6444 Tasting Notes
R is for…Root Beer Float
I decided to ice this one. I also set it up to cold brew, which I will have later.
I made this in my iced tea press and for some reason when I use the press for rooibos and honeybush blends, as opposed to fruit tisanes, the liquid comes up the sides of the press. Not sure why that is specifically with rooibos and honeybush, just a curious thing. Also, because of it, I am now wearing some of this iced tea since the liquid from the sides likes to spill out while I attempt to get the iced tea from the center.
I have been making this as a latte in the past and honestly this iced cup is the first time its really screamed root beer for me. It’s got a lot of those classic root beer sasparilla notes. Following that, I am getting a touch of pepper from the honeybush base tea. I could do without that but thankfully it is not the strongest note present. On the other hand, I wish there was more to the “float” element, since I am not getting much here.
Sipdown (232)
R is not for Cinnamon Rooibos Chai, but it is for Red Rooibos Cinnamon Chai and you can find the note for that tea here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/418085
I remember having this tea a long time ago and not really liking it. Pairing it next to a Plum Deluxe rooibos cinnamon chai, I know why. This take leans more into the sweet apple and red hots cinnamon flavor. Chai (the Western interpretation of it, not just tea), in my mind, is more of a spiced drink and this is on the sweet side. It’s got the classic hot but sweet DAVIDsTEA cinnamon and then apples. Not a fan.
Sipdown (233)
R is for…Red Rooibos Cinnamon Chai
I honestly thought I had more “R” teas than I do but oh well. Anyways, pulled this out first because it was caffeine free and an easy sipdown. I debated about making it as a latte but decided I would prefer to have a Root Beer Float latte later and didn’t want to have a bunch of lattes today.
Also, because I pulled this out, I decided to try the sample of Cinnamon Rooibos Chai by DAVIDsTEA that I have because (1) it was an easy sipdown and (2) seemed like a fun battle to pair these two teas meant to be similar profiles and see which company’s I prefer…if either. You can check out the note for the DAVIDsTEA tea here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/418086
The first thing I noticed in this one is the ginger burn that hits at the back of the throat. If I am being honest, that’s the kind of ginger I like in a chai so it was a super welcome experience. I am also getting a lot of the clove, another spice I like a lot of in my chai. Cinnamon comes in at the front of the sip and along with the anise sits as a sweeter top note to balance the ginger and clove beneath it. I am actually enjoying this one and the balance of spices much more than I expected I would.
Sipdown (234)
Q is for…Queen Mary
Thank you Sil and OMGsrsly for this tea!!
I used the whole sample in one of my small pots of tea. This is not my sort of black tea though. This is more like a breakfast blend in that it has a briskness to it. I like my black teas to be more like dessert. Still, always fun to try something new!
Q is for…Queen of Thorns
Honestly I bought this for the cute glitter sprinkle crowns and they do not disappoint. Gimmicky? 100% yes. Makes drinking the tea more fun? Also yes. Not going to lie.
As for taste, I am thrown because this is a blend with cardamom, vanilla, rose and almonds and yet my first sip was a whole lot of milk chocolate. I rechecked the ingredients because that seemed wrong and it was. So I kept drinking. Ok, that was a fluke. I am not getting the rose and almond pairing together. It is really dessert-like but for some reason in my head I am thinking Turkish Delight. Maybe its the rose. Maybe its my tastebuds going nuts and my brain being all hopped up on class actions law that it isn’t processing other things well. Who knows…
Sipdown (235)
Q is for…Queen’s Blend
Thank you, Sil! I didn’t realize this was a black/green blend with lavender when I was preparing what to send to Roswell Strange in the Strange VariaTea TTB. If I had, I likely would have passed this along for her to try since there is a better chance of her appreciating it than me. However, I had it and decided to give it a try, but I went in with low expectations.
The low expectations paid off I guess because it ended up being better than expected. The black/green base blend doesn’t really do anything in a positive or negative light so I guess that’s fine. The lavender is the real culprit since I am definitely getting the regular lavender soapiness here. However, the savior of this blend is the vanilla that is trying (and while the battle is close, failing) to overpower the lavender. I think if the lavender was gone, this would be a good blend but I also know that’s my personal preference and likely wouldn’t be the case for others.
