Berries n Cream is something unique; it blends the smooth vanilla rooibos with rich red berry tastes of strawberry, blueberry, elderberry and black current. The result is a deep warming cup of berry goodness.
Dry you are greeted by small chopped up rooibos leaves, big rose petals, black currents, apple and a few others for good measure and the smell is absolutely intoxicating so much so that I can barely pull my nose away from the packet – it’s generic berry mingled with a strong, strong overtone of vanilla.
When made up hot the dry smell transforms into even heavier notes of vanilla with berry aromas floating around. With the first sip you taste a sort of generic mix up of berry flavours but as with any good rooibos it’s the after-taste that packs the punch and pulls you back for more – you’re left with a really smooth, really warm vanilla taste in your mouth and a sort of light lingering of berry. Each subsequent drink enhances both flavours with the after-taste adding more depth and flavour to each drink.
I really like that the rooibos is used to add depth to an otherwise fruit / herbal tissane it gives the tea a real edge above other berries n cream infusions on the market. It is not a particularly sweet tea in that whilst the vanilla rooibos gives it a sweetness it is very much a natural sweetness and therefore by no means a ‘sickly sweet’ taste. It’s different to what I have come to expect from ‘berries n cream’ in both a good and a way bad – the rooibos makes it more deeper and more tea like but at the same time that means it isn’t as sweet as I’m used to experiencing from sweet fruit teas and I almost found myself wanting to sweeten it up a bit (I do have a big sweet tooth).
It says there is apple in it and while I can see some apple I didn’t taste the usual ‘tang’ quality that you normally experience with apple but I think that’s good because the berry and vanilla overtones of this tea are enough and I never found myself wanting to taste the apple.
I highly recommend this to berries n cream lovers as while it’s more of the same it’s more of the same and then some with the rooibos adding a different take on a much loved classic. But if you are a sweet tooth like me just be aware that this isn’t as sweet as berries n cream normally tends to be, or at least tends to be in my experience.
