Maddy Barone Send Message

I recently bought three taster packs of this tea, one for me, one for a friend deployed in Iraq, and one for his wife here at home. Months ago we had a tea party at church and he stopped in.I had brought a number of teas, but he immediately identified 52 Teas’ black Pancake Breakfast as his favorite. He is a HUGE Star Trek fan as well as being a tea drinker, so thought I would surprise him with a treat.

I made myself a cup of this. I like tend to like breakfast teas that are robust but not bitter. I thought this might be a little more dessert-y than robust, but it’s not. The black base is strong enough to hold its own against the marshmallow and butterscotch, like a good breakfast tea should, but there is a bit of creamy almost-sweetness to the sip. Very nice.

I cold brewed this one for today. With this darned sinus infection I am very dry. Maybe it’s only a myth that caffeinated beverages don’t hydrate as well. I need to hydrate a LOT since I can only breathe thru my mouth. I woke up this morning feeling like my mouth had been stuffed with cotton. Ugh! I don’t really enjoy the tap water here, so I prefer to drink tea or carbonated water. Long story short, I brewed up a quart of this since it was caffeine free, and managed to drink nearly all of it during the day. I have no sense of smell, but I swear I got hints of melon from this.

The 4 inches of snow we got yesterday are melting now thank goodness. I have a billion errands to run tomorrow after work and I didn’t want to have to scrape my car off. I actually really like winter. Late April, however, is not winter. ahem

It’s snowing and blowing. On April 26. And what I thought are allergies may be a sinus infection. I won’t bore you with an account of my sufferings. I am glad for this tea. I had a cup on my afternoon break. I’m starting to run a little low on it. (By low I mean I have about 20 grams left) It’s not the sort of tea I drink huge quantities of. As in, I won’t brew up 2 liters of it iced. But I think I see a pot of hot, steamy Cold 911 this evening.

I got a generous sample of this from a non-Steepsterian friend and decided to make a small pitcher of iced tea. It’s quite cold today (come on, spring, get a move on!) so I kind of wish I had made it hot. But the iced tea is quite good. My sense of smell is completely gone again so I can’t smell or taste the ginger or peach, but the tea is smooth and no hint of astringency or bitterness.

My goal this summer is to drink down as much of my tea as I can so I have room for new teas come fall.Making col brews by the pitcher full ought to help me with that goal. I really like this tea. It’s smooth and delicious. I wasn’t sure how it would be iced, but it’s quite tasty. When it comes time to re-order in the fall, this one will probably be one I want more of.

Chilly spring morning with wind and rain. Perfect morning for a hot cuppa. This one remains amazing. My goal is to drink up all the teas with only a little left. This one doesn’t fall into that category. Too bad. I will enjoy it anyway.

This morning I made a cup of this hot, and then I used the rest to brew a pitcher of iced tea. I’m sorry to see this one go! Tea Source isn’t making it any more, so this really is gone now. It doesn’t really sound like a sping-y Easter tea, does it? I chose this one because it was one with not much leaf left in the pouch, and I wanted to make room in my new tea cupboard. The new apartment is short of drawers and cabinets and storage in general, so now I really do HAVE to reduce my tea hoard.

Anyway, hot this one is warming and comfy. The cold brew is very pale. I may not have had enough leaf left to make a good strong pitcher. But it is cold and refreshing, and that is good enough.

Warm weather is upon us! Time for more iced tea drinking. I had only one bag of this tea left, so last night I set this to brew in the fridge. Those pre-measured bags of tea are so convenient. I’ve had this tea for two years. I don’t know how much the flavor has been compromised by time, but it tastes ok. Definitely a watermelon bubblegum flavor. But I like it. I think I should have let it brew a little longer since it is fairly pale in color and the flavor is a bit weak, with a slightly bitter edge to the sip. But it’s cold and refreshing, so that will do.

I really like this tea! It’s smooth and creamy and sweet. We had warm weather yesterday, and I was in a very stuffy room with a few hundred other people. I drank water continuously all day. When I got home that evening I took a long cool shower and brewed a cup of this. I really enjoyed it.

This new apartment has so little cabinet space that I have divided my stash into three places: a box in the front hall closet, a bin on the counter, and a bin onthe bakers rack. This may mean I have too much tea, even though I have given a bunch of it away. I may need to prune more. But this tea will never be given away.

I have moved to a new apartment! My former upstairs neighbors are good people. Their 7 year old son is autistic, so the noise—running, jumping, etc— wasn’t really their fault.I hated, hated to move away from that location. But I couldn’t beat it anymore.

I have 4 boxes left to unpack, plus hours of trying cram everything I own into a smaller apartment. I am tired and cranky.

Friends very generously gave me a really beautiful cup and a tin of this tea as a housewarming gift. The tin is lovely. The cup is absolutely beautiful. It has a girl reading in a garden and blossoms and butterflies in the inner rim. I really love it. I don’t especially love this tea. I don’t generally care for green teas as I find them grassy and bitter or astringent. This one was bitter. I may have over steeped. I’ll certainly try it again and see if I like it better nest time.