Cape Town Rooibos - The Tao of Tea

Today I'm drinking Cape Town Rooibos...while coping with a two and a half year old who has now learned the words "no," "my," and "I need" in just a few short days. This explains why I actually brewed two pots of this tea today. Once, I added the water and then suddenly realized 30 minutes had passed. Oops.

Let's start with noting that "Rooibos" is pronounced "ROY-boss." Until recently I was certain it was pronounced "Roo - EE - bus." This is what I told my husband. I had to give a big mea culpa when he was corrected on his pronunciation at a local coffee shop. Trusting my pronunciation I think he even disagreed with the clerk. So, I apologize publicly to him and to the poor clerk.

I am actually not a big fan of rooibos. I really prefer real tea. But occasionally I find one I like. This is a really nice one. It is a red rooibos combined with chamomile, spearmint, rose petals, orange peel, and lemon verbena. All of the ingredients are certified to be 100% organic and it is a fair trade tea. I always feel like rooibos has a vanilla-like flavor to me. The mint brought out the natural sweetness of the rooibos and I could definitely taste the citrusy flavor of the orange and lemon. It is one of the prettiest blends I have ever seen.

I did have one brewing issue. The instructions on the package said to use 1 tsp of tea per 16 ounces of water at 185 degrees for 3 1/2 minutes. The website said to use 1 tsp per 8 ounces for 5 - 10 minutes at 190 - 210 degrees. Totally different instructions - different temp, time, and amount. I went with the directions on the container which used the smaller amount of rooibos and I thought it made a really nice infusion.

Tea: Cape Town Rooibos
Source: The Tao of Tea
Type: Organic Rooibos
Brewing details: 185 degrees for 3 1/2 minutes.
Comment: I appreciated the lack of caffeine in this brew. I think I needed to be nice and calm to get through today's session of "No!"s.

Taken from http://teapages.blogspot.com/