Love Affair

Thank you to Melanie for this ample sample! This is a nice evening Rooibos created it appears by ESP Emporium for Valentines Day. It is a long steep (8-10 minutes) producing a medium cognac liquor that smells like chocolate almond biscotti but tastes slightly sweet and not almondy at all. The full 10 munute steep and a bit of sugar brings all the color and flavor to fullness. More rose color from..uh…roses and rhubarb (can’t taste rhubarb so it must be adding warm roundness instead of acid) and the slightest hint of floral. Rooibos is there in the dry finish. Since Rooibos can sit and cook…getting better and better throughout the day, I think that having a fine tasting one around for one of those busy project days when you just can’t watch a pot is fantastic. This would be a nice addition. Not complicated but comforting. Sweet and desserty, not too chocolate or floral and not needing sugar or milk but good with them also. There are natural and artificial flavors and soy and rice in the mix but used well.

This is such an amazing tea! Well, amazing for chocolate lovers anyway… It doesn’t only smell like dark chocolate and milk chocolate, but like cherry hearts candy or like the cherry cordials by Queen Anne overflowing during the Christmas season, but it also has a similar taste, just not as strong. You can also taste the rose petals very subtly, but oddly not smell them before brewing (at least I couldn’t), and I’m not sure why I keep tasting Cherry when it’s made with Strawberries… Any ideas on that one?

If anyone enjoys these flavors and is interested in trading samples I have plenty of this left right now! It was my first time ever ordering loose leaf tea, found a great deal for a starter set with the ESP Emporium through Groupon, and I definitely didn’t know how much 4 oz. was!