Who Loves Rooibos Tea?

[Lacykitten]

I got CHOCOLATE rooibos tea.

[mandrake]

I bought my mother $60 worth as an early Mothers' Day gift. There's a store in the mall near here called Teavana that has all sorts of flavored rooibos tea. I got here toffee, some kind of mocha something or other and macadamia nut. She loves it!

[kirk]

Originally Posted by dropscone You missed out "I can take it or leave it", which is what I would have chosen, so I haven't voted

I'm with dropscone on this one [waves to dropscone]

[Tofuy]

i drank a rooibos/peppermint blend today. mmmmmm!

[bird]

I like it after all! It's definitely grown on me, now that I've had it more. It makes a great alternative to plain water, which can get boring. I prefer cold beverages, and this doesn't have sugar, caffeine, or alcohol. Plus it's mild enough tasting that I wouldn't really get sick of having it throughout the day. I'm intrigued by all these flavored blends, though. Mmm... peppermint! I'll have to look for those.

[bird]

I've become a positive addict! They could tap my veins for this stuff, like they do to maple trees to get syrup. My husband has a standing joke about doctors being surprised at finding blood in my Rooibos stream.

Thanks, Tofuy, for getting it all started! Every day I go through at least one and a half to two of those cartons that I posted photos of (each carton is a quart). Good thing they're inexpensive - $1 a pop. We get three at a time when we go to the grocery store every other day. We're going to be here until August 2006, but I can already tell that this is going to be the thing I'm going to miss most about Japan. They carry this stuff in every grocery store here. I know that's not going to be the case back home, and even when I track down a source in NYC, I'm sure it won't be as cheap.

[oldradical]

Uh...from "not sure I like it," to "I'm an addict, give me the IV"...uh...this seems familiar somehow.

Maybe I'd better not. looks toward his Lou Reed collection

[bird]

Hee hee. The tea itself is far from addictive. It has hardly any taste at all, actually. (Then again, vodka... ) That's probably why they blend it with other flavors, as people here have indicated. I don't have that option, though - they don't sell flavored versions here, or even loose leaves/tea bags for home brewing. There seems to be only one company that even sells the prepared kind. I can't find any other brand of it except the one I pictured, which is fine, because I don't feel like it's missing anything, flavor-wise.

Between the Wikipedia entry on Rooibos and the carton's health claims, I'm not worried about how much I'm drinking, even though I'm edging closer to two and a half cartons a day now. It seems like it's actually a good thing. Flavonoids and antioxidants can't be bad, right?

I've always been a person who's disproportionately more thirsty than hungry, and this is now pretty much the only liquid I consume, unless I happen to have soup that day, or feel like having a little water. There's just no other cold, packaged beverage I like the taste of that has some flavor (unlike plain water) but no sugar, caffeine, carbonation, or alcohol.

It's not a diuretic; it doesn't leave me feeling still thirsty. It doesn't dry out my throat the way other teas do. It's all of these factors that make it my drink of choice, not the flavor. In fact, I wouldn't be able to sustain such a high intake volume over a long period of time if a beverage were anything but mildly flavored, because I'm sure that I'd get tired of the taste.

[Tracy G]

I tried rooibos for the first time today (specifically, the Choice organic brand), and I like it fine. I am a little surprised that so many other people like it, however. In my opinion, the aroma is distinctly similar to the fragrance of (unsmoked) pipe tobacco.

[trichaos]

I chose the comedy option, because the name looks like it rhymes with "Gooey-balls"

[classicali]

If it's caffiene free, I'll definitly try it!

[rantingsteve]

A friend from the UK sent me Rooibos caffeine free Earl Gray. BEST. TEA. EVAR!

[hazelfaern]

Hands down, my favoritest rooibos ever. It tastes very much like regular tea, only better

[gur]

i bought some rooibos (and the box says to pronounce it like 'royboss' for any of you wondering like i was), last night because of this thread and i'm drinking a cup right now! i agree with tracyG, in that it's kind of tobacco-y. it tastes better than it smells though - not that i dislike the smell so much. aaaaanyway....i like it! i'm drinking it plain and strong and it's a little sweet - although i've been hankerin' for some tea with 'cream and sugar' lately (that i blame on the cool fall weather), and i might have a second cup sweetened and almond-milked.

[Miso Vegan]

*bump for shion's benefit*