Tag: Rooibos/Honeybush

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Dessert by Deb’s Rhubarb Sugar Pie

Rhubarb Sugar Pie by Dessert by Deb
Rooibos & Black Tea / Flavoured
$6.00 for 25g

First Impressions

Rhubarb Sugar Pie came as a tea sample in my Dessert by Deb subscription box. What drew me to it first was the bright magenta metallic pouch – followed by the fact that there were pieces inside that were also brightly magenta in colour. This is a rooibos and and black tea blend, when I first opened the pouch I found that it has a very mild aroma. I can smell the maple and the apple, and it reminds me of (apple) pie, for sure.

Rhubarb Sugar Pie consists of organic: fair trade rooibos, black tea, vanilla, apple, maple, hibiscus, brown sugar and beetroot powder. When I asked Deb about those brightly coloured pieces, turns out that it’s the apple that has been dusted with beet root powder (how clever is that?).

Preparation

At the time of writing, I wasn’t able to find the blend on the Dessert by Deb website, but her other black teas and rooibos blends are steeped in 212°F (100°C) water for 4 to 6 minutes, so I opted to follow those instructions for Rhubarb Sugar Pie and did an initial steep for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Rhubarb Sugar Pie steeps to a bright reddish pink colour, thanks to the hibiscus and the beet root powder. It has a pleasant aroma and I can make out the molasses notes from the brown sugar, and something that’s a bit fruity (likely the apple?). It is sweeter than I expected, has some strong brown sugar/molasses flavours, as well as apple. I can taste the maple and vanilla, which lends itself nice to making me think of baked goods, especially when coupled with the brown sugar. I don’t taste either the rooibos or black tea base – which is either good or bad? I wouldn’t have minded a stronger black tea base, but I wouldn’t have wanted to taste the rooibos either.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Rhubarb Sugar Pie and found the colour to be really light compared to the initial steep, and the flavour wasn’t as strong with lighter brown sugar notes – I really enjoyed that molasses flavour.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Rhubarb Sugar Pie. I’m always a sucker for a nice rooibos blend when I cannot actually taste the rooibos, and Rhubarb Sugar Pie ticks that box for me. It’s got a pleasant flavour that really does remind me of a pie. It’s not as tart as I expecting with a name like Rhubarb Sugar Pie, but it’s got some great flavours that do remind me of baked goods (the brown sugar, vanilla, apple). I had this one both hot and iced and think it does better iced, so would highly recommend having it that way since it’s still iced tea season as its not pumpkin spice season (yet).

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Dessert by Deb’s Tiramisu Trifle

Tiramisu Trifle by Dessert by Deb
Rooibos / Flavoured
$6.00 for 25g

Tiramisu Trifle was part of my subscription box from Dessert by Deb and is part of the Cake & Celebration Collection.

First Impressions

Tiramisu Trifle came as a packet of tea in my box from Dessert by Deb, it came in a shiny gold and clear pouch that’s resealable. The first thing that I see are the espresso beans that do make me a bit apprehensive. If you’ve been following for a while, you may know that I don’t like the smell or taste of coffee – and that also does translate into not liking tiramisu (yes, I’ve tried it before; no, I did not like it).

That said, the dry rooibos blend smells exactly like tiramisu – which is both impressive and scary at the same time. It basically smells like dessert, and I think a lot of people will really enjoy it – especially coffee fans. Tiramisu Trifle consists of organic: rooibos, vanilla, espresso beans, maple, coconut, toasted coconut, cacao nibs, and cocoa powder.

Preparation

Because this was a sample packet, there were no steeping instructions but that was easily remedied by heading on over to the Dessert by Deb website. Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Tiramisu Trifle in 212°F (100°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I used the recommended water temperature and steeped for 5 minutes.

First Taste

Tiramisu Trifle steeps to a lovely golden brown colour. There is a slight oil slick over the top, the oils are likely from the espresso and coconut as well. It has a very strong coffee aroma from it and I get a lot of vanilla notes that really make the whole thing smell like tiramisu. The flavour is interesting – there’s definitely the taste of coffee (which I find to be bitter), with the vanilla notes, and sweetness. I don’t get a lot of the coconut, but I think the espresso is just a strong ingredient to be going up against. It has some nice chocolate notes to it, so I think it’s a really well done representation of the tiramisu dessert.

A Second Cup?

I did attempt to resteep Tiramisu Trifle and found that the rooibos base was more obvious and I got a mix of the medicinal notes from rooibos and the coffee flavour from the espresso. As a fan of neither, I didn’t enjoy this. If you’re a fan of either, I’d recommend resteeping it.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like Dessert by Deb’s Tiramisu Trifle. As someone who’s not a fan of coffee or rooibos, I feel like this was destined to happen. That said, I found that the aroma of the dry leaf to be incredibly spot on in comparison to the tiramisu dessert. The aroma from the steeped tisane is also that of tiramisu, and honestly it does taste really spot on as a liquid tiramisu. I think any fan of tiramisu or coffee would be really happy with the blend – it’s just not for me.

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Dessert by Deb’s Lemon Sugar Cookie

Lemon Sugar Cookie by Dessert by Deb
Black Tea & Rooibos / Flavoured
$16.00 for 75g

Lemon Sugar Cookie is an exclusive blend for Dessert by Deb subscription subscribers and is available for purchase by subscribers only at this time.

First Impressions

Lemon Sugar Cookie is a black tea and rooibos blend that came to me as part of my subscription box. This blend is a subscriber exclusive, hence the labeling of The Tea Society Club. I find the exclusivity of tea blends to be a really neat treat for being a member. The blend comes in a pale pink pouch with a familiar and colourful label.

Lemon Sugar Cookie consists of organic: black tea, fair trade rooibos, lemon peel, vanilla, Canadian maple, and brown sugar. When I ripped open the packaging, the first thing I noticed was the citrus notes. The lemon is really bright and inviting and honestly smells like fresh lemon zest. The maple notes and brown sugar are blending well together in terms of fragrance, and it reminds me of baking. I can smell the rooibos base more than the black tea, which is unfortunate for me because rooibos just isn’t my favourite ingredient (to drink straight up). The vanilla is something I find that kind of lingers in the background, but it’s definitely present!

Preparation

Dessert by Deb recommends steeping Lemon Sugar Cookie in 100°C (212°F) water for 4 to 6 minutes. I opted to do an initial steep for 5 minutes, just going for middle of the road with the steeping time.

First Taste

Lemon Sugar Cookie steeps to nice golden orange. The aroma is a blend of lemon and vanilla. There’s some molasses notes that I find as well when smelling the tea. The flavour is interesting. I can taste the lemon, the sweetness from the brown sugar and maple notes, and I can taste the rooibos. It does have that medicinal quality that I don’t particularly like when it comes to rooibos, but the sweetness from the Canadian maple and brown sugar do a lot to overcome that it and to hide it, so I’m not offended by the flavour of the rooibos (who knew?). The blend steeps really smoothly, and I find that the vanilla notes really pop at the tail end of each sip.

A Second Cup?

I resteeped Lemon Sugar Cookie once, adding an additional 30 seconds for the second steep with the same leaves. I found that rooibos base was really flavour forward, so if you’re a fan of rooibos, I would continue steeping the leaves knowing that a lot of the sweetness is gone. If you’re not a fan of rooibos, I’d stick to just the initial steep.

My Overall Impression

I liked Dessert by Deb’s Lemon Sugar Cookie. I found the flavour of the initial steep to be great – I found lemon, molasses-notes, a creamy quality from the vanilla, and enough sweetness to off-set the medicinal notes from rooibos. The blend of ingredients was really great to make me think of a lemon cookie and I think it’s a great representation of the name in the ingredients. I would have liked the black tea base to be more forward and easier to find in the flavour, but the brown sugar and Canadian maple do a great job of hiding things with that high level of sweetness (which I greatly enjoyed!).

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