Eilles

This is a German tea brand I’ve never heard of, but the packaging seems familiar. Anyway, I drank this iced and enjoyed it. I expected a black tea with fruit flavour, but it seems this is all fruits and herbs. It is a bit tart, but if you control the steeping time you get lots of raspberry and strawberry flavours before it gets too sour.

Backlogging… again. I made this tisane Sunday night, per request from the hubby. The smell from the bag is a little hard to figure out. It’s DEFINITELY a rooibos, but beyond that, I can only smell little hints of flavoring here and there. There doesn’t seem to be a very even stuff-to-rooibos ratio; just a few pink peppercorns, cinnamon bits, and cardamom pods peeking out at you here and there.

I had to make this one to go, because I had a class to go teach that evening. After sipping it a couple of times in the car, I pondered that I couldn’t really detect anything ‘tropical’ in this tisane. I wanted to… but it wasn’t strong enough. I can see in the ingredient list that it’s got some orange flavoring, but I didn’t get it at all. The flavor of the rooibos—which was good quality rooibos, don’t get me wrong—just took over everything, even the peppercorns. I did get a hint of cardamom, but not enough for me to call this a chai flavored tisane. The name sounds fascinating, but the flavors just aren’t there, and I’m afraid I don’t like just straight rooibos flavor enough to give this one a very high rating.

While traveling through Europe I decided that my souvenirs would be to bring back tea from each country. I visited Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It was so much fun seeking out the small shops in each town and then trying to converse with them! I remember just enough german to say hello and such, but definitely not asking about tea. I tried to purchase teas local to the area so most are blends. For instance in Austria I purchased Mozarts blend.

I’ll start off by saying that I’m not a huge Rooibos fan. When picking out teas there, I mostly went by scent and what smelled good. We had limited time as we were on a tour so I couldn’t translate all the ingredients.

This tea is obviously rooibos, but I was new to tea then and didn’t really know much about it. This tea has a wonderful aroma, spicy and inticing. I’ve made this hot in the past and it has a nice spicy bite to the tongue. The clove really shines through on this blend – fortunately I’m a clove lover. The rooibos on this is high quality and doesn’t taste earthy at all!

I need to make space in the cupboard and use up some teas so I decided to try it iced. WOW! I think I like it even better this way. I think I have enough to make another 64oz pitcher of this and then it’ll be gone….or maybe a cup or two for the swaps.

I don’t see that you can order this on their website but if you’re there – pick some up!

Eilles is one of the greatest finds in my recent trip to Germany. It’s said to be one of the most traditional brands for fine gourmet products in Germany, and even King Ludwig II was one of their first aficionados! And after trying this tea I start to understand why even the king was a fan. Right from the very beginning it makes you fall in love with its candy-sweet aroma. Then – wow – you immediately notice that each sip is bursting with fruity (though it’s kinda like strawberry rather than dragon fruit/kiwi/raspberry) flavour! Enjoy the clean and refreshing taste of the tea leaves at the same time. Mmmm just so yummy!!