Rosali Tea

This tea tastes a lot like a rooibos version of Good Earth Sweet n Spicy, except a little less sweet and a little less spicy. The cinnamon definitely comes through strongly. I steeped it for awhile (7 minutes) because I was cold and really wanted the spiciness to come through in full force!

I love this tea! I’ve always been partial to Genmaicha, so I was an easy convert to this one. The rice is nice and flavorful and toasty and it was great on the second and third resteep. Highly recommend it!

Nice tea! It came in my first box of Rosali Tea and I really like the color (opaque, vibrant light green) and the taste (steeped for awhile, about 6 minutes, and it didn’t get too strong, probably because I used a lot of water.) It reminds me a lot of the green tea I had in Japan – subtle, pleasant, and healthy-tasting.

This has a really lovely creamy taste and is a very high-quality tea. The flavor lasted through 3 infusions, which I was really happy with! As you may have guessed, I am partial to oolongs, so I was not disappointed with this tea.

My first thought was how surprised I was at how high-quality this tea is. Usually I’ve bought Assam loose leaf in tins from various tea stores and this took my Assam experience up another notch!

I really liked the taste – earthy and smooth, yet not overpowering. Really nice for starting the morning.

I’m more of a black tea drinker, but I love me some oolongs. I know that milky oolong teas are very popular, but I am under the impression that I have never had it steeped properly before. I met Rosa at the SF tea festival, and she had a fresh pot of milky oolong brewing.

When I took a sip of this tea, I was immediately struck at how smooth and creamy it was. If you’ve never had an oolong before, this is a fantastic one to venture into. The complexities of tea really comes out in the tea I sampled, and I also got some to try out myself when I got to work. It is a fantastic tea to have in the middle of the day.

Unfortunately, the hot water at work was WAY too hot and I couldn’t get the tea to steep correctly. Rosa kindly gave me tips on how long to wait to let boiling water cool before putting the tea leaves in, and eventually I just took it home where I had my variable water kettle. Once I brewed it properly, that creamy character was there. Total my bad on my part, but I can see why this is the most popular tea of her subscription.

I have finally made a really tough decision, one that will affect a large part of next year…I am not buying any more tea or tea gear until I save up enough for an Xbone. I mentioned my reasoning for getting an Xbone over a new computer before, basically I want to expand and keep working on the world I have been building since the beginning of 2013, if I get a PC I would have to start over, and as silly as it sounds, Ramble is my home. Problem is I am running out of room, on the Xbone it will expand A LOT, and this is something I really want. So I have to make the choice, more tea or a new system, luckily I will still be in the couple of tea clubs I am a member of, so it is not like I am going to run out…plus I have a lot of tea I need to drink, like seriously, my stash is out of control. The hard part will, of course, be staying away from the thrift stores!

Today I am taking a look at Rosali Tea’s Blend No. 1 Assam, a single origin Black Tea from India, though alas I am not sure as to which estate it comes from. Assam was one of my first loves, I used to drink it a lot, well until the Dian Hong seduced me away with golden fuzzies, but I still love me a good Assam. But before I get into that, I just learned Rosali Tea is holding a contest to win a year of their tea, yeah I am so entering. So, back to tea! The aroma of the really quite sizable leaves (for Assam, I am used to them being small and tippy rather than full leaves) is really sweet. Strong notes of honey and malt with thick molasses and a slightly woody brisk undertone. This might be the most mellow and sweet Assam black teas I have sniffed, there is even a slight cacao shell note at the finish, which is neat!

Steeping apparatus time! Poor thing has felt neglected of late. The aroma of the now quite soggy leaves is malty and sweet, with a strong molasses presence, it kinda reminds me of a molasses cookie with its sweetness and slightly yeasty dough notes. Along side this is a slight woody briskness, which gives it a bit of liveliness in my nose. The liquid is rich and sweet, heavy notes of molasses and honey with brown sugar and malt. This is shaping up to be a killer sweet Assam, which is really quite entertaining.

Tasting time, and I decided to use my really quite outrageous vintage teacup, all about the lustreware! Starting out, the mouthfeel on this Assam is a fantastic blend of smooth and brisk, it is mellow while also waking up my mouth, it is pretty enjoyable. Sometimes I find Assam to be a little too brisk, but not this time. The taste starts sweet and stays sweet until the very end, with notes of caramel, molasses, and brown sugar. This moves to malt and a touch of a woody finish. I ended up resteeping this tea no problem, though I did not find much had changed between steepings. I think this might be the sweetest Assam I have had, not only did I love it, but the Tea Barbarian really enjoyed it, he practically drank all of it himself!

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/rosali-tea-blend-no-1-assam-tea-review.html

Had this the other day when my cousin came back to visit for Thanksgiving!

She had this when she first visited earlier in the month and loved it, it was her special request to have it again for Thanksgiving!

Such a nice tea, super creamy and smooth!

Backlog!

Cousin requested to have oolong and I asked her if she’s ever had a milk oolong. She said no so I grabbed her one from my favorite stash :)

Still just as creamy as I remember!

This was the first tea that I had at the LA International Tea Festival and I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Rosa Li! She was so passionate about her teas and I am so happy that she got backed on Kickstarter :))

While speaking with her, I found out that this was her best seller, and after my first taste, I realized why! It is so smooth, complex, yet a very well balanced tea. Slight notes of butter since it slides on the tongue, bc of the creaminess of the tea. I ended up purchasing a 3oz tin of this tea and I am SO happy I got it!

You know, I still haven’t gotten around to mailing my camera away, for shame! I am so slack lately, but I have a valid excuse…yeah, that grumbling that I thought I was getting sick has come to fruition, I am definitely sick, blech. At least I am getting it out of my system before the holidays, so that is a positive, but it is cramping my style man, I gots stuff to do! Bah, I am sick of complaining about this sick, instead let me tell you how absolutely gorgeous it was today! I got to open up the windows and enjoy some fresh air, and the air smelled lovely, crisp and like wet leaves, one of my favorite ways for the air to smell. Plus sitting in some sunshine was excellent, I am a nightowl, but I am also possibly a cat and therefore solar powered.

Today’s tea comes from new subscription service, Rosali Tea, specifically their Hibiscus Orange Nectar! Before I get into the tea itself, let me say that Rosali Tea has the best box ever for shipping their monthly teas (three of them, if you were curious, for $14.95 a month) it is not a standard box, it is a box that is also a drawer…and I want a bunch of them to stack and use for storing things because I collect boxes. Really I just like everything about their packaging, especially the little cards with ingredients and about the tea in question. Hibiscus Orange Nectar honestly filled me with apprehension at the name, you all know my weird relationship with that tart red flower, but reading the ingredients put me at ease. It is a blend of Rooibos, Orange Peel, Hibiscus, Rosehips, Apples, Safflowers, Rose Petals, Vanilla, and Citrus Flavors it is described as being reminiscent of a creamsicle….one of my great weaknesses! It was love at first sniff, the leaves smell like an Orange Julius, creamy sweet vanilla and sweet oranges with a gentle touch of tart and roses. The roses are a fun addition and give me the evil idea of adding rosewater to an Orange Julius…I mean it works for mango lassis, why not those too?

Brewing the tea turns my little tea area into a citrus creamy delight, and I am ok with that. Funnily I rarely eat oranges, but I will go gaga for orange flavored things, especially if those orange things also involve cream, it is just so delicious and joy inducing. The aroma of the soggy leaves is a balance of oranges and creamy vanilla ice cream, with undertones of roses and a touch of tart hibiscus. Really the hibiscus is incredibly light. The liquid is creamy and sweet with notes of vanilla ice cream, oranges, roses, and a touch of hibiscus tartness. It is like an Orange Julius on an exotic vacation and has taken a fondness for the color pink.

Tasting time, will my love of creamy orange beat out my dislike of hibiscus? Unsurprisingly yes, because really it seems my dislike of hibiscus is truly waning in my old age, or I just get lucky and the blends I have it in know how to use it sparingly. This tea is surprisingly creamy for one made from rooibos and hibiscus, the mouthfeel is not incredibly creamy, more a mix between smooth and dry, but man, that taste is like ice cream. And oranges, so many oranges, it is like a slightly woody, rose water spiked Orange Julius. Sweet, warm, and cheerful…my only complaint with Orange Julius and creamsicles, I don’t like ingesting cold things, so having those flavors in a warm soothing tea makes for a happy me. There is a bit of tart at the finish, not too intense, the tea is sweet enough that I was not even tempted to counter the tart with sugar. This tea is delicious, my craving for Orange Julius has been sated for now.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/12/rosali-tea-hibiscus-orange-nectar-tea.html

I’m a several-month subscriber to Rosali Tea (through private subscriber round). I really enjoyed this assam tea as it’s very smooth. The taste isn’t overpowering- it is flavorful, yet somehow has a light and harmonious feel to it.

I’m a several-month subscriber to Rosali Tea (through private subscriber round).

I’ve had different varietals of oolong before and this one is quite unique. It has a naturally creamy/buttery taste to it, which I’ve only seen in another oolong. Unlike most teas with unique flavors, the depth of the taste for this one lasts through the first 2 or 3 infusions.

Rosali Tea is just launching a monthly subscription service. I received this and a milk oolong for review. When I opened the box and saw hibiscus on the label, I went eeuuuwww, hibiscus. When I opened the bag to sniff, I expected a tart blast. Instead I got this incredible vanilla orange scent. I poured out a spoon of leaf and immediately saw rooibos. That is often another red flag as it can be throat scratchy rough. I could not smell it until after I steeped. Even then it is light and its sweetness fills in around the orange and vanilla. I see hibiscus. I do not taste hibiscus. I added a little sweetener for science. Holy Wow! This is unquestionably the best blend I have ever tried with either hibiscus or rooibos. So very good.