Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Tea Time: Rooibos Cream Caramel



Rooibos Cream Caramel


Reviewed by: Juturna F.
Type of tea
Rooibos, loose-leaf
Flavor aspects and Aroma
Flavor Aspects: Natural
Aroma: Hot caramel
Where I got it
Tin Roof Teas
Cost
$8.17/100g
How I brewed it
3 teaspoons in a tea strainer in a cast iron pot. Water boiled in kettle until just whistling, then poured over leaves. Brewed 2-3 minutes, not timed.
Rebrewing notes
Haven't rebrewed.
Review


It brews a beautiful caramel color.
I've always found rooibos to be interesting teas. They taste vaguely fruity to me without tasting fruity (yes, I know that makes no sense!). This red tea brews a rich caramel color, and smells like caramel heated to the point of almost but not quite burnt (I think that's the "creme"), but doesn't taste like caramel. It's not dissimilar to black tea in taste, but lacks the bite of the tannins that give black tea the black tea taste, and is just a tad tangier. And that's the best I can describe it.

I feel like this tea would do very well with sugar, maybe a touch of milk or cream. It practically begs to be blended with other teas. I'd add it to an early grey, I think, to enhance the black tea scent, or a maybe a "sweet" tea like a chai or Teavana's Slimful Chocolate Decadence. On its own, I don't find it particularly extraordinary in terms of rooibos teas. It smells amazing, but the caramel flavor is almost unnoticeable as compared to regular rooibos tea.

Not quite as caramel-colored with
milk and sugar... But tastier!
I did add milk and sugar my second cup, and it much improved the flavor. Normally I dislike sweetening my tea, but in this tea it really balances it out. I highly recommend having milk and sugar at hand if you plan to drink this tea without blending it with something else.

Not my favorite tea, despite the smell. The scent sets up high expectations for the flavor, but the flavor falls short of the promise without sweetening it, and I like a tea that can stand on its own. On the other hand, sweetened it's actually quite good. I'd say it's best for blending with other teas. If you like fruity teas and black teas, but want to cut out the caffeine, rooibos might be a good match for you. Also, if you like Indian tea such as served at authentic Indian restaurants, you'll like this one.


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Ack! Technical difficulties!




(Learning to Like Tea Part 1Part 2Part 3, Guest Post: Types of Tea, Guest post: Getting the Best Cup of Tea)


Getting a good picture of a teapot
is harder than you'd think.
 

1 comment:

  1. Mmmm, that sounds delicious. I completely get what you mean by "fruity without being fruity." I think of roobios as a hearty or bold flavor.

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