bit so I don’t explode. I’m typically not a huge fan of mint (or rooibos, really). There is an edge to mint that feels raw to me, so for me to enjoy minty things the mint usually needs to be mixed with something to heavily tame it down to a bare fresh tingle.
This tea is pretty much full on mint. I don’t really taste the rooibos except for maybe a hint at the end (and even then it is more of a not-mint undernote than a woody rooibos taste) and I can’t pick out the bergamot at all (which is a little disappointing). Except the mint doesn’t have that mint bite, that rawness, that I dislike in things that are so full on mint. If I have to guess, I’d say that the rooibos (and bergamot) add a little heaviness to the flavor of the mint that prevents it from seeming so thin and prevents that biting raw edge at the end.
I’m still not a huge fan of strongly mint things, but this is pretty good. I imagine that if I were the type to like drinking pure mint tisanes (or even predominately mint tisanes), I would find this very tasty. As it is, I do find it one of the best strong mint tisanes I’ve had.
Mostly mint, I don’t get much rooibos.
