Carrot Cake Cheesecake Honeybush

This was somewhat muted in the package but it really wakes up while steeping!

It has been an exhausting and stressful day.

There were a few highlights though. I discovered a new, to me, restaurant in the neighbourhood and the food and the owners are both lovely. The steak sandwich I had there was just over-the-top fantastic: quality roll, steak perfectly prepared, heavy on the mushrooms and caramelized onions. Perfect. The side salad was pretty fab too.

This tea is another highlight of the day. I added a spoon of honey to my cup and to me, it tastes just like carrot cake. A beautiful job on balancing the spices. Very nice.

This is pretty good, but I feel like it could be better. If I had one complaint about 52teas herbals, it’s that they rely too much on honeybush or rooibos, and flavoring. This one is sweet and has has a noticeable flavor of cheesecake and a hint of spice, but the carrot flavor is lacking and it tastes a bit artificial and lacking in complexity for carrot cake, and it’s just a bit too woody. I would happily drink this again, and maybe even buy this again, but I do think it would be better with less honeybush, more carrot pieces, and maybe some toasted rice or sesame seeds.

SPICY! It’s about 90% cinnamon. If you do not like cinnamon, do not pass go.
When you smell it, it smells a bit like a chai.
When you sip it, it’s got a cream cheese sort of flavor, as well.
I don’t think that, if you blindfolded me, I’d say “carrot cake” or “cheesecake,” but it does taste good.
[EDIT]
I always read other people’s reviews after mine (so I’m not influenced by theirs). One of them recommended adding honey, which I think definitely rounds out the flavor nicely. Do that. Yum. I bumped it up a few points.

I am a huge fan of dessert teas and I also try to avoid caffeine, so this was perfect for me. I’ve only made two cups of this so far, however I really enjoyed it both times. I like the spices and the honeybush base. I wish it had more raisin flavour, but I still enjoyed the blend.

This tea put me to sleep (in a good way). Every time I had a sip it was harder and harder for me to keep my eyes open.
With that said, I drank it in the evening so I didn’t want to sweeten it. Next time, I’d like to try it with a bit of honey to see how the flavors pop differently.
With the second steeping I could taste the cheesecake part more than the first time.