Tea Demo/Review - Rooibos Organic African Nectar

Lately it's been a ritual of mine to come home after a long day and brew a kettle of tea.  I found a great website where I get most of my loose tea from, Mighty Leaf.  In my last purchase from them, I ordered the Rose Silver Needle which is a beautiful, smooth white tea that tastes of freshly bloomed roses.  I liked it so much that I went through the 4 oz. bag in two and a half weeks.  I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to start drinking tea; it's a great beginner tea.

I also ordered their Organic African Nectar which is a rooibos (red African tea) with hints of blossoms and fruit.  It has a deep orange color, and a fantastic taste to boot, with almost no bitterness.  Rooibos tea is special because it isn't tea at all.  Real tea must include camellia sinesis leaves, and rooibos tea does not.  Rooibos tea is also known as red tea or redbush tea.

 Drinking tea supposedly has health benefits, though I don't drink it for those benefits - you never know what study is going to come out saying that tea is actually poison.  I drink it because it's calming and a fun ritual; if there are health benefits, those are just extra whipped cream on top!

How I Brew Tea:

I use the measuring tablespoon included in the tea pouches to measure the two tablespoons that I brew.  I then boil enough water to fill the teapot 3/4 the way up, and pour it over the basket infuser into the teapot, then stir to make sure all the leaves are submerged.

It's extremely important to use an infuser that is large enough to let the leaves expand and grow while infusing.  Don't use one of those mesh ball infusers, they are too small to fit enough tea and still have room to expand.  I found this cheap basket infuser online for under $5 a few months ago, and it's worked greatly.

All teas have different steeping times, and I can't stress how important it is to not over-steep your tea.  There are few things in this world worse than over-steeped tea, namely burnt caramel and spoiled milk!  But seriously, I IMPLORE you to follow the steeping directions "to a tea" as the tea producer states.  This rooibos steeps for 4.5 minutes. 

I hope you enjoyed this tea review and demonstration!  Try some loose-leaf tea, not any of that bagged garbage, and I'm sure you'll be impressed.

Please feel free to request recipes in the comments below, or offer any thoughts you may have.

 

Signing out,
The Minimalist Chef