This was good! I was in the mood for some tea, and drinking caffeine at 9:30 pm is pushing it, even for me! I went with this rooibos instead of my usual black. I sweetened it with a little honey and sat and relaxed with it. I feel nice and warm and happy – they say rooibos is calming and I think it’s true :)
JacquelineM
6 tasting notes
Last week I stopped by my favorite thrift shop, and lo and behold – they had brand new oven safe ramekins! A really good brand too! 4 for $3 (they sell these same ones on Amazon for $15). Thrift score!!! Ramekins have been on my want list for the past year, ever since my trip to California, so that I could make pots de creme like I had at Deetjens (see my previous tasting note on this tea to read the story :)
So today I made them with David Lebovitz’s recipe:
http://www.culinate.com/books/collections/all_books/ready_for_dessert/chocolate_pots_de_creme
and we had two of them for dessert tonight. Of course I had to serve them with plain rooibos, just like when I had it at Deetjens. Ahhh, the memories. The plain rooibos was so good with the rich chocolate. Without sweetening, it acted almost like a coffee substitute. Very satisfying paired together.I don’t know when I’ll get back to Big Sur, but I can always have a little taste of it now and again :)
Last night I lost all track of time! I sat down for my nightly tea at 10:30pm! I didn’t want to be up all night so I chose this. Luckily I genuinely like rooibos – maybe because I also love coffee and my husband’s cigars (I think it has a faint tobacco like quality) and because of the story I’m about to tell…
I’m reminded of another night that I wanted my nightly tea very late at night – we were in California in June, staying at Deetjens in Big Sur. We came back to our cabin tired from a day of adventure, but in the mood for something sweet and our nightly tea, but it was also past 10pm, and the restaurant part of the inn was winding down for the evening.
Here is a picture to help you imagine:
http://www.deetjens.com/restaurant.htm
(third picture down, the bar room, first table – that is exactly where we were sitting!)
The hostess remembered us from another night we were there for dinner – my husband’s stomach was upset and they fixed him soup and we didn’t have dessert because of it – so she told us she was glad we were now ready for dessert and brought us pot de creme and a nice sized teapot of rooibos. How could you not like rooibos after that? :) Every time I have it the taste brings me back to that night. I keep on saying that I am going to seek out flavored rooibos and try a variety of additions, but I never do. I now realize this is why :)
We had the remaining two pots de creme for dessert tonight, so it had to be this tisane :) Such a great pairing. Warm, rich “supporting actor” to the dessert. My husband said, “This is heavenly!”
I stuck my nose in my husband’s humidor this afternoon whilst he was adding water and it really did remind me of rooibos. Fine tobacco and wood. We had some tonight with honey.
Had this again last night. I had an appointment with the accountant previously, and a 7:30 am dentist appointment this morning! I probably could have used something much stronger than rooibos, but, since I have an active imagination, it sufficed! I felt warm, comforted, relaxed, and fell asleep (and stayed asleep!) within a half hour of my last, tasty, sip. I really have to look into some more flavors :)
