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I already made another cup of this. I couldn’t help myself. One thing I noticed while drinking it this time is that it got better and better as it cooled. Perhaps that’s why I am supposed to brew it at a lower temp. I take the first sip and I think “eh, ok” and then by the end of the cup I saying out loud, “I love this tea”.
Preparation
I just got this in the mail and immediately brewed a cup. I love it. I don’t know what to say about it other than yum. I am not a white tea aficionado and I am not sure what black currents taste like by themselves so it is difficult for me to be a good judge of which flavors are dominant, etc. But I can say that I really really like it.
When I open the bag and smell it, it smells so sweet, like candy. Then when it is brewed up the white tea and the black currents are both delicate and seem well balanced. I added a little agave nectar to it because, well, that’s what I do. That really made it for me. I was sad to hit the bottom of the cup.
Brewed 2 1/2 tsp to about 10 oz for 2 1/2 minutes at 187 F. That is a higher temp than recommended but I don’t have a tea kettle at the moment (getting water from the Keurig) and my kitchen thermometer batteries are out. It didn’t seem to hurt it.
Wow, that sounds absolutely delicious. I am tempted to order some right away :)
If you do, make sure you put in the special notes that I referred you. I’m trying to win free tea for a year! :)
Bai Mu Dan (sometimes Pai Mu Tan, as at TeaGsch) is a very delicate white tea. I’m surprised anyone is flavoring it.
If you can find an unflavored version, I would give it a try, you’ll probably enjoy it quite a bit. Whites of this kind lend themselves to a sort of sweetness and wouldn’t be harmed by a drop of agave.
The flavoring is pretty delicate. They did a nice job with it. I’ve had an unflavored white tea before and found it to be a little bland. I don’t remember what kind of white it was (probably was something from Teavana).
I’ve never had black currants, but red currants are very tart. My grandparents had current bushes when I was growing up and they told me to eat them by squishing them under my tongue 1st.
I would say that white teas a) are pretty varied, as most tea is, and b) really aren’t worth buying unless you buy really, really good ones, because instead of being light they end up just being flat.
Jim… well yeah. Why would you buy bad tea no matter what kind? Everyone has their own idea of good/bad, but buying bad tea is dumb.
Dumb it may be, but an awful lot of bad tea gets sold in this country nevertheless. ;-)
However, my point was that with white tea, it isn’t a question of good versus bad, but rather a question of mediocre versus good versus very good versus exceptional. I have found that Teavana tries to pass off mediocre/good tea as very good/exceptional simply by charging twice what the tea is worth. I wouldn’t be at all surprised that a white tea that Kristin tried from that shop was bland – I’ve never been impressed with anything I’ve had from them.
What I’m saying is, if you want to drink unflavored white tea and have it impress you, you probably need to drop some serious coin on some serious tea. White tea is too fragile to survive the trip to your cup with all the nuances intact except under the best of care; which most tea doesn’t get.
Re. bad tea. That is why I have stopped buying almost any tea that I cannot buy a sample of first (this one was an exception because 52 teas are so unique). I got tired of throwing away large tins of tea.
Shrugs… I even like adagio’s whites so price doesn’t always matter.
I didn’t like any of the teas that I ordered from Adagio.
Liking a tea is a matter of personal taste and preference, it has nothing to do with objective quality. Objective quality is expensive. Unfortunately, sometimes stuff that isn’t very good is also expensive. So yes, we should not mistake a high price tag for quality, but the reality is, something that is of objective quality is going to be expensive. Based on what Kristin has said, my suspicion is that she isn’t going to enjoy lesser whites.
This tea seems to be regarded by some as one of the most chocolaty teas out there. So, being the chocoholic that I am, I had to try it. :P
The tea itself smells chocolaty, with a hint of maltiness and a touch of roasty.
I originally steeped it for about 6 mins, but it was still pretty light, so I left it in for an extra couple of minutes while I let the water cool down to not-burning temperature.
The tea tastes chocolaty, as one would expect. Not as chocolaty as a chocolate bar, but still chocolaty. :) There’s a hint of malt in there too, which adds to the tastiness.
It’s nice and smooth, which I like, but it doesn’t really have a strong flavor. I think next time I’ll add more leaf and see how it goes. What’s there is yummy, but I would like it to be a bit more flavorful. (Could be that I used the not-boiling water at work instead of actually boiling water, as is suggested.) But I definitely like it, and I can see myself having this in the morning (when caffeine is needed) quite often. :)
Preparation
Looking back on what I said about this a month ago, the main difference is that I can now comment on “the rooibos aspect.”
Tonight, in fact, the rooibos aspect was the main thing I tasted in this tisane. It makes me wonder whether my novice palate at the time confused the rooibos with another flavor. Rooibos can have a fruity note to it, and I may have interpreted this note as apple. But now that I’ve had more rooibos, it’s not apple. And the lion tamer in me wants to reach for my whip and chair and back the rooibos back into its corner, where I like it best. Bumping down a couple of points.
I got this when I was hunting for an apple flavored herbal — it’s not what I was looking for, as the overall experience is more cidery than appley, but is nice in its own right. The dry rooibos mix has a smell that I think might be rum, though I am not much of a hard liquor drinker. In any case, it’s an alcoholic beverage I’m smelling. That aroma mellows out some to a more appley, hard cider sort of smell once brewed. Interestingly, this aroma doesn’t come through in the flavor of the drink, which I thought, being a dominant smell, it would. The apple in the flavor is fairly subtle, but it isn’t masked by the cinnamon as I’d feared it would be. In fact, the cinnamon takes a back seat, which is unusual in my experience. Usually if cinnamon is present in the ingredients it isn’t shy about announcing its presence. The fact that it doesn’t here is a nice a change. The apple comes through the most in the aftertaste.
I can’t comment on the rooibos aspect, as I’m still not sure I know what rooibos tastes like. I’ve only had flavored rooibos blends. I’m going to have to get some unadulterated rooibos so I can have a frame of reference.
Preparation
I looooove the chocolate with the chili powder added. Also, a friend of mine made fudge around the holidays with chili powder and cinnamon and it was sooooo good. I loved the extra kick! So with that said, I was really excited to try this!
The dry leaf scent kind of reminds me of Teavana’s Azteca Fire. However, unlike Azteca Fire, this is actually spicy. :P (To be fair, Azteca Fire is kind of spicy, but it’s at a much lower level.)
This is a very tasty tea! It definitely does remind me of my friend’s fudge, though I would like it to be more chocolatey. (You can never have too much chocolate! :P Well, maybe you can… but I ♥ chocolate.) I definitely like the kick from the cayenne pepper. I can understand why others wouldn’t be a fan, but I like it!
This definitely isn’t something I would want every day, but it’s great for cold winter days when you need some warmth. :) I bet it would be a good wake-up tea for the morning, too. :P Nothing like spice to wake you up! Mmm.
It hits the spot today! :)
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Additives: none
Water: filtered boiling
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 4 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Andes Mints
Steeped Tea Smell: Junior Mints
Flavor: mint, hint of chocolate
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: bitter tea, the only time the black tea makes an appearance
Liquor: dark brown, slight red tint
I was expecting liquid girl scout thin mint cookies based off other reviews. I got mint tea. Perhaps I need to try a shorter steep and cream and sugar next time? I am so disappointed I am not sure I am even willing to give it a next time.
Both MilitiaJim and Bobbie also soundly rejected this tea and wanted nothing to do with it.
Post-Steep Additives: German rock sugar
Changes the profile to that of black tea followed by a bitter mint, chocolate is more pronounced.
The sugar makes this a different tea but not much better of a tea.
images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/52teas-loose-leaf-black-tea-chocolate.html
Preparation
Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 1 cast iron teapot, filtered, boiling
Tools: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 4 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: graham crackers, ginger snaps, peanut butter, girl scout cookies
Steeped Tea Smell: cinnamon and clove
Flavor:
AmazonV: smooth spiced chai tea, a small hint of peanut butter
MilitiaJim: hot but flavored like cold sesame noodles
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet spicy ginger
Liquor: cloudy reddish-brown
Not enough peanut butter flavor for me, I love peanut butter and I love chai. I believe this is a good chai, but that isn’t was I was expecting so I will need to try this again expecting a chai and not peanut butter and see if I enjoy it then.
Also perhaps a shorter steep time, and steeping one cup at a time might help with the peanut butter flavoring.
I need to give this one another try as it has promise.
Post-Steep Additives: German rock sugar
really the same, I should have perhaps also done a bit of milk
images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/52teas-loose-leaf-black-tea-peanut.html
Preparation
This tea reminds me of my uncle Tom. He LOVES chocolate… he’s an absolute chocolate fiend. He also absolutely loathes peanut butter… I’ve never seen anyone hate a food so much. So I’m chuckling to myself as I drink this.
oh… my… gosh… The raw leaf smells exactly like a peanut butter cup. This surprises me considering the peanut butter flavor comes from just a few peanut butter chips.
The liquor is a fairly dark reddish brown and the aroma is that of the raw leaf w/ a little more black tea added.
Wow… They did it. Nearly perfect. A smooth chocolate flavored black tea (can’t lose the black tea flavor) w/ a hint of peanut butter (which could be a tad stronger). Very similar to drinking an unflavored black tea then taking a bite of a peanut butter cup. Gonna try it w/ milk or creamer next time.
Preparation
i envy you! sounds delicious, but i think a 50% tea to 50% food ratio is a wee bit crazy, i gotta hop on the drinking train this weekend
Your uncle Tom story reminds me of the way my grandfather was with mustard. He wouldn’t let my grandmother keep it in the house!!! This tea sounds yummy :)
Nice review this sounds so good chocolate and peanut butter.
Might I assume you meant to say “chuckling to yourself” as opposed to ‘chucking’. Great use of an Australian expression, though. I also can’t stand peanut butter on toast or by itself but love it in anything, such as satays.
Oh geeze… edit made. :) I only like flavored peanut butters right from the jar- the one in my cupboard is actually dark chocolate=D I can’t stand satay/pad thai, but I’d love if they made a curry peanut butter tea. They made a peanut butter chai which has spices so why not curry?
Hmmm- maybe I need to retry this tea- when I first brewed it, I could not taste the peanut butter flavor…although it was very good….
This sounds good. I have black tea and I have peanut butter cups…I wonder….
Lori, I absolutely believe that it is not only the weakest of the 3 flavors, it’s lacking, but I think it is there. But then again maybe since taste is 70% smell, visual, and power of suggestion I think it’s stronger than it really is. Ok, I’m stoping now because I’m starting to analyze, and thus doubt, this great tea.
this sounds sooo good.
i’m super glad you liked this, i really would have liked more peanut butter, but i have already said that. :)
Yep me too! I didn’t know if it was just my sample or not. THANK YOU!
Of course! Enjoy!
I really have to get with the 52teas bandwagon with all these great reviews lately.
Oooh..curry peanut butter tea…that sounds delish, or curry tea in general :)
Cofftea- I still liked the tea just couldn’t taste the pb as much- I will try this one again this weekend and re-evaluate…,
Ah I wanted to try this but I checked and its sold out.
This tea flippin terrifies me. I can’t stand the taste of anything burnt and snow bud tastes very buttery to me… but it seemed to be calling to me… taunting me really… "Come on, you know you just have to try me!
The aroma of the raw leaf is sweet, raisiny. But there’s also a cinnamon toast aspect to it. Yes, not just cinnamon red hots. This REALLY surprised me because cinnamon can be a very selfish, demanding, bratty flavor, but this definitely has a fresh baked bread aspect to it. No butter though.
The liquor is a slightly red brown color and the aroma is that of the raw leaf except for the addition of a fairly strong black tea base.
Ok, this does not taste like a cup of burnt melted butter… YAY! Black tea- check. Raisn- check. Cinnamon- check. Toast- more in the texture than the taste, but it is there. Now for the butter… I can’t fathom butter in a tea so I’m having a hard time identifying it… or even deciding if I can identify it… but I think I detect it in the texture along w/ the toast…
Preparation
I bet you would hate Tibetan butter tea—they normally prepare their tea with melted butter and salt! I had it and I actually think it’s pretty good! :) Like a tea “soup”.
Yeah… I’ve heard about that… If I want something soup in quality I just go for a bowla matcha=D
Ever since I had one of those Buttered Popcorn Jellybeans I have been terrified of butter flavored things, and the name of this tea really just makes me cringe. If you say the butter is not really present then it actually sounds good. I love cinnamon raisin bread.
Josh, buttered popcorn are my FAVORITE jelly bellys!=D
I loved your description of cinnamon as selfish, demanding, and bratty! Also, I loved this tea!
It’s true!=D
Nice review sounds so good considering I like cinnamon on my toast.
A black tea that you liked! Woah, that’s amazing. I actually really like this one too =]
I like a handful of black flavors (especially 52teas brand). They have their place. It’s unflavored blacks that are the extreme rarity that I like.
I should mention my high score was more based on accuracy (as it should be) than like. I prefer the chocolate peanut butter over this.
Well when i tried this tea it was definately buttery. i still have a whold pouch that i am still afraid to try because those first few cups really scared me off because my pouch was way too buttery.
Maybe add milk so it’s like a raisin cinnamon roll?
I am back… kind of.
Okay, Steepsterites, I can explain! I know I’ve been away for a long time, and I know you missed me (hardehar). But you don’t understand…
Texas is hot. Like, really hot. And I’m not used to this. I’m used to being able to go outside and do things. I am not used to stepping outside, vomiting from heat exhaustion, and subsequently having to spend all summer all day inside.
So I really didn’t drink tea all summer. Once again, I know. I miss drinking tea. So as soon as we had a cool(ish) day, I grabbed at the opportunity. This was about a week ago. It was rainy and it almost felt like a normal New Jersey summer day in terms of heat. I got out my old teapot and favorite mug, cleaned off the dust, and reintroduced myself to my tea cupboard. Man, I have a lot of samples in there!
This tea was delicious as usual, no surprise there. See my other tasting notes if you want more detail. It reminded me of just how much I love tea and winter and things not Texan. I miss tea and I miss home.
So, Steepsterites, I guess I’ll see you the next time it’s semi-cold! Until winter!
Do you not like iced tea? Welcome back! :)
Thank you! And I kind of like iced tea, but for me, the experience isn’t the same somehow. I’ve always been a fan of cold, snowy days and hot beverages. Hot days and cold beverages just doesn’t seem… right.
Haha… I definitely get ya w/ missing the experience although I do like hot tea on a cold day. But as the only beverages I drink that are not tea are 1 cup of milk (which counts since I have it w/ chai lol) and OJ (which, again, counts since I have it w/ matcha) every day and I was w/o A/C the entire summer, that means cold tea for me. Anywho, welcome back- you were missed!
God I was dying in NJ heat I can’t imagine Texas!! I am glad its finally cooling off!
I actually lucked out… Even in WI we normally get a couple days where the actual temp is +100… but this year we just had a few days one week where the heat index was +100… and even more fortunately that was the week before the Extreme Makeover Home Edition build took place.
I’m sure it doesn’t compare, but it was 90s here (in central Massachusetts) all last week, so I finally made a big batch of iced tea to keep in the frige… and then it cools off overnight. Argh! Iced tea isn’t the same experience for me either, I know what you mean there, but every now and then I’ll make a half-gallon and just take a week or two to drink it :P
LOL tea bird, if I made a half gallon in the summer I’d have all but 8oz gone in 1 day. :)
I am from Louisiana and it has been INCREDIBLY hot this summer and last. Much more so than previous years. But I know what you mean about warm beverages. Iced tea – while delightful- just doesn’t inspire tasting notes. Sort of I guzzled some mint tea today, guzzled from fruit-flavored green tea today, lemon grass white tea, etc.
Hopefully, we are in the home stretch and the blistering, smothering, sauna like heat is over,,,,
To each their own I guess- I do tasting notes on iced all the time:)
The smell of this one is exactly like Buttered Cinnamon Raisin Toast! I was so impressed. I steeped this, threw in a bit of sugar, and sat down to work on some Sociology work. The smell is mostly cinnamon. The taste, however, is wonderful! It tastes like cinnamon and raisins, with a little smoothness that suggests butter. Wow! I really, really like this one. 52teas is 5 for 5!
I just polished off the rest of the sample that Ricky sent me. Thanks again, Ricky!
The look of this tea in the bag really wow-ed me. There are huge shavings of coconut in there! To be honest, I’m not crazy over coconut. I like it best in moderation. And I’m not sure if I’ve ever even had coconut cream pie. So I’m going to rate this tea on how it tastes, not by how it compares to the real thing. And I should mention that I threw a pinch of sugar into this one. I’ve been doing that a lot lately, but I’ve also been trying a lot of desserty teas lately.
The color was a lot lighter than I expected it to be. But the smell is strongly coconut, as it should be, from all those huge shavings in there! I can also smell the black tea base just a little under all that wonderful coconut.
Yum! It tastes like it smells: lots of coconut with a bit of black tea. The sweetness isn’t too much, it’s just right. I could drink a big glass of this and not get sweet-overload (and I am going to, since I’m drinking this out of my jumbo cup). I’m thinking that I should have added milk to this, since I can’t taste any of the cream. But that isn’t stopping me from enjoying this.
So hooray to yet another 52teas tea that I have liked! They’re batting 4/4 right now (I think, I honestly can’t remember whether I’ve tried more than 4 of their teas. If I’m wrong, I’ll come back and edit this post).
EDIT: It was the 4th tea I’ve tried, I just double checked. Also, this is my 101st tasting note! The 100th note sure was epic… If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, check out the comments on the note before this one!
Okay so today has been such a beautiful day here I finally got to throw on a pair of shorts! Yes I said SHORTS yea! So feeling the early onset of spring I thought to myself jeez I wish it were Friday already. Because if it were Friday I’d grill us some burgers for dinner but then I thought nope it’s only Thursday and my son has soccer practice tonight so that pretty much ruled out grilling burgers :( (Maybe tomorrow crossing my fingers).
So I then remembered that I got a lovely package in yesterday from my tea buddy MeghannM and that reminded me that she sent me some of this Champagne Mojito and so I quickly open the bag and was hit with mint hey if I can’t grill burgers I can at least enjoy a mojito (right?) anyway the spearmint smell is really great smelling, the taste I’m expecting to be strong like a mojito but it’s actually very soft more of a champagne with mint flavor than mojito I think I might have enjoyed this more if it were one or the other but the combination has my palate confused. While it is decent it’s not what I had hoped it to be. I will try the rest iced and see what happens. I unlike Meghann would have preferred a true Mojito. Thanks again for sharing it with me Meghann :)
Preparation
I had this iced with dinner tonight. It could have used a little more sugar.
I really like this blend… I think I should try to find it (somewhere in my stash of tea), and brew some tonight!
If either of you want to trade a couple of cups of the raspberry danish for some Special Teas Rooibos Sweet Heart, let me know.
Kristin – I just PMed you an offer
This came in the mail today! My first order from 52teas, but not my first experience with them. I’ve been pleased with them so far, so let’s keep the good teas coming!
This smells very strongly of raspberry. I’m not particularly fond of raspberries, but I certainly don’t dislike them. However, I love cheesecake and things with cream cheese, so I had to try this. I can also smell the honeybush base underneath all that raspberry.
It actually tastes like a danish! I can taste raspberries the most, but the aftertaste is sweet like cream cheese and frosting. Wow! I’m drinking this unsweetened and without milk. It doesn’t need sweetener, but I think a splash of milk would benefit this.
The only thing that is disappointing is that I wish there was more of a cream cheese taste. It’s barely there, even in the after taste.
Yum, the aftertaste really makes me happy. Today has been a good tea day!
YES! More cream cheese!
have you tried any teas that have a really strong cream cheese or cheesecake flavor?
Nope. Not one. :(
It’s the fat content that really makes the cheesecake and cream cheese as amazing as they are. You might consider adding some sweetened condensed milk to make it really creamy and rich.
I’d just prefer there be more cream cheese:)
You make this sound soo good! Thanks to you and Cofftea I think I may have to start trying more flavored teas.
@ Josh I agree Erin’s post had me looking for a sweet afternoon treat.
@Josh if you’re looking to try some flavored teas, stay away from Adagio’s flavored blacks. their flavored whites are really good (my favorite is their White Blueberry). everything i’ve had from 52teas has been good, plus they have free shipping!
Josh, as much as I respect Erin, her opinions, and her right to have her own tastes- I’d really suggest forming your own opinions of teas. I love trying teas that people say “Don’t try!”- a lot of the time I’m glad I did.
Second the whole stay away from Adagio’s flavored. I think it depends how strong you like your flavored teas. 52teas is a bit too light for me (light as in the flavors too weak). It definitely taste / smells like what it’s advertising, but I wish the flavor was a bit stronger. So you like Jasmine, so you can probably stand floral tea. Teavana perhaps? Or give Golden Moon’s sampler of 31 teas for $20 a try. They have a wide variety of flavored teas there.
Cofftea is right too. I mean you might end up liking Adagio’s flavored teas. They do have some decent ones.
Ricky, YES to the whole lighter thing (i.e. this one) w/ 52teas. And YES to the GM sampler which I’m still coveting. =D
Ahh, Cofftea and Ricky have made me see the error of my ways. Of course try everything; form your own opinions!
@52teas – I’ll try the sweetened milk idea. Thanks for the suggestion!
Josh, Adagio has some amazing jasmine teas.
No, no Erin. I’m totally with you. I tell people to stay away from Adaigo’s flavored black as well. The way I see it, there are some decent Adagio flavored teas, but you can get a lot better flavored teas for around the same price with another company.
Better is so flippin relevent though:) I personally don’t like flavored blacks (other than chai) so I haven’t tried a lot of them, but the ones I have tried have been good for me. So you can either take that as “She has no clue what she’s talking about” or “Wow! Even she likes this!”=D
Yes, in the end it really depends on the person =]
I second Ricky’s latest comment! And I agree with Cofftea on their jasmine.
Can I chime in with my two cents so late in the day? Josh, if you get a chance, try Harney’s flavored blacks – I recently re-discovered them and am loving them (Paris, Florence, etc).
Wow.. when I first saw this, I did a double-take. Cream Cheese Danish?! This sounds so interesting :)
Well, I think Erin is spot on with her description of Adagio’s flavored blacks, and it is completely acceptable and DESIRABLE that people on Steepster make recommendations about which teas to try (and conversely, which to avoid). Not sure why anyone would get in arms about that, especially on what is essentially a tea review site. There’s no reason why someone should have to freaking apologize for their comment about a tea they don’t like and wouldn’t recommend. Just my two cents.
@Erin Your description of this tea made me want raspberry cheesecake! Hmm…I wonder if the nearby grocery store has any…
@ Erin, Cofftea, Ricky, and Lauren
Thank you so much for the debate on flavored teas. When I think of drinking a flavored tea I really want it to pop, otherwise what would really be the point. I have been looking at 52 Teas website today for the first time and they have a few things that really stuck out to me. I also had a look at the Golden Moons Sampler but it doesn’t list what teas come with the extraordinary 31 flavor sampler. Is there a good variety of their flavored teas in that sampler? Also how many cups do you get from one of those samples?
I will most likely order some from both places just because I have never had tea from either one and just try them out for myself.
Josh, it doesn’t list what comes with it, because it’s their whole collection. They give you every single of the their teas they have to offer so browse their website or Steepster.
Isn’t that great though? All the teas from a company? =] Use coupon code Steepster to get free shipping.
Josh- Yeah 52teas’ blends are pretty amazing. EVERY one of their teas that they carry come w/ the sampler. That’s why everyone that has tried it loves it and everyone that hasn’t covets it!=D As for the size of the samples, they very- some as tiny as ~1.8g unfortunately. :(
They have plain teas and flavored ones. I think what’s great about the sampler is that it gives you a good variety / understanding of all their teas and the company. Each sampler gives you about one to two cups. Of course you can get multiple infusions from each one.
Honestly, where else can you get 31 teas for $20? That’s .65 cents a cup of tea. Free shipping too =]
Hey Josh! Golden Moons Sampler has all of them (31) – Coconut Pouchong, Vanilla Mint, French Breakfast, Nepalese Afternoon Tea, White Ginger Rose, White Tea, Imperial Formosa Oolong, Madagascar Vanilla, Lapsang Souchong, Sugar Caramel Oolong, White Licorice, Snow Sprout, Jasmine, Temple of Heaven Gunpowder, White Persian Melon, Sencha, Orchid Temple Oolong, Honey Pear, Jasmine Pearls, Kashmiri Chai, Tippy Earl Grey, Pu-erh Chai, Darjeeling, Moroccan Mint, Sinharaja, Organic Green Tea, Pu-erh, English Breakfast, Vanilla Jasmine, Irish Breakfast (Special Reserve), RoseTea. Also – just ONE serving. (just got mine this week!). I ordered from 52 Teas but haven’t received it yet :( good luck!
@Ricky, even cheaper if you resteep!=D
As for serving size, since there are mixed results. I just weighted two samplers I have laying around. So HMPH!
Pu-erh => 8.7g
Sugar Caramel Oolong => 9.8g
Anyways, a serving depends on the person. One serving to me is 12oz of water, two teaspoons of tea. I like my tea to be strong and bold. When I was talking about the samplers, I was saying you could make 1-2 6oz servings with them.
2.5g is generally a serving and that’s for 6oz of water. You can stretch that to 8oz of water if you want. I think most of us just wing it when it comes to loose leaves.
Well you guys have sold me on the Golden Moons sampler, that just seems like a deal that no one should pass up. Especially someone who is fairly new to the tea world and wants to know more and more. One to two cups per sample is perfect for me because I usually re-steep at least once and sometimes twice. I will have to take another gander at 52 Teas teas and see if anything there really grabs me.
For me the pu erh would make a ~8oz cup, but that’s a lot of leaf, so I’d get 4 2oz servings out of it. Except for pu erh and Japanese greens, a serving for me is 2.25g/6oz. Unlike Ricky, I don’t wing it. I’m very type A when it comes to my tea… which is strange cuz I’m not excessively type A in ANY other area of my life lol!
Haha, that’s why I wrote most because I knew you didn’t wing it, cofftea =]
Woaps, was it 2.25? I keep thinking it’s 2.5 for some reason. I guess it’s a rounder number.
Success! Josh will join the Golden Moon Sampler fun. Can’t wait to read those reviews.
Yeah, that pu-erh would make an 8oz cup. 1oz per g for pu-erh. Oh the complications of tea =P
Another GM sampler convert! YAY!
And that’d give you as many as 12 infusions per cup. That’d be just under 2 cents/infusion for me!=D
Ricky, yep it’s 2.25. An even 3g for an 8oz cup.
Yay! Keep the posts coming. This is going to be the most popular tea soon enough also the convert Josh to GM thread. Where’s teaplz now!?!?
How do you guys go about figuring out your g/oz ratio, or is it all just trial and error to your liking?
Erin is probably laughing at us because this did start out as a 52teas tealog!
I stick w/ the standard for teas that don’t have unique authentic steeping parameters (so far Japanese greens and pu erh are the only ones I know of that do). I’d suggest starting there for a reference point and then going up or down as need be.
Haha! Oh yeah Lauren! I forgot lol:)
Oh, that’s a general rule. I just do one heaping teaspoon for 8oz of water.
If you don’t know what to do, the rules are 2.25g (corrected by cofftea) for 6oz and pu-erh is a 1g to 1oz of water ratio.
@ Lauren
Yeah I thinking this should be a Discussion thread…
@ Cofftea
Cool, thanks.
Haha, what? I thought this was a Golden Moon tealog! So sorry Frank! We still love your teas, well some of them, drools pina colada
Shoot – sorry, I killed the buzz ….! mea culpa!
Nooooo! It’s so close from being the most popular tealog! Don’t let it die guys! Josh any further questions?
I noted your general-rule-of-thumb for my own edification, too! Thanks!
Well since this is a 52 Teas log, what would you guys recommend for some good 52 Teas to try? Some that aren’t too wild but just overall great teas.
Pina Colada (Flavored Honeybush)
Buttered Cinnamon Toast (Must get me some!) (Flavored Black)
Malted Chocomate (Flavored mate)
=] Well these are the ones I’d consider repurchasing.
I was thinking the Apple Pie a la Mode, Razzleberry Green, Pomegranate Honeybush (maybe,) Banana Peach Green, and the Banana Split sounds pretty crazy.
Josh, send me a PM, I’ll send you some 52teas.
Just ordered (7 days ago!) Cucumber Melon Green Tea, Pomegranate Green Tea, Pomegranate White Tea, Razzleberry Green Tea but have NOT gotten it yet.
Josh, back to the “how do you get your general rule?” statement… I know it doesn’t have anything to do w/ flavored teas (well only in small part), but here are great places to start for the different Japanese teas:
http://www.denstea.com/index.php?main_page=perfect_brewing
Really! Wow, best day ever.
Welcome to Steepster ;) We’re here to help =]
Dens is amazing.
Oh I have that website bookmarked from one of your other posts containing it :)
@ Lauren
Hopefully you get those soon, they sound pretty good. I should be getting my Four Seasons Oolong from Samovar on Saturday, I’m super excited.
@ Cofftea
Thanks for the link.
I forgot to mention that flavored pu erh is exempt from my 1g/1oz rule, I don’t rinse it either- I treat it as a black tea (at least the one I’ve tried so far) Oh I should mention that my “general rule” for measuring teas also does not apply to chais. For that I use one heaping teaspoon per 6oz. For my absolute favorite chia EVER which just happens to be 52teas’ Mayan Chocolate Chai, that’s 4g/6oz water or milk or a combo of both.
I ordered from Samovar, too – I wonder when I will get it? Love that teeny-tiny teapot!
oops chai, not chia:)
Can’t talk about Chai’s – am utter failure at chai’s so far.
The only chai I’ve made was a Masala Chai and I used 2 heaping teaspoons of the chai in 16oz water then while that was brewing I added 16oz of soy milk. It was mighty tasty. Although maybe next time I will use more chai…
I’d personally at least double it, anywhere from 4-5 1/2 tsp (I prefer 5 1/2 tsp)- especially if you’re adding milk.
Wow. I thought it was an error that this log had this many replies. Either that or I was in trouble for something and people were upset about it. :)
I shouldn’t say this, because all of our teas are great, but since the question was asked, I’ll tell you some of MY favorites of our blends. I do, however, have to preface the list by saying that while this may sound blasphemous, I am largely an iced tea drinker. I grew up in the deep south, and I drink iced tea year round. I’m now in Wichita, KS and we get our share of cold, but I’m still an iced tea drinker whether it’s 110-degrees out or -20-degrees. So, for some really spectacular ICED teas, I highly recommend:
Pina Colada Honeybush
Banana Peach Green Tea
Black Currant White Tea
Shamrock Blend
ANY of our Pomegranate blends (I know pomegranate is kind of ho hum and not as exciting as some of our other offerings, but I personally think our pomegranate blends are three times better than any of our competitors. We use REAL freeze dried pomegranate arils in each of them (and they are not cheap, but I think it really makes a big difference)).
Anyway, those are some of my favorites.
Yes, those Pomegranate teas are very tempting indeed. I’ve never had a Pomegranate tea before but I am a fan of the Pomegranate fruit so when I go to get some stuff from your site I will definitely be looking really closely at those blends! :)
okay WHOA! i went away to put on my PJs, take off my makeup, and brush my teeth and i come back and steepster says i have 42 new notices. and they were all for this tasting note! i nearly died laughing! I’m not even going to try to respond on all the topics that have been covered here, but I’ll respond to the latest topic – 52teas. I have only recently started getting into them with a lot of help from Ricky, but so far my favorite has been Malted ChocoMate.
Also, this was my 100th tasting note! Way to make it a huge deal!!! Hahahaha!
Frank, Thanks so much for the recommendations for iced and for me getting my 52Teas order in today! It’s just starting to warm up here in Texas and I was thinking about what teas I could start making Iced so this post came in a timely manner for me.
Josh, also check out www.zoomdweebies.com and www.manteas.com (co companies of 52teas).
ahaha, congrats on the 100th note. Glad we could assist in the huge deal! You missed out on quite a bit in those couple hours you were gone.
Back from packing tea! This is Steepster’s most popular tea log now. Success!
Erin, you should totally chime back in:)
I wish there was a quick way to find that link like there used to be… :(
@Cofftea. Thanks for the links. I’m so embarrassed by zoomdweebies.com right now. We are working on a major overhaul of the site. Right now it is buggy and just not the site I would like for it to be, but soon….
And the manteas.com site almost requires a warning. It’s a bit colorful and edgy. It’s all done tongue in cheek and intended to be completely satirical, but I have had a few people tell me they were deeply offended by some of the content there. But yes, 52teas and ManTeas are both brands of Zoomdweebie’s, LLC
AWESOME! Hooray for the most popular note ever! And to think it all happened while I was getting ready for bed.
I’m aiming for 100 comments to honor your 100th post.
52teas, just consider this a multi-authored comment/suggestion form for your teas LOL=D
Hahaha that’d be really cool. But it’s kind of like cheating if we just keep posting about how this is getting really long [that’s what she said?]. I say we actually talk about tea here, to make it legit.
Absolutely- and since you missed out on 3hrs worth, that’s a lot of catching up to do=D Jason, the 2 manteas I’ve tried were smoky bacon and beer- both are amazing
One more thing, the [that’s what she said?] joke was absolutely amazing! I actually lol’ed when I read that. :)
Erin okay I’ll bite. I got in my first 52Teas order in today which consists of Malted chocomate and Buttered Raisin Bread. I can’t wait for morning so I can try them !
Josh – Thanks. I’ve been told I’m a master. [you know what to say here]
We’re working on t-shirts with the manteas.com logo. They are going to say, “Real men drink bacon tea” on the front and have our new ManTeas logo on the back. I’ve already got a few people clamoring for them.
Chelsea actually wants one in a ladies cut tee.
SoccerMom – I also got my first order today! It had the Raisin Toast (which I haven’t tried yet but I am so excited for) and the now infamous Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish. Although I’ve tried the Malted ChocoMate from Ricky and it’s one of my top favorites!
I’m gonna laugh my butt off if a 52teas/manteas/zoomdweebies tea is the SS item for tomorrow.
@52teas, How about a shirt that says “My man’s man enough to drink tea!”?
Yeah! If that ever happens I might not be able to resist!
@Cofftea – This kind of goes along with the thread about how men are now starting to drink more tea, but I never really thought of tea as being a girly drink. I know lots of guys from back home in Princeton that drink tea.
@Cofftea, no SS tomorrow. Jason is waiting on some pictures from me. We could totally do the “My man” thing too. Have you guys seen our new logo? It’s really ridiculous. I think it’s hysterical, tho again, some have been offended. It’s on the website: http://www.manteas.com
@cofftea, could you imagine if they made your saying on a pink tee shirt! hee hee
When are you restocking those matchas?
@52teas – HAHAHAHA! I just looked at your new logo! It’s brilliant! I can see how some people would be offended by it, but you can’t please everyone. I literally LOL-ed at that one!
@ Erin, I never really saw drinking tea as a girly thing either, but I do understand where it comes from. I mean little girls growing up were always having their tea parties with invisible tea…
@ 52teas, I think that manteas logo is brilliant! If you made a shirt with that logo on it I would definitely have to get one.
@52teas, you know how many times I’ve been on your site (daily) and I just now got your logo… facepalm…
SoccerMom, eh wouldn’t be too off the wall since it would be a woman wearing the shirt and not a man- well unless it was a man in a homosexual relationship.
@Ricky, some way too honest for my own good truth: I only have maybe a couple of pounds of matcha left right now, and I have an open invoice with my supplier I have to take care of before I can get some more. LOL. (I’m sick today guys, so forgive me if I’m stupid). Anyway, I was trying to decide whether to reblend the Mandarin Matcha (which would also require more freeze dried orange sections I don’t have) or create a new matcha blend. I’ve finally settled on the latter, and we got some freeze-dried strawberry powder. (Literally, it is powder). We are going to make a strawberry matcha next. I should have it on the site in the next week or so.
Ditto Ricky’s comment! Or better yet, new ones! Art of tea has a ginger matcha and there’s a Canadian company coming out w/ a bunch of flavored matchas as well.
Strawberry matcha? I am sold! Save one for me!
HOLY FRICKIN CRAP! Thank you for picking one I’d like! I wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of a banana matcha. How about an orange strawberry blend?
Strawberry Matcha?? Yes! :D
Maybe after we get the t-shirts in, I can get Jason to run them as a SS item. LOL
Strawberry matcha! I want some of that. The orange strawberry sounds like it may be a good blend as well.
You should help them make some Steepster swag while you are at it =]
You know what this whole epic tasting note thing has made me realize? Steepster should have a chat feature! PMing is great, but you can’t converse with more than one person easily.
Yay Erin for 100th!!!
Okay, so I just lost my little online poker tournament (non-cash) I was playing while keeping up with this, and now I am going to take my sick and weary behind to bed. Goodnight all.
Erin, that was suggested a long time ago and I totally ditto that!=D
I just finished packing a few tea packages so I’m out as well. Erin weren’t you getting ready for bed an hour ago? Haha =P
Goodnight Frank!
HOLY FRICKIN CRAP! Steepster Select item is perfect for my type A tea self! One of the few times I will be caving.
Good Night!
Ricky, ready for and ready to go to are 2 different things:)
@Ricky – Yep! Haha I’m all ready now, but now my mind is full of 52teas thoughts and cheesy TWSS jokes. Oh well.
@Cofftea – I would, but I don’t have an iPod or iPhone!
@ Cofftea – have you checked out the Teavana app? It was free on itunes/app store.
Haha, I would aside for the fact that my darn iPhone is too slow! I use this for my mac.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/calculate_convert/minutes.html
Comes in handy at work =]
Ah crap! I didn’t read the iPhone/iPod part… great… now I’m extremely pissed and depressed :-,<… This just may be worth buying an iPod for… It looks like the price is not a special so I don’t have do buy it in the next 24 hrs…
No mac but use google timer app on my laptop and have teavana timer on ipod.
I like Teavanas app, it just sits on my phone and it doesn’t do a thing =]
So we went from 52teas to Adagio to Golden Moon to 52teas to Teavana?
W/ mentions of pu erh (hello Bana Tea Co sampler!) and Den’s!=D
Ricky, I use that one too!
Yes, but it has pretty pictures! LOL
Ha, I was thinking of bringing Bana Tea’s pu-erh to work tomorrow and have my co-workers help me finish one off. That means I’ll have to jot down some notes so I can write a tea log later in the evening.
I have so much tea, yet also so little! I don’t know how this strange dynamic works.
If I stay here any longer I will end up sleeping at 4am, uhoh. Going to get ready for bed as well.
G’Night ALL!
Yeah, I’m going to leave now. Bye!
Night everyone, it was nice hearing all of your great recommendations for flavored tea.
Ricky’s such a party pooper! ;)
Well you said you were getting ready for, not going to bed… you are a little strange for talking in 3rd person though… hehe;)
What the crap happened here?!?! 130 comments…that’s awesome! That has to be some sort of record. Congrats, Erin!
Well we were trying to set a new Steepster World Record. Personally, I wanted to hit that 150 mark after we made it to the 100 ;)
Haha, I was getting tired Cofftea =P
Haha Jason- I actually laughed out loud when I read your comment.
@52teas, Frank PLEASE make sure you change your steeping suggestions on the packaging for your strawberry matcha (and changing the packaging to get rid of the clear would be great too), everyone knows you do not steep matcha for 3 min. That really bothered me to see that…
Awesome threads here guys, love all the comments about flavors to try of 52teas as I really want to place another order with them, but looks like I may be holding out for the strawberry flavored matcha drool! That sounds so fantastic! Great job Erin for the largest comment section ever and happy 100th tasting note!
And the post lives! I hope Frank makes an extra large batch of that matcha!=D
wow is this happening again? haha
Tonight we are trying to hit 200?
Erin, Congrats on your 100th tasting note!
I’ve recently returned from a 2-day tea hiatus. I wanted to stop drinking tea to see if my crippling stomach aches would stop. They did. But, I also suffered nasty caffeine withdrawal, which gave me crippling headaches. So, I have 2 options: 1. Drink tea, be healthier, but have stomach aches or 2. Don’t drink tea, be lethargic, and have headaches.
This tasting note shows which option I chose.
I get stomach aches from tea too sometimes, but if I keep it to 1 or 2 teas per day I don’t really have any trouble. I think having it with tomato sauce based foods makes it worse.
What? That sucks! Have you talked to an allergist?
try switching up teas; coffee makes my sick – i drink it anyway, but try mate only one day, green another….perhaps it’s just blacks
once you narrow it down you might be able to find your limits (1 black a day, rest green, or a few blacks but only with tums)
@Harfatum – Tomato stuff hurts my stomach too! I can no longer eat tomato soup, much to my dismay.
@ takgoti – I don’t think it’s an allergy issue. I’ve had stomach ulcers due to stress before (darn high school), so I think it’s more that my stomach is all messed up.
@AmazonV – Good idea, I’m definitely going to experiment. Black teas are my favorite, so I want to know exactly how much I can drink without being in pain.
What concerns me is that I drink 3 cups of tea per day at most, which isn’t very much. But my stomach is wacky, so who knows. Today I’m drinking only blacks.
