Bourbon Brew

I am succumbing to peer pressure to post a whisky or alcoholic themed tea. It seems to be a popular post, so I am jumping on the bandwagon. This is a new to me tea, not a sipdown, and I like this butterscotch forward and bourbon bite on the finish. Old Barrel Tea co was only a few miles from the interstate, so I stopped by on my way through. Its not a big shop but they do all the blending there on site and were very friendly. This one smelled amazing, and really doesn’t taste anything like puerh (its mostly red rooibos). I like this better than Kentucky Bourbon or even Black cask from H&S. I might need more of this in my cupboard when I run out!

So this is another one where I usually wouldn’t buy a tea with this flavor profile, which is mostly a butterscotch rooibos. But those weird other ingredients – oak chips again and corn kernels?! – once again convinced me to try it.

I will say, I do actually like it. It is mostly a rooibos base – there is some puerh mixed in, but I don’t feel like I’m tasting it. Up front, I mostly get sweet and creamy butterscotch, but then toward the end it morphs into more of a whiskey/bourbon note with vanilla and a hint of butterscotch. I think it’s the woodiness of the oak that pulls it in that direction for me, plus the rooibos base is naturally a bit boozy.

I’m not sure if this is something that I would reorder, because the strong butterscotch flavor does get a bit cloying for me, and I can’t imagine I’ll drink this super often. But I do really like the combination, I just wish there was a tiny bit less butterscotch and a tiny bit more puerh. Will have to try this one as a latte as well for a butterbeer sort of beverage. :D