The Republic of Tea

A kind man at Whole Foods saw me drain my tea cup of the white tea I’d brought with me, and offered me a free refill- of any of the teas they had by the bar. How nice! I must have looked gloomy (which I was).

So I chose this one because it sounded really interesting. And actually, I’m scratching my head a bit because I swear, all I taste is rooibos. I don’t taste almond, or coconut. If I hadn’t taken the tea bag out of the tin myself I’d swear that he gave me the plain rooibos. Now don’t get me wrong, I like rooibos, but I was hoping for some macaroon action.

My experience is so far afield from the reviews on RoT’s website for this one that I now want to try it again just to, um, make sure it’s bland.
But, um… maybe only if they comp me again. Otherwise I’ll try something new next time.

Bought this on impulse during a lunchtime grocery store run. Not like I need more tea… went ahead and made a cup when I got home, because why drink one of the 100+ teas I have when I can open a new tin, right? Anyway, it’s yummy and soothing – it tastes and smells more like candy to me then a real fresh strawberry, but that’s ok. I find the scent comforting. It’s sweet enough but not tooth-achingly so, which is nice. The chocolate isn’t strong, in fact it blends seamlessly with the strawberry flavor. This reminds me a bit of a milk chocolate Ritter Sport candy bar w/ strawberry filling that I had recently. Next time I will try it with a splash of milk as suggested. (It would probably be good with almond milk, coconut milk, or even vanilla flavored versions of either.)

Having this today with a little honey in it. Its an overcast day and I overslept and I have a headache and feel weird. Its helping. :)

Omg this tea is so delicious. Its exactly what I want from a straight up green with no flavorings at all in it. And the residue that it leaves in my cup is nice too. Very strong. Great as an iced tea.

Tastes like a dream of dancing unicorns and gumdrop houses. This stuff is friggin’ gloooorrrriioooouuuusssssss.

I could drink this 100 TIMES PER DAY.
I probably shouldn’t. But I could.

Great tasting tea. The melon flavor is quite clear and easy to spot. I wouldn’t call it strong, but it’s very “present”. Loved it. I’m growing very fond of White Teas lately and this one is a great contender. The calmness of the melon matches the white tea base nicely and it’s a great idea for a chill day. Good times.

I really do like RoT’s cuppa chocolate tea collection. I enjoyed the red velvet cake tea and so I was eager to try this one. I very much am interested by the combination of banana and chocolate. Plus, rooibos? Yes! This tea had a similar taste to the red velvet cake tea, but with the addition of banana flavor (slightly artificial). I drank the whole cup, but will I go back and purchase more tins of this? Probably not. If it were more creamy or flavorful and not as artificial, I think I would like this one much more.

A very subtle tea, and a nice change from my usual choices. The orange blossom is what really makes this tea sing. I love the gentle waft of orange in my nose and over my tongue, but this will never be a tea that overwhelms you with taste. If you are looking for a strong, bold tea, this is not that tea!

So I just did a blind test between this tea ($13/3.5oz) with the American Tea Room Milk Oolong ($39/2oz). I brewed both following the instructions that came with the American Tea Room tea (2 minutes @ 175 degrees). I had my fiancee put each tea into 2 cups and she kept track of which was which so there were 4 cups total. I chose my favorite two cups (they all tasted very similar) and it turned out I chose one of this republic of tea milk oolong, and one of the american tea room milk oolong. They are both delicious, but since this one is so much cheeper, and tastes basically the same to me, I am definitely sticking with this!

I happened to be in the mood for this tea as I had made a carrot cake for a birthday celebration. This tea is best when it’s hot – the flavors seem a lot brighter then. I taste mostly orange (a little like Motrin) with a bit of carrot. I don’t think I’d be able to identify that flavor as carrot if I were given a cup of this without knowing its name. It’s a very creative, flavorful and almost juicy cup of tea. I don’t think I’d buy a ton of this tea because I enjoy the plantain coconut green bush blend from Republic of Tea a bit more.

This is a good standard cup of green tea. I love its muted, cloudy lime green color. Slightly astringent, a little bit smooth, somewhat grassy. It’s not spectacular and it’s a bit basic, but I would pick this one over a generic tea bag. I am looking forward to having another cup!

Steep Information:
Amount: 2 teabags
Water: boiling 12 oz
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: fake banana, hint of chocolate
Steeped Tea Smell: rooibos, fake banana
Flavor: fake banana, rooibos
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: coco nibs
Liquor: dark red-brown

Yet another chocolate tea I am disappointed by, in addition their banana flavoring is subpar – 52teas was much better.

Post-Steep Additives: German rock sugar – helped a bit with bringing out the coco flavor

Rating: 2/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/10/republic-of-tea-teabag-rooibos-tisane.html

I’m liking this a little less each time I taste it … was handy at work today; was a nice complement to frozen/microwaved potstickers, but still a little medicinal in nature. Drank more out of duty (can’t stand to see a homeless tea sachet go to waste) than for pleasure.

I didn’t expect to like this — ginger and mint seem like they’d be wrangling competitively for your attention — but it was better than expected. I think the other ingredients tone down the contest a little.

I really like Cardamom which is why I bought this tea originally. I agree with the previous reviewers, it is a bit weak. Somehow it needs something to be more complete. I used two teabags in this latest brewing, also with soymilk and a hint of agave. I think this might be good mixed with some black tea

I made some of this earlier today as an iced tea, But I think I actually prefer it hot with some soymilk. It is better than I remember it, so I bumped the rating up a bit today. I think perhaps the reason I like it is that I steeped it for so long earlier today (an hour?) that seems to have brought forth the flavor much better.

The afternoon cuppa. We are getting rained on all weekend and I wanted something warm without caffeine.

I am not thrilled with this blend but since I have almost an entire can, well… you know how it goes! I did add a sugar cube to it, that turned out to be a mistake, too sweet, bluh. I will try cold brewing this one if/when the weather gets warmer

I have been trying to de-cupboard especially in terms of herbal tea. These RoT teabags are so wimpy…. I cut them open and used 4, yes FOUR contents of loose leaf teabags to get a nice big cup of tea. So it is more enjoyable this way, I still found the plantain flavor to be oddly lacking but adding some soymilk seemed to help with that somehow. I think loose leaf is the way to go with RoT but I don’t see this particular flavor in a loose leaf form on their site.

I was really looking forward to trying this tea after reading all the great reviews on Steepster – I definitely like green roobois a lot better than red! I found the plantain and coconut to be mild. I was hoping for something a little stronger as I mean to drink this primarily as a dessert tea, so I will try two bags next time. Above average but I would not buy this one again.