Rooibos Jasmine

I am having some of this tonight, mostly because I started writing a tea review for it months ago, and have had the partial review sitting in my files for a while now, and I need to finish it! But, I can’t finish a review for a tea that I haven’t had for many months… my memory isn’t that good!

I remember really liking this when I first tasted it… now I am not loving it quite as much as I once did. It is still alright… but it isn’t as good as I once thought it was. Losing points… It just doesn’t do jasmine flavor justice…

When I first got this, I was a really big fan. Over time, I’ve become less and less interested in it. It’s good for a no caffeine jasmine option, but I’ll be ready to switch back to regular jasmine tea once I’m back in regular tea drinking.

However, I do like it more than most rooibos!

This tea is a winner. Love the rich, dark red color and pleasant jasmine aroma that just won’t quit. It’s also got a smooth, sweet taste that lingers on your tongue without getting bitter for a great combo of color, taste and aroma.

I’m feeling kind of ho hum about this tea. I love jasmine tea and I’d love to have a good decaf version, but this one isn’t grabbing me. The jasmine is more subtle than I am accustomed to, maybe a little on the soapy side. I’m not getting much rooibos, which is good. I could like it. Eh, the verdict is still out.

This was one of the stranger offerings in my Adagio herbal sampler. Maybe it’s just me, but rooibos and jasmine just don’t seem to go together; I associated rooibos with sweet (chocolate, vanilla) or spicy (chai) but not florals like jasmine. Ah well, it’ll be an adventure right?

Uhm, not really.

I brewed this approximately to the package instruction although I was a little iffy on the water temperature (the tin said 180 degrees which surprised me as I thought tisane = boiling?). I don’t have a thermometer and I was feeling lazy (damn you paper writing!) so I just let the boiled water sit for a minute or so to cool down a little. Steeped 7 minutes with approximately 1 teaspoon of leaves for a cup of water.

Both the dry leaves and the liquor had a strong jasmine smell with maybe a bit of “woodiness” underneath that I assume was the rooibos. The taste? Pretty much zilch.

When I sipped while breathing in I got the strong jasmine floral scent, but it felt like my taste buds didn’t have anything to work with at all, no matter how much I slurped or swished. When I held my breath there was nothing indicating I wasn’t drinking hot water. Even when I exhaled after a sip the “after taste” was more the scent coming at my nose via my mouth then any true flavour.

I know jasmine teas in general are more about the scent then the taste but other examples that I’ve tried at least had some flavour. My taste buds feel left out.

I like jasmine, but I’ve really only had it as green. This has a nice, floral scent. (And still makes me want steamed rice.) The jasmine flavour comes out a little stronger than I’m used to, but it’s alright.

Though I prefer a jasmine green tea/ rooibos blend (as a cold-brew).

The jasmine in this is overpowering. The tea is drinkable, but barely, and it’s almost too cloying for me to drink. I cannot taste the rooibos at all.

This is what jasmine mummies and daddies warn their little jasmine buds about at night before they sleep. My kitchen smells like a garden and I feel like a cross between a vampire and a hummingbird.

You must, by now, have concluded that this tea is powerfully fragrant and has a very strong flavour. You’d be right on both counts: it’s like drinking a bouquet. If this is jasmine with rooibos (rooibos? what rooibos? there’s rooibos in here?), I reckon I’m in for an interesting experience when I steep the jasmine without rooibos.

Anyway, so ya, if drinking a bouquet doesn’t appeal, stay far away. I loved it; but then, I munched on rose petals when i was a kid. =)

Evening cuppa from earlier this week – part of the floral tea bandwagon.

Definitely sweeter than you would expect of a jasmine tea, but I believe that’s the natural honey and red fruit notes of the rooibos base kind of lifting and boosting the already present sweet undertones of this heady floral jasmine. It’s straight to the point and a kind of “mono flavour” aside from those base nuances, but works when that’s what you’re craving!

There is a lot of rooibos, but nothing that screams jasmine. Maybe hints of floral? If I didn’t know this was supposed to be jasmine, I would think it was plain rooibos.