Peppermint Bark

I received a bag of this as a freebie with the quarterly Republic of Tea catalog. Even though I am trying to primarily focus on unflavored teas and tea blends, I still wanted to give this a shot. I’m not a huge fan of the teas offered by The Republic of Tea, but hey, I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to try one more. I love peppermint, cocoa, and vanilla (I’m not sure how I feel about green rooibos at this point), so I figured this one might be a winner.

I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion. I steeped my sample bag in 8 ounces of 212 F water for around 5 minutes. I am not in the habit of resteeping tisanes or anything in a teabag, so I did not attempt additional infusions.

After infusion, the liquor produced strong aromas of cocoa, vanilla, and peppermint. There was a slightly toasty character that I presume was provided by the green rooibos. I could also pick up on a slight sugary scent from the stevia. In the mouth, I got a muddy mix of peppermint, stevia, cocoa, vanilla creme, and toast followed by a finish that continued to emphasize peppermint, cocoa, and vanilla creme notes, though there was also an oddly sugary sweetness from the stevia that became a bit distracting for me.

So, it would appear that I am still looking for a tea from The Republic of Tea that I actually like. I think what killed this one for me was how muddled the flavors were and how sickly sweet this blend became toward the finish. I am far from a fan of stevia, and I think this blend may have been slightly better without it. I also noticed that the green rooibos base was just barely detectable. It seems that a lot of herbal blends are going to rooibos as a base component these days, and while I like rooibos, I am undecided on green rooibos and tend to feel that rooibos of any sort is better on its own. I also have a little bit of an issue with the teamakers seemingly deliberately obscuring a component of this blend to the point that it is just barely detectable. I get that the green rooibos is likely there just to provide body, but why even bother at all? Why not use something else? In the end, I’m glad I had the opportunity to try this one and will give it points for decently approximating the flavor of peppermint bark, but I would most definitely not go out of my way to have it again.

This is the quarterly Republic of Tea catalog freebie. I’m sure it will be interesting because this is definitely not something I would have chosen on my own. I like mint and am in love with vanilla. However, rooibos and I are not friends. Though I guess green rooibos isn’t quite as bad…

Flavor-wise, the mint is in the foreground and it is oh-so-tingly. Really cools and lingers in your mouth. It’s followed by a very nice, smooth vanilla. It’s desserty with creamy notes of white chocolate. Yeah, this actually tastes like peppermint bark. Though the peppermint has that faint pickle taste that I swear is there but only I ever taste. As far as the rooibos goes, I really can’t taste it. The mint is just too loud.

While this is interesting and makes a nice after-dinner treat, it’s still not really something I’d get for the cupboard. When I go for seasonal teas, I don’t really crave peppermint. I want caramel, cinnamon, pumpkin, clove, nutmeg, that kind of thing.

Been using this tea up gradually since it’s from last year. I pretty much hate peppermint tea, this is the only one I tolerate and enjoy. The Stevia adds some great sweetness, it’s not too heavy of a mint flavor, the smoothness and creaminess really balance it out well.

Thanks for this freebie, Ost! Always willing to try, especially a minty chocolate tea but WHOA this is the tea with the most splenda I’ve ever had. It’s almost unbearably too sweet with hints of mint and chocolate behind all of that splenda. It’s just too much. They should have just labeled this one splenda. :/

Already sweetened, but not too sweetly. The peppermint is great, and the chocolate adds a smoothness more so than “hey, I’m chocolate!” Tasty, but if you’re after a rather chocolatey tea, you’d have to look elsewhere. Still yummy! :)

This really does taste like peppermint bark. The aftertaste is amazing! I don’t mind the stevia! I just finished my first cup but can see this becoming a favorite.

I had a sample of this from the holidays so I gave it a try today. It seemed interesting, but had stevia leaf, so it’s not really my thing. Luckily, my 4 year old loved it (“Sorry, Mom, I’m going to want to drink the whole cup.”) so it will be consumed.

Soo I totally oversteeped this tea because I was really upset over an email my stupid Doctor sent me >> So I’m not gonna rate it yet. It was way too much peppermint for one cup of tea. xD I need to try this again and give it a proper review because I Am sure that this isn’t what it usually tastes like. Oy.
Don’t worry, I will give it a proper review soon, Rosehips!
Just was a bad moment to be steeping tea since I was really upset ><

I got this sample in my December RoT catalog and am finally getting around to trying it. I was excited to see that this was a green rooibos, since most of the other chocolate peppermint teas I’ve tried have been red rooibos and can tend to have a woody aftertaste. This one has a nice smooth peppermint flavor as I’m sipping it, but the strong stevia aftertaste completely ruins the experience for me. I wish companies wouldn’t pre-sweeten their teas!

The mint and cocoa in this tea definitely take the foreground along with the sweetness from the stevia leaf. The green rooibos seems to take a background note, but it is there. I would actually like to see this without stevia already added. I think it might take on a slightly darker, earthier tone which might be nice. Overall a great tea!