Rooibos Pretoria

Another one from the traveling teabox that TeaEqualsBliss included. thanks so much! I’ve tried so many different teas the last couple months! It’s amazing how many are out there. This is the first Upton tea I’ve had. I wanted to place an order with them, but other sales and things have gotten in the way. This one surprised me! I thought I wouldn’t like it when I saw hibiscus. I steeped this for seven minutes at boiling. The color was a very deep red. The smell reminded me of strawberries, and it kind of tastes that way too. (I wonder if that is the “flavoring” in the ingredients?) No hints of hibiscus, but there WAS roses. I love the idea of a strawberry rose rooibos. This blend would have been awesome just leaving it as that, but I love this as is, with everything included. It is very sweet and addicting. It reminded me a bit of Lupicia’s Strawberry Vanilla. It bodes very well for any future Upton teas I try! I’ll take some of this out of the tea box and leave some in… there is a lot here!

Meghann M…THANK YOU SO MUCH for not only this rooibos here but all the lovely surprises you sent me!

This smells fruity and floral and a little starchy…maybe like a powder of sorts…perhaps arrowroot powder!? I have no idea why that entered my mind a first sniff but it did.

This tastes sweet but creamy and floral. The hibiscus is not troublesome! There is just a hint of it in there!

This isn’t intensely flavored but it’s a pretty tasty cup! Thanks Meghann M!!!!

This tea looks quite beautiful. The rooibos looks like standard red rooibos, the flower petals add such bright brilliant colors.

The aroma is quite like most rooibos I’ve tasted, with a little berry aroma (from the hibiscus I believe).

Right after steeping, this tea tasted very bland and plain. But after letting it cool a few degrees, it got sweeter and more berry flavored sip to sip. I really didn’t think I’d get much enjoyment out of this tea after the first few sips, but as it cooled it really impressed me.

I also found out after I brewed the tea that I should have doubled the steeping time, so I’m going to see what happens when I try it that way next time.

Thank you Lori for passing this tea on to me!

There’s a ton of this in the traveling tea box so I figured I had to try it. Haven’t been a fan lately of red rooibos of any sort.

I figured this sounded different enough…flowers and hibiscus, kind of weird. I figured since I should probably end my tea-filled day with a tisane, this one would work. Steeped it for five minutes, and it didn’t look like it’d be super rooibosy.

It’s a good bit different, the hibiscus isn’t terrible, instead, it kind of gives it a fruity taste. The floral notes aren’t very strong, I kind of wish they had a bit more of a pop.

Since there’s a bunch in here I’ll probably save enough for 2-3 cups and move it along. It’s a good bit different than most other rooibos blends. It’s not like super flavored, but for something more subtle it still covers a good bit of the flavors of rooibos I can’t stand.

This is my FAVORITE Rooibos blend. Normally, I find most rooibos brews to have a slightly rough edge to them. With the addition of the floral flavors it’s transformed into sunshine in a cup. It’s cheery, refreshing, and satisfying; almost like a fruit blend. It also doesn’t seem as finicky to prepare. At least to me, a lot of blends have a narrow window of time for that “perfect” cup. Too long and things get bitter. Too short and something hasn’t had enough time to develop to full taste. This has a wide margin for error. If you have to answer the phone and forget about it for a few extra minutes you probably haven’t done any harm. If you like floral, fruity blends this one is worth trying.

Tasty and naturally sweet so no need for extra sweetener