52teas

finishing up the sample MeghannM was nice enough to send me (blame her for my love of this frank, all her fault! ;))

breville, 3 tsp, 500ml, 212F, 7 min, 1 tsp german rock sugar, sweet, pineapple, coconut YUM

mmmm had hot with sugar, sweet, coconut, delicious desert tonight

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp
Additives: none
Tool: Zarafina herbal-loose-strong 2 cups
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: coconut, pineapple
Steeped Tea Smell: not much, little hints of pineapple and coconut but you have to sniff hard right over the cup
Flavor: rum, coconut, slight pineapple
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet
Liquor: deep dark reddish-brown

This tea does not taste woody like rooibos, and it is sweeter (due to flavoring or not I am not sure as I have never had pure honeybush). I very much enjoy the flavors as the blend very well into a smooth fruity fun drink. The flavors are all mellow, but present. Don’t expect the same kick in the pants strong flavor as an actual pina colada and you will be happy.

I think it would do very well iced.

Post-Steep Additives: added one teaspoon sweetened cream of coconut, delicious! Highly suggested.

Resteep: weaker but enjoyable

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/52teas-loose-leaf-honeybush-herbal-tea.html

Finished up the sample sent by AmazonV. I enjoyed this while it lasted, but do not see myself missing it down the line. So many rooibos blends, so little time :) I am happy I got to try this one (a few times). Glad I got to clear out a few samples today. May have to re-evaluate what I have in my cupboard.

Today has been a great tea day, I’ve brewed a hot and an iced tea each time I’ve heated up my kettle so I can have two at a time, a hot one to drink first and the iced to drink after. I’m surprised my bladder isn’t screeching at me!

I prepared this iced today, no additives, and it’s not quite as good as I remember it being hot. I think my last sample of this will have to be hot. Iced, it isn’t as berry creamy sour as I remember, it’s just lightly sweet and fruity. Oh well, moving on.

Giving this a higher rating as I tried it iced today and the raspberry baked sweetness really made this tea a tasty iced beverage. Great to sip on while waiting for my Masala Chai to steep on the stove. (we finally got milk in the house)! I hope Teavana’s blend is good. If not I’ll try mixing it with Tazo’s as those are the two I have in my stash right now.

Another sample I received from AmazonV today.

I was so excited to try this one as I could smell it immediately once I opened the package. It smells delightful, raspberry, cream, baked goodness.

I brewed it for 8 minutes with nearly boiling water. The liquor is a brilliant red brown in my clear glass mug.

It smells divine, fruity bake-y with a hint of creaminess to it. The taste is berry, but not a tart ripe berry, more of a calm baked in raspberry coffee cake with cream cheese in the middle. I think this tea gets across its flavor quite accurately, I just don’t think it’s the tea I was craving this evening. May add a tad of sweetner to see if this improves.

52teas is consistently brilliant and original in their blends. I loved this tea and I don’t typically like green teas. The interplay of the spearmint and the “bubbly” creamy extra is superb. If you are a fan of spearmint, you will most certainly like this. The tea itself has nice, large green leaves which unfurled beautifully. It is a refreshing way to end the day and I have used it as my last little bit of caffeine before I move to the evening’s de-caf regime. It does not absolutely feel as if this is cocktail hour, but it makes a good college try. A sweet, creamy, nifty cup of tea is always something to celebrate.

Finally some tea! I had a dentist appt this morning so I’m just now having my 1st cup. From Ricky! Also my 1st mate… I really need to try my best to start trying the base of teas before a flavored version, it’d make reviewing a tea a heck of a lot easier.

Whoa! The raw “leaf” smells really chocolatey! Definitely a “I gotta grab my spoon!” tisane. But… unfortunately the aroma of the decanted tea loses some of that. It still tastes like chocolate, but now there are also notes of roasty and spicyness.

I was really hoping this would be like liquid chocolate as others have described, but I’m not getting it. The roastyness and weird spicyness are taking away from the chocolate.

This is a tea with a spicy kick that will catch you by surprise if you’re not ready for it! The aroma is a pleasant mix of chocolate and spice, and the color is a golden brown that gives no indication of the spiciness within. Even when you take a sip, you can actually hold it in your mouth and not really get the spice that awaits. Take your first swallow however, and it catches the back of your throat with a peppery burn that spreads to the sides of your mouth, and makes you remember what the main ingredients in this tea really are. Thankfully the burn only lingers for a moment, and you’re left with a general spiciness that’s enjoyable, though this is by no means a tea for fans of smooth, easy to drink flavors!

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 teaspoons
Additives: none
Water: 2 zarafina cups
Steep Time: no idea, until the zarafina was done – setting – herbal, loose leaf, strong
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell:
AmazonV: honey, raspberry
MilitiaJim: fake sugar, fruit, vague bread sense, he is angry and upset by the fake sugar smell
Steeped Tea Smell: raspberry (MilitiaJim got fake sugar still)
Flavor:
AmazonV: woody, raspberry
MilitiaJim: floral
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: slightly raspberry
Liquor: deep reddish-brown

Got my 52Teas order Today! This was during one of the so-popular-they-had-to-reblend periods. They even were so kind as to hold of shipping for one week while I drank room into my cupboard (now that’s customer service!)

I expected a sweet fruity tea…never had cream cheese in my tea so wasn’t sure what to expect.

The tea itself is not sweet, and is defiantly predominantly raspberry. the danish / cream cheese aspects aren’t coming through and the honeybush is only adding a slight undercurrent of ‘tea’ and contrast to the berry flavor.

Post-Steep Additives: 1/2 tsp German rock sugar

The German rock sugar seems to bring of the cream cheese flavor. I definitely think this tea needs to be steeped with sweetener.

Not so sure I’d get it again, but I will enjoy this bag.

I tried this tea a few times, the final opinion is still out on it though. I do really enjoy chocolate peanut butter cups. The odor of the leaves is definitely black tea and chocolate with a slight hint of peanut butter.

The brewed tea, hot, 3 minutes, no additives, smells very fragrant, very chocolatey. However, not so strongly of peanut butter. This holds true in the flavor also, definitely taste black tea and definitely taste chocolate, but no peanut butter.

I tried it again, hot, 5 minutes, pinch of sugar, splash of milk and I got a creamier slightly peanut butter flavor, but still more chocolate than peanut butter.

I do wish the peanut butter was stronger, I think I might be able to get the flavor I want out of it, but I am going to have to try a few things. Consider this an initial rating, hoping to perfect the tea and give it a better rating.

Had this for dessert after lunch thanks to David McGeorge!=D Cheesecake flavored teas have always interested me so as soon as I saw cream cheese I knew I had to try this. The suggested amount is 1tsp per cup and at 1.5g, that’s almost a full gram less than I normally use but I want to make this last as long as possible so I’ll try that 1st then bump it up to my normal 2.25g/6oz next time.

This is my 2nd honeybush, both of which have been flavored. I really should have had plain honeybush 1st as it’s nearly impossible to tell if the honeybush flavor comes thru the added flavorings or not.

The aroma of the raw leaf is lighter than I expected, but the aroma that is there is jammy. Unfortunately the flavor is almost identical. The raspberry jam, while light, is there and i can’t decide if I can taste the cream cheese or not. If I can, it’s very light. I definitely need to use more leaf.

Drinking the last of my pouch, this morning. The last bits are intensely raisin-y and maybe a little burnt buttery?

Farewell, Raisin Toast tea! You were delicious ’till the very end!

I chose as my dessert tea tonight because I haven’t had it in awhile. I’ve amassed so many teas to sample since I first got this that it has fallen to the wayside. Poor neglected tea!

This is still yummy, but the overall flavor seems thinner and less robust than I remember. The cinnamon seems to have eaten up the raisin-y plummy taste! But that’s okay—I love cinnamon.

I may need to double up on the leaf next time to get more of the “raisin toast” flavor.

The rich purple-y raisin/date flavor of my first tasting note seems to be waning, the more that I drink this. Maybe I’m just becoming accustomed to it? Also, the scent seems to be weaker. I still like it though and will finish my pouch. It’s already almost halfway done, after arriving only last week!

This is the other part of my order that arrived today—my first order from 52teas. I chose this flavor because anything described with “butter” I have to try. And with cinnamon too? I love cinnamon. Okay, on to my review:

Dry leaves: Directly from the opened pouch, the scent is dark, sweet and tangy—very “purple”— overlaid with a dry spiciness. The purple-ness reminds me of dates, specifically date candy (like those coconut date rolls from Trader Joe’s but without the coconut).

Brewed: The aroma is cinnamon dates, or a mulled plum wine….served in an opium den. And for some reason, I’m reminded of an ancient asian herbal shop. Must be the “hint of smoked Assam”.

Taste: I’m not getting much butter or toast, but I do get the raisins and cinnamon and black tea. I love the smokiness of this—it’s new to me and makes me want to branch out to try more smoky teas—like Lapsang Souchong (or the Smoky Bacon!).

Last words: I like it! It is, surprisingly, a very “atmospheric” tea. The scent is intoxicating and the taste is mysterious.

Used up the last of my pouch tonight…no more malty, milky goodness.

Sadness!

Still comforting….still amazingly like malted milk—with Rice Krispies!

For some reason, I’m feeling kind of anxious tonight. I needed something calming and light. So I chose this and brewed it stronger than normal (2 heaping tsps. in 12oz with boiling water). As expected, it’s much more milky and sweet with a pronounced toastiness. This time, I detect no fruitiness (like my previous tasting note). There’s a lot of brown rice in my mug. It tastes very “home-y” and relaxing.

Love it! Just what I wanted.