red espresso® (Rooibos)

This is an exciting product for Rooibos fans or anyone looking for a naturally caffeine free product packed with antioxidants and great flavor.  Rooibos has a silky sweet flavor that is an excellent substitute for both coffee and tea.  I’ve been drinking it for years, and it’s easily my favorite tea alternative.  It’s not easy for me to deviate from tea, but when I need to cut down on caffeine, Rooibos is a great choice.

Red Espresso® opens the doors for Rooibos into the coffee shops and homes of anyone with a coffee or espresso maker.  The great thing about this product is its versatility.  You can make many hot and cold beverages with this product (click here for recipes and more info). I was fortunate to try a few hot versions of red espresso® at the World Tea Expo a couple of years ago, and it was really good.  If you are a Rooibos drinker, just note that this is not the same Rooibos you would normally find at a tea shop.  The Rooibos of red espresso® is ground; which creates a powder-like form of Rooibos as well as a finely ground Rooibos.  You can still identify the Rooibos (it’s not like it’s completely ground to dust).

from red espresso®: “Rooibos tea espresso is made from 100% premium Rooibos tea refined under a patented process to an espresso grind similar to coffee – is a unique innovation that fuses two fast-growing global trends: café culture and good health, and is being embraced by tea and coffee lovers alike. It offers a sophisticated, delicious way to drink tea and a naturally caffeine-free alternative to coffee by allowing people to enjoy a rich-flavoured cappuccino or latte – with health benefits. Naturally caffeine-free, a shot of red espresso® has five times more antioxidants than a cup of green tea (per ORAC measurements) and ten times more than regular Rooibos tea and is known to be a potent immune system booster. Easy to prepare at home or in a café, red espresso® is best prepared using an espresso machine and stovetop espresso maker but can also be prepared using a French Press and coffee maker. Versatile, red espresso® is the basis for a range of delicious red drinks – including the popular red cappuccino®, red latte® and fresh red™ (a freshly prepared, natural iced tea).”

This product has a ton of potential.  It’s time for me to start perfecting some of the recipes listed on red espresso®’s website.

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Pomegranate Vanilla Rooibos

With Mother’s Day fast approaching, first I’d like to wish my Mom a happy Mother’s Day.  In addition, I’d like to wish my wife a happy Mother’s Day.  I’ve been blessed to have a great mom and a wife that is an incredible mother.  Today, I’m drinking a Rooibos “red tea” that is part of The REPUBLIC of TEA’s Sip for the Cure product line: From The REPUBLIC of TEA: “A portion of sales from this tea will support Susan G. Komen for the Cure in their fight against breast cancer.”

The Pomegranate Vanilla flavored Rooibos was very flavorful.  The tart and tangy pomegranate aromas rise from the steam in the cup.  The flavor is very well balanced.  The vanilla mellows the tart pomegranate and helps give it more of a sweet flavor.  The Rooibos supports the flavor with its smooth, dark, and naturally sweet flavor.   Combined, the ingredients mix to make a relaxing and pleasing naturally decaffeinated beverage.  I’m a true tea lover, but I can see why many people are enjoying Rooibos.  The South African shrub seems to support a wide-range of flavors.  If you enjoy flavored teas, Rooibos might be a good alternative for you if you are looking for a naturally caffeine-free beverage.  Also, Rooibos is easy to prepare in a standard tea bag.

Happy Mother’s Day,

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Raspberry Truffle Rooibos

Whether it’s Rooibos or another tisane, I’m really enjoying the organic dark roasted Cacao that’s being added to the mix.  Kalahari has an entire line of teas and Rooibos flavors mixed with cacao.  The chocolate flavor adds another layer to flavored Rooibos beverages.  I’m typically not a fan of anything flavored with raspberry.  In this case, the Rooibos and cacao flavors are dominant and the raspberry is more of an accent.  For me, that made this Rooibos more likable.  If you enjoy chocolate and raspberries, this is an excellent Rooibos for you to try.  Remember, Rooibos is a South African shrub.  It is naturally caffeine-free.  I prepared the Rooibos using one of Kalahari’s “tea” sachets in boiling water for 3 minutes.  As much as we are told to stop drinking tea dust found in many store bought tea bags, I think Rooibos is perfect when prepared using a standard tea bag. I was hoping this had a bit more flavor than it did, but with a little sweetener, it was enjoyable.

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Wow, special thanks to two leaves and a bud for offering such a wide variety of teas. I was very foturnate to get to try several options.  From the dark and mighty Organic Assam to the berry-blasting Alpine Berry herbal.  All the teas have been enjoyable. Most recently I’ve sampled the Organic Orange Sencha green tea.  This was very interesting.  The delicious vegetal flavor was present throughout the Sencha and the Italian red orange flavor was very subtle creating a pleasant aftertaste.  With so many organic tea options and delicious teas from single geographic regions, two leaves and a bud is well worth a try. Now that I’ve narrowed down many of the samples, I’ll start to blog on the remaining options one at a time.

Two leaves and a bud work directly with tea gardens to select the finest teas grown using traditional organic methods.  The teas I consumed were packaged in biodegradable tea sachets (mug size).  The packaging allows the consumer to see the tea leaves throughout the steeping process.

Green Tea: Organic Orange Sencha

Black Tea: Organic Assam

Herbal (caffiene-free): Alpine Berry

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Taking time to explore more herbal “teas”…

I love tea and it’s really hard for me to drink anything that doesn’t actually contain Camellia sinensis.  I know a lot of you enjoy tisanes (herbal teas), and I’d like to share a couple with you.  Coco Truffle: cacao, cinnamon, fennel, licorice root, cardamom, ginger, cloves, black pepper. Belgian Mint: cacao, peppermint. Both selections were very enjoyable.  Cacao seems to be a common theme that tea companies are using/promoting more frequently these days.  In addition to adding a chocolate-like flavor, the cacao adds more body to the traditional herbal blend.

The Coco Truffle was excellent.  It has a lot of class and elegance that makes it a premium dessert beverage.  The flavors were smooth and balanced.  The scent was divine.  As you can see from its ingredients listing that there are a lot of dominant flavors in the mix. Tea Forté managed to pull it all together.  I could sip this all night long.  It’s difficult not to relax when you are drinking this herbal.

The Belgian Mint is not quite as complex as the Coco Truffle, but it’s lack of ingredients should not be considered a weakness.  It’s strength is in the power of its two ingredients – peppermint and cacao.  Peppermint is probably my favorite herbal ingredient.  So this one was perfect for me.  The cacao and peppermint  combine to create a refreshing and replenishing beverage.  This is a great herbal to drink when you want to freshen your breath after a meal. Plus the peppermint will help you digest your food.  Both herbal blends are naturally decaffeinated.

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As a tea/Rooibos blogger, I try to experience as many products as possible.  Kalahari’s much improved website and ChocoLatté Teas (including Rooibos) really caught my attention. I have several flavors to try, and I randomly selected Cherry Vanilla and Safari Lullaby to start. Both are flavored Rooibos varieties. The Rooibos comes in a traditional style tea bag; which for me is ideal when it comes to Rooibos. Most Rooibos options are finely cut and when prepared “loose”, it can be messy with traditional tea strainers. Anyway, I steeped the Rooibos for about 3-5 minutes in near boiling water. Starting with an inviting aroma and ending with a pleasing flavor and aftertaste, the Kalahari Rooibos exceeded my expectations.

Cherry Vanilla: Wow. That’s all I could say as I simultaneously inhale the aroma and allow the delicious flavors to roll over my tongue. The flavor combination was perfectly balanced. Ingredients: Dark Roasted Cacao, Organic Rooibos, Cinnamon, Licorice, Chicory, Cardamom, Ginger, Cloves, Vanilla and natural Cherry Flavor. Let me tell you…this was delicious.  The natural ingredients and flavoring created a smooth and enjoyable beverage. What exceeded my expectations is how well the ingredients were blended together.  The slight scent and taste of chocolate with a touch of cherry and vanilla in every sip was amazing.  I can’t wait to try more Kalahari ChocoLatté Teas.

Safari Lullaby: Ingredients: Rooibos, Chamomile, Spearmint, Lemon Grass, Valerian, natural flavors. Chamomile is not my favorite herbal ingredient. On the flip side, Spearmint is one of my favorite herbal ingredients. I wasn’t quite sure how I was going to respond to the Safari Lullaby.  Well, good news for me, the chamomile was mild and all the flavors combined for a very relaxing flavored Rooibos.  The spearmint was unreal.  This beverage was so smooth and delicate. Perfectly titled Safari Lullaby.

As you can see, I was very impressed.  I have several more flavors to try and I’m going to savor each one.  I highly recommend ordering from Kalahari if you enjoy flavored teas and Rooibos.

• Visit Kalahari

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If you’re trying to cut the caffeine, but still want a hot and tasty drink – herbal “teas” are perfect.  By default herbal “teas” (tisanes) do not actually contain tea.  Therefore, they are typically caffeine-free.  Today I’m drinking Zhi’s herbal Blood Orange.  It consists of: Organic orange peel, hibiscus, rose hips, Rooibos, apple bits, safflower, and a little natural orange essence. The dry fruits & herbs have a very strong citrus scent.  As you can see from the photo this is a very chunky herbal tea.  The ingredients are easy to recognize.  The tisane can be infused multiple times.  Each infusion yields a colorful liquor that is very tangy.  Citrus lovers, this is for you.  The citrus flavored herbal will have your taste buds hopping.  For some reason, I didn’t like the Rooibos mixed with the other ingredients. It’s the one ingredient I could have done without in this mix.  It’s not that it tastes bad, I just found it to be slightly intrusive on the other ingredients.  Overall I did enjoy the herbal, and I found it best with just a touch of sweetener.  Again, if you like orange flavored beverages, this organic herbal is for you.

• Visit Zhi

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I’ve been drinking Choice Organic teas for a couple of years.  The Whole Leaf Organics line clearly shows an evolution with the tea selections offered by Choice Organic.  I was very fortunate to try several of the new selections.

Reasons to enjoy Whole Leaf Organics (WLO):

• Choice Organic Teas offers the largest selection of exclusively organic and Fair Trade tea pyramids, keeping in line with its long-time commitment to manufacturing organic and Fair Trade teas.
• Whole Leaf Organics (WLO) tea pyramids are fully biodegradable.
• Choice Organic Teas does not use any PVdC in their packaging.
• The 100% recycled box is printed with soy ink and features a unique cover with a die-cut pyramid window, offering a peek at the tea garden-inspired painting commissioned by Seattle artist Maija Fiebig.

Black Tea: Estate Blend Darjeeling: This tea exceeded my expectations by having a lot more flavor and character than I anticipated.  Darjeeling’s muscatel flavor is always inviting, but this one had a welcomed grape-like flavor that added a special element to the tea. Choice Organic described the tea as having a floral, nutty taste.  Either way, it was really good. The leaves expand in the tea pyramid during the steeping process to remind the consumer that they are drinking tea from real organic Darjeeling tea leaves rather than dust and fannings.  This is a great choice for tea drinkers looking for a solid/flavorful organic black tea in a convenient tea bag.

Green Tea: Jasmine Green: I haven’t always enjoyed Choice Organic’s green teas, but this one was very refreshing.  It was definitely my favorite green tea offered by Choice Organic.  The pan-fired organic Chinese green tea was very pronounced with an oceanic and slight smoke flavor.  The jasmine flavors balanced perfectly with the green tea to create an enjoyable cup.  Choice Organic described the tea as having a lightly floral, almost sweet taste to it. I have to agree with their description, but I want to add that the green tea flavor shines through the jasmine.  For me, that is a definite plus. The split personality of the green tea and sweet-jasmine flavors combine to create one delicious cup of green tea.  It was gone too fast.

Herbal (Caffeine-free): Chamomile Citrus: If you enjoy Chamomile, you’ll love this one.  The chamomile dominates the cup, but your taste buds are hit with orange peel, hibiscus, and lemon myrtle (all organic).  The zesty citrus flavors mixed with chamomile were very interesting.  I think this one would be perfect with honey and a tad bit of your favorite sweetener.  Again, the key to this herbal is you have to enjoy chamomile.  Choice Organic describes this herbal as: citrusy blend brings out the best of mild-mannered chamomile. Its sweet, floral taste comes from whole yellow chamomile flowers harvested on a Fair Trade farm in Egypt. Orange peel and pink hibiscus add a light, fruity essence.

That completes a long list of Choice Organic teas that I’ve been fortunate to recently drink.  It’s exciting to see the direction the company has taken with this line.  The quality of “bagged” teas continues to be raised by companies like Choice Organic.  This is welcomed change for all of us.

• Visit Choice Organic

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