Boo-Berry Cotton Candy

It has come to my attention that I’ve been quiet here recently. Well the last week or so was super busy in this household with various out-and-about stuff. On top of that we’re being very frugal with our leaves and have got really good at resteeping a lot as opposed to giving in to the temptation for something else. So I thought it was time for one of these teas from the Christmas box.

This one had me a little sceptical because of the lack of success for me with the first candy floss one. This one has fruit as well, though, which did help a bit. However, I’m still not getting anything that really says ‘candy floss’ to me. I’m just getting something generically sweet. This works better for me here than it did in the other one because it has the berry element. That makes it a fruity sweet as opposed to just a sticky sweet.

Is it nice? Yes.
Does it live up to its name? No.

But I don’t mind that. Niceness is more important than name accuracy to me.

This is the second one from 52teas that I’ve had that was named something with boo-berry. I can’t remember the exact name or ingredients of the other one as it was some years ago, but I think it was simply called boo-berry and it had blueberries and marshmallow root in it. I think that one was on a black base whereas this is on a green base, and really most of all this reminds me of that other boo-berry one, as it might have tasted on a green base. I remember that other one as being very popular in this household. I believe that was the one where we nommed our way through a whole pouch in just three or four days.

So two different candy floss themed teas and rated completely opposite. Funny, that.

And oh look, I completely forgot to post this! It was because we were going into town in the afternoon, where Husband and I spent a nice couple of hours taking tea with Roughage completely without all those awkward silences that I had feared. (Last time we met up with someone from elsewhere on the interwebs, I left the meeting hoping that the other person didn’t think we were just completely boring…)

This one is going to need a little time for the flavors to mingle and meld but I can already tell that it is going to be a good one – the familiar notes of 52 Teas Cotton Candy black blend and of course those AMAZING PLUMP blueberries and SO many of them!
Full review on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 18th.

I loved the original cotton candy blend from 52 Teas, so I was excited to try this one as well since blueberry is one of my favorite flavors. The dry leaves are fruity and blueberry smelling. The tea liquor is a golden yellow color and the flavor is really delicate. I can definitely taste the blueberry and the light sweetness of the cotton candy comes through at the end. This one is better as it cools down. At the first sip the blueberry flavor tasted a little artificial, but this lessens as it cools down slightly. This is the perfect tea for Christmas Eve Eve!

-Dry blend has medium green rolled tea leaves. Tea leaves float to the top while steeping.
-Dry leaves smell like sugary blueberries. Tea liquor aroma is faintly of blueberries.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium yellow color.
-Slightly artificial blueberry flavor with green tea. Light sugar and berry finish.
-Best with sweetener.
-Fair tea. Very light blueberry flavor. Little cotton candy taste.

Tea #20 from HHTTB2

I am just not making good time on this box! But I did get to spend some much needed time with my little sister and then watched a comedy show with some friends, so I can’t really complain.

This is very blueberry fruity, with a spun sugar sweetness to it. And it’s definitely sweet without being sweetened. The green tea flavor is still present, which I found quite refreshing in such a strongly flavored blend.

I wish I had thought to ice this, but there’s only really enough for one more cup, and someone else it welcome to it.

Ha, found 2 of these in the travelling teabox! Drinking one of them right now!

Very blueberry with candy fluffness to it. I can almost feel my teeth aching eating that spun candy. This tea would be fantastic iced! Maybe if it pops up for sale I’ll get some more to explore further.

Darn it, reminds me of a funny picture I took at the Night Market a few years ago. They had a booth were you can get your own cotton candy. I took a picture of an ambitious couple that made one the size of their torso! The gal holding it looked like a walking ball of cotton candy. I can’t find the picture, booo, I have too many pictures on my HD.

Day ten

I’ll have a blue Christmas without you…

Just when I was starting to grow quite fond of my Cotton Candy Black from day one I ran out yesterday. I was beginning to fall in love with the lattes too. Thankfully, this came around and while it’s not quite the same as the other cotton candy tea it will do.

My first cup of this earlier in the day, which was under two minutes and with lukewarm water, was unbelievably perfect. I simply got blueberry flavour with a finish sugary artificial fuzz, which was very akin to blue cotton candy.

As soon as I took a whiff of my steeped cup I knew I had butchered my second cup of the day, and I’m blaming water temperature. This steep still has the cotton candy profile but the astringent smoky gunpowder is more prevalent. Maybe I should add some milk to it but it feels like sacrilege to add dairy to something with a green base- excluding matcha.

Ok, it’s fussy. I can work with that.

Heh sip down! Thanks to raritea for this one. It’s one that I missed out on picking up when it was reblended and I always regretted it. Raritea was nice enough to let me satisfy my curiosity. I can safely say that I’m glad I didn’t pick up a package of this. While its a pleasant enough tea, I’m not really feeling the whole cotton candy or blueberry in the intensity that I’d like for this kind of blend. Instead it comes across as a a tea stuck trying to be both and not really succeeding in doing either really well. Now, that being said, its still an enjoyable tea that im glad I got to try :) plus its a green tea!

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a mug full of … boo-berry cotton candy tea.

I had a cup of this before the review so I knew what to expect. With cotton candy being featured earlier in this set I was delighted enough with unflavoured, I had not considered adding flavour so my mind is all over the place with delight just at the prospect of it. That is why I had to have a sneak preview :)

It’s 10:30pm and at midnight I am going to do the last of my Christmas food shopping, it sounds mental I know but the queues should be short. Plus I’m no stranger to midnight shopping, it’s for the socially challenged individuals such as myself. I’m a little shy that’s all. Anyway this tea is to hopefully bring some calm before the storm.

The tea smells wonderfully sweet and fruity which is rather magical as it only looks like a standard green tea blend. Once brewed it still smells deliciously of sweet blueberries. The odour is stronger than the taste but in a way the subtlety is the charm, it makes it a green tea with flavouring rather than just a flavour with green tea thrown in. Saying that it mentions gunpowder green which I find is usually a little smoky but I can’t detect it at all in the blend. It’s definitely blue berry in flavour so it would suit my fruity moods too.

Some may like to add sugar to sweeten it up but for me it’s not necessary. This is another one of Franks tea’s that I think would be amazing as an iced tea.

Another old favourite, and another of the “Frank” reblends as opposed to Anne’s current version. I have to say, this one smells gorgeous. As soon as I opened the pouch, I was pretty much overwhelmed with the scent of blueberry, and once brewed it’s stronger still. Sweet, sugary, blueberry! I’ve always been fairly conservative with my brew time on this one, given that it has a gunpowder green base, so I went for 2 minutes in water cooled to 175 degrees.

To taste, it’s totally delicious. I wasn’t expecting it to resemble the original so much, but it does and it’s wonderful. The main flavour is sweet, slightly tart blueberry. It’s pretty natural-tasting, not chemically or artificial. Underlying that is a sugariness that does remind me of cotton candy, and helps to take the blueberry to new heights. What this really puts me in mind of is those blueberry slushies you can get at the cinema! A true sweet treat, without the calories! The green tea is surprisingly absent, and I can’t actually taste it at all. I don’t mind that so much.

Drinking this one today reminded me how much I like this blend, and blueberry in general when it’s done well. I’ll not neglect this one so long next time!

Tea #25 from the ‘Here’s Hoping’ teabox.

Happy tea! My first sip of this tea and I had to smile. The cotton candy flavor was so spot on that it made me think of summer time and the amusement parks on the boardwalk. I thought I was missing the blueberry, but after the tea cooled a bit it was there. Yummy! It wasn’t long before both of my kids realized I was sipping something delicious and began asking for sips of my tea. Between the three of us my cup was empty in no time. Thankfully the resteep of this was pretty good, so we were all able to enjoy ourselves a while longer. Even my non tea drinking ten year old son gives this tea two thumbs up. This one’s a keeper!