A friend very kindly sent me a box of tea a while back. Nestled in the bottom was Naturaplan Wild Apple and Rosemary Tea (or Naturaplan Wildapfeltee mit Rosmarin, if you read the original packaging) which is a simple fruit and herbal tea sold in Switzerland.
My language skills aren’t great, so this could be crab apple instead of wild apple, but I doubt it. Crab apples are typically very sour and this tea is deliciously sweet.
I’ve struggled to find much about this tea online, other than the fact that the brand has a range of teas that you can find on the official Coop Switzerland website. An ingredients list has evaded me completely, so I’m reviewing this tea blind. The only two ingredients I can confirm are included are apple and rosemary.
If you know where this tea is available to buy online, or the official ingredients list, please leave a comment or contact me on Instagram so I can update this article!
Naturaplan Apple Rosemary Tea at a Glance
- Blend: Apple and rosemary herbs
- Flavour: Herbaceous tea with subtle apple sweetness
This is a pleasant and gentle tea with more dominant herbal notes first and apple fruit sweetness sweeping in after. It’s great as an after dinner herbal tea!
Full Review – Naturaplan Wild Apple & Rosemary
- Type: Tagged paper filter tea bag
- Ingredients: Apple, rosemary (TBC)
- Health Benefits: Boost immune system and cognitive functions
- Flavour Notes: Herbaceous, woody herbs, apple sweetness
- Aroma: Spiced apple, apple chutney, apple juice, light herbs
- Milk or Lemon: Neither
- Where to Buy: Coop Switzerland
Carefully opening the packet (so my tea-wrapper-collecting-friend can have it back) I’m not hit with any strong notes. It’s quite dull, but when you inhale deeply you get notes of spiced apple chutney. It’s a little bit musty, but you can’t find any herbal notes at this point.
It brews – slowly – into a slightly cloudy apple tea colour. It’s a bit lighter than fresh apple juice and has aroma notes of sweet fresh apple and fresh herbs.
You’ll enjoy sipping this one in the evenings. The combination of woody herbal notes and apple sweetness that coats your tongue at the end of every sip is really pleasant. It’s like a crossover of a fruit tea and herbal tea.
While you can’t determine exactly which woody herb is used in this tea, we can safely assume that the majority of the herb is rosemary. If you look at my image of the tea leaf below, you can see the apple flakes distinctly as well.
You won’t find many complex notes or depth in the cup – I’d guess that this tea has a short ingredients list with just the apple and rosemary taking centre stage. Overall, it’s pleasant and sweet but it’s not going to knock your socks off.
How to Brew Apple and Rosemary Fruit Tea
I used boiling water and brewed for 6 minutes until it had a good strength when I sipped it. Naturaplan recommend 3 to 5 minutes, but I found that wasn’t enough to develop the appley notes. This might be because the teabag is old – if your tea has a stronger aroma from the start, brew for 3 minutes and go from there.
Milk and lemon wouldn’t suit this tea. I’m not sure you would enjoy dunking biscuits in it either. Cheese and crackers might work though! Apple and rosemary is a great combination for cooking with pork and other savoury notes.
Why Naturaplan Wild Apple and Rosemary Tea?
Naturaplan aren’t a well-known brand in the UK at all, but they’re worth trying. Their ingredients are typically natural and rely on dried herbs and fruit pieces to flavour their teas instead of added flavourings.
Tea leaf size doesn’t matter too much with herbal/fruit teas, but I almost wish this one was more finely chopped as that might reduce the brew time a smidge.
Apple and Rosemary Health Benefits
Both apple and rosemary are great sources of antioxidants, which prevent oxidative damage. This has a wide range of benefits, but usually it comes back to maintaining cellular health and preventing cell damage.
Rosemary is touted as being a great ingredient for cognitive health. It boosts alertness and focus (although I’ve not personally felt these effects after eating rosemary or drinking rosemary infusions).
The key ingredient of Naturaplan Wild Apple and Rosemary tea is, obviously, the wild apple. If this tea genuinely contains wild foraged apples, then it is far more nutritious than you’d first think. As Michigan State University reports, some wild apples can have up to 475 times more phytonutrients than cultivated varieties!
Summary
This is a pleasant tasting and nutritious tea to try – if you can get your hands on it. I’ve added a link to Coop Switzerland on the button below, which will take you to the Naturaplan brand page where you can see all their teas. At the time of writing this article, Naturaplan Wild Apple and Rosemary tea isn’t available, but maybe that will change in the future.
Tea Recommendation
While finding info on this tea has been a challenge, I had no trouble finding the ingredients list for my Naturaplan Organic Alpine Herbal Tea with Mallow review. Check that out to learn more about this interesting Swiss tea brand.