Casting Whimsy

I am giving up on trying teas with ingredients I don’t like, no matter how tempting. The lavender in this blend was tempting, but I passed on it ‘cos peppermint. That said, Mum loves mint tea and she really liked this one. So if you like mint tea, don’t hesitate to give this a try.

I was very happy when I opened this pouch. Just three ingredients (red rooibos, bergamot, and cornflower), and I love both rooibos and bergamot. Both are apparent when you stick your nose in the pouch, although I had to work for the bergamot a bit. After steeping in boilingish water for 10ish minutes, I was surprised to discover that I had to work even harder to taste anything but rooibos. I was able to taste it a bit after the nyum-nyum test, but it’s waaaaay too subtle for me. This is a perfectly lovely rooibos, but I can’t say it’s much more than that. (To be clear, I love rooibos and could drink it all day, but I could also pay a lot less for plain rooibos in bulk than for the artisanal blends created by Casting Whimsy.)

The idea of rooibos and bergamot is lovely (more bergamot and no caffeine yes please) and I feel like I tried an Earl Grey rooibos recently that I liked better than this. I’ll have to check my notes and order more of that. =)

Welp, I goofed. =(

I wanted to make a note of this blend as one that I definitely wouldn’t mind trying again, and trying properly. Despite a thorough rinsing, the peppermint from my last cup of tea lingered and ruined this one for me. It’s very clearly peaches and cream, but it’s pretty subtle. I’ve never had sencha and Chun Mee before (had to look them up!) but I think this could have been a nicely layered cup, had I been able to taste it properly. No rating as that’d be unfair.

This blend had such potential! Black tea, lemongrass, and lemon balm would’ve been amazing. It was ruined by the peppermint, which is all I could smell and taste! Ugh. If you want peppermint, just get peppermint.

It’s clove water. [“yuck” emoji]

The dry blend has a strong apple cider fragrance. Not to yuck anyone’s yum, but that’s just not my thing. When it was steeping, though, and afterwards in my mug, the fragrance was pure rooibos, which is most definitely my thing. It tasted a bit flat to me, honestly. Like, if I wanted plain rooibos, I would drink plain rooibos; and if I wanted apple cider, I would drink that. This was a mash-up that wasn’t quite as layered or well rounded as I’d have liked. Okay, but not great.

I didn’t think I’d like this one (apple), but it’s a really nice, warm, balanced blend. No one thing really overpowers the rest, which is contrary to what I was expecting and is exactly what I want from this kind of blend.