Honeybush Hazelnut

Finished off the last of this tonight. It was the end of a long day, the beginning of a hard week and I was feeling indulgent. I stirred in a bit of nutella and it made this creamy, murky, delicious concoction. I drank it all, and I don’t regret it. I’m probably going to have to make myself a nice green or black in a couple minutes if I’m going to get through all the work I have to do tonight, because right now I’m drifting in and out of consciousness.

Another tea finished. This was one of the first I ordered online ever, and I’m a bit sad to see it gone. Still, I got some other tasty teas to finish, so I think I should be good for now.

After spending the last few hours at the coffee shop actually drinking coffee instead of tea I came home wired, this is a state I try to avoid at 10pm, or any time really. This was a perfect bridge between my coffee binge and my evening cup of chamomile.

I’m really starting to become a fan of honeybush, the last several that I’ve tried have been wonderful. This has a nutty taste to it that works really well with the honeybush base. I’m not sure if I’ve had anything hazelnut before tonight, but I’m sure a fan. I could see this going into my regular rotation of teas that I drink in the fall since that is when I usually drink the nutty/earthy types, something about them just scream fall to me.

It shouldn’t work, but it does. I was browsing Adagio with a friend of mine who has a long-harbored love for hazelnut anything and since I was prowling for samples specifically she suggested that one. I figured its 2$, I love honeybush, and when it doesn’t taste like the godawful creamer, I very much like hazelnut.

Smells odd but good in the bag, smells fantastic (but still a little strange) brewing. The taste for me…its weird, its like I’m tasting the two flavors separately without it tasting horrible. I mixed about a spoonful of sugar into mine and found I didn’t need much more, so that’s good at least (I’m notorious for my overuse of sugar).

So…odd, but very good. I’ll definitely be finishing off my sampler, might buy a full size sometime but its not a top priority.

I thought I would finish up this sample. I’m craving the hazelnut cream taste of it, though I won’t buy anymore. The longer the steep the better with Adagio honeybush teas.

I made this as an iced tea two nights ago and drank it yesterday, so my memory of preparation won’t be great. I used 4 teaspoons for 32oz of water and I added 2 teaspoons of rock sugar to the leaves. I put it in the fridge overnight. (I think I might have also resteeped the leaves for a second cup, but my memory of how I made this is blurred with the three other iced teas I’ve made over the past four nights…)

The first sip was “WHOA!” delicious. The hazelnut flavor is quite strong and I liked it. It reminded me of the International Delight hazelnut flavored coffee creamer that I would occasionally have 5+ years ago (before I realized I don’t like my coffee sweetened). It also had a creamy taste, despite no added cream. While it was quite tasty, I preferred Adagio’s Honeybush Mango to this one (as did Steve, who has been having each of the iced teas of the past few days with me).

Very tasty hot or iced! No sweetener necessary.

This is an entirely pleasant nighttime tea.

It smells nutty and chocolatey in the bag and tastes nutty and chocolatey in my cup. Neither the nuts, the honeybush nor the chocolate notes are overpowering.

This tea is nicely balanced.

This is a good evening or nighttime herbal drink for me. I love the flavor of hazelnut in general, giving this blend and easy in with me. The flavor here is particularly enjoyable and warming, as is the fragrance.

My one big irritation with this blend is that the herbs are so fine it becomes a pain in the ass to infuse with anything but an ultrafine mesh strainer, which I have unfortunately yet to acquire. When infusing this blend with a more standard wire-mesh tea strainer loads of herbal particulate pass into the liquid and it becomes a somewhat pulpy experience. Cleaning the strainer afterwards has proved frustrating as well, with many grains becoming stuck in the mesh. You practically need to use a fine brush to clear the mesh completely.

Alternatively, I’ve tried infusing this tea in a gaiwan and pouring off through the small funnel strainer I use for Gongfu brewing, as that strainer has a finer mesh, but the problem then becomes the leaves pouring out of my gaiwan with the liquid and clogging up the mesh of the strainer until it’s completely blocked. Ugh!

I like this herbal blend well enough, but these frustrations in preparing it prevent me from drinking it more frequently, and from rating it any higher. Ideally, infusion should be a painless and straightforward experience, not a distracting and frustrating one. Until I get some kind of special superfine mesh strainer (or, God-forbid, empty disposable teabags!) to make brewing this blend easier, it will likely continue to be something I reach for only infrequently. That makes me kind of sad, but I’m already equipped with a good range of tea preparation utensils, and I think for an herbal blend to require the purchase of another special tool or disposable steep bags for its own sake is asking a bit too much. If this were a tea of exceptional quality, you’d be hearing a different tune, as I’m plenty willing to make special accommodations for something worthy of it. But this is neither a tea, nor an exceptionally high quality blend of herbs.

Final word: a pretty good herbal blend, with disappointing drawbacks on the preparation end.

Tonight I blended half Honeybush hazelnut, half Honeybush chocolate. It smells kind of like some fancy coffee drink (minus the coffee) and tastes amazing. Honeybush is awesome because it has a sweet, mellow flavor- similar to rooibos, but not as powerful. It is amazing iced- i think iced honeybush is probably one of my favorite things, ever. I like to cold brew it because it’s easier that way. But tonight I’m drinking it hot, and loving it.

I was astounded by this tea. Without a doubt, this is thus far, the best tea I’ve had.

The tea is a beautiful shade, with a wonderfully thick aroma, and smooth taste. I put a bit of sugar in mine, but I’m thinking that I don’t even need it. The tea is smooth, and just plain good. This tea is definitely going on my “but every month” list, and that is an exclusive list indeed!