Intaba Teas of Africa

GCTTB

What luck getting the TTB during the holidays. There’s no way I’d be able to sample so many teas in one week while I’m working. However, I’m starting to feel a bit overloaded on tea. I might have to take some samples out and spread it out a bit.

Anyway – about this tea! It’s pretty much what the name says: Rooibos and lemongrass. Nothing amazing but not bad either. It’s just okay and a bit on the bland side. Not a tea I would stock up on but it was nice trying it out.

From the GCTTB. Red rooibos generally gets a ‘meh’ response from me at best, but the addition of the lemongrass livens things up a bit. It gives the tea a lemony flavour without any of the tart sourness that would accompany actual lemon fruit. So it’s not bad – but still not really something that I’d shell out money for.

My lovely friend Walton brought this back from South Africa for me. It’s a delightful tea with a natural sweetness and a pleasant orangey tang. I enjoy it well steeped but if you give it a wee swish it tastes lovely and delicate. Very refreshing when cooled, but I like it right warm before my bed.

So I absolutely loved the “fall back” this morning. But now that it’s afternoon, and the sun is already starting to creep down, I’m feeling a major afternoon slump coming on. I let the tea randomizer (jaydee.net) pick out this tea. It took a few goes to pick a decaf that I had at my desk. It’s a good, basic, no-frills cup that’s amazingly soothing this afternoon.

I wanted something calm and frill-less. This fits the bill. It’s delicious and calm and yummy.

When I poured a cup of this, Mama France said that it smelled like medicine. Since she’s still recovering from sedation, I’m not considering her opinion valid.

It’s a deep amber in color. It tastes equally of honeybush and rooibos. It’s a fantastic blend when you want something calm, soorthing, and basic. No flavorings, nothing fancy, just a good, delicious cup.

Well that’s it for this tea. * sad-puppy face*

I love how no matter how long you steep this tea it never gets the bitter, over-steeped taste that tea does. I’ll definitely be looking around for more good honeybush teas in the future.

Yes, this tea is most definitely better with no milk and just a dash of honey.

Looks in the box

Woah, I only have one teabag left – how did that happen?!
XD

I have no idea why I’m doing this….okay maybe I do, I’m just not sure about the wisdom of it. When I was reading up about honeybush tea a couple days ago I came across info that said that the British used to drink this as a tea substitute – complete with milk and sugar. Thus I felt compelled to add some milk to my honeybush and see if they were onto something – or just on something.

The colour the tea turned…I don’t even know what to call the colour. It’s a sort of pinkish, greyish, brown shade – very appetizing. D:

Fortunately, it tastes better than it looks. It reminds me of a very light black tea (maybe a Ceylon) with some berry flavour added to it. Not horrible, but it still pretty much killed the unique flavour that honeybush has. I think I’ll keep drinking it plain, thank you very much!

I’m reading up (ie. Googling) on the historical uses and health benefits of honeybush tea. Interesting stuff – aparently it’s thought by the San people of South Africa to be good for helping minor stomach and skin aliments, as well as aiding sleep, and acting as an expectorant for respiratory infections. :)

This makes a great bedtime cuppa. I skipped the honey this time so the flavour was more ripe-berry than golden honey, but I love this tea in any form.

I remember having a conversation with someone on Steepster to the effect that honeybush tea can help with coughs and other respiratory problems. I hope it’s true, because my cold just won’t bloody GO AWAY!

It does seem to soothe my irritated throat at least. Mmmm honey. :)

Meh, not feeling very well right now. Here’s hoping this helps a little bit, I’m going to bed right after I drink this. :(

Drank this with a touch of honey again. When it’s brewing it has an almost berry-like scent to it which is very pleasent.

Wow, just adding about a teaspoon (or less, I didn’t exactly measure) of wildflower honey really brings out the natural sweet, honey flavour of this tea.

I like this, it has a natural, almost fruity sweetness to it while still having a pleasent, mildly herbal taste and fragrance. BTW Honeybush isn’t rooibos despite a slight similarity in taste (though I find honeybush much smoother and less tart), they’re two completely unrelated species of plants.