Lavender & Black

Sipdown (315)

For some reason, I felt I needed a third tea while I enjoyed the Game of Thrones episode of Geek Steep. This is another gift from Roswell Strange (thank you!) but I pulled it out because I wanted a “red” tea since I knew they discussed the Red Wedding from earlier conversations with Ros. This is a rooibos tea, aka red tea, called Red Floral Tea. I felt this fitting because not only is it red, but florals in Game of Thrones is related to the Tyrells. Because of that, “Red Floral” had me thinking of Olenna Tyrell who is known for committing one of the most long-awaited murders in the show. And she does it in such an amazing way that really gives the fans what they have wanted for seasons.

Unfortunately, as much as I love Olenna, I did not love this tea too much. I maybe didn’t expect to overly like it because like Highgarden, it boasts floral flavors and those are not normally what I want to drink. When I drink this, I get a lot of the rooibos base, which for some reason is coming off with that weird lotion-y vibe that rancid coconut can have. Lotion-y rooibos and then sweet berry. And flowers. Touch of lavender soap underlying everything. Maybe that’s why I get lotion? Soap + floral + something else is reading lotion in my head.

Ultimately I don’t personally like this, but despite my description above which makes this sound terrible, its an alright cup. The berry notes are stronger than I give them credit for and while they aren’t the best berry notes in a tea by far, they help this tea out a bit.

Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing this with me but also thank you for providing the entertainment I enjoyed while I drank it!

Cold Brew Sipdown (1602)!

A bit sad to have finished this one off since the combination of soothing fresh lavender with red berries is just lovely. However, I have Geek + Tea’s Hagrid themed blend which, as I was drinking the last of this tea, I realized is very similar. So, that definitely softened the blow.

Sipping on this now, though it’s cooled down and it room temperature now. It’s just the last quarter of the mug though; most of it I drank while hot. Cooled, more of the fruity elements of the flavour come out but hot the lavender and red rooibos base were what was most prominent. It’s a really nicely balanced fruity and floral tea – not sugary or juicy/tart but silky and smooth. Super comforting…

The perfect lazy Sunday Afternoon type of thing, really.

This tea was a gift to me from someone on instagram during a “Secret Santa” type tea exchange this winter – and it smells quite lovely as dry leaf so I was really stoked to try it. Not that I wouldn’t have been otherwise, but this pushed me a bit over the edge. I’ve grown to like lavender in tea quite a lot over the last year…

It’s pretty solid! I actually think this it could be incredibly versatile in terms of preparation; good hot, definitely seems like it would be good iced, and maybe even as a latte!? It’s essentially a Rooibos de Provence type tea blend; which is to say it’s a very floral lavender (and rose?) rooibos tea with a nice mellow and sweet mixed berry type of profile. As an evening tea, this is right up my alley!