I love north African and Middle Eastern food but when I go out for a meal I almost always have to do without a dessert because they tend to contain either almonds or pistachios (or both), both of which I am allergic to. It's a shame because not only am I partial to a pudding, I love the flavour of rose water which is also commonly found in sweet dishes from this part of the world. In Yogi Tea's 'Rose Organic Herb & Flower Infusion', however, I've found that flavour and fragrance that is so redolent of the Middle East and the best bit is I can have it anytime.

Yogi Tea is a German company that makes loads of different fruit and herbal teas (or 'infusions' if you like). When I think of Yogi I think of the lovely packaging which usually has a colourful illustration of a decorative vessel of whatever infusion is in the package, and the words of wisdom on the paper tag at the end of the string on the teabag - the last one i had bore the motto 'Challenges create strengths'. Yogi products have a kind of 'right on', hippyish vibe which is reflected in so many different ways. The black bar code has been cropped to resemble the silhouette of an eastern style temple, and on the base of the box there's there are diagrams demonstrating a Tai Chi move (each variety has a different position); these Tai Chi diagrams used to be inside the box and could be seen if you opened the box out flat.

The location of the Tai Chi position is not the only change of late. When I first bought Yogi Tea each packet contained twenty teabags: in the box I am currently using there are only seventeen but you can also buy boxes of fifteen though shops tend to stock one or the other and the price does not always reflect the size of pack so one chop can charge more for fifteen than another charges for seventeen. The box I am using now cost £2.19 from Holland and Barrett on the high street, yet the company's online shop is selling the smaller pack for the same price. Basically you need to shop around for the best price.

The instructions, on the paper envelope that each teabag is wrapped in, are precise; we would expect no less of something made by a German company. Use 300ml of boiling water: that's not water that's a few minutes off the boil - it's stated quite categorically that the water temperature should be 100 degrees Celsius. At work we have to go along to what's called the 'beverage bay' and fill up our insulated jug to take back to the office. Although the jug keeps the water hot I doubt that I ever make this drink at work using water that is properly 'boiling'; at home I tend to switch on the kettle and walk away; when I return the water is still hot enough to make a drink but, again, definitely not 100 degrees. Clearly it doesn't matter very much because I'm pleased with the results I get (it has crossed my mind, though, that I might taste something even better if I was to follow the instructions more precisely). Oddly slightly different brewing instructions are also found on the box tab when you open up the packet: here you are told to use 250ml of water.

A brewing time of seven minutes is recommended. I've followed this recommendation to see if it makes a difference and I've found that five or even four minutes is adequate and waiting as long as seven minutes doesn't appear to perceptibly alter the flavour. This infusion has an instantly recognisable aroma of roses; it is delicate and slightly musky but rather one dimensional which I find a little surprising considering that there are other ingredients in this infusion that have distinctive scents. The water quickly becomes a medium red colour and doesn't take on that murky colour that many such infusions do if brewing for more than a couple of minutes.

The overwhelming taste is that of rose but it's hard for it not to be when the aroma is so strong. This drink is as much about the flavour as it is the aroma. My partner won't even consider trying this infusion; he says he knows that it's going to taste 'like perfume' and to a degree he's right: if you don't like the flavour of rose you aren't going to like this drink. The essences of seven blossoms and flowers have been used to make this infusion though it takes a bit of effort to discern anything more than the rose. One of them is hibiscus which is a common ingredient in herbal and fruit infusions, used because it adds some sweetness: this is not a sweet infusion but I would imagine it would be less so without the hibiscus. It also contains linden flower - the blossom of the lime tree (not the citrus fruit lime but the huge deciduous tree). I can taste the linden flower in this because it's a flavour I've come to know well in the last few years: the linden tree is one of the symbols of Slovenia and its blossom is used to make herbal teas and can be tasted in honey made by bees that have fed on linden flowers. I don't pick up camomile when I drink the infusion, but I can just discern a sniff of it in the aroma though it is overshadowed by the rose. I should be able to pick out both the aroma and taste of lavender but the rose is so strong that I can't. I have no idea what sunflower would taste like in an infusion like this, but it's there along with elderflower which I think I can pick out but only just.
The rose flavour is much more vibrant than the rose flavour of Turkish delight or a chocolate filled with rose cream. It has a touch of acidity and leaves a slightly dry aftertaste, a bit like a crisp apple juice. I find this much more refreshing than the warm aroma would suggest and find it is a great drink to have with a piece of cake because it counters the sweetness.

If you don't like floral flavours - and many people don't - this won't be for you: it's an acquired taste and the smell may be enough to put you off. Personally I love this organic rose infusion and I love the whole concept with the wise sayings and the pretty packaging. Yogi really does need to sort out the package size - pricing issue but other than that I have no complaints about this product.