Biscuit of the Day - Bodum Tea Store and Rooibos Tea
Today's Biscuit of the Day is a review of the Bodum Tea Store and their Honey Rooibos Red Tea.
Charles and I were walking along in Dallas off Knox Street to go to the Apple store in this area. Next door to our destination was a small store with lots of cool teapots and coffee cups. I asked Charles if we could go in once we were done, and he agreed to let me have a look at the store.
We went in and immediately I was struck by the beauty and airiness of the little store. There were cute teapots and sculptural glassware everywhere, and the interior echoed the inside of the neighboring Apple store, with white wall and lots of glass and light colored wood. Also echoing the Apple store is Bodum's philosophy, 'Give up bad design for good. '
Having been esthetically pleased by the interior, it was time to get down to business and look at some tea. I homed in on the tea shelves in the rear right area of the store. Surprisingly, Bodum stocks a sample jar of tea for each type of tea they offer, this way you can see how the tea smells and looks before opening your wallet to make an investment. Another unusual feature for a tea shoppe is that the gracious proprietress is more than happy to make a sample cuppa of any available type for you to take the tea on a test drive.
I was instantly seduced by Bodum's Honey Rooibos Tea. Rooibos tea is currently en vogue due to its health benefits and natural lack of caffeine. However, my original impression of Rooibos, a South African tea, had been shaped by Republic of Tea's Vanilla Rooibos in tea bags. Unfortunately, the blend was awful (watery vanilla, and a smoky, 'stale' taste). Not even milk helped it, so it stayed in the back of my pantry until I finally threw the nasty stuff out. I thought all Rooibos was supposed to turn your stomach (health benefit as an emetic?), so I shied away from trying any more.
Bodum's tea shocked me by being surprisingly smooth and tasty. The fragrance is honey and flowers, but not so overly floral as to be sickingly perfumed. The red tea element provided depth and staying power to the honey element. Overall, I would rank this as a type I would buy regularly. The best use for this tea would be an afternoon or light evening tea, when you want to enjoy tea, but caffeine needs to be kept at a minimum for sleep. The only drawback to this tea is that it does contain pollen as the honey tasting element, so if you have allergies, you may want to use caution.
The next day after I purchased my Rooibos, I asked my South African coworker if there were any special hints as to the proper preparation of red tea. He said there really wasn't, some preferred their cups with just sugar, he liked his with milk. One cool thing is that he offered to bring back 'real' rooibos for me the next time he went to South Africa. I'm hoping he remembers, because I'd love to review the 'real' thing. :)
Charles and I were walking along in Dallas off Knox Street to go to the Apple store in this area. Next door to our destination was a small store with lots of cool teapots and coffee cups. I asked Charles if we could go in once we were done, and he agreed to let me have a look at the store.
We went in and immediately I was struck by the beauty and airiness of the little store. There were cute teapots and sculptural glassware everywhere, and the interior echoed the inside of the neighboring Apple store, with white wall and lots of glass and light colored wood. Also echoing the Apple store is Bodum's philosophy, 'Give up bad design for good. '
Having been esthetically pleased by the interior, it was time to get down to business and look at some tea. I homed in on the tea shelves in the rear right area of the store. Surprisingly, Bodum stocks a sample jar of tea for each type of tea they offer, this way you can see how the tea smells and looks before opening your wallet to make an investment. Another unusual feature for a tea shoppe is that the gracious proprietress is more than happy to make a sample cuppa of any available type for you to take the tea on a test drive.
I was instantly seduced by Bodum's Honey Rooibos Tea. Rooibos tea is currently en vogue due to its health benefits and natural lack of caffeine. However, my original impression of Rooibos, a South African tea, had been shaped by Republic of Tea's Vanilla Rooibos in tea bags. Unfortunately, the blend was awful (watery vanilla, and a smoky, 'stale' taste). Not even milk helped it, so it stayed in the back of my pantry until I finally threw the nasty stuff out. I thought all Rooibos was supposed to turn your stomach (health benefit as an emetic?), so I shied away from trying any more.
Bodum's tea shocked me by being surprisingly smooth and tasty. The fragrance is honey and flowers, but not so overly floral as to be sickingly perfumed. The red tea element provided depth and staying power to the honey element. Overall, I would rank this as a type I would buy regularly. The best use for this tea would be an afternoon or light evening tea, when you want to enjoy tea, but caffeine needs to be kept at a minimum for sleep. The only drawback to this tea is that it does contain pollen as the honey tasting element, so if you have allergies, you may want to use caution.
The next day after I purchased my Rooibos, I asked my South African coworker if there were any special hints as to the proper preparation of red tea. He said there really wasn't, some preferred their cups with just sugar, he liked his with milk. One cool thing is that he offered to bring back 'real' rooibos for me the next time he went to South Africa. I'm hoping he remembers, because I'd love to review the 'real' thing. :)
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