Good Hope Vanilla ~ The Republic of Tea

I was watching this astonishing Nova documentary called the “Dawn of Humanity” last night that really had my scientist heart singing. In college i actually received an A+ in Physical Anthropology; the study of hominids is one of my great passions. The Dawn of Humanity takes place in the Cradle of Civilization in South Africa, and since my mind is having a hard time pulling itself out of that part of the world i thought it’d be a good idea to review the hugely popular tisane, Rooibos, that, like us, originated in South Africa. Unfortunately, i ended up grabbing one to review that kind of sucks. ^^;;

To give you a brief bit of background, Rooibos (roy-bos) is an Afrikaans word for a South African red bush plant that’s a cousin of linearis. It’s been popular locally since time immemorial but probably “discovered” in Western colonial/ethnographic literature by Carl Thunberg in 1772. Dutch settlers first popularized it as an alternative to Black tea. Yet, like European Colonizers, Rooibos takes some getting used to…

In aroma, Good Hope Vanilla is mostly caramel with a minute note of straw or hay. Flavor-wise, based on Good Hope Vanilla alone, it’s hard to imagine Rooibos ever became compared to tea. Good Hope Vanilla tastes kind of like liquified rock? It’s bland and seed-like. Despite its aroma, there isn’t a great deal of caramel flavor, though i suppose you could make a case for a vanilla aftertaste. No doubt thanks to being blended with vanilla bean, Good Hope Vanilla’s texture has a grainy, pitted, half-melted rock feel. As Rooibos goes, Good Hope Vanilla is very authentic, but definitely an acquired taste. Sadly, the best thing Good Hope Vanilla probably has going for it is its yellow-tinged amber liquor. That, and the fact that it references South African geography (specifically the Cedarberg wilderness on the Western Cape). ;)

 

 

1. Aroma – 93
2. Taste – 89
3. Texture – 93
4. Spunk – 93
5. Rarity – 91
6. Availability – 92
7. Appearance – 93

Mean score – 92%

I guess i shouldn’t be surprised by Good Hope Vanilla. There’s a reason Republic of Tea products never rank very high on this blog. They seem to be laboring under the belief that Americans have no taste.