Honeybush, Mandarin & Orange

Found some of this in the “far back” of my tea cupboard while digging out some favourites over the weekend. I brought the few remaining bags with me to work to use while at reception/switchboard. Had a sore throat this morning so I went for this one rather than a bagged black and was glad I did. I still quite like this one for a bagged tea, the flavour comes through as sweet mandarin, but not cloyingly so. I’ve had trouble finding nice orange teas, so this one is a treat. : )

I asked for some of this however many months ago it was that Twinings was running their last freebie promo and after spending all day with family (and a couple toddlers), the convenience of a tea bag is much appreciated.

The bag came out of the package in a little poof of very fragrantly sweet orange tea dust. And as I’m steeping it up, it’s smelling more and more familiar to me. So, has anyone else drink the tangerine flavored Emergen-C stuff? Because that’s pretty much what this tastes/smells like like with a bit of honeybush spice. There’s surprisingly no medicinal edge that honeybush can suffer from from time to time either.

Not exactly a sophisticated cup, but shockingly good. I could see making this in pitchers next summer as a caffeine free option (though it probably won’t happen because caffeine and me are pretty tight).

This came out of the foil package in a cloud of dust. But ok. I tried it anyway.

Actually, this is quite nice. The mandarin and orange flavors lay nicely over the sweetness of the honeybush. Not a “rush out and buy” tea, but I would reach for this if it was complimentary at a hotel, conference, training, etc.

Ah, am finally home!! Having a pot of this, because I’m getting low on it and will soon have another tea out of my cupboard. Hurray for replacing it with new tea!!

It’s in teabags, but doesn’t seem to suffer from the experience! If you like orange, you might want to take a chance on this. If you have fond memories of “Russian Tea”, you have to try this. (Russian tea is a mixture of tang, instant tea, instant lemonade, cinnamon, etc.) It took me all night to figure out what it tastes like! This might not be a drink that suits a sophisticated kind of palate, but if you still like koolaid, give it a try!

Smells like fresh, juicy oranges, and there is a hint of spice in the aroma but not in the taste. Took it without additions and it was lovely.

As soon as I removed the plastic wrapper from the box, the orange scent wafted out of it, even though the bags were individually wrapped. The flavor tastes like mandarin oranges, sweet but with a slight bitter aftertaste, rather than regular oranges. I added a teaspoon of orange blossom honey to sweeten it. The longer I drink it, however, the less I care for it. It is too one-dimensional in its orange flavor. I would rather have the orange flavor paired with a rich black tea that would give it some depth.

About half way through the cup I tired of the flavor, so I added some more hot water and a ceylon teabag and let it steep awhile longer. The orange flavor was muted but at the same time brought out the citrus in the ceylon. I will have to try this again using the two different bags from the beginning.

Wanted to try something different as far as herbals go. This is my first honeybush tea. I like it. Reminds me a lot of “friendship” tea or russian tea as previously mentioned by fcmonroe. It’s very much like an adult version of tang. Throw a little milk in there and you have yourself a creamsicle. Yum!

My 1st honeybush and my 1st Twinings tea! For really not being that much of an orange person, I dunno what’s up w/ all these orange teas I’m drinking lately. Not only am I drinking a lot (like usual) of mandarin matcha, I’ve also had orange sencha this week- and now this.

I find it funny that this says it’s flavored w/ mandarin and orange. Isn’t mandarin a type of orange? When I take it out of the wrapper, I definitely smell orange- but I also smell a little bit of spice… is that the honeybush base?

1 bag/6oz almost boiling water, 5 min. The liquor is a reddish camel color and the aroma is almost exactly that of the raw leaf. It smells slighlty of orange jello, but there is definitely a more complex, grounded base to it.

Yay for consistancy! This tastes exactly like I was expecting it too. It still has a little jello aspect to it, but it’s also very rich and complex. If you love orange and honeybush, this is a must try.

I received a bag of this tea as a gift from a charity that I had given a donation to. What an awesome gift!

The smell of the dry tea bag and of the steeped tea is very strong mandarin. Not sweet, more spicey, more like the rind of the orange.

The tea tastes very sweet, there is a mellow orange flavour. The aftertaste is zesty and spicey, again like the oil from an the mandarin/orange rind.

This tea is good, but I will most likely not purchase for myself.