African Skies

I’ve pulled this for my evening herbal. I believe one of our past volunteers at the library gave me this one, since our local coffee shop that sources TeaSource tea carries this one; I think she bought some single ounces of a few and then decided to gift them to me when she wasn’t really drinking loose leaf at home.

The steeped tea has a strong fruity aroma, highly tropical; I’m smelling mango, passionfruit, and pineapple, as well as slightly floral. The tea is a light orange color (I was surprised it was still so red since this is a green rooibos) and the flavor notes of the base is hay, wood, and floral nectar, with a fruity sweetness that moves in midsip that tastes strongly of mango, though I get a much more subtle note of sweet melon. It’s a pleasant enough cup, though I wish the flavor was a bit stronger; I don’t really have any idea how old this tea may be, so perhaps some flavor degradation is playing a factor, though. It’s quite servicable for a mango-flavored rooibos that doesn’t have any over-powering medicinal notes, as many fruity rooibos blends seem to have for me.

Green rooibos from the tea box! This tastes similar to other fruity green rooibos blends I’ve had from Adagio. It’s weird that this is supposed to be almond because I definitely taste fruit and not nuts. Hot, the flavor is more grassy, but as it cools, the sweet fruity flavor comes out, and it’s super nice. I drank it during a workout and felt extremely refreshed!

I think this is my last sample from my swap with Inkling. It’s always nice to see green rooibos—on the whole, I tend to prefer it to red, and I always wish it were more widely used in blends. The fruit flavors here are indistinct but pleasant. This isn’t a standout, but it makes for enjoyable drinking.

Thank you to Inkling for this sample! I brewed a cup of this last night before I went to bed, and then a pot this morning.

-Very rooibosy, woody, minerals
-Distinct marzipan/almond flavour. It reminds be a lot of African Celebration (Jeoffery’s Tea and Coffee)
-Slightly sweet and nutty
-A bit plain, but not a bad blend