158 Tasting Notes
So I experimented by drastically changing from 205 degrees for 3 minutes to 195 degrees for 1 minute. I just didn’t want to give up on this tea. A bit weaker, but no change in the turtle department :( All I taste is black tea that I’m not too fond of. I’m trying so hard to taste turtle but it’s just a faint aroma that comes and goes, and a bit of an aftertaste that I really have to hunt for after I’ve swallowed to notice. Sigh. I don’t know what to do with my two bags now.
Preparation
Trying this without my Breville out of curiousity as to how different teas are without it. And wow, MAJOR difference! Tea tastes MUCH better prepared in the Breville than boiling water poured over tea in a mug.
Still yummy, enjoyed with a bit of cream and honey, but made me very thankful for my Breville.
Preparation
Gosh dangit! Same goes for this tea as the new Cashew Turtle. Smells amazing, but tastes only like the base tea. These are nothing like any of the many other 52 teas I own. All of the rest are bold in dessert flavors and knock my socks out of this world. This just tasted like green tea. What the heck? :( This one’s lacking even more in flavor than the Cashew Turtle. :’( I really wanted to love this too!
Edit
I put my remaining pot of this in the refrigerator and I have to say it’s not so bad iced, especially with a bit of raw honey, but according to my taste buds it’s lacking completely in cherry and cheesecake. Doesn’t seem to deliver on the name, but not a bad iced tea.
Preparation
If I remember right, this and cashew turtle are two of the newer 52Teas…you could try setting them aside for a few weeks to flavour up before giving them another shot. It takes so long for my orders to get here that they’ve usually had time for the flavours to mingle.
Or you could put them up for swaps if you really don’t want to leave them sitting around. I have the lemon lime cheesecake and am still broken hearted that i can’t get cheesecake flavour from it. I also really want a slice of cheesecake now… : )
That’s a good idea, let it sort of cure.
All of Frank’s cheesecake flavors seem to have that same reaction. I’ve wondered about it.. I have two of them (Coconut Cheesecake Honeybush and Lemon Lime Cheesecake,) and I’m happy with them. I taste as much cheesecake as I think is possible.. maybe a lot of the perception of the taste of a cheesecake is about the mouthfeel? Because I’ve tried to imagine what the flavor of cheesecake would be like in a flavoring agent and it seems that a lot of what we know as cheesecake would be lost. Maybe. I’m having a hard time explaining what I mean. lol.
Another thing.. all cheesecakes are different. Some tangier, some sweeter, some have different crusts, here’s a good reference of all the different kinds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheesecake The only cheesecake I’ve ever really enjoyed was the kind that I made, (I love to cook.) They can just be so vastly different. So maybe that makes transforming it into a flavoring agent more complicated?
Surgery went well! As soon as I got home I checked the mailbox and YIPPEE TEA! My Cashew Turtle and Cherry Cheesecake Green arrived. I was SO excited to try this one, I immediately ripped open a package and inhaled deeply. The dry leaves smelled AMAZING. Like… the best thing ever. Caramel makes me weak in the knees.
Steeped 1 tsp per 8 ounces for 3 minutes at 205 degrees in my Breville.
And.. for the first time I’m disappointed with a 52. :( I expected more flavor. I feel like maybe the bold tea base overpowered and drowned out the turtle flavor. I really tried to taste turtle but all I really tasted was bold black tea..that I didn’t particularly like. I did notice a slight aftertaste of turtle but it was very faint. I’m curious if maybe I steep for a shorter time/lower temperature I’ll be able to taste the turtle flavors more. I tried adding sweetener and cream and still no noticeable difference.
If only this tasted more like it smelled! I’d be in love. I’m going to wait to numerically rate this until I’ve experimented with it more. I really wanted to love this :(:(
Edit
(Boyfriend had the same results unfortunately :(, my taste perception was not altered by my surgery.)
Preparation
Glad yout surgery went well Ashley! :))
So glad the surgery was successful! is it possible any meds were clouding the flavour? I’ve heard anesthetics can do that sometimes. I noticed that myself a little after my dental surgery as well but I thought maybe I was imagining it…
Thankyou :) And no, I’m afraid not. I was barely put under, and my boyfriend had the same results unfortunately :(
Last thing I can enjoy before I go in for surgery tomorrow morning to remove my stent. So I made the most of it and steeped 4 tsp in 16 ounces of purified water in my Breville at 200 degrees for 10 minutes and added a good helping of cream and brown sugar. Liquid cinnamon roll for me. I was suppose to stop eating at midnight but it’s 12:17. I need my tea. Now to watch some TNG since I can’t fall asleep due to my nerves.
Preparation
Ashley, I hope you enjoyed your tea. Safe surgery tomorrow, and God Bless you! I’ll have a cup of tea before I go to bed & wish you a speedy recovery and many thousands more cups of tea!
Good luck tomorrow! Keep us updated! Sounds like a great treat!
Picard, Forever.
Best of luck tomorrow! I know that everything will go super smoothly, and you’ll be out and enjoying a celebratory post surgery meal in no time. I’m sending you good vibes and (((hugs))).
Scott – Thank you for your kind words.
Erin – Thank you, I will! (Vulcan salute)
Jenn – Thanks so much. Oh you bet I will! Along with a nice cup of tea as soon as I’m home. :)
Good luck today, we’ll see you posting back here in no time! live long n prosper :)
Wishes for the speediest of recoveries!
Come back soon Ash! We’ll miss your spunk for the next few days, heal up girl :)
Backlogging from yesterday.
Dry leaves smell awesome. POW lemon-lime cheesecake in your face. And it smells so creamy, is there such thing as a nose-feel, like a mouth-feel? Because it’s like I can feel the cream in my nose. LOL. Steeped this up double strength to pour over ice. Eye brows immediately shoot up, (this has come to be an expected reaction from 52 Tea’s blends). The first lemon-lime blend I’ve ever tasted that doesn’t taste like cleaner. This reminds me more of something very natural, like lemongrass. And I really like that. I think the addition of lemon myrtle was a very wise choice. The cheesecake is present and lends a smoothness and matches the tang of the citrus. It’s very enjoyable without any additives. Very light and refreshing! My bf said he could drink this all day. I experimented with a dash of cream and sugar. Really great, either way. Great job, Frank.
Preparation
I’ve tried them all but the Blueberry Merlot and the only one I’ve enjoyed was the Mojito Marmalade. It was the first that I sampled and it lead me to think I’d love the rest. But the others have just struck me strangely. :( The Apricot Amaretto tasted to me like Cherry Halls, the Cherry Cosmo like strange Kool-aid, and the Key Lime Ginger was just a ho-hum ginger root tea in my opinion. So as a package, I would not purchase this.
Preparation
Made a pot of this for my boy to take to work and put more water in to brew a pot for myself. I’ve read that most all of the caffeine is removed in the first steeping, which is good since I’m pretty sensitive to caffeine. Still awesome the second time around. Added some farm fresh cream and brown sugar. Scrumdiddlyumptious.
Bf called once he got to work just to tell me how great the tea was and how it got his day off to a great start.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9B_6PH4dhU
Who can take a sunrise, sprinkle it with dew, cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two? Zoomdweebie Man. Zoomdweebie Man can.
Preparation
I had heard this too, but found out that this is a myth. It takes about 15 minutes for all the caffiene compounds to fully extract out, though its all on a sliding scale, so somewhere after 8 min about 70% or so is drawn out. I know thats not very encouraging, but guess the lucky part is tea has about a 3rd the caffiene of coffee and its slow releasing in the body…
