Coco Chai Rooibos by DAVIDsTEA

This tea arrived at my doorstep as a sample included with my latest DAVIDsTEA order.  Since I've never had rooibos before, I was excited to try it.

Let's have us a cuppa!

Out of the drawer the scissors go, the package is snipped open and first whiff is inhaled.  The tea smells delicious which is a no particular surprise after noting the ingredients listed in the sample.  The aroma is sweet, I detect cinnamon and a little coconut.  It looks interesting too.  I love the added visual touch of red peppercorns, they just look adorable in there.  They are actually called pink peppercorns but they look definitely red to me.

I brew this tea according to the instructions on the packet.  The aroma now fills the kitchen, it's sweet and spicy, I'm loving it.

As I take the first sip my socks are being knocked off.  This stuff is amazing!  It's smooth and slightly sweet with no astringency, only pure and gentle love.  The coconut has now taken a back seat and what I really taste is apples and cinnamon, and let me tell you, I love apples and cinnamon.  The fact that rooibos is naturally caffeine free it's an added bonus.  I can drink this concoction and not worry about climbing the walls! Awesome!

The color is very pleasing to my eye, deep orange red and it tastes as good as it looks.

The only problem I find with this tea is that among listed ingredients there is also artificial flavoring.  I don't mean to be a pain in the behind but I tend to exclude anything made with artificial flavoring from my food and drink list.  This tea will be no exception but I am so impressed with the aroma and taste that I will look for something similar to this in the organic and all natural department.

Oh yes, I'm inspired to do one more thing.  Find me a jar of pink peppercorns.  Until today I didn't know about their existence and now I want these little guys.

Ingredients: Rooibos, coconut, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, pink peppercorns, natural and artificial flavouring

Brewing temperature: Boiling

Brewing time: 7 minutes

Brewed in: Chinese blue and white ceramic teapot

Cheers!!

Of Glass Teapots and Ginger Spiced Brew

Have you ever had one of these days when luck just smiles at you?  Of course you did, they happen to all of us every now and then.  Today it was my turn to have one of these days.

I walked into my favorite second hand shop and found Teaopia (now Teavana) glass teapot with infuser, completely intact.  I've been checking out different teapots for almost two years now.  Whenever I'm at my favorite second hand shops I always check the teapot and tea sets section.  I have never seen all glass teapot yet until today.  I'm so happy because I really wanted one and they are quite pricey.  Today I didn't need to worry about the price because at $2.99 it was a steal.  On the side note, there are so many things that I want and it's nice to score a steal every now and then, right?

Such wonderful turn of events simply had to be celebrated and the only way to do it was to brew something good in my new teapot.  After washing the pot carefully (oh my, this thing is so delicate, I can imagine it could shatter just by me staring at it for too long) and drying it thoroughly, it was time for the after dinner cuppa.

This had to be a special brew, possibly something I haven't had yet but wanted to try. I decided to try one of the samplers sent to me with my latest order of DAVIDsTEA: The Skinny. It's an organic oolong blend and I've been having my eye on it for a while.

The Organic Skinny Ingredients: Chinese oolong tea, Chinese pu'erh tea, ginger, eleuthero, orange peel, natural orange and ginger flavorings.

Upon tearing the sample package I was greeted with a delicious aroma reminiscent of citrus with a tiny hint of ginger. I really enjoyed that. Usually when the tea smells yummy pre-steep it is an indication of good things to come.

I steeped the tea for about 5 minutes at which point the color was beautiful shade of red, not too light and not too dark. The scent has now changed slightly. It was spicy with bigger emphasis on ginger. Taste-wise ginger was also very prominent but still not overwhelmingly so.  You have to know that I'm not a big fan of ginger in my tea (unless I need it for health reasons) and so this could have potentially been a tasting disaster.

I was pleasantly surprised. The tea was delicious in taste, very smooth and with a subtle hint of sweetness. My youngest daughter, who joined me in this sample tasting, added a tiny bit of organic cane sugar to it and she too has enjoyed his tea. It's maybe not something that I feel compelled to have a tin full in my tea cabinet but if available, I will most certainly have a cup of.

I give this tea a handsome 8/10

Till next time,

Cheers!!