I’ve been drinking a lot of rooibos lately, 'cause it doesn’t have any caffiene or sugar in it, and it tastes good. I just finished the last of a sampler of flavored rooibos from Adagio. It was good, but mostly because their flavorings are particularly good. (Especially the vanilla.) I have also been drinking some plain rooibos from Celestial Seasonings and Republic of Tea and it has been fairly tolerable.
Now, with real tea (Camelia sinensis) there is no comparison between bagged tea and good loose tea in terms of quality. Is the same true with rooibos? I notice that my favorite tea pushers (Tea Source, Adagio, and our local tea joint) only offer one type of unflavored loose rooibos, and don’t make any special claims about its quality. Is it worth it to pay the premium for loose tea, or would I do just as well to buy it in bags at the grocery store?
Any recommendation about brands to try or to avoid?
I’ve never even heard of it before, but it sounds really fun to say. I may be off on this, but it looks like it could be pronounced roo-e-bo, I can hear Eartha Kitt saying it. I don’t care if that’s not the right way to say it, it just sounds good that way in my head.
I bought a sample of unflavored rooibos from Adagio and was so put off by the hickory smoked sawdust smell of it, I never tasted it. Some lucky or unlucky soul will receive it in the tea swap.
My fave brand is Eleven O’clock, a 100 year-old brand. I’ve tried the teabags, but find the loose tea to have better flavor. I love the artwork on the label, too, circa 1930.
I drink rooibosch with honey/maple syrup and a bit of half and half cream in the morning, as I am subbing it for regular tea in the morning…tastes wonderful thus.
Irishgirl, since you have more family knowledge of rooibosch than I do: any reason not to put cream in it?
I’ll tell you anyway. It’s pronounced “roy-bose” with a hard S.