Rooibos Fruit Cocktail

Cold Brew Sidown (456)!

This one was one of my free samples from Citizen Tea from my first order. I kind of grimaced when I saw it included, up until I read the ingredients anyway. I was definitely expecting a “fruit cocktail” tea that would play into the very overdone and often just not pleasant category most fruit cocktail blends tend to; really hibiscus heavy, probably lots of apple and pineapple and just very sweet and cloying.

I think this one has much more unique ingredients; pear, dates, and sultanas and I’m really intrigued and pleasantly surprised by the use of green rooibos as well. When I saw the ingredients, my expectations shifted drastically and I was not left feeling disappointed!

Most importantly, I think this does taste like a fruit cocktail – and without being an overly tart/cloying and hibby heavy mess of a cocktail. It’s very light, with a natural sweetness. Apart from the stronger pear and the distinct lemony notes from the lemongrass that are present in the top of the sip, I think the other fruit notes forming the body of the blend muddle together to create this really refreshing but fairly non-distinct orchard fruit like mix of flavour. But that’s essentially what a fruit cocktail is anyway; a muddling of fruit notes. In the top of the sip with the pear/lemon there’s brightness and a lively fruity character that entices you in, but this finishes clean and crisp.

Green rooibos was a great choice too; there’s no woody/peppery quality here to distract from the fruit notes and in blends almost perfectly into the fruit. I think people who don’t generally like rooibos might be ok with this one. Anyway – based on this tasting alone I think I would buy this one again next time I order from Citizen Tea, whenever that may end up being. I was so pleasantly surprised by this one!