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Creme au Caramel Rooibos Tea by Vitabase
Pack: 50 Grams
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- Caffeine-Free Tea From South Africa
- Sweet Toffee with Caramel Finish
- Premium Quality Loose Tea
History and Usage:
During the latter half of the 20th century, Creme au caramel became as ubiquitous on the restaurant dessert menus of the world as Irish pubs did on street-corners. And there is good reason for this. Creme au caramel is delectable. It is also very simple to make and consists of only milk, eggs, sugar, and sometimes vanilla. As simple as it may be however, creme au caramel has a very complex medium rich flavor profile. (Which makes it as natural as a flavoring for the mellow character of Rooibos!)
Interestingly, this fine dessert is also one of the world’s oldest. Well, almost, it is actually a derivative of a custard known as flan and flans are one of the world’s oldest desserts. Well, ok, even flans didn’t start out as desserts. Flan, which is the generic term for a custard made of milk and eggs was invented by Roman chefs thousands of years ago. The Romans discovered that egg white worked extremely well as a binding agent in holding various ingredients together. They began experimenting by mixing eggs with milk and called their subsequent invention Tiropatinum.
Initially, Tiropatinum was not a dessert item. Rather, it was flavored with such delicacies as Ox Tongue or Eel and served as a main course. (Incidentally, we did think about producing an Eel Rooibos but thankfully the idea never made past the early conceptual phase!) As the centuries passed, Tiropatinum evolved into sweet custard with the addition of honey or sugar, and sweet custard evolved into Creme au caramel with the discovery of caramel - thought to have been first created by French chefs sometime in the 18th century. Someday we hope that food historians will look back on our offering of caffeine free Creme au Caramel Rooibos as an important milestone in the long life cycle of flans, custards, and their related culinary cousins. Once they have a cup of this exceptionally smooth, creamy sweet brew we’re sure they will!
Hot tea brewing method: Bring freshly drawn cold water to a rolling boil. Place 1 teaspoon of tea for each cup into the teapot. Pour the boiling water into the teapot. Cover and let steep for 3-7 minutes according to taste (the longer the steeping time the stronger the tea). Even though milk and a dash of sugar help enhance the flavor character on Rooibos, it is perfectly acceptable to consume it ‘straight-up’
Iced tea-brewing method: (to make 1 liter/quart): Place 6 teaspoons of tea into a teapot or heat resistant pitcher. Pour 1 1/4 cups of freshly boiled water over the tea. Steep for 5 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water. Pour the tea into your serving pitcher straining the leaves. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Garnish and sweeten to taste. [A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to double the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water].
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