I’m trying to learn my lesson about over-caffeinating on the weekends. After two 12oz steeps of Troika, I’m switching to something decaf for a bit so I don’t explode. I’m typically not a huge fan of mint (or rooibos, really). There is an edge to mint that feels raw to me, so for me to enjoy minty things the mint usually needs to be mixed with something to heavily tame it down to a bare fresh tingle.
This tea is pretty much full on mint. I don’t really taste the rooibos except for maybe a hint at the end (and even then it is more of a not-mint undernote than a woody rooibos taste) and I can’t pick out the bergamot at all (which is a little disappointing). Except the mint doesn’t have that mint bite, that rawness, that I dislike in things that are so full on mint. If I have to guess, I’d say that the rooibos (and bergamot) add a little heaviness to the flavor of the mint that prevents it from seeming so thin and prevents that biting raw edge at the end.
I’m still not a huge fan of strongly mint things, but this is pretty good. I imagine that if I were the type to like drinking pure mint tisanes (or even predominately mint tisanes), I would find this very tasty. As it is, I do find it one of the best strong mint tisanes I’ve had.
ooooooo!