After Dinner Tea

Here's another birthday present I've taken ages to review.

Brewing

"Infuse for at least 5 minutes in freshly boiled water."

As with many herbal teas it needs a long brewing time and can't really stew. Just remove the bag when it suits your taste :)

Colour

A mahogany like brown. A bit reminiscent of the box colour.

Aroma

I was a little bunged up when I reviewed this and the aroma is not very strong. You can smell hints of fennel and cardamom though.

Taste

A nice lightly spiced brew. It's quite wintry and warming but not as strong as a Christmas brew would be. Lovely :)

Doctor Who/Spartacus

I've been drinking this tea while watching the new series of Doctor Who :D Also Spartacus: Blood and Sand which is an excellent series reminiscent of Rome.

Conclusion

A calming spicy tea for the evening. Excellent to wind down before bed :)

Web-link

http://www.pukkaherbs.com/tea-room/all-our-teas/after-dinner.html

Tom out!

The Almost Tea

While out in Deansgate the other day I decided to be a little daring in my choice of tea. I went for the interestingly named Rooibos tea which until recently I knew nothing about (except that my friend Aisha was a fan of it).

For those who don't know Rooibos (or Redbush) tea is made from a bush found in Africa and is naturally caffeine free. Since it is not made from true tea leaves it counts as a herbal tea. It is still full of anti-oxidants though!

Brewing

"Use freshly drawn water. Use water at a rolling boil. Steep for 3 to 5 minutes (or to your taste) to release all of the flavour. Delicious with or without milk."

I brewed this tea for about 4 minutes but I didn't keep diligent track of the time since I was enjoying myself in a restaurant. I enjoyed this herbal tea with milk partly because if you can have milk in tea I normally do and partly because I left the waiter standing there for so long while I made my decision that it would have been rude not to. 

Colour

A rich red-brown colour that compares to most everyday teas.

Aroma

The aroma is nothing special, smelling very much like an ordinary tea.

Taste

This was the most interesting part as I had absolutely no idea what to expect because herbal teas have such a wide range of flavours. Rooibos tea, it turns out, tastes very similar to normal tea. In fact had I not known it was different I would likely have thought nothing of it and assumed it was simply normal tea. 

Since this is clearly marketed as caffeine free alternative and is a lot nicer than many decaf teas I can definitely see the appeal.

Cake & Conversation

I tried this tea with a slice of carrot cake (Café Rouge is yet another place which does a 'cake & coffee' deal) and a delightful conversation.

Conclusion

Very similar to your standard teas but without the caffeine. A pleasant surprise!

Web-link

http://shop.twinings.co.uk/shop/twinings-tea/redbush-teas/redbush-628.html

See you all next week for the second Twinings sample!