Roasted Chestnut Rooibos

Advent Day 20

It’s been a busy week, so I have a lot of tasting notes to catch up on!

This is a bit disappointing. Chestnut blends so often have a mapley flavor that just doesn’t read as chestnut to me. This does have a slightly starchy chestnut quality, but it’s drowned out by the maple.

I received a tin of this tea from Santa! Well, my brother-in-law, who was my Secret Santa this year. I could see the influence of my sister in this purchase, because she loves flavored rooibos tea. The dry tea smells super sweet and caramelly, and that buttery caramel flavor really comes through in the steeped cup. To me it stays just this side of cloying, and I really dig it! There’s something very comforting about it; maybe it reminds me of a flavor from childhood. It doesn’t really scream “chestnut” to me, but then again the only roasted chestnuts I’ve had were not sweet, and I think this blend is trying to replicate sweet roasted chestnuts.

I shared a pot with my sister-in-law and a friend over the holidays, and we were all surprised at how much we enjoyed this one. I think what I appreciate about it is that it has no cinnamon, no cloves, no spices at all — it’s not trying to be some fancy spiced holiday blend. It’s just straight up sweet, nutty goodness, and it’s very comforting. I’d definitely consider keeping it on hand.

How long has this been in my cupboard with out a review? And will I need more of this when I sip it down? Yes! Nicely chesnut and caramel flavored, not roasty at all but that doesn’t detract from the overall cuppa. And it steeps twice. what’s not to like?

2021 sipdown no. 120

Thank you for sharing this Cameron!

This smells very strongly of Aunt Jemima syrup. Almost cloyingly so. There’s perhaps some chestnut essence in the taste, but hidden behind a solid wall of the flavour of Aunt Jemima syrup maybe mixed with an intense butterscotch.

Kelmishka Homemade Advent Day 18! This is one of my favorite teas from S&V, but it’s been years since I’ve ordered it. It’s just as good as I remembered! It’s so rich and desserty! It’s great with almond milk and sugar. I love how strong and nutty it is with that perfect rooibos base.

This is the lone survivor from the Simpson & Vail holiday sampler I bought last year. Honestly I wasn’t as happy as I remembered being with most of the teas, a lot of them were just sort of bland black teas. I did enjoy the rooibos blends though.

This one is tasty! It has a lovely rich and buttery flavor that reminds me of butter rum Lifesavers. There is a bit of creamy nuttiness to it, but to me it’s more like candied chestnuts that are coated in buttery caramel. The rooibos base, of course, goes perfectly with those caramel-y notes and adds a nice depth.

Overall, it’s a rich and comforting tisane. I’m almost tempted to add a pinch of salt to give it a sort of salted caramel vibe. I feel like it would round out the flavor nicely.

2024 Holiday tea #6

I always thought this tea was only “okay” but it landed in my cart so I must like it more than I think! I had to look up what chestnuts taste like and the internet told me “bitter”… that is, until they are roasted chestnuts and then they are “sweet”. So in that case, I think this tea is 100% accurate. It’s very sweet, almost like caramel, with a hint of something nutty. However, I do think that the previous iteration of this blend I had was a little bit more noticeably nutty and not mostly sweet. That nutty note was why I thought it was unique, so it’s lost a bit of that. I do crave it sometimes, so I’m glad to restock it. Maybe it will appear in the advent for some of you to try?