I love improvising, especially when improvising allows me to accomplish exactly what I would be otherwise, if I had not been improvising. In this case, I wanted to review this delicious smelling tea, but was in a location where I had the means for heating water, yet no implements for making tea, save a solitary mesh strainer. So, I proceeded to use an oversized wine glass (preheated, of course) as a teapot, and strained off the tea into small coffee mugs (my improvised tea cups), following the completion of the five minute steeping time I used (generalized for most rooibos).
Result?
Success, at least so far as brewing the tea was concerned. Now onto the tasting…
The dry leaf had very much carried the peppermint oil smell, nearly overpowering. The hint of orange, at least, was present (better than past teas of this type that I’ve tried, where one of the two main ingredients ends up completely overwhelming the other. In the aroma of the steeped tea, the orange and peppermint blended nicely and equally, providing a mellow and sweet smelling brew.
Ah, and time for the first taste! Will my improvised tea session turn out well?
Yes! My first sip was deliciously orange that slid smoothly over the tongue, leaving an aftertaste of juicy rooibos and cool peppermint behind. Mmm, tasty. Surprisingly, this tea held its flavour even when I decided to steep it again, though that may have been the result of using a bit more dry leaf than is usual for this type of tea.
