Vanilla is my favorite flavor. No ifs, ands, or buts… When I saw that French Vanilla was one of the teas in the 12 days of Christmas (day 8 if I recall correctly…) I was thrilled! Vanilla and from 52teas… Wow… My hopes and expectations soared!
The only bad thing about getting so excited is that your expectation become exaggerated and may lead to disappointments. This was my case this time around… I didn’t write a review on the first day I had it because I had gotten myself so worked up about trying it, that I was sad after I dad. A week and a few days later, after reading how much others liked it, I picked it up to try again. I am happy I did!
The leaves smell more like cream than vanilla to me. The more I smell it, the more it reminds me of vanilla ice cream and not just plain cream. The black tea base is very prominent, but this isn’t a bad thing at all.
The resulting darkish brew is vanilla tasting, but still prominent on the cream aspect of it. Without any sweetener it is an enjoyable smooth creamy tea, I didn’t get straight vanilla. With sugar added, the vanilla peaked through a bit more. The creaminess of it was the most notorious aspect to me. The black tea base was a little astringent; I felt that this obscured the vanilla a tad.
The second brew was more enjoyable to me. The astringency played down and the vanilla was still strong enough to be evident. Half unsweetened and the second half of it sweetened. Both enjoyed!
Worth trying, enjoyed it, not my favorite vanilla, but it is still a good one! : )
