This is probably my 1A favorite among the six teas that are the Trader Joe Gift Set, it is the “Vanilla & Rooibos Red Tea” that has just two ingredients, rooibos and vanilla powder! Vanilla aroma is the first thing that reaches your senses when you open the tin, and it is indeed carrier forward in the taste. The vanilla definitely tames some of the “medicinaliness” of rooibos! I liked this well enough I am going to look for vanilla rooibos teas like this (instead of natural/artificial flavors).
The tea comes in its own little tin, which, once you finish the included tea, you can reuse/refill with similar tea, or tea you want to absorb the remaining aroma of the this tea…
The brewing instructions on the box are 3-4 minutes, but this being rooibos you have flexibility. What you can triangulate though is the vanilla flavor, so, for example, you can do one 3-minute brewing session following by a long second and final session. Or do another 3-4 minute session, followed by the final session. This depending on how much tea/water you use and how prefer the taste and balance of vanilla vs rooibos…
I am pleasantly surprised that this is a flavored tea that avoids the mysterious and all-encompassing natural and artificial flavors. The vanilla flavor is vanilla powder, which is a known thing and popular ingredient in baking 🙂
This being rooibos, the leaves are on the tiny side, so if you are not using a fine infuser, you may get little bits in your tea:
