I’m not a huge fan of RoT, but I do think some of their fruity black teas are decent. Every year I get a few samples with a catalog, so I decided to try this.
There are twenty herbs in this…….TWENTY! I smelled the teabag, but got more aroma from the envelope it came in. From a distance it reminded me of Bubble Yum bubble gum. Closer sniffication reveals Rooibos, allspice, anise, lemon grass, cinnamon, and vanilla.
The main cup aromas were Rooibos, allspice, anise, lemongrass, and wintermint. My palate detected mainly Rooibos & allspice, while the anise hit the back of my palate. I did notice slight hibiscus in the aftertaste. Overall, a very mild cup.
I remember seeing somewhere that one of their teabags contains between 1.0-1.3 grams of tea. The standard is 2.25-3.0 grams per 6 to 8 oz cup. So you really do need two teabags to get a decent cup. That means IF I wanted to ice this tea (a general rule is to double the tea for iced tea), I’d need 3 or 4 times as much!! NOT FOR ME. :-[
To top it off this is a 20th Anniversary Tea! What a major letdown. I mean, I can’t believe they thought, ‘YES!! This is our best representation in celebration of twenty years in the tea industry! Now go celebrate!!’ This was NOT a celebration in a cup. Twenty ingredients is a mishmash in a cup-way too many, which turns out to be a mess in my cup.
I need a good FF Darjeeling RIGHT NOW! That’s a tea that is worthy of…….and IS a celebration in a cup. :))
Cupped & Reviewed: Friday, May 18, 2012.
Preparation
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I feel like 20 herbs is WAY too many and the batches get kind of wonky. I’ve had a totally different experience with this tea—no hibiscus or rooibos at all, mostly peppermint/lemongrass/anise/lemon (reminded me of a sleepytime blend), now I’m wondering if the bags I’ve tried have actually been missing some ingredients.
I got wintermint instead of prppermint. zdid you try this and like it?
this was truly revolting…
I think the “34” may have been too kind…
sniffication, that’s awesome.
I liked mine, but it was seriously missing like half of these ingredients. It just tasted like a vaguely chai-y sleepytime blend. No hibiscus, rooibos, vanilla, blackberry, allspice, or chicory at least that I could detect. But if you like a tea because it doesn’t taste like half of the ingredient list… yeah, not so great on the company’s part.
Maybe you should roll it up and smoke it!
Seems like Alphakitty accidentally got the 10 year blend. 20 herbs to celebrate 20 years – dumb idea. LOL
I blame it on the hibiscus. Kills a blend every time… (just kidding!)
But yes, 20 seems like FAR too many!!
I feel like 20 herbs is WAY too many and the batches get kind of wonky. I’ve had a totally different experience with this tea—no hibiscus or rooibos at all, mostly peppermint/lemongrass/anise/lemon (reminded me of a sleepytime blend), now I’m wondering if the bags I’ve tried have actually been missing some ingredients.
I got wintermint instead of prppermint. zdid you try this and like it?
this was truly revolting…
I think the “34” may have been too kind…
sniffication, that’s awesome.
I liked mine, but it was seriously missing like half of these ingredients. It just tasted like a vaguely chai-y sleepytime blend. No hibiscus, rooibos, vanilla, blackberry, allspice, or chicory at least that I could detect. But if you like a tea because it doesn’t taste like half of the ingredient list… yeah, not so great on the company’s part.
Maybe you should roll it up and smoke it!
Seems like Alphakitty accidentally got the 10 year blend. 20 herbs to celebrate 20 years – dumb idea. LOL
I blame it on the hibiscus. Kills a blend every time… (just kidding!)
But yes, 20 seems like FAR too many!!