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The dry leaf smells so fresh, sweet & grassy! It’s not often that a tea smells this fresh, especially when it’s traveled across the ocean, but this one is so lovely.

Sipping… oh, this is really nice! I’m getting a bit of a honey combined with the nicest floral notes. I love how the flowers complement the sweetness of the cup instead of overwhelm everything. I don’t taste a whole lot of vegetal notes that I detected in the dry leaf scent, but am enjoying the honey and flowers instead. This cup also lacks any astringency — everything is so smooth and sweet! Delicious!

Thanks to Teavivre for such a tasty tea!

The scent of this tea is of white tea, lemongrass and a hint of something creamy. Usually I don’t pick out the individual ingredients just by the scent, but this one puts it right in front of your nose!

Sipping… this tea is so straight-forward… it’s as if every element from the scent has been enhanced and translated right into the flavor. Lemongrass is the most prominent note for me, closely followed by the white tea. I wish there were more of the cream/vanilla, but it hides in the background and isn’t completely missing.

I like this tea, but have to be in the mood for it. It’s not a blend that I can drink anytime, but it’s not one that I would avoid either.

When this tea popped up last year, I knew that I had to give it a try… it’s plum pudding! Anything plum tends to get my approval, plus a plum dessert makes it even better! For some reason, I never slipped this into my shopping cart and have waited until now to give it a try. The scent of this tea is interesting.. at first I’m hit with something rather fishy.. almost like a puerh. I realize, though, that it’s not so fishy, but may just be the base of the blend mixed with plum. Strange how your nose can interpret different scents!

Sipping… I’m getting some nice fruit notes, a bit like plum, but not entirely plum-specific. There is a hint of something creamy in the background — it’s not the same kind of creamy as cantaloupe & cream, but is so delicious because it swirls around the plum & oolong notes. I am also getting a tiny bit of spice and it works so well with the plum + the oolong that I’m actually finding spice to be enjoyable! I’m so pleased that the base and the flavors work so perfectly together — this tea gives me an image of a dark, sweet, fall/winter plummy dessert. The cup finishes with a bit of astringency, but it brings to mind the tart skin of a plum. The cream, plum and spice help to hide the astringency a little bit. Although it’s not my favorite tea from Butiki, I could see myself adding this to a future order.

I like having a nice lemony dessert tea in the collection, but haven’t been able to find one that I completely love & adore & must have at all times. I was a fan of the lime chiffon tea from Della Terra, but couldn’t manage to finish the rather large pouch I had ordered… for some reason, it started to taste a bit too artificial and gross. I saw that this one had nice reviews, so I decided to give it a try!

This tea is quite similar to the lime chiffon blend, but doesn’t have that distinctive citrus flavor that lime contributes. It has quite a creamy mouthfeel and a little hint of a vanilla in the background. I think of this tea as more of a lemon + vanilla blend. It actually reminds me a lot of the lemon bar filling without the crust. Sweet, lemony and with a hint of tartness.

Even though I do like this tea, the underlying artificial note sort of ruins the cup for me. Now, it isn’t enough to keep me from drinking, but I prefer lemon dessert teas to at least taste a little less fake. Sadly, not my favorite lemony tea, but still drinkable.

I’m increasing the rating on this one a little bit. It’s not the BEST green tea that I’ve ever had, but I do like vanilla & I think that this tea has a nice vanilla flavor. The green tea base isn’t bad, but it has some notes that I’m not fond of.. sometimes it’s a little bit fishy, a little bit like ocean water & a little bit grassy. These notes weave themselves throughout the cup, so they do not dominate, but pop in and out every so often. The vanilla is quite strong, not so much creamy, but more “natural” tasting. It reminds me quite a bit of vanilla extract. I should also mention that it leaves a very strong, almost unpleasant sensation that lingers in the back of your throat — sort of like what mint does.

I’m still not loving this tea enough to buy it by the ton, but it’s something that I might consider popping into my shopping basket in a future order. *I can’t seem to remember who sent me more of this in a swap — I haven’t been able to get to my message inbox to track down previous swaps… but thank you to the person who sent this to me!

The past few months, I’ve been buying more 52Teas blends than I ever have. I saw so many different teas that I wanted to try! I’m coming to realize, though, that I’m disappointed with a blend probably 50% of the time. Sometimes the tea is perfect in scent, but when it comes to taste — completely lacking. One of my favorite blends was the caramel cheesecake. I’m disappointed that I didn’t buy more when it was out. This one smells promising as it reminds me of that blend. There’s a bit of cheesecake and nuts that I detect. The black tea base is not a favorite of mine and it doesn’t smell particularly alluring, but the cheesecake bumps it up a little.

Sipping… yes, this is similar to the caramel cheesecake, only not as tasty. There is quite a lot of a dryness that I think comes from the nuts. It really doesn’t leave a nice sensation in the back of the throat. I don’t taste any chocolate, but I’m honestly just here for the cheesecake. The cheesecake isn’t strong and is, once again, just a wisp.. but paired with a tiny bit of sweetness, it’s nice. Boy, that dryness is not pleasant. I’d like this blend a whole lot more without the nuts & with a nicer base.

I feel sort of silly, buying a tea that has two ingredients that I don’t really like (ginger and cinnamon) and a tea base that is not a favorite, but drinkable. But… it’s PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE and a caffeine free version, too! I thought that it was worth a try.. but giving this tea a smell, I’m nervous. It smells a little bit sweet, a little bit tangy & up close, very heavy on the ginger and cinnamon. Uh oh. After water has been added, it smells a little bit like burning honeybush: very strong ginger and cinnamon.

Sipping…I definitely taste cinnamon and honeybush at first. The sweetness of the honeybush comes out a little bit later, but that’s really all there is. The cinnamon is not as bad as I thought it would be. It’s not like cinnamon gum or cinnamon spice, but a flavor in between the two. I’m disappointed as this blend is rather plain — no pumpkin, no cheesecake. I’ll let the rest of the pouch sit for a little while, but I doubt any more flavor will develop with time.

The scent of this tea is a bit more earthy than I would like it to be. It reminds me a little bit of dirt mixed with lemon. The lemon scent isn’t at all sugary like some other lemon rooibos teas. It still seems like it will be tasty — the scent just isn’t my favorite.

Sipping… the rooibos base is nice and smooth. It doesn’t feel like dry splinters in the throat which is always a positive. The lemon is very mellow and soft. It’s a little bit too light for me, but it’s very pleasant. I wish that there was another element here.. maybe something creamy or tart? It just seems like there’s lemon and rooibos and while the two together aren’t terrible, they’re just not special. I think this would be a nice tea to be paired with a dessert, but as a dessert tea by itself, it’s not all that satisfying.

This is a tea that I’ve been eyeing for a while. I love oolongs and one called “heritage honey” sounded so alluring! The scent of this tea is very strongly floral. Super floral oolongs make me nervous, but I’m interested to see if this floral note carries over into the taste. Sipping… oh, good! It’s not a mouthful of flowers. It actually starts out as a very smooth cup and fades quickly into a light honey flavor. So tasty! Some floral notes do come out at the end of the sip and blend very well with the honey. The honey is not terribly dark and sweet like that in a Mi Lan Dan Cong tea, but it is so nice mixed with the floral and lightly fruity notes. This is a nice alternative to the darker, roasted, fruity and strongly floral oolongs. It’s definitely a unique tea that would be a nice addition to any collection. I’ll keep this one in mind for future orders! Thank you, Nicole for sharing!

I haven’t had this tea for a few years, according to my last tasting note of this tea. Even though I wasn’t terribly impressed with it then… I thought a nice apple cider herbal blend would be great for fall. Plus, it’s a limited edition and any fall/holiday limited edition is special to me. Sometimes I depend on herbal teas just as much as rooibos when I don’t want caffeine. Herbals are a bit more tricky with my tastebuds, though. There’s more room for certain additions that I don’t really like.

This blend smells very tasty and comforting. I definitely smell apples, cinnamon, maybe a hint of sugar — it’s quite similar to an apple pie filling without the crust. Sipping… I’m tasting a really strange sweet note that quickly turns bitter. The sweetness reminds me of that gross character that licorice has, but it isn’t as bad. What’s really strange is the bitter note.. I don’t remember this from before. It’s reminiscent of the bad, tough core of an apple — the part that you don’t really want to eat. I do taste a little bit of apple towards the end of the sip, but it’s so light that I wouldn’t really call this a cider tea. I like that it’s not overwhelmed with spices..but I’m greedy and still want more apple.

I will finish the tin of this tea and will likely rotate it with some of my other fall teas, but won’t go crazy buying more tins to last me another year.