Brandied Apricot Upside Down Cake Honeybush

My 52Teas order just came in today and this tea was first on my list to try. It smelled very dessert-like and I was glad that Frank included lots of little apricot chunks in the mix. The tea tasted quite nice but it needed more booze – I couldn’t taste any brandy flavouring which is a shame for something that is the first word of this tea’s name. Otherwise I quite liked it – it had a sweet cakey flavour mixed with fruity apricot notes both of which blended well with the honeybush base. It’s enjoyable even if the lack of brandy was a bit of a let down.

I’ve finally gotten a clue. When cold brewing a quart of anything Rooibos, I don’t waste any time with a regular tea sieve. Nope, I pour the whole thing through a paper coffee filter to get all the little bits out. It’s the surest way to avoid them.

This tea came in a sample box from my big sister. It sure has a mouth watering name, doesn’t it? Brandied Apricot Upside Down Cake. MMMMMM. I’m a sucker for a good name and always willing to try a new rooibos blend.

It’s August and there’s nothing like a cold drink on a hot day. I guzzled through half the first batch before remembering that “Oh yeah, I meant to write a review for this one!” It took some time before I was ready to settle down to the business of taking notes.

My first impression was that while I could tell there was something more here than mere rooibos, the apricot and brandy in this were kind of subtle. I’m not much for subtle. I like assertive, in your face flavors that don’t need cream and sugar to “bring them out.” Once in awhile, though, I’m strongly tempted to indulge. In this case, I wanted to sample it hot with cream and sugar and was pretty sure it would be awesome. Unfortunately, I had already finished the quart.

What with the heat and my own distractions, it seemed I really had only barely gotten to sample it, so I made a new batch. (You know a tea is good when it merits further investigation.) Then I got side tracked and it had a good long time to brew in the fridge while I was involved in other pursuits. Fortunately, the nice thing about Rooibos blends is they usually get better the longer they brew. This one continued to mellow, even after I had poured it through a coffee filter and discarded the herbs. The first cup of the second batch I drank cold and without any additions, yet I was already getting a pleasant underlying perfume that I hadn’t noticed before and realized I was starting to really dig this combination. I warmed and added sugar to the second cup, and it was quite good, with the apricot, vanilla, and brandy flavors coming forward a bit more, but that last cup, which I had cold with nothing added was the very best. Either the flavors had peaked or I had learned what to look for and how to appreciate it. It seemed to me very mellow and satisfying, even with nothing added.

In conclusion, this is a good cold brew if given a nice long steeping, but probably would be even better as a hot tea to keep me warm in the wintertime. I could get used to this stuff. Unfortunately, the sample is all used up. Ah well, the joys of life are ever ephemeral. Thank you, Terri Harpwriter, for this lovely sample.

Thanks to CK for for another 52teas sample!

Really authentic and powerful apricot flavor! I don’t pick up any other flavors aside from the honeybush. It’s not cake-like at all, but a good apricot tea if you love apricot.

This mornings cup was yummy!!! First time trying this from another swap:) It’s definitely a sweet brew. I loved the brandy and apricot mixture, I did get little after tastes of the brown sugar but not much. Mostly the brandy stood out but I loved it! The only thing I didn’t like so much was that the resteep was soooooooooooo weak:/ it was definitely good while it lasted:) another successful swap:)