Staufs Coffee Roasters

Organic rosehips

Dry Aroma: vitamin/medicinal, carob, fruit leather
Wet Aroma: medicinal, fruit leather, vitamin C
Cup: beautiful coppery-orange liquor that deepens into a deep red/brown umber. Tart front note with expected ‘rose hip’ flavor with a subtle hint of mint and when left to deeply extract, a complex and deep flavor of tart dried cherries emerges. Smooth mouth feel, with light lingering aftertaste that is vegetal and almost fruity.

Brewing method: used 4 grams (2 rounded tsp) per 6oz of 200 degree water, steeped for 4-6 minutes in traditional cupping set and then followed up with 8 grams in 17 oz double walled glass mug from www.sunstea.com

Ok, I admit I had a hand in this description as well, so I stand by it.. But saying more that doesn’t fit on a website simply, is the fact that I’ve never been a big fan of rosehips, but understand thier place in the tisane line up. I have always found the cup they produce to be thin, watery, fruit-stew-like , but I was surprised and pleased to cup this unlikely source of new appreciation.
To begin, the pic shows a almost ‘stone-like’ appearance, lacking the usual uniform luster that you often find in rosehips in bulk; that sort of meaty, homogenous, fruit leather look. I attribute this to the fact that this tea is not only organically grown, but its domestically US produced and has a naturalistic character that says “variation happens” and I appreciate that – even if it means it doesn’t look uniformly pretty. I like when organic shows off its natural flair for variation – not like the uniform grocery apples, but rather like the bushels you hand pick at a farm.
I also think this tea lacks the typical ‘thin’ mouthfeel and flat vitamin C tablet flavor. In longer steeps, I found the tea to develop a meaty, dried cherry flavor that I was impressed by and thought would blend nicely into other mixes and would offer interesting complexity in iced teas.
This was just added to the Staufs list of offerings online and I’m pleased to see progress in their loose leaf selection online – I’m also excited to see that more is to come.

I had a bit of a hand in cupping and describing this one, so I stand by the description that is posted on the website.
Makes an amazing cold brewed iced tea, using 1oz of loose leaf in 3/4 gal of cold water and steeped 6 hrs in the fridge in a Bodum Biasca Iced tea pitcher.
Unlike typical oolongs, its almost better to treat this tea like a black tea, as it has a finer leaf size and a more oxidized profile. The depth of the flavor is better than many traditional orthodox black teas I’ve had out of this region and far better than the CTC that are more common from Kenya and Tanzania.
I did a charity ride this last weekend called the Tour de H2O that builds wells and water systems to help provide clean water (a key necessity for any good cup of tea) for schools and communities. I presented a sample of this to the organizer and hope he enjoys it.
Cuppings were done with a traditional cupping set, using 2 grams for 6oz in 200 degree water for 2-3 minutes, and using same temp. water with slightly longer steep times for follow up extractions. Flavor held up for about 3 extractions and the wonderful apricot notes diminished slightly. A great cup.