Earl Grey Rooibos

This is a sample sipdown from a box of tea sent by Youngest – many thanks!

I have never been a rooibos fan but I was curious about this one and decided I needed a quiet and solitary cup of decaf before bed last night.

It really wasn’t bad! The bergamot wasn’t harsh and really tasted altered by the base, while the rooibos came off very woody which slightly offset the Robitussin taste. I had made the whole sample and decided to chill the rest, unsweetened, to have with lunch.

Cold and with food, I found that it left an aftertaste far longer than I liked. After the first sip, I decided to just save it to chug after the meal rather than altering the flavor of all of my food.

I greatly preferred the way it tasted hot. I can even see developing a real taste for this if one drink it often enough. It reminds me much more of the Fortnum and Mason plain rooibos tea than of Harney and Sons organic rooibos, the only two plain rooibos teas I have tried.

Today I am passing Day 3/7 in my decaffeinated prison. I woke up with a headache probably equally related to dehydration as caffeine deprivation, but dreaming of a hot americano all the same. As punishment for my meditative weakness, when I finally managed to coax myself out of bed at the ripe hour of 2:30PM, I perused my cabinet for my lowest caffeine tea, and the winner would appear to be this rooibos-based earl grey blend. So here goes.

Admittedly, I don’t know much about rooibos, and most blends I have tried of this variety have been inoffensive. The dry leaves are about what you would expect and smell almost tart or lemony compared to other earl greys. In the prepared cup, however, I lose track of the bergamot oil. The steam carries a honeyed raspberry aroma, and with the delicate touch of tartness enfolding my tongue, I begin to wonder if our friend bergamot has not taken a wrong turn and gotten lost in the wilderness somewhere on its way. A pleasant, low-profile cup, but whether it has earned the eponym of Earl Grey remains to be told.