The past two times I've been at a Starbucks in Canada, I've ordered a
cup of "African Red Bush" tea, which is a new addition to their teabag
keyring. It's a new option in their selection of non-tea teas (i.e.
herbals).

The name gave me confidence it was Rooibos. It even looked like Rooibos
in the bag; the color was the same, etc. But it tasted absolutely
horrible and so unsettling that I thought there's no way it could be
Rooibos.

But upon reflection, I think it might be lemon-flavoured Rooibos.
Overly lemon-flavoured. It was like drinking pure acid. Now, I know a
lot of people like any kind of tea with lemon in it (read: idiots), but
this was beyond the pale. It was like drinking a gobstopper or sour
patch kid candy.

I just wanted to ask because maybe some of you actually drink Lemon
Rooibos on purpose, and you could tell me if the Starbucks monstrosity
is in fact that. Otherwise, what on earth could "African Red Bush"
possibly be?

I just can't get my head around it -- it didn't have that flavourful
Rooibos aftertaste at all. It tasted like coloured water with half a
gallon of lemon juice in it.

My wife and I go into a Starbucks yesterday to redeem a holiday gift
card with a given balance. I read the fine print. It said no cash
refund. We ordered Tazo Chai tea which was a buck more than Chai tea
latte. It didn' taste like tea, chai or the more expensive cream for
that matter. I probably saw more business in 45 minutes than my local
tea shoppe gets all morning. We got the last dirty little table. Two
guys at the front of the store in the nice leather chairs both looked
like extras from BrokeBack Mtn. Yup pointed boots, pointed hats and
enough silver to make a Navajo happy. The Western apparel stores in
town can't stock enough colorful coordinated cowboy outfits for the
urban professional whose parents told them Midnight Cowboy was the
prequel to Deliverance. It wasn't my money.

Jim

PS: The lastest wrinkle in Rooibus is adding flavors just like tea.
You don't like the taste just keep adding crap till you do and tell
your friends you gave up coffee for something healthier.

wrote:
> The past two times I've been at a Starbucks in Canada, I've ordered a
> cup of "African Red Bush" tea, which is a new addition to their teabag
> keyring. It's a new option in their selection of non-tea teas (i.e.
> herbals).
>
> The name gave me confidence it was Rooibos. It even looked like Rooibos
> in the bag; the color was the same, etc. But it tasted absolutely
> horrible and so unsettling that I thought there's no way it could be
> Rooibos.
>
> But upon reflection, I think it might be lemon-flavoured Rooibos.
> Overly lemon-flavoured. It was like drinking pure acid. Now, I know a
> lot of people like any kind of tea with lemon in it (read: idiots), but
> this was beyond the pale. It was like drinking a gobstopper or sour
> patch kid candy.
>
> I just wanted to ask because maybe some of you actually drink Lemon
> Rooibos on purpose, and you could tell me if the Starbucks monstrosity
> is in fact that. Otherwise, what on earth could "African Red Bush"
> possibly be?
>
> I just can't get my head around it -- it didn't have that flavourful
> Rooibos aftertaste at all. It tasted like coloured water with half a
> gallon of lemon juice in it.

Their coffee doesn't taste like coffee, either.

Starbucks isn't a place to get what you want; it's a place to prove
you're swayed by the pure marketing qualities of saturation and
popularity.

When they start doing media advertising, the world may end.

--Blair

Space Cowboy wrote:
> Two guys at the front of the store in the nice leather chairs
> both looked like extras from BrokeBack Mtn. Yup pointed boots,
> pointed hats and enough silver to make a Navajo happy.

Ignore for the moment the quality of Starbucks offerings. Why
would any right-minded person think Starbucks the shop has cache
and style? It's a freaking franchise, no different than Applebees
or Olive Garden.

--crymad

Yes, and more importantly... back to the point...

I'm not here to discuss the merits of Starbucks versus classier,
independent caffeine houses. I'm just really curious: is this African
Red Bush really Rooibos?

I guess the only way to find out is to get them to show me the box, or
failing that, to ask them not to put the teabag into the water next
time I'm there. I can then take it to my table and rip it open, pour a
sample into a ziploc bag, and then drink a tall cup of
not-quite-boiling water. I suppose at home I can lay it out on a paper
towel and compare it to a sample of real Rooibos.

>From what I saw, the leaves did look identical (through the bag) to
Rooibos. But that taste was absurd.

P.S. I've had Caramel Rooibos and Earl Grey Rooibos before, and
although I found them repulsive and undrinkable, they both tasted quite
a lot like Rooibos with flavouring on top. I just don't know if lemon
plays nice that way, or if it totally obliterates the underlying taste.

Lemon tea drinkers should be able to chime in and tell me. Then again,
there probably aren't many lemon tea drinkers on this NG. In fact, I'd
be surprised if there was one, in the whole wide world. It would be
like Sangria drinkers hanging out on a wine NG.

Space Cowboy wrote:
> PS: The lastest wrinkle in Rooibus is adding flavors just like tea.
> You don't like the taste just keep adding crap till you do and tell
> your friends you gave up coffee for something healthier.

I don't tell my friends that I "gave up coffee for something healthier"
.... I just tell them that I can't remember the last time I had a cup of
coffee. I've got some premium coffee in the freezer (from the Vashon
Island monastery) and a great Cuisinart coffeemaker, but it's just such
a bother to set up (not to mention clean), and I've grown to like the
many varieties of tea a lot better than I do coffee.

On rooibos, I've only had the peach-flavored rooibos from Teavana (I
like peach flavor in tea). I still don't know what rooibos tastes like
by itself, but if it were something I'd find disagreeable, I'm sure I'd
taste it through the peach flavoring.

And to answer the OP: I haven't tried it, but I'd bet real money that
Starbucks' "African Red Bush Tea" is actually rooibos. I mean, what
else could it be ... hibiscus?

Hi,

I was thinking about honeybush, another african bush, but searching through
the net i meet this translation:
Rooibos = Red Tea - Red Bush
Furthermore, the "African Red Bush" is a trademark of the RooibosUsa.com
http://rooibosusa.com/.

Giovanni Vanni

> ha scritto nel messaggio
oups.com...
> Yes, and more importantly... back to the point...
>
> I'm not here to discuss the merits of Starbucks versus classier,
> independent caffeine houses. I'm just really curious: is this African
> Red Bush really Rooibos?
>

wrote:

> The past two times I've been at a Starbucks in Canada, I've ordered a
> cup of "African Red Bush" tea, which is a new addition to their teabag
> keyring. It's a new option in their selection of non-tea teas (i.e.
> herbals).
>
> The name gave me confidence it was Rooibos. It even looked like Rooibos
> in the bag; the color was the same, etc. But it tasted absolutely
> horrible and so unsettling that I thought there's no way it could be
> Rooibos.

A little late, but: The name might come from South Africa, a colony of the
Netherlands. And it might translate "rooi bos" -> "red bush".

Nils
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