The Republic of Tea

Dessert-y and excellent as always.

Mmmm I love this stuff… It’s vanilla custard-y like dessert, but you can also taste the healthy, herby goodness behind it.

I let it steep forever and suffer no consequences. The RoT really nailed this one.

I get mixed ideas as to what rooibos does. Some swear that it cures insomnia, some say it’s revitalizing and energizing. It’s completely caffeine-free, so I’m deeming it okay to drink before bed. Or anytime, really.

It’s like a nice hot shower, but in beverage form. Does that make sense?

Yup, definitely still love this. One of the best vanilla flavored teas I’ve experienced. And it’s a rooibos! Two ordinary flavors come together to become extraordinary. It’s simple, but perfect.

I really enjoy this blend. The vanilla and the mildness of the rooibos make for a very soothing and healthy bedtime tea. It’s not a complex or surprising tea by any stretch, but hey, I like to keep things simple. I also approve of this company’s business practices.

Mmmmmmm! Oh my God, this may change my opinion of rooibos! It doesn’t taste like olives! The vanilla is perfect with it. It’s a sweet tea, and mild without being bland.

Prime!

Other reviewers have compared Republic of Tea Ginseng Peppermint to Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer, and there is definitely a lot of overlap, given the eleuthero, the peppermint, and the licorice root, which imparts a decided sweetness to the cloudy golden liquor.

As with Tension Tamer, the dominant flavor seems to me to be licorice. I also can taste the ginseng, which is also somewhat sweet. The mintiness of the peppermint is rather light, probably because the licorice and the ginseng are so strong. Or is that eleuthero? I’m still not sure what eleuthero tastes like.

This blend is making me very drowsy. Perhaps I should go bathe before falling asleep!

Oh yum, yum, yum! Thank you Ost! What a pleasant surprise!! Very enjoyable rooibos with gentle lemon and perhaps a bit of “pastry”. Very relaxing and satisfying. :-D

Yum, yum, yum! Ya know how it is when you read other’s reviews; ya sorta lower your expectations since they don’t sound very positive. Well, I was delighted try this tea thanks to 221Tea. It has a nice lemon pound cake scent.Sweetened with a little Vanilla Stevia. Very nice cake lemon taste as opposed to the sweet/sour fruity lemon. Nice relaxing, dessert-y tea. Why am I having it before dinner? Well, hopefully it resteeps. If not. well I have gotten about 30 swaps in the last two weeks, so I think I’ll find some thing good. :D
BTW, I don’t put my swaps and samples in my cupboard. What do the rest of you do?

If all I had to choose from was ROT, this wouldn’t be a bad one to pick. They managed to do a fruit tea without the hibiscus and the sage is an interesting idea to pair with berries. There is a slight bitterness on the back of my tongue. I can taste the blackberry but have a hard time picking out the sage. Good idea, but poor execution.

ROT, where every fruity tea must have the disgusting addition of hibiscus. Totally ruins it for me.

Oh, eck, blech! ROT strikes out again! I taste tea, I taste cinnamon and I taste perfume like floral that I guess is supposed to represent plum? Adding sugar redeems nothing and my mouth is left feeling dry. Down the sink it goes!

ROT is really failing to wow me. This tea does taste like blueberry, but in a very unimpressive way. They didn’t use hibiscus and there was a dried berry in with my leaves, so kudos for that, but the tea just fails to deliver much else. Super glad I only bought a sample size!

This smells strongly of honey candy. It is that fake floral what they think honey should smell like scent. It tastes lightly of lemon and on the end I get a hint of honey. It is okay, but kinda weak.

A no-nonsense black tea, the bergamot oil is veryyyy prominent and comes right to the forefront, but does smooth out the tea a bit, making it less astringent even when brewed strongly. There are better Earl Greys out there, but for getting a kick start early in the morning this is not bad.

This tea is mostly pu-erh tasting, with a slight hint of coconut. It is a much lower intensity of flavor than I am used to in flavored teas, but it is nice. The pu-erh has an almost ricey starch like taste to it. Over all, I’d say it was okay if I wanted something a little more subtle and earthy, but I don’t think that is what I’m in the mood for at the moment.

I received a few bags of thes from bluebelle in our swap from February. Thank you!

I was freezing today at work. I am not sure why. I was teeth chattering cold. So I had slurped down my 2 mugs of tea for the day by say like 9am. So I resorted to some of my rooibos/honeybush to help minimize the caffeine intake for the day. I had 2 bags of this. It was pretty tasty. Mostly orange with a bit of spice at the end of the sip. Not something I would purchase again, but a warm enjoyable cup.

A nice light lemon flavor that smooths out with a vanilla note. It smells like a vanilla cake. A very light tea in general; very soothing.

Love the berry and hibiscus flavor,unfortunately the rose rose is imperceptable.
I still like this tea,but would give it higher marks if you could taste the rose AND
If it had any resteep value

The dry leaf and the brew of this tea both smell very strongly of berries – especially the brewed tea itself. However, it’s kind of a “fake” berry smell, and that translated over into the taste.

I think this was okay if you’re just getting started into flavoured teas. I have one bag left of this to try, but I’ll send it along in a swap to Jude.

Many thanks to darby for sending me a sample of this.

(Disclaimer—I’m kind of uneducated when it comes to black tea. I’m more a fan of flavored teas. This isn’t going to be a true connoisseur’s assessment, merely that of one who knows what she likes. What’s more, Republic of Tea is a company I have something of a love/hate relationship with. )

First steeping: One bag, boiling water, three minutes.
Well, it’s nice and dark, a good indication that maybe they used enough tea in their sachets for once. I’m not catching much of a scent from it, maybe because I’m spoiled from drinking so many strongly flavored brews.
It tastes . . . (cue suspense music as I lift the cup to my lips) . . . like tea. I know, bravo Captain obvious.
It’s ok tea, mild and pleasant with no rancidity or bitterness. It actually reminds me of the cheap stuff I sometimes buy for my own blends for a dollar a box. The trouble is there ought to be worlds of difference between the taste of a tea that costs a dollar and another that retails at $10.50. The fact that my taste buds aren’t noticing any amazing nuances in the pricier stuff is a sure indication that either I’m an uncultured oaf or this stuff is overpriced.
I drank it plain in my oafish way and found it OK—Less perfume-y than some but quite acceptable. It grew a tad astringent in the last few sips.
I don’t see this as a morning grog to blast me into wakefulness nor an exotic tea to wax poetic over. To my uncultured palate Three Gardens Breakfast Black is mild, unassertive, inoffensive, ordinary, and quite forgettable. Yawn.

I found this on sale recently at World Market – 50% off for RoT? Um, hell yes.

I always find the rooibos is naturally sweet—but in a weird, rooty sort of way. When I read the ingrendients (which are short and underwhelming), I expected to be kind of disappointed, but who cares, it’s 50% off.

Boy was I wrong. While the flavor is definitely not complex, it is very robust. The blueberry flavor is intense. VERY intense—and blueberries are freaking delicious. It doesn’t taste artificial either, which is quite nice. Usually, I find that flavored sweet rooibos teas are overwhelming, but this one sits right on the edge — any more sweetness, and it would be ridiculous.

The smell is very pleasant — it definitely smells how you’d expect a fragrant blueberry cake to smell up close. Overall, the tea is very pleasant in short, small doses.