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I do not like rooibos. I do not like it in a box, I do not like it with a fox. I do not like it in a house, I do not like it with a mouse. I do not like rooibos. And you can’t make me.

That being said, my mom purchased a big ole box of this from Amazon so I swiped a few bags just to try. Because sometimes I like to torture myself with tea.

Tonight, I’m in desperate need of something tea-like. I’ve been out of the house all day and only got one cup in this morning. This makes my tongue is sad. But it’s too late to have something caffeinated and my Zojirushi is on 208°. So sure, let’s have some rooibos torture!

I think this smells fairly gross, like sweet and rotting wood. Which means it smells like a fairly normal rooibos, as I think they all smell like rotting wood. Par for the course there.

The taste, though? It’s not bad. And that’s coming from me, someone who thinks most rooibos also tastes like rotting wood. But no, I didn’t gag or even make a face while drinking this. I even drank the whole cup!

Of course, I’m not sure if that really speaks to how tasty this tea is (or isn’t) because the lack of face-making was mostly due to the fact that this is actually rather bland. Most of the sip tastes like heavy and wet and that’s about it. There’s a little sweet, almost-but-not-quite-rotting wood aftertaste which is by far the most flavorful thing about the cup (also the most unpleasant for me). Oddly, that aftertaste makes me think a bit of perfume, which is weird and not all that pleasant but hey, it’s in the aftertaste so whatever. Slurping brings some dry-wood notes to the sip but it’s still fairly mild. The texture’s a bit thick and silky with no slurping (it tries to be a little astringent with slurping) so that’s kind of pleasant.

Verdict: It’s not really all that torturous. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that this actually tastes good, but it’s very drinkable and, for me, that’s pretty huge. I can’t say that rooibos-liking people would like this because it might be too bland? Or perhaps blandness is a positive attribute for all rooibos drinkers, not just me. But I think fellow rooibos-haters could probably get down a cup of this one with little problems.