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Currently sipping this tea. When I first decided to craft this tea, I was surprised that it was not a tea that we had currently blended before. We had created the Banana Coconut Cream Pie Houjicha & then later the version with white tea & houjicha – but never just a Banana Cream Pie tea. How could that be, given my love for banana teas?

Anyway, it was high time I remedy that! I slightly overleafed this particular pot of tea and I must admit that it’s even better when a little overleafed (sorry!) It’s really good when prepared according to package parameters, however, when it’s overleafed, the black tea base tastes a bit more robust while not sacrificing the flavor of banana cream pie.

I taste banana, I taste the creamy custard and a hint of pastry. I even get a note of the whipped cream topping. So nice. An ideal breakfast tea when overleafed like this. While conducting taste testing sessions with this tea, there were a couple of times when I had forgotten that I had a cup of tea somewhere (lol) and I’d return to it gone cold. It was really good cold too! I also tried it cold-brewed and it makes a really nice cold brew.

This one is almost gone although I will be adding a couple more pouches to the website later this afternoon – so if you go to the website looking for it, please be patient with me!

I knew I was planning on preparing tacos for dinner tonight, so I decided to cold-brew this tea overnight so that I could have a delicious iced tea today that goes really well with tacos! (I’m sure that it goes well with other foods too, but the mango/lime combo screams tacos to me!)

Anyway, this blend is so good. The combination of mango & lime is a winner. The mango is pleasantly sweet-tart & the light green rooibos base is really refreshing, while the lime brightens the sip. It’s light, sweet/tart & thirst quenching.

This tea is really good hot, but I prefer it cold-brewed. It doesn’t need sweetening, but I find that with a little bit of honey – it just brings it to a whole other level. Amazing!

I finished measuring out this tea last night & I decided it was time to have a cup! The aroma of this tea was absolutely INTOXICATING as I measured it out. I truly adore this tea.

I have to admit that when it comes to cherry teas, I tend to be just a little timid about it, because there’s a very thin line between cherry flavored & tastes like medicine & if I’m going to be totally honest, more often than not, one person’s cherry taste is another person’s medicine. So, putting a tea out there that tastes of medicine is a bit intimidating.

I’m happy to report that – there’s not a hint of medicine in this cup. Just sweet black cherry notes, hints of fluffy vanilla marshmallow & of course, a rich, chocolate-y note from the Fujian base. I love how well this one turned out. So good!

This tea is back in stock (although it’s going fast!) & I’m so happy I decided to reblend it before the hot days of summer have arrived – because it makes a spectacular iced tea! It is one of my all-time favorite blends of 52Teas, and it is – in the very least – top 3 favorites from Frank’s era.

Green tea, marshmallow root, limes & pineapple – when cold brewed – amazing!

When Roswell Strange ordered a Create-a-Blend tea & told me that they wanted a Rhubarb blend – I was just a little thrown off because I’ve never worked with rhubarb before. I’ve never cooked it, I’ve never even eaten it. The closest I’ve ever come to a rhubarb before working on this tea was spotting them on occasion in the produce market.

So, I asked Roswell Strange if they wouldn’t mind if I took some time to familiarize myself with the flavor – and allow me to play around with the components that I’d use to create the tea to figure out the best path forward with a previously very unfamiliar flavor profile. (I would say that I’m still somewhat unfamiliar with it, but far less now than I once was.)

But after having taken the time to work with it, I’m really glad that Roswell Strange ordered this blend because it’s not only really delicious, but it has also inspired additional rhubarb flavors.

This blend starts with a blend of black teas including some Lapsang Souchong. The smoke isn’t overwhelming here, but it’s strong enough that you’re not going to miss it in the sip. The Rhubarb flavor is tart, a little sweet & quite pleasant. It melds really nicely with the hints of smoke & the touch of cinnamon. The cinnamon notes develop as I continue to sip, they were barely noticeable in the first sip or two, but as I continue to drink it, the cinnamon continues to pop. It adds a pleasant roundness to the overall cup which is smoke, sweet-tart rhubarb & a gentle warmth of cinnamon.

This is one of my favorites from my recent batches – I love how creamy & decadent the coconut & vanilla taste with the malty notes of the Assam – and the bright notes of the raspberry elevate the flavors in a really lovely way. This one went through several taste testing sessions – not because I needed to keep tweaking it, exactly, but because I just – wanted to keep drinking it. It’s one of the benefits of the job…

This one is almost gone – so, if this one interests you at all, I highly recommend grabbing some as soon as you can!

This is definitely one of my favorite teas that I crafted during this past holiday season. It’s sweet, buttery, nutty & mildly spiced. It’s so pleasant to sip.

Currently sipping this – and I love it!

My youngest has recently taken up baking – they are baking at least two or three times a week & cookies tend to be their favorite thing to bake. It’s their love for baking that inspired me to create this cookie inspired tea – because for many weeks, they went through several different recipes to find the right one. (And of course – we HAD to eat those cookies! haha)

This is my tea version of the goodness that has been coming out of the oven on a weekly basis: a blend of Chinese green teas with just the right touch of essence to taste like a freshly baked cookie (especially when the tea is warm!) Then I added some colorful sprinkles for a touch of whimsy. Yum!

PS: They have – I think – finally perfected the recipe – it’s now a browned butter sugar recipe that is SO much better than the average sugar cookie.

Currently sipping this one. Yes, my sleep schedule is all messed up, it seems to continually cycle in this pattern where I will go a couple of weeks with a somewhat “normal” sleep schedule only to eventually go through a period of insomnia and then I end up back in a sleep schedule where I’m up all night and sleeping all day. I should be a rock star.

I really love how this tea turned out, it has a pleasant nutty flavor with a nice note of sweet dates. I was inspired to find a new idea for a tea with dates for my mom – who loves dates and this was what I came up with – a rich blend of black teas with nutty tones (but no actual nuts – it’s allergen-free!) & chunks of dates & spices (cinnamon, allspice, ginger & cloves). It’s not exactly what I’d call a chai, the spices are mellow & smooth.

Just a nice, pleasant cuppa for this very early AM!

52teas 12 Teas of Christmas 2023 – Day 9

Yeah, I’m a day late with this one. Yesterday was an incredibly busy day & I wasn’t able to actually focus on the countdown. So, I held this tea until today, thinking that since Day 10’s tea is a caffeine-free tea, it’s one that I can have after this tea and it will all work out OK (gotta have that caffeine!)

This was a tea that I was extremely hesitant to create way back when I created it (it was crafted as a create-your-own tea of the week reward from our start-up Kickstarter back in 2015!) I was hesitant because as I’ve said (probably more often than necessary) I do not like Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches. I never have. I’ve recently learned that it is an inherited trait (or a naturalized trait) from my mom, who also has never liked Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches. So I’m sure she had everything to do with influencing my opinion of the sandwich.

I like Peanut Butter. I like it in cookies, I like it smeared on my pancakes. I like it in a Peanut Butter & banana sandwich or a Peanut Butter & marshmallow creme sandwich. Or even just on toast with a little butter & a sprinkling of cinnamon & sugar. But I don’t want it with jelly.

I also like jelly on just about everything. (I’m still kicking myself for not doing the Bonne Maman advent.)

But I don’t want them together.

So I guess you get my point. I didn’t want to create this tea back in 2015 (it might have actually been 2016 when I actually crafted this one). But I did – and I ended up LOVING IT. So, I actually probably would actually enjoy a PB&J sando. But I’m not gonna risk it because years and years of conditioning have made me this way. Who am I to upset that hard work?

But this tea: I love it. I get a strong raspberry jammy flavor – a good raspberry jelly flavor – the kind that’s made with lots of real fruit & less sugar. The kind that you end up paying about $5 more per jar for just because it’s made better & tastes better. (Which is kind of a good reason, if you ask me.) The peanut butter comes in after the strong raspberry note. You don’t get a lot of “bread” flavor – that’s intentional on my part, because I didn’t want to make this too sandwich-y for reasons I’ve already mentioned. I did add a hint of breadiness to it by way of a rich, malty, bready Yunnan to the blend (also in this blend is a malty Assam & a crisp Nilgiri) but this wasn’t intended to be a sandwich tea, but a PB & J non-sando tea. I think way back when I was originally crafting this tea, my thought process was that if I don’t go for the sandwich angle, I can drink it.

It’s all mental.

Anyway, I love the way this tea came out. I love the raspberry. I love the black base. I even love the peanut butter with the raspberry. It’s yummy!