Tea Review: Mulled Plum Cider by Harney & Sons

 This is a lovely caffeine free rooibos blend with a heavy spice profile.

When I first bought this blend I was super excited and then when it arrived, I was horrified to see cacao pieces in the ingredient list. I can't stand chocolate, let alone chocolate in my tea.  Because of that disappointment, I've had this tin sitting in my tea cupboard for a good month unopened.  Today, I finally decided to brave the cacao - and I'm so happy that I did.

I absolutely love that part of the brewing instructions are "Relax and enjoy".

Rooibos blends are sort of hit or miss with me - this one is a hit.  I'm downright in love with how wonderfully spicy this is.  The cinnamon, ginger, cloves, black pepper, and cardamom are bold and wonderfully present in the first note.  Under the initial spice hit, the black currant, plum, and hibiscus sweep in with a fruit based sweetness that is followed up by the orange peel tartness that I love so much and a final hit at the back of my throat from the black pepper.  On some sips the chicory gives me a little wave on the side of my tongue, but it's not a dominant flavor.  All in all, it really does taste like a traditional holiday mulled cider that is heavy on the spices (in all the best ways).  I don't taste the cacao pieces at all.

Look at all those beautiful spices!!

I've gone from being afraid that I wasted my money, to being bummed that the tin is so small.

The biggest complaint I hear from folk who are not rooibos fans is that it doesn't get dark enough and thus doesn't have enough body - well, look at how beautifully dark this puppy gets.  Yes, it's still on the red side of the spectrum, but I know some builders teas whose fully steeped brown is still lighter than this lovely dark rooibos red.

Final thoughts:  Once again, Harney & Sons blows me away.  I mean.... I just raved over a tea with chocolate bits in the blend!!