Review: Red Leaf Tea Root 66

Jul 09

Review: Red Leaf Tea Root 66

Troy’s Teaview Snapshot

"An "interesting" root/seed blend, brought to you by the letter D and the number 3."

Troy’s Teaview:	6/10
Other Teaviews:	Christine gave it 7.5/10, Katie gave it 6.0/10
Your Reviews:	Add your review »

So the first bit of this review will seem very negative, but then the latter part will justify my rating of a 6. If I were a greater admirer of Coffee I'd probably have enjoyed this alot more, the flavor sort of seems like coffee, sans the bitter, and with a little chicory to smooth out the flavor.

One word I'll use alot, despite the lack of it on the ingredients list, is Walnut. Its always surprising to get a blend that tastes like something, when not a single one of the composite bits themselves taste of it. In this case some combination of the roasted Dandelion, Coconut, Chicory root, and Sarsaparilla root worked together to make something that tasted strong lof Walnuts.

When steeped this blend tasted, to me, like the old, mealy, frozen walnuts my Grandfather had kept just a decade or two after the "Use By" date. Maybe if I considered coffee as something more than bitter bean water, I'd have more positive things to say about it, but I do, and I don't.

There is something you can do with a root/nut blend that you can't really pull with Tea, or leaf based herbal tisanes, you can decoct! There are many ways to get essential oils, flavorants, and compounds from dry herbs and plant parts. When you brew a cup of loose leaf tea your making an infusion, you put the leaves in warm-hot water and let the water slowly loose temperature and draw flavors from the leaves. A decoction differs in that you put the leaves/roots/flowers/whatever in a pot and boil them with the water, producing a different, and sometimes much stronger, flavor.

I decocted this mix in simmering water for about 7 or 8 min (didn't really time it) until there was a light brown froth over the top, I then poured it out through a sieve, and had a very strong, rich, chocolaty aroma. With the first experimental sip I found that the walnut flavor had become richer, and far more pleasant. Its gone from something I'd sneak my little brother, to something I'd drink myself. I'm kind of curious to see if it would work well with milk, but I managed to use the entire sample in my other experiments.

I would definitely recommend this, infused or decocted, to Coffee drinkers (its not like they have taste buds at any rate), for the rest of us I'd definitely recommend it as a decoction for Masala Chai fans, as I think it really delivers the same rich, rooty, herb-ie-ness of a good Masala Chai blend.

— To purchase Red Leaf Tea Root 66, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.