Fancy a cup of rooibos? (Twinings African Rooibos, Strawberry & vanilla tea)

Member Name: lonestarsky

Product:	Twinings African Rooibos, Strawberry & vanilla tea
Date:	01/04/09 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes OK, caffeine free, has alleged health benefits

Disadvantages: Nothing special - there are better teas out there

I love different flavoured teas and have recently tried rooibos (red tea) for the first time. I decided to purchase this tea as the combination of flavours sounded interesting.


++PACKAGING++
Twinings teas come in sturdy cardboard boxes that are easily recyclable. Also the teabags are not individually wrapped, which is often an unnecessary waste of paper.

There are 20 teabags in the box and it has a best before date of May 2010 (box was purchased late 2008).


++INGREDIENTS++
Rooibos, natural strawberry flavouring, natural vanilla flavouring

Rooibos, or red tea, is made from the rooibos plant. It has lower caffeine and lower tannin levels than black tea, and is full of antioxidants. It is billed as less bitter than black tea aswell, and is reputedly good for digestive problems, nervous tension, colic and allergies.


++WHAT WILL IT DO FOR YOU?++
This tea is part of the Twinings "Moment of Calm" range. The infusion is billed as mellow and soothing, perfect for when you feel like relaxing during the day or last thing at night.

I am not a great sleeper and have drank this tea, and others, late at night in the hope it would help me sleep but I find that all they do is make me need to pee, which doesn't help when I'm trying to sleep! I do feel relaxed when I drink this during the day but I tend to relax whenever I have a hot drink so I doubt this is down to any properties of the tea.


++BREWING++
The box suggests one bag per person left to infuse for 2-3 minutes in freshly boiled water. For a sweeter taste add honey. It is best enjoyed without milk.

I use one bag per person and add boiling water with a drop of cold so that it isn't too hot to drink. I don't add honey, milk or anything else.

The tea turns an unattractive colour that is slightly browner than regular tea. The scent isn't strong but I can smell the strawberries and vanilla.

The taste isn't particularly strong so I tend to leave the teabag in until I've finished drinking the tea, although this is obviously a matter of personal taste. It is definitely a lot less bitter than black tea as I can't stand black tea without milk in it and certainly couldn't brew it for as long as I brew this tea!

I think this is one of those fruit based teas that smell better than they taste. Not that the taste is unpleasant though. The main taste for me is the rooibos, which is similar to regular tea but with a more smoky, spicier taste, it's quite hard to describe but is more like regular tea than green tea is. There is a faint fruity under taste but I can't taste the vanilla. I do prefer this tea to unflavoured rooibos tea but there isn't much of a difference in taste.

It's pleasant enough and I probably would buy it again as I like to have a wide selection of teas but it isn't one I would drink often.


++PRICE/AVAILABILITY++
20 tea bags can cost from £1.20 to £1.50 depending on where you buy them from. Twinings teas are widely available in most supermarkets.

The Twinings "Moment of Calm" range also includes mandarin & orange and cherry & cinnamon flavours.

Summary: A nice enough tea but not one I'd rush to buy again