Bourbon Brew

Another tea from Michelle! Thank you!

I don’t like very many red rooibos teas but I really liked the aroma in the pouch. I decided to make it to go with supper tonight since it was nearly caffeine free.

I made one steep and poured it into a large pot. I made a second steep to taste just to see if it was strong to combine well with steep number one and it definitely was. I combined the two steeps in the big pot and Ashman really, really liked this. He drank most of it. I also liked it. The rooibos wasn’t so infernally medicinal as it usually is. I also like the caramel rum red rooibos or something along those lines from Lupicia, so maybe it just combines well with boozy flavors.

This was sweet, boozy, pretty rich, and had good body. We liked it without additions, but I bet it is really good with milk and/or sugar and probably good iced as well.

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