Acorus Rooibos & Vanilla Cream Tea Review
With a name like Acorus Rooibos & Vanilla Cream, I know I am in for a luxuriant tea review session! This caffeine-free blend was gifted to me alongside a tea advent calendar last year and I have been eager to sip it ever since. Acorus are a European tea company with some enticing blends and flavour collections. Their Rooibos & Vanilla Cream flavour is part of he ‘Flavour Confetti’ set, which I have linked to below.
As always, my tea reviews contain a star rating and quick summary for those who are in a rush. If you want to learn about this tea in more detail, keep scrolling to read about the flavours and aromas as well as brewing instructions and a few notes about the tea brand.
Acorus Rooibos & Vanilla Cream at a Glance
Izzy's Rating
3.3/5
- Blend: Red rooibos with orange peel, liquorice root, and vanilla flavouring
- Flavour: Medicinal rooibos with a creamy vanilla finish
This tea might not give you the sweet sugar rush you are expecting, but all the flavour notes are present. The rooibos is warming and slightly nutty, with a creamy vanilla ship sailing into your mouth for the aftertaste.
Full Review – Rooibos with Vanilla and Cream
Izzy's Rating
3.3/5
- Type: Tagged paper filter teabag
- Tea: Red roasted rooibos
- Additives: Orange peel, liquorice root, vanilla flavouring
- Flavour Notes: Medicinal, liquorice sweetness, creamy vanilla
- Aroma: Honey, nuts, rooibos, medicine
- Milk or Lemon: Honey, to taste
- Where to Buy: Amazon or Acorus
Opening the packet, the initial aroma from the teabag is pretty standard for a rooibos tea. There’s that classic honey-nut note with a touch of medicine, plus some sweetness from the liquorice too. As liquorice can be super overpowering (Pukka Wonder Berry Green Tea is a good example), I am pleasantly surprised to find that it is toned down well here.
From here, it gets weird.
Usually a tea will develop in aroma once water is added. The brewing time opens up new flavours and intensifies what is already present. But for Acorus Rooibos & Vanilla Cream, the brewed tea was actually weaker in aroma. There’s a note of rooibos with a hint of honey, but not much else going on.
As for the flavour, it is also very subtle and weak. You can taste that medicinal rooibos with a gentle hint of liquorice sweetness from the first sip. It’s mellow and smooth. But wait. The aftertaste is coming! Like a ship smoothly sailing into harbour, the vanilla cream notes wash over your mouth a good five seconds after you swallow each sip.
The more you drink, the more those yummy vanilla notes build. I love it! Combined with the silky yet slightly drying mouthfeel of this tea, I believe it would make an excellent evening cuppa when you need something caffeine-free before bed.
How to Brew Rooibos Blends
Rooibos is a caffeine-free tea that is often used as a substitute for black tea because it has a similar tannin note and richness. It can also be consumed with milk, though in this case you don’t need it thanks to the vanilla cream flavouring.
The brewing instructions for this specific tea are to use 150ml of boiling water and let a single teabag (1.5g of tea inside) brew for three to five minutes. I pulled out my ornate blue teaware for this review, as the teacups are the right size for a small 150ml cup. Strangely, all my glass teapots and teacups were too large, despite being daintier in design.
As for what to add to this tea, you could add a drop of honey to pull the vanilla sweetness forward, but it is not essential. If you can’t have honey or sugar, I recommend date syrup – it has a low GI, is totally natural, and adds a richer note that’s more like brown sugar. This would complement the nutty rooibos perfectly.
Why Acorus Teas?
Acorus are a European tea brand rather than a British tea brand, but they ship internationally and can be found on Amazon too. They have some really fun flavours but where they really shine is in making tea collections. Their large selection tins provide a sampling of many different flavours organised around a theme.
Acorus Rooibos & Vanilla Cream, for example, is part of the ‘Flavour Confetti’ set. Another tea in this set is their Fruit Tea with Pear and Cloves. This tea was included in my advent calendar, and it was surprisingly delicious. Acorus do a great job of balancing powerful ingredients (liquorice and cloves) with subtler notes, so they aren’t too overpowering.
Looking at the tea leaf inside the teabag, we see small pieces of red rooibos tea. This is pretty standard for a teabag and nothing to turn your nose up at. There are also flecks of liquorice root, although I can’t spot any orange peel. I’m not sure where the orange peel flavour or aroma disappeared to, or why it is included as an ingredient in the first place.
Nonetheless, the quality is good and the flavour is quite pleasant. The majority of the packaging here is plastic-free, although there is a layer of plastic film on the outside. Nothing too over the top (TWG Tea, I’m thinking of you).
Summary
Overall, this is a super pleasant tea and the fact that you can buy it with a range of other caffeine-free blends only adds to the allure. I find that Amazon typically has the best delivery options (button below to find it on Amazon in your country) but you can also purchase it directly from Acorus. There is a link to their website above.
Tea Recommendation
The richness and warmth of rooibos tea makes it a super popular tea base for caffeine-free blends in the winter months. If you are looking to explore rooibos further, I recommend starting with Adagio Rooibos Nutcracker. This festive blend combines rooibos with mixed fruits, nuts, and caramel to earn at 3.5 score on the blog.