424 Tasting Notes

65

Maybe it was the cute packaging, or the whole idea of it, or something. But for some reason I picked this up at the mall yesterday.

It’s not terrible, let me start there. I read the reviews here and had expected a bad tea. It’s not bad. It’s also not a tea that I am anxious to drink again. It’s just…ok. I get a very strong coffee taste from it, and I’m not a fan of coffee. A bit of caramel, a bit of vanilla.

I drink my tea in an 11 oz mug, so I used two tea bags. The canister recommended a bag to 6 oz. I added a bit of sweetener. Meh.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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85
drank All Citrus by 52teas
424 tasting notes

I like this one a lot! I admit, it was the last of my 52teas shipment that I tried, probably because it didn’t have anything catchy about it. But, it’s a great morning tea for me. Nice strong black tea base flavor with citrus aroma/taste/aftertaste. I am already planning another cup.

I can’t pick out individual citrus favors, but I think that’s the point, right? I could see this being really nice iced. Ask me again in July. There might be some left. Or maybe not.

I brewed this for four minutes at boiling, 2t to 11oz. Next time I might try 3.5 minutes to cut the astringency.

Southern Boy Teas

It’s funny to me, but we have the worst sales record with some of our best teas, just because they are not something outrageous like some baked good or breakfast cereal. LOL. Every once in a while someone asks me why we don’t have just a raspberry tea or a peach tea, and I always laugh at the idea of it. I know we could make awesome teas like that, but very few of our regular customers would buy them because they are too simple.

Marzipan

I think the crazy tea thing is just your niche. I am very quickly becoming a big fan!

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The first word that popped into my head when I tried this was “fun”. My first Genmaicha, and I really like it. It was smart to incorporate the whole crispy treat thing with Genmaicha tea. I like the strawberry flavor. It’s somewhere between a real strawberry and a Frankenberry type strawberry, but as a person who grew up with Frankenberry available all year, I’m ok with that!

I generally sweeten my teas, and with a bit of sugar I can totally buy the whole marshmallow treat thing. I ordered this on a lark but I am glad that I did, since it’s like nothing else in my cupboard and I can see myself looking for it on specific craving occasions. After every drink I am doing the “yummy” mouth smack.

On my iPad again so I can’t do the sliders, but I brewed it at around 180 for 2.5 minutes.

Preparation
2 tsp 11 OZ / 325 ML
DeliriumsFrogs

ooooh! I get cravings for ‘saturday morning cartoon’ cereal, and I can see where this would do nicely. Definitely sounds like a ‘fun’ tea. :)

Marzipan

I don’t get why the monster cereals are only available at Halloween now!

DeliriumsFrogs

I know! It’s just wrong…..

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75
drank Tropical by Red Leaf Tea
424 tasting notes

I liked this one. It’s a strong black tea, with a pleasant mango smell and taste. Nothing artificial or overwhelming. I see this as an alternative to my normal breakfast teas (I tend to like things like Irish Breakfast or Earl Grey, something strong) since it adds a different flavor to the mix.

I have a rather large bag of this if anyone wants to swap samples!

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drank Apple Pie Keemun by 52teas
424 tasting notes

First tea of the day. I am not going to assign a rating because I rather like this tea, but it’s not an ideal first tea tea for me. I like my first tea of the day to be strong, hot and assertive. This one isn’t brewed at boiling so it’s not that hot, and it has a lovely understatement so I wouldn’t call it assertive.

I think this is going to fall in mid day for me. I hope everyone else is as quirky as I am about their teas!

Aside from that, apple? Yes, apple, but not overwhelmingly so. I get pie, but I’m not sure how. The cinnamon mentioned is barely there, I get a glimpse before it rounds the corner and goes out of sight. It’s not very astringent, as I brewed for 3 minutes. The aftertaste is just pleasant apple.

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Confession, this is my first Honeybush. I really didn’t know what to expect since I have read that they tend to taste like wood. Thankfully, this one does not.

The dry leaf smell was strongly citrus, almost in a bad way and I am a citrus lover. But the tea itself is mellow and has no artificial taste at all.

I do wish that 52teas would put brewing suggestions on the bags. I went with just boiling and a 10 minute steep since I wanted a strong flavor and read that you can’t oversteep this. Hot, the tea was nice, but the flavors came out more once it began to cool. It is almost completely cool now and I really like the orange flavor (not getting much pineapple).

It’s nice to have a few around with no caffeine so I can drink them before bed, and it’s nice to have an option that doesn’t involve chamomile.

Sooooo these little slider thingies don’t work on the iPad. I did 2t to 11oz for 10.

Cheri

It is nice to have nighttime teas without chamomile, even though I adore chamomile.

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85
drank Cream by Adagio Teas
424 tasting notes

Sad to see this one go, as I finish off my sample of it. I think this will be a reorder eventually.

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This is a pleasant, if unremarkable night time blend. Probably will not order again but I am fine finishing off what I have. I get more chamomile than anything. Very little mint. A little lemon.

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78

Since this is my third straight day of a matcha after lunch, I am thinking this might be a new habit. I got cheesecake in a sample size from Red Leaf. I don’t love the little envelopes they come in, but that’s a minor inconvenience.

I had already read the reviews here, and liked the review from a person who added raspberries to hers, so I did that. It’s really good! I did 1/2 t matcha, 8 oz. milk, about 6 sugar cubes (this is a stand in for dessert after all), and somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 cup of frozen raspberries. Since they were frozen, I didn’t add ice cubes, which I would normally do. Buzz in the blender and voila.

It’s nice. I don’t know if cheesecake is enough different from caramel for me to have them both on hand though. I think if they arm wrestled, caramel would win. But this is a nice stand in for a fruit smoothie.

As an added bonus, the raspberries made this a nice pink shade, so if you have someone who gets the ickies from the green, this is a nice way to trick them. I’m sure strawberries would work too.

Cheri

That’s a good idea with the raspberries.

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drank Caramel Matcha by Red Leaf Tea
424 tasting notes

Made this again today. It’s a little ridiculous how quickly I finished it off. I want to make a big old honkin glass of it, forget this cup size stuff.

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Bio

Mom of two practically grown girls, extremely happily married to a man who is amused by my obsession with tea, and company owner who works from home. Life is good.

Likes/dislikes: I love black teas, especially strong/malty ones. I am ok with flavored teas if the base is strong. I like some whites. I really don’t like any tea that tastes “green” – if I wanted to drink something that tastes like green beans, I would cook some green beans. I am not big on green teas or genmaichas. I am learning to like puerhs.

If we are trading, I have a STRONG aversion to coconut, banana and licorice. I love citrus, vanilla and spice. Not a fan of florals.

Check out my blog!
www.tealover.net

Location

Kentucky, drowning in tea.

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