Velvet Tea

Thank you Caitlin for sending this sample! This one is interesting. I decided to try this tea without looking at the reviews or description. My initial impressions were about appearance. I saw rooibos and chunks of fruit perhaps. The smell was so faint and slightly sweet. Upon steeping, it was a nice red brown color. It tasted sweet but a little tart. I got a warm feeling of vanilla seeping through the mix of sweet and fruit. I really love rooibos and vanilla combinations.

Overall a decent blend. The fruity tartness threw me off but it wasn’t very powerful which was good.

Steep Information:
Amount: 5 tsp
Additives: none
Water: filtered boiling 1 cast iron teapot full
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 7 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell:
AmazonV: Wood and chocolate
MilitiaJim: Cake
Steeped Tea Smell: Rooibos, Mint
Flavor: mint
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet, woody
Liquor: Cloudy dark reddish-orange-brown

Swap from Meghann M

Hmm

Mint, rooibos, none of the chocolate

Luckily I wasn’t expecting much from you tea, because your just managing minty. I mean if i wanted mint tea with a sweet undertone to keep it from being 100% mint, I’d want you. Just not in the mood. Not really impressive.

However very drinkable.

Post-Steep Additives: none

Resteep: 7 min, weak, still tingly mint

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/art-of-tea-loose-leaf-rooibos-tea_26.html

Arby Advent Day 16
I love the designs on these tea bags! The flavor is a bit artificial – definitely more mint than chocolate. As it cools to room temperature, the flavor is a lot more pleasant. The tea gains an almost vanilla-like quality. I don’t taste the chocolate very much, but I totally get vanilla mint from this blend. It’s growing on me!

Sipped down another sampler in my collection! This is the first chocolate mint rooibos I’ve tried, and I found it enjoyable enough, but after trying a few others of that flavor profile and going back to this one, it certainly isn’t my favorite of the bunch. It has a very smooth mouthfeel, but I’ve had other choco-mint rooibos with a more creamy feel to them, and for this flavor combo, I just think I prefer that mouthfeel much more. For all the chocolate that is in this tea, I also find the chocolate notes are pretty subtle for how much chocolate is listed in the ingredients of this tea; it’s there, but becomes more of a subnote to the sweet taste of the rooibos/honeybush base and the much stronger minty notes. I’d prefer a bit more balance of the chocolate and mint, personally. It is a perfectly servicable tea, I’ve just had better chocolate mint rooibos blends.

I’m surprised I’ve reviewed this tea before. I don’t recall it.

This time, I loved it. with a touch of cane sugar served hot or plain iced, it is super versatile. I can taste the sweet rooibos and honeybush. I like the mint (not too strong in menthol), plus the cocoa is showing up faintly in the background. It could use more cocoa, but I still think it is superior to mose chocolate mint rooibos blends I’ve tried.

i am not sure how to talk about this tea. it is okay. glad i have no more.

This tea is so well-balanced, it’s difficult to identify any particular flavor. Sure, the mint and cacao can be noted in the dry blend, but when steeped, it’s hard to distinguish. I guess that may mean it’s not a complex cup of tea, and yet it’s delicious. Like that very drinkable wine one sips at a party while mingling, this is a nice dessert tea, and it gets tastier and more interesting with the addition of cream and/or sugar. Yum, yum… yum. I actually will probably never drink it because I don’t like the mouth feel of cream and sugar after I’ve had altered tea, but my friends and guests will adore it; I will keep it stocked for them.

We just got this tea in our tea lounge and I love, love, love it!!! The combination of the mint and apple, totally set off the cacao nibs, chocolate and vanilla for a very unique flavor.