972 Tasting Notes
TeaTiff TTB #2
There was a single sachet of this tea in the box, which I took along to my dad’s house to brew on Christmas day. While not quite up to the standard of my all-time favorite Gingerbread Rooibos from Market Spice, this was quite a respectable gingerbread blend! Not too heavy on the ginger and with a nice sweet, buttery cookie note. And the black tea base was welcome after staying up way too late on Christmas Eve!
Flavors: Butter, Cookie, Ginger, Gingerbread, Sweet
Preparation
TeaTiff TTB #1
I haven’t had a chance to properly dig into the TTB until today, but I did pull a couple out to take to my dad’s house for Christmas…including this one, because how could I not???
It has that classic orange spice scent (like the classic Bigelow Constant Comment) but I found that the clove pretty much overwhelmed the orange flavor and any other spices in my cup. Not too enjoyable to drink, but it sure did smell good!
Flavors: Cinnamon, Clove, Orange, Spices
Preparation
AJRimmer Advent Day 25
My kitchen smelled AMAZING while this one was brewing…almost like I was baking a late batch of gingerbread a few days after Christmas! Unfortunately, the flavor didn’t live up to the aroma. The ginger was STRONG and drowned out any other cookie flavors that might have been present. I like ginger, so I still enjoyed it, but would have appreciated a bit more complexity to the flavor.
Flavors: Ginger, Gingerbread
AJRimmer Advent Day 24
I really enjoyed the cranberry flavor in this tea! I feel like most cranberry blends I’ve tried use hibiscus to capture that tart, red flavor and I usually find myself disappointed. But this one had a very natural sweet/tart cranberry flavor with no hibiscus that I could detect. I wouldn’t have minded a bit more almond, but it was a lovely, refreshing tea for Christmas Eve to balance out all the sweets!
Flavors: Almond, Cranberry, Fruity
Generally speaking, I dislike hibiscus. When it’s steeped too long, it will become too syrupy in texture & too tart in flavor, neither of which is something I appreciate in a tea. I have used hibiscus in the past in a few of my teas, but only in very limited amounts to avoid the tartness and/or syrupy texture, but that was years ago.
I have since learned that hibiscus is often grown alongside peanuts (aka intercropping – hibiscus likes to grow alongside legumes.) and because I have pledged to have only allergen-friendly teas, I no longer will use hibiscus in any of my teas to avoid potential cross-contamination due to these intercropping practices.
So, you can buy any berry tea with me with the confidence of knowing there is no hibiscus in it – and on the rare chance that you happen to find a 52Teas with hibiscus in it, it’s one blended prior to 2020, as I believe the last blend I crafted with hibiscus in it was in 2019.
That’s good to know and probably explains why I enjoy your fruity teas so much more than many others I’ve tried! :)
AJRimmer Advent Day 22
I have several friends who LOVE Teeccino and I have never understood it. Maybe you have to be a coffee drinker to “get” it? The roasted chicory flavor is just unpleasantly bitter to me and tends to overwhelm whatever other flavor is present in the blend. This one was no exception. I got a hint of cinnamon, but nothing that was reading “cookie” to my taste.
Flavors: Bitter, Chicory, Cinnamon, Roasted
AJRimmer Advent Day 21
I don’t drink a lot of matcha, so my preparation could totally have been at fault here. But the latte I made with this blend was disappointingly grainy and bitter, totally lacking in the sweet, creamy “cake” flavor I was hoping for. I picked up on a bit of vanilla, but overall it was disappointing.
Flavors: Bitter, Vanilla
AJRimmer Advent Day 20
Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! This is my first day home since the holiday craziness, so I have about a week’s worth of tea notes to catch up on. Not going to rate these since I’m writing notes mostly from memory.
This one didn’t stand out for me; it was a fairly brisk, astringent black tea with a bit of a caramel note; probably would have been better as a latte.
Flavors: Astringent, Caramel
AJRimmer Advent Day 19
Ooo, I like this one! As I brewed it, my kitchen smelled like I was peeling an orange. Though I couldn’t smell the honey, that flavor definitely came through along with a very natural, not-too-sweet orange flavor. I didn’t realize there was vanilla in the mix as well, but I’m guessing that’s why the whole thing felt so smooth and cohesive! This is definitely one of my favorites of the calendar so far.
Flavors: Citrus, Creamy, Honey, Orange, Smooth
Preparation
AJRimmer Advent Day 18
I was quite surprised when this green tea brewed up pink! My first sip revealed the culprit: my old enemy hibiscus. I do understand why they would include it here, as it lends a pink color as well as a tart flavor that is appropriate to a grapefruit. But for me personally, it overwhelms the citrus flavor that I can faintly taste in the background and leaves me feeling like I’m pretty much drinking a hibiscus tea.
Flavors: Citrus, Floral, Grapefruit, Hibiscus, Tart
