Okay a big shout out thank you to teas.com.au for making this exquisite vanilla rooibos tea. I finally understand the obsession with Rooibos. Everywhere it seems people are raving about this tea-type but when I’ve tried it has been bitter and with a putrid smell. This, however, is the complete opposite of what I’ve tasted elsewhere.
When you first open the packet you are greeted by an earthy sweet vanilla scent and the sight of some beautiful red leaves. I infused this for about two and a half minutes and then waited for it to cool down slightly. There’s an earthly smell with just a hint of almost chocolatey-vanilla to the tea that I wasn’t sure if I liked or not. Then I had a sip and I was even more confused but then I had another and another and as I kept drinking I liked this tea more and more.
It is probably the closest thing to black tea that I’ve tasted (out of green, white, oolong, etc), while having none of the bitterness either in taste or scent. The initial taste is something like a generic black tea mixed with soft vanilla sweetness. It is really the after-taste that makes this tea so additively appealing – you are immediately left with a very warm and quite intense honey-vanilla taste in your mouth and throat. If you have the next sip straight away you’ll find it enhances the taste providing you with the honey-vanilla taste immediately and an even stronger after-taste. This is why the more you drink the better the tea tastes and more the you want. I had two mug-fulls one after the other, I literally couldn’t help myself.
It is a very special taste and quite satisfying so although the subtlety of the taste and smell could lend itself to be drank with food I enjoyed having it on its own and savouring the tea.
The vanilla-honey taste and scent is grounded in the earthiness that surrounds this tea so in no way is it overpowering or sickly sweet. The vanilla taste comes from the combination of carob and vanilla pods and so both smells and tastes natural, they also seem to be in a good balance with the tea itself and so don’t come across as an afterthought or flavour enhancement.
I highly recommend this tea as after only my first tasting I went back for more.
I recommend this tea to people who enjoy vanilla, honey and chocolate flavours in the tea and particularly to people who have yet to come over to the side of rooibos. After having this I am definitely going to add rooibos to my rotation of teas as it really is something special.
