Though I expected this one to be more of an equal Black Tea / Rooibos mix… most of what I see in the dry mix is Black Tea and some kind of yellow flower petals. I’m not sure how much Rooibos is actually in this one, as it doesn’t have that awful smell that I now associate with Rooibos tea.
Anyway, the dry mix smells just like a kind of cookie my Grandma always puts out at Christmas. (They are brown on the inside, white on the outside?) I have no idea what the name of the cookies are and I don’t like them, but the smell brought me right back to those cookies lol….
Preparation was as suggested: 2.5 minutes steeped at boiling. I used my standard half measurement of tea – 0.75 tsp for my 12 oz cup instead of the suggested 1.5 tsp per 8 oz.
Once the tea had finished steeping, it still smelled a little like those cookies, but added a weak apple cider scent. Unlike those cookies, however, I actually do like apple cider, so I’m now more excited about the possibilities of this tea.
Sipping the hot tea I was surprised by the lack of bitterness considering the Black Tea in the mix. I didn’t even bother to add milk or sugar for the first half of the tea. (The third ingredient is listed as candy though, so that might have sweetened things up). Also, I’m not really sure what I’m tasting—I’m getting more of a waxy apple peel background rather than cider—and though it’s nothing special, it’s not offensive at least.
As a bit of a test, I added some milk and sugar before drinking the last half of the tea. It’s actually quite nice. I much prefer it with the milk and sugar. I was originally debating what rating to give this one and straight up I was thinking low 60s, but with the milk and sugar, I’m thinking more like 70. I think the creaminess might have brought out some of the vanilla flavor too. The milk also really smoothed out the flavor so the waxy apple became more muted and enjoyable.
Would I buy this again? I think I would. While it’s just okay as is, it’s actually pretty tasty with the milk and sugar.
Cup count (12 oz) from 8g sampler size: 1 + 1 Re-steep. Still plenty more tea in the sampler for later.
Edit: Attempted a 10 minute re-steep, it came out kind of weak and I accidentally tipped my infuser into the cup, so there’s some bonus floaties in my tea lol… Tastes okay though.
Flavors: Apple
