52teas

backlogging…very good iced, too!

LiberTEAS sent me this one a while back and I finally had the opportunity to try it for the first time tonight. I have always LOVED Apricots and that is the reason I have been wanting to try this. I was really hoping the cinnamon wasn’t going to ruin the apricot flavor and I was a little worried about the marigolds…making it bitter…but…

The Apricot was PERFECT…the Cinnamon with the Apricots was JUST RIGHT and paired nicely and the marigold flowers didn’t harm it at all…just enough to be a HINT of floral…

Lovely lovely lovely…very nice flavored Rooibos!!!

Finishing up another sample! Now, I thought this was pretty good before, but I actually had a Cherry Vanilla Pepsi the other day and this tea really nails that flavor! My rating based on personal preference does not change, but this tea is just like having a soda.

TTB 1.2

52teas really got the scent right on this tea, it smells just like cherry vanilla coke. The cherry and vanilla flavors seem to dissolve into each other alongside the cola flavor which makes it taste very similar to the real thing. I think this tea is even better with a tiny bit of sugar. This isn’t my favorite offering from 52teas, but they accomplished what they set out to do: create a tea that tastes like cherry vanilla cola.

Steeped this in an entire glass of hot Almond Milk. Not bad…tastes like a spicy hot chocolate. Fortunately, not overly spicy either. :-)

Bumped this up a few points. This time I used less tea and after it was steeped I used a little sweetener and some almond milk. It tamed the cayenne right down but left enough to give you a bite, it was delicious!

I love the underlying flavors in here, especially the almond. It is delicious and with a touch of cream and sweetener it helps take off the edge from the cayenne pepper. I love spicy food nothing usually deters me but I don’t do spicy for the sack of doing it. It truly has to make sense in what it is used in. I like it’s use in this tea but, and that is a BIG BUT it should have not stolen the show but rather played a small role for example maybe some stage scenery. If the pepper is taken down a few notches this tea would be a show stopper.

I just opened my bag of this tea and I’m already on my second cup. There’s all sorts of interesting alchemy happening in there.

Opening the bag, you’re first hit with smoke and cinnamon. The smokiness quickly dissipates and you have a pleasantly scented cinnamon tea. Keeping my nose in the bag, I next picked up on the raisin and, I have no idea how they do it, there is a very subtle note of toast! There’s something else too. There’s a slight heaviness, for lack of something more descriptive, that my brain translated to “butter.” If I was unaware of the tea’s name, however, I’d never make this connection in a million years. Visually, this is a really appealing tea.

In the prepared tea, the cinnamon wins out on each sip but it’s not overpowering. You get an occasional tart fruitiness from the raisin and everything else just hangs out in the backgroud to support the main characters.

I tried adding a touch of sweetener on the second steep to see if I could bring out more of the raisin. I used agave and its maltiness actually enhanced the toast flavor and brightened the fruit as well. The second cup is as far as I would push this tea. There are too many subtle flavors that would be washed out after this point.

To strain a metaphor, there was “magic” in this cup. It’s a really odd combination but it simply works.

I don’t have a lot of experience with white teas. The preparation is just a little too fussy and the final product a bit too delicate. I followed the brewing recommendations carefully to give this tea a fair shot. I’m glad I did because I think it turned out perfectly. I really like this tea!

I’ve eaten black currants both raw and in all sorts of recipes. They presented rather strangely, but pleasantly, in this tea. Instead of a tart blueberry/cranberry, this tea has notes of grape and (wait for it) sake. Yes, I definitely taste and smell sake!

This is a really light and mild tea that you could drink all day. Its natural sweetness gets more prominent as the cup cools and you do begin to pick up a subtle aftertaste of the currant.

I finished up the last of my Mayan Chocolate Chai this morning! I added a spoonful of Golden Snail to round out my pot and the chocolate notes of Golden Snail went very well with the chocolate in the chai. The end of my pouch was mighty rich in cayenne though, heartburn meds may be in order. But it was SO worth it!

I took this in my travel mug to work today and it was awesome! I’m close to the end of the package so the cayenne is a bit stronger than previously, but it did a marvelous job of keeping me alert.

I’m finishing up the last of my stovetop chai that I made earlier today and it is just awesomely spicy! This chai is my go-to chai for stovetop preparation each Saturday or Sunday morning.

I have been wanting to make chai for the past couple of weeks so I went ahead and ordered a pouch of this since it is one of the most balanced chai blends I’ve tried. This morning I made a big stovetop batch of this and wow!! It is super spicy, but super good! The chocolate is stronger than I expected, but still not as strong as the spices. I bet adding a bit of my favorite dark chocolate creamer would be awesome with this tea! The cayenne kick is just what I needed to help me wake up today!

Alright, finally some good tea! We went to my in-laws for (supposedly) one night so I didn’t bring any of my tea stuff. They usually have pretty decent bagged teas for me to work with, so I didn’t want to risk breaking my teapot by transporting it for such a short trip. Well, we ended up staying an extra night and I was dying for some really good tea!

I’m having an interesting combination this morning. I’m finishing up the last of my Mayan Chocolate Chai (which looks extremely cayenne rich…) with a mix of Adagio’s Caramel and a bit of Yunnan Silver Tip Choice. Overall, this mixture tastes very good. The MCC delivers on the spice and chocolate added to a caramel kick and a malty chewiness. But, Wow, is this last bit of MCC spicy!

I don’t think I would repurchase this Mayan Chocolate Chai, but I would be interested in the Chai with Chocolate, since the cayenne is the only part of this tea that is a bit overwhelming for me.

I’m using this extra spicy-end of the bag part of my Mayan Chocolate Chai to also finish up my sample of Kusmi Spicy Chocolate. The end result is fairly good and not overly spicy. I still have a bit more MCC though, so I’ll have to figure out a good tea to cut it with.

I think I lucked out today because the cayenne is on the lower end of the spectrum which is allowing me to really enjoy my chai.

I needed something to wake me up quickly this morning – something to punch me in the face without the usual swollen eye or bloody nose you’d expect … so I turned to this tea. I think I’m lucky in the fact that my pouch doesn’t seem to have a lot of cayenne, but just enough so you know it is there. I probably couldn’t handle more than this anyway. This is quite enjoyable, but I’m starting to wonder if even the small amount of cayenne was smart to have on an empty stomach…..

TTB 1.2

I’ve heard a lot of great things about this tea but I admit I was a bit afraid of the cayenne included in this blend. The dry tea smells really good – mainly of chocolate but the cayenne and spice blend is also present. After brewing, the liquid is a rich red-brown color and the cayenne scent has slightly intensified but so has the chocolate so that is fine with me.

Yum! After adding a bit of milk and sugar this tea really comes to life. This is truly one of the best chais I have had. I think that the blend of spices works well with the chocolate to create a very complex tea where not just one flavor takes the spotlight. I also really like that this blend is made with Assam because I love the bold, malty flavor that it imparts to this blend.

Seriously, 52teas makes some great tea – I don’t think I’ve had a blend of theirs that wasn’t just completely awesome.

Anybody to read my tasting notes knows that flavored teas are a pretty touch-and-go thing for me. I’m very picky about the authenticity and strength of things; it doesn’t take much to turn me off of them. 52teas.com scared the bejeebers out of me when I first saw it, but I had pretty resounding success with quite a few blends from that site, and I suppose I’m getting more adventurous, because the recent Select deal saw me taking the opportunity to order EIGHT bags from Frank on the cheap — stuff I thought I might not otherwise get, just to try it. Plus, it’s always nice to support a small business owner!

I didn’t realize zoomdweebies was such a huge site, either, until I went poking around. Gonna have to explore that more later for sure!

Reading tasting notes about Frank’s tea always makes me curious about shelf dates. Hey Frank! If you’re ever in the mood (for whatever crazy reason) to give yourself even more work, some blended-on dates might be handy.

The reason I mention this is because I think the flavor profile of these flavored, blended teas probably shifts across a spectrum the longer they sit on the shelf. Some of the tasting notes for this, people mentioned smelling butter when they opened it, or cinnamon. I got neither — the dry leaf smelled pretty much exclusively like raisins, and raisin seems pretty likely to increase its presence over time. I worried it would be like the raisin oolong (which I have, and which is actually a decent tea — it sets out to accomplish ‘raisin tea’ and achieves it with flying colors, it’s just a flavor that I, personally, tend to want only intermittently).

The cup as it’s steeping smells more like what I was hoping for — still mostly raisin, but there’s a nice shot of some spicy cinnamon in there to flesh things out now, too. Mmm, yes. The longer it sits the more I like the way it smells!

I’ve noticed that Frank’s black teas have a mild astringency that I might not care for in a plain leaf tea, but which really works to the benefit of the flavored teas I’ve tried. It seems to tighten up the flavors a little bit, at least for me — make them seem a bit more crisp.

Now that things have cooled off, I can state with authority that you ought to let the cup cool a bit. The flavors have come into line, everything seems to have smoothed out and gotten more balanced. Really a big fan of the smell coming out of my cup.

So glad I ordered this one. :) It’ll probably disappear fast!

On to the next one!

I don’t know I am really not tasting this. It tastes funny. I will try again and hope I can bump this up. I had such high hopes.:-(

In fairness to 52teas, I probably shouldn’t have ordered this tea in the middle of the summer when I live in the desert and it’s 116 degrees outside in the shade.

Opening the bag, you could see the big, chunky bits of raisin. Unfortunately, all of the chocolate bits had melted and pooled on one side of the bag. When I pulled the tea for my first cup, I made sure to include some of the chocolate, but the proportions were probably off. The fragrance of the tea was just like a box of chocolate covered raisins and there wasn’t even a hint of tea. As I left my nose in the bag for a bit, it was more like a fine pipe tobacco.

Once brewed, the tea was a decent black but none of the chocolate or raisin flavors came through at first. As the cup cooled, it developed more character. The milk chocolate presented itself in fragrance and the flavor became sweet/tart from the raisin.

I think I expected a dessert tea and this was more of a black with some personality. I’ve heard a lot about 52teas and this is my first try of their offerings. I have three other bags I’m looking forward to brewing over the next few days.

Bumping up for AWESOMENESS!!! I just made a pot of this and it turned out so well. Rich and creamy with that Irish Cream flavor I enjoy so well. I did try it with almond milk and I have to say it wasn’t bad but straight up is really the way to go. This is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Wow, can’t believe I am the first to review this tea. It is simply wonderful. I found this to be slighty sweet, incredibly smooth and creamy, definitely got the Irish Cream flavor out of this. I didn’t get any bitterness at all. It is like creamy silk. Amazingly relaxingly good.

Having a little bit of this before giving the rest to my parents! They LOVE Green Tea! I am going to give them an assortment tonight!