Berry Rooibos

I used 3 tsp tisane and 20 oz water, scant tsp tupelo honey in each cup.

WOW! This is the most interesting and delicious rooibos I have ever had the pleasure of drinking! First things first – not for the hibiscus haters. Even though it’s extremely berry tasting, particularly blueberries to my palate, it definitely has the tart hibiscus thing going on. Honey tempers it into a delicious sweet tart flavor. I tasted a dried almost candied fruit flavor, and the rooibos just brought everything down to earth. I didn’t find this tea woody at all. I loved it!! It was a revelation.

I also have to take special note of the tin Samovar used for this! It has a lid, and then has ANOTHER lid inside that lid to keep the tisane extra fresh and I assume keep the aroma of the extremely fragrant berries from filling your entire tea cabinet! I don’t know if they use this style tin for all of their teas, but it’s brilliant design!

All day, I’ve been thinking about giving this tea another go. So I did. I did a shorter steep time and that really seems to have decreased the rooibos taste, which has given me the chance to check out the berry flavor closer. It doesn’t say this in the tasting notes, but this tastes like it has rose hips in it to me. I say that because Lupicia’s Rose Hip tea reminds me of spaghetti sauce and I’m getting a hint of that here – not full on spaghetti sauce but more like hints of canned tomatoes. (Of course, Lupicia’s Rose Hip tea also had hibiscus in it, so perhaps hibiscus makes me think of spaghetti sauce.) Anyway, when I sip this tea, I get a flash of berry followed by a quick dip into canned tomato and then lifted back up into dark berries again. As it cools, the dip into tomato becomes shallower to where it almost doesn’t happen. The rooibos wood is pretty much totally gone in this shorter steep which I oddly find I miss a bit. (Not much, mind you. It is still rooibos.)

That being said, I think I kind of like this. Even with the shorter steep time, the berry flavor is pretty strong so I do wish that could be mellowed out more, making the first steep more like the second. If a black tea tasted like this, I probably wouldn’t love it, but for a rooibos, this isn’t bad.

PS – I did the second steep at five minutes and it’s really quite lovely. No tomato, just mild and pleasant dark berries and a whiff of the lattice they are growing on.

Sipdown no. 32 of 2014 is the single serving sample of this one. (Wow, that was a lot of s’s in one sentence.)

I didn’t read the ingredients before I sniffed the packet just for fun. My first thought was “strawberry?” Then just as I was about to nod my head, I thought “blueberry?” So at that point I checked the packet and yes, both of those flavors are represented. As is (shudder) hibiscus.

The good news: after steeping I smelled mostly berry, almost no rooibos (yay) and just a little upswing of tart around the edges that is the hibiscus.

I was worried at first that the flavor would be too tart for me, but it isn’t. It’s actually sweeter than I expected. The berry flavor is pronounced, but not individuated. It’s rather like eating a slice of one of those pies that has several berry flavors in it.

And the rooibos? Excellent news for me. I barely taste it, except for a fleeting pass after the sip. As rooibos goes, Samovar’s is among the best I’ve tasted plain so even what I taste of it is fine.

Samovar’s descriptions are often a cornucopia of aromas and flavors that make me feel like a total novice. This is no exception. I get a mulled wine, natural punch but in the flavor rather than the aroma, and I can’t say I can identify the orange, apricot etc. Though I do taste a bit of something lemon like in the finish and there is an interesting little peppery kick in the aftertaste.

I would buy this. Yes, I would.

Sadly, it appears I am too late as I no longer see it available on the Samovar web site. It may still be part of the rooibos sampler, but it’s not clear that’s offered anymore either as the page I found that lists it says “out of stock.”

Ah well. Lesson learned.

This is really quite good. I was a little worried when I read the description of this tea because I’m not particularly fond of tart… but, this is “tart in a good way.” And what I mean by that is that it is not really pucker-y or sour, but more of a sweet-tart kind of tart… but without that candy taste.

The berry flavor is really pronounced here, and it overpowers the flavor of the rooibos, which is quite alright with me.

I found this to be rather enjoyable. A nice tea to sip in the evening.

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp
Water: Boiling
Tool: Bee House Ceramic Round Teapot
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: berry, perfume, rooibos (woody), sweet
Steeped Tea Smell: strawberry, blueberry
Flavor: Strawberry, Blueberry
Body: medium
Aftertaste: woody (rooibos)
Liquor: translucent dark red-brown

Post-Steep Additives: 1 tsp honey, brought the berry out more as a sweet berry

Resteep: 10+ minutes, weaker, but still a good cup of tea

Recieved from JacquelineM in the Hoppitea swap

http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/05/samovar-loose-leaf-herbal-tisane-berry.html

Decided to brew this delicious herbal infusion after receiving it in my Diggnation “Hippie Glenn” Tea Set. The first thing that hit me about this tea is it’s amazing aroma. Hints of blueberry, orange, and hibiscus float gently off of this red, almost fruit punch looking brew. The flavor profile reminds me of blueberry pie, with a tart kick and creamy mellow finish that is dominated by the schizandra. Simply spectacular. As a less than frequent herbal drinker, I must say that this infusion may become a part of my daily routine.

Fantastic! – very berry – very fruity – very tasty … I had a sample pouch that I finally used this afternoon. I’m hooked and I will be buying a tin

I wasn’t sure about the smell when I first opened the tin, but the flavor has turned out to be delicious. Very tart, but with enough sweetness to balance it out.