Breakfast Smoothie Honeybush

Cold brew of this today to rehydrate and have something cool to drink. It’s not bad, but not great…not a repurchase but much more drinkable than cranberry vit from frank heh

This one’s possibly the last honeybush sample I have from Momo, thanks!

The aroma of this one is familiar, possibly from another 52teas blend, and not one that I particularly am smitten with. The flavour, however, is much tastier. I’m getting citrusy notes, and possibly pineapple, mixed with a creaminess that I can only guess is banana. I’m shocked! I was dreading drinking this cup as the aroma just wasn’t quite right, but the flavour is marvellous! The honeybush is also hardly present at all, which is nice; it just provides a solid base for the star flavours without adding too much of its own flavours.

Probably not a tea I’d purchase, but one I’d happily drink again! Yum!

ETA: Again, got a nasty smell upon putting the infuser basket into the hot water, but the result is a tasty lightly citrusy cup with no weird flavour/aroma. Decent enough!

I was a little disappointed when I first tasted this honeybush, but it was entirely my own fault. I brewed it up and poured myself a cup. When I tasted it, I felt let down with the lack of flavor. I left the rest and carried on with my laundry. When I returned I added a bit more of the brewed tea to my cup to warm it back up, but since I left the tea steeping, the flavor was much more true to what it was supposed to be like. Darn me and my excited impatience! This tea smells so good I even managed to get my husband to have a few sips, which is very remarkable since he refused to try almost all of the teas I’ve made in the past.

I have a feeling this would taste even more amazing as an iced tea in summer. I don’t think my sample will last that long, so hopefully I’ll catch it for sale sometime between now and summertime. A definite repurchase.

Onto day two, I again opened this last night and tried to guess what it was. I had completely forgotten about this one and was left wondering, bubblegum tea? Did I miss a bubblegum tea?

Ah yes, breakfast smoothie honeybush! I’d totally take a bubblegum tasting smoothie to be honest.

This time around though drinking it hot does not remind me of bubblegum. It tastes like all the fruits with a bit of creaminess. Mostly orange, then banana, not as much pineapple.

Still tasty though. This reminds me I definitely should go back to this tea. Tasty, tangy, and sweet. And not so bad after all when hot.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me….. a Honeybush Breakfast Smoothie.

It’s only just turned into 15th December and I felt a little naughty and couldn’t wait for the morning. So I opened and was immediately taken away with a delicious fruity bubble gum odour. Beyond amazing!

The flavour is delicious, my favourite from Frank so far! It reminds me of fruity bubblegum gobstoppers I used to have as a child. I can pick out the pineapple and banana which taste so juicy and sweet.

I am in love with this, I wish I had more :(

Okay, apparently we are continuing in the bizarre section. Smoothies, for me, is not something to do with breakfast. But then again you Americans eat some odd things for breakfast sometimes. For me, a smoothie is an afternoon-y sort of snack food. But okay, I can just disregard the word ‘breakfast’ and think of it as a sort of fruity creamy flavoured tea, right? Right! Suddenly it doesn’t sound so bizarre anymore.

Haha, win! The human psyche is so easily manipulated.

GOSH! This stuff pongs! The entirety of Tea Corner currently reeks of cheap bubblegum and all I did was open the envelope to see what was inside. We’re not actually having it yet, because we just had the cotton candy one, but I opened it now so that I could be sure to see what it was for the first time that way instead of coming at it later when people had started posting about it.

Crumbs, I’m not really looking forward to this one now. O.o

It’s a honeybush base, though, which is not something I’ve had for a long time. I think the last time I had honeybush was that pina colada flavoured one that I didn’t like because of the alcoholic notes and before I discovered the ways in which rooibos can actually be made acceptable to me. By blending it with fruit. Surely honeybush should be acceptable under the same circumstances then, yes? And this time without icky alcoholic notes. That at least sounds interesting.

Yeah, a honeybush with tropical fruits. I can totally do this. I’m feeling much more positive about the prospect of drinking this one now. Maybe I’ll make it after we’ve picked up our Christmas tree.

Well, it turned out that I didn’t make it until today after all so we’re a day behind still. No matter, though. It suits me fine. I made this and served along with breakfast because although it isn’t something with caffeine in it, we normally have a black tea, it was called something with breakfast. So when else should we drink it, really.

Oh yeah and we did pick up a christmas tree by the way. The kitties are curious, but seem to like it. They have never seen a christmas tree before. None of them have tried climbing it yet, but they like sleeping under it and Luna has been beating up a couple of the lower branches. We haven’t got much in the way of ornaments, but we’ve been mass producing paper ones yesterday and for me also this morning, so it’s beginning to look like a christmas tree.

Now on to the tea. After brewing it still smells rather a lot like cheap bubblegum, but there’s a little smidge of banana emerging as well. This, I thought, does not bode well. I do like fruity flavoured teas, but there is a limit. Even for me. On top of that, most of the flavours in this stuff is what I would call tropical fruits, and I haven’t really had much in the way of luck with those in the past. I’ve had a few that were great but many that were just mediocre and generic fruit.

So with some trepidation, I sip the cup and I was surprised at how not unpleasant it was. I thought the flavour was pretty strongly banana and with some of that generic ‘tropical fruit’ underneath. Then there was a note of something sweetly spicy which I attribute to the honeybush base. I haven’t had a plain honeybush in years and years, so I don’t remember any sort of accurate flavour profile for it, but I think it was something along these lines, yes. As it cooled and developed a bit in the cup there was a strong note of citrus emerging in the flavour. Mostly orange, but also a touch of lemon.

It had a sort of thickness to it in the mouth which I think added to the smoothie aspect of the flavouring, but other than that, it struck me as merely a tropical fruit flavoured honeybush. I wouldn’t have had smoothie associations myself, had I not seen the word on the label.

So it’s not bad, but it’s not something I would go out of my way for again.

Husband reports that he too was somewhat pleasantly surprised, although he thought it had a medicinal note to it.

I have looked in the next envelope, the one for today (the 16th). I think he’ll enjoy that one!

I agree with Amanda, this definitely does have a bubble gum likeness when it’s hot. But I’m not complaining, because, I’ve been craving something a little sweet. This is certainly filling the bill.

This is really REALLY good. It reminds me just a little bit of the rainbow sherbet, not really in the flavor aspect, because it has different fruit flavors, but more in the way the fruit flavors come together in a very harmonious way. The banana and pineapple and orange are very balanced – and they are sweet with just a hint of tangy flavor toward the tail.

And yes… it tastes VERY much like a smoothie. Completely YUM!

52teas 12 Days of Christmas Sampler 2012 – Day 2

I’m not a fan of Honeybush or banana-flavored teas. So, we’re off to a great start! :P I tried to remain open-minded while it steeped. Since I don’t make Honeybush often, I had no idea what the steeping parameters should be. I used 1 tsp in about 8 ounces of boiling water for 5 minutes. I didn’t add anything to it.

The aroma coming off this cup is probably divine if you like this sort of thing. To me, it’s…not appetizing. It’s kind of headache inducing. :( Not good. The taste is quite surprising! I taste pineapple and banana and a hint of orange. If I don’t inhale the smell while I sip it, it’s actually pretty good! Wow! Who knew?

For someone who doesn’t like anything about this type of blend, this must be a great tea to change my mind! It’s not enough to sway me completely though. I’m not loving the banana aftertaste that’s lingering in my mouth ten minutes after a sip. Yuck.

It deserves a much higher rating than I’m giving it. So, take my opinion with a grain of salt. :) Now I’m off to go see The Hobbit!!!!!!!!!! I’ve only waited my entire life for them to make this movie. Oh, and this is my 300th tasting note. :D

I will admit that I wasn’t terribly excited about this one when I opened it. I’m not a huge fan of honeybush, but I did get a little more interested when I smelled the tea. It’s aroma is really sweet and fruity, exactly like bubblegum. I brewed it for 6 minutes and the tea liquor smells the same as the dry blend. This tea is really flavorful – very fruity and leaves a sweet taste (again, like bubblegum) in your mouth. I think it reminds me of that zebra-striped gum that i had as a child!? This isn’t one of my most favorites, but my fiancé loved it!

-Dry blend is finely chopped honeybush with a few pieces of dried fruit.
-Dry leaves smell like fruity bubblegum. Tea liquor aroma is sweetly fruity.
-Tea liquor is a medium brown color.
-Very sweet flavor with a fruity finish.
-Sweetener optional.
-Fair tea. Slightly artificial bubblegum flavor. Very sweet without any added sweetener.

Thanks Sil!

This tea smells delightfully of banana as it cools.

I’m really enjoying honeybush teas thus far. It’s somewhat reminding me of Pina Colada Honeybush from 52Teas. Perhaps that’s the pineapple? Either way I’m happy I’m getting to try this one.

The resteep of this one is just as flavourful :)