QueenOfTarts select Send Message

This has been my tea for the past few weeks. In the mornings and afternoons, I crave this tea. It smells very sweet and very much like a caramel tea. To be honest, this is more like a caramel black tea with a drop of cheesecake creaminess hiding away in the background. I’ve found that I have to be careful when steeping 52Teas black tea blends. Under 3 minutes seems to keep it from getting too bitter. This is definitely a great choice for a caramel tea, but I miss the cheesecake flavor!

I think this is one of my favorite from 52Teas so far. It’s definitely a close favorite — not quite as good as the Pancake Breakfast blend. Still, I probably should have purchased two pouches of this as I’m just about out!

I was surprised that this tea looked a bit more like a fruit blend than a chocolate one. For some reason it reminded me a little bit of a cranberry blend I had in the past. It might just be the bright bits of red. As a little side note, I have to say that the tea did not appear to be all that fresh. It might just be that it got a little bit beaten up in the mail, but the blend itself looked musty and not too appealing. This didn’t stop me from making a cup and I’m actually quite glad I did.

After water has been added, this cup smells sweet and grassy. Sipping.. I taste mostly a rather pungent white tea. It’s very grassy, but not in the ‘just picked’ kind of way. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s like really dry straw and moist plants. Yes, an odd combination… but true for me! I do get a little bit of white chocolate in the swallow. It’s interesting because it comes out of nowhere, but I like it. I wish I could taste those smooth and buttery notes that one often gets with white chocolate. I think the flavors could be tweaked a little bit because it’s a tad strange.

Thank you to Steap Shoppe for a sample of this tea!

I was so surprised to open up this pouch and find all of these large pieces of dried fruit! Beautiful! I know this tea is called Indian Summer, but dried fruits seem appropriate for fall and the approaching winter. I couldn’t really find much actual tea, but was completely content with these little fruit pieces. The scent of the tea after water has been added is mostly of cherries. It reminds me a little bit of black cherry flavored candies, almost on the verge of being cough syrup.

Sipping.. it is surprisingly lighter than I expected. I find that most of DavidsTeas’ teas are stronger to the nose most of the time. This blend is much more mellow. It starts out a bit like sweet black cherry and becomes more tart. I’m glad that the tartness is somewhat subtle, but I wish that the other fruity flavors could be drawn out. I can’t really identify all of the fruits by taste. It’s more like a fruit cocktail (minus the tooth-aching sweetness) in that all of the fruits are joined in a syrupy cup — cherry, apple, plum, carrot?! The mixture definitely keeps the cup interesting and playful. I couldn’t decide on a tea this evening, but this one was perfect. Light & tangy fruits before bed! Thanks Invader Zim!

Huge thank you to Invader Zim for this tea. I love banana bread — so I’m really excited to taste DavidsTea’s version.

The first thing I notice is the incredibly sweet flavor. It reminds me a little bit of Forever Nuts only less tart. The rest of the taste is mainly banana. I like that the banana tastes a little bit nutty — not like the banana runts flavor I find in so many teas. I don’t taste anything that resembles bread.. but more of the bananas and nuts that someone would find as the actual ingredients.

This tea is sweet, nutty and has a little bit of a strange aftertaste. It’s almost sour? I don’t think that I would purchase more of this tea, but I’m glad that I was able to try a cup. It’s a little too strange for me.

These are the sweetest looking pearls. So adorable and delicate! I haven’t had much experience with pearls before but I was thrilled to give these ones a try. I’m even more impressed that they were not crushed on their long journey across the sea. They arrived in perfect condition in a lovely little pouch.

The scent of the dry pearls is calming & sparkling all at once. Soft, beautiful jasmine. I wasn’t sure how many pearls to use so I started with about 7 & then added about 7 more… didn’t seem like too many for my 8 oz cup.

Sipping this tea.. I realize that it’s just perfect for what I need this evening. I didn’t want my usual bedtime rooibos and even though I avoid teas with caffeine at night this tea called to me. There is such a nice floral taste that quickly morphs into a sweetness that truly lingers. It’s a bit like cotton candy — light, twirly sugar faintly on the tongue. There isn’t a hint of astringency or that sharp note some floral teas can have.

I’m so glad to have these pearls in my tea collection. As they are quite pricey, I think that they would be great for special occasions. Thank you to Pekko Teas for this lovely sample. It’s been such a nice cup of tea!

I’m drinking this tea tonight because I needed a simple tea (without caffeine) after all of the food I had today. This weekend I am studying for a big exam on Monday and when I get stressed I have the urge to bake. It sounds strange, but baking helps me relax. I made a gooey butter cake (thanks to the 52Teas blend in its honor & the suggestion from Azzrian) for dessert tonight and couldn’t deal with all of the sweet teas I have. I used two teabags for this cup tonight and it tasted significantly smoother than my first cup. I think I will keep using two teabags with this tea. As for the butter cake… so good. It’s the kind of thing I can only have probably once a year!

I am giving this tea another try because… well, I talked to one of my friends and she said that she enjoyed this tea. Even though we have different tastes, I don’t think that I gave this one a fair shot. I was really excited to find this tea at the store as well as a limited edition Sleepytime tea box. I’m usually not one to buy Celestial Seasonings, but Sleepytime has a soft spot in my heart.

Well, back to this tea. I’ve noticed that this tea has a bit of a strange scent. Maybe it’s the citrus… but it just smells funky. Underneath all of that is the sugar cookie. It really does smell like raw sugar cookie dough. YUM. I’d love a nice plate of warm sugar cookies at this moment.

Sipping… first comes the citrus and then comes the raw dough. This coats your tongue with a buttery, doughy flavor. The finish is crusty sugar & something weird.. it’s cooling, tangy.. almost like a peppermint. Not the most pleasant thing. The more I drink it, the more I notice it. I’m surprised to see how quickly this tea went from being a hit to more of a dud.

I am thrilled with the idea of a red velvet tea. The Republic of Tea developed their own red velvet blend a long time ago and I remember being so excited to buy a tin. That tea wasn’t too strong on red velvet flavor and left me hunting for a new red velvet blend.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered this tea on Steepster. Thanks to momo I was able to sample this tea. Thank you!

This tea smells like rooibos and creamy chocolate. Sipping.. it’s really, really yummy. I taste the nicest blend of rooibos and chocolate. The chocolate mixes so well with the rooibos. It’s almost a bit like baking chocolate in the way that it leaves your tongue a little dry. The raspberry notes are at the end of the sip. They add a nice tartness to the woody, milk chocolate. Yes, this definitely beats any other red velvet tea I’ve tried in the past. I only wish that there could be more of that distinctive crumbly, moist red velvet cake flavor.

This tea isn’t super sweet, but still manages to satisfy my sweet tooth for the night. It’s not my perfect red velvet tea, but it’s an awfully good chocolate rooibos tea.

Now that the weather is really changing from summer to fall, I’ve decided that it’s about time I open up this package. I grabbed some of this tea when it was out this summer and have been saving it ever since. I typically do not like fruit in black teas, but this isn’t just a strawberry tea, but a strawberry shortcake tea!
I was really surprised to see huge chunks of strawberries and brittle pieces. I certainly didn’t need to fish around in the bag to pick up any of the fun pieces. The scent isn’t too terribly sweet or fruity. It’s rather smooth and tame, actually. The black tea is more present now than in the dry leaf scent.

Sipping… it’s funny. I can taste all of the different components of the tea. Tart strawberry, a light black tea and sweet brittle. Each ingredient has its own moment to shine.. and by the end of the sip they all come together to make a flavor that wants to be strawberry shortcake. I have to say that it’s not like strawberry shortcake to me. I am not all that disappointed because I wasn’t expecting this tea to taste exactly like the dessert. The flavor is nice, just not anything that I would like to keep drinking. It’s sweet and tastes like strawberries & brittle — nothing really grabs me, though.

I am usually not someone who likes the scent of green tea. In my experience, oolong and black tea are much more appealing to my nose than greens. This tea is something special. It’s buttery, sweet, fruity and toasty. Mmm.. so many different notes and all before sipping!

First Infusion: First sips offer something light and milky. It’s not terribly buttery, but milky instead. The sip finishes with a deeper kind of green flavor. It’s very similar to spinach or Brussels sprouts. What I like about this first cup is that all of the flavors are rather tame. It is very much a smooth, creamy and calming cup. I can’t wait to see what the second cup offers!

Second Infusion: This cup has a lovely mouthfeel. It’s full and creamy. It’s very similar to the first infusion, but the flavors are not as strong. I really do detect something that tastes like soy milk… but it’s natural and unsweetened. Very nice. I could keep sipping on this tea all night!

Third Infusion: I detect more of a chlorophyll taste in this steep, but it’s still sweet and yummy. I love that it isn’t astringent at all… throughout all three infusions!

This tea is my favorite green tea I’ve ever had. It’s so delicious and pleasant on this cold night! We had our first snow today & have more planned for tomorrow! Even though I’m not a fan of the cold, this kind of weather means I’ll be drinking much more tea during the day and night.