52teas

How is this a sipdown and I never made a tasting note for it until now?! Tastes exactly like the name says. Nice cinnamon kick. I haven’t gotten around to making suggestions for 12 teas of Christmas and this would be a great option for that – going to go comment on that post now!

TTB 2025
This is sweet without being overly sweet, nicely spiced, and very drinkable. There does seem to be a lot going on, and I wish I could taste the pumpkin and pear more. It’s very smooth and both cups disappeared quickly this morning. Thanks for adding it to the box.

Sample sipdown. Made this as a latte. It makes me think more of an apple chai than an apple cider donut per se. Apple, cinnamon, and what tastes like clove even though there isn’t actually any clove in here. This would be super cozy for fall.

Warm with milk, this was a little bitter and not right. My cold brewed resteep was pretty fruity and nice! The next time, I cold brewed my first steep, and it ended up sour/bitter, which was unfortunate. This one just isn’t working for me for some reason!

I taste a combo of light chai spices and genmaicha, so it definitely tastes how it promises (minus the marshmallow). Unfortunately, I never really think green tea is a good base for chai. I feel like the spices need a base that provides more oomph. There’s a little bit of toastiness from the toasted rice, but this whole thing is just too mild for me, and sometimes there’s a hint of bitterness despite proper steeping. I wouldn’t mind a black based chai with toasted rice though!

TTB 2025
This smells like strawberry more than it tastes like strawberry. It mostly tastes like a spicy bergamot. It’s very smooth, just not my cup of tea. Thanks for adding it to the box.

Sipdown. I didn’t take good notes while drinking this, but it isn’t my favorite 52teas blend. Rum is the dominant flavor here, and I do enjoy the taste of rum, but somehow it didn’t seem quite right. Maybe a stronger base, or the addition of some vanilla, chocolate, and/or cinnamon flavor, would have given the blend a bit more balance. Not terrible by any means, there are just other 52teas blends I enjoy more.

This reminds me of the turtle flavor from a few years ago. I taste chocolate and vanilla. It’s high quality and tasty cold with milk and sugar. I definitely prefer how 52teas does chocolate over any other company. It’s very natural. I liked it, though I’ve preferred other similar 52teas blends.

I had this twice cold, and it sadly never worked for me. The first time, it was much too mild. The second time, it was almost bitter, but the main flavor was the green tea with not too much other flavor shining through. I love white chocolate, and I sadly didn’t taste any here. There was a hint of fruitiness, but everything needed to be stronger.

I wish I tasted any butter or rum, but I don’t. Warm, I really only taste the roasted base, which I’m unfortunately rarely a fan of. I shared this with my partner, and he said it was quite savory and not his thing either. It’s best cool with milk and sugar. I actually quite enjoyed the last half a mug since somehow everything but a tasty marshmallow flavor faded. Hard to know how to rate this one!

This ended up a little bitter every time despite proper steeping. I like it best sweetened cold without milk. I taste a lot of soda and a bit of cherry. The cola part was tasty, but the bitterness was unfortunate. The cold resteep was nice and soda-like. Maybe I should have cold brewed all the steeps, not just resteeps.

Steepster 2025 TTB tea

This has nice spice notes like nutmeg and cinnamon, but I don’t get any buttery cookie or pastry notes at all.

The first time, I didn’t taste too much bergamot or any brulee outside of maybe some bitterness. It was a little nondescript for me, unfortunately. The next time I had it, it tasted a little fruity or like a light EG, but that was it. The resteep was actually deeper and tastier for some reason. The bag is gone after two cups – I just wanted more from this one!

I wanted to try this one as it reminded me a few of my fave no-caff blends from 52Teas in the past.  And really, the inclusion of the marshmallow root made it a sure thing buy.  It’s great!  Exactly what I expected it to taste like.  Citrusy!  With a pillowy marshmallow sweetness, if that makes sense.  Then a hint of lavender.  Not as good as my beloved ‘Peachy Keen’ but that is a high high bar that I will never shut up about.  Also, now that I think of it, not really trying to be the same thing… Also, I got super sleepy, super quick, so I think this works as a sleeper tea.
Steep #1 // 1 1/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Cold Brew!

Fairly mellow with a gentle and floral-leaning raspberry note reminiscent of early season raspberries picked off the bush, but without any tartness/astringency. The watermelon is fresh and thirst quenching, albeit light. It mostly comes in on the backend of the sip after the more grassy and straw or bamboo-like notes of the green tea and the delicate berry, with a clean sweetness to close the sip.

This reminds me of other peach black teas, but this is a super high quality version. In some cups, I can maybe taste the extra something desserty that makes it not just an apricot black tea. I like it best at room temperature with milk and sugar. The resteep tastes just as good as the first.

2025 Steepster TTB Tea

This has a high quality base, and it fairly malty and smooth. I get grainy notes. No sweetness at all from the tea. There are some cinnamon and vague pumpkin spice notes, but no pumpkin or buttery/cakey ones, which is what I was looking for. Even some vanilla would have been nice. Now, I did use just under a tsp of leaf for my cup (300 mL) since it is a small cup and I want to leave enough tea for the next person who receives the box. Maybe with more leaf it would have been a bit more well rounded. I tried brewing for quite a while (6 or 7 minutes) to compensate. I’m drinking this was a dash of unsweetened soy milk and wishing I had some agave or maple syrup to sweeten it with.

From my order a few months ago!   I was intrigued by this mix of flavors.  Sadly, I can’t tell there is much strawberry here.  But otherwise, it’s slightly spicy with plenty of bergamot.  Spicy as in cloves. The 2016 base was Nilgiri, Yunnan Dian Hong and a bit of Ceylon (not sure if the reblend is the same) and just as long as the Ceylon stays to a minimal for me, the base here is quite delicious.  Overall, it’s a mouthful of flavors.  Possibly the strawberry just can’t compete and gets lost.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

This is so great. The green tea is lovely. The pear flavor is fresh and pleasant. The spices are well-rounded and super tasty. I’m drinking this cold, and it’s juicy and wonderful.

Sipdown

A nicely flavored oolong with cinnamon foremost but not sharp or too strong, sweetness, and a tingle on the tongue. Good with food or on its own.

Sipdown

Another gift tea from the daughter who lives with us!

I had this a while back as a hot tea. I agree that it is very chai-like. I had expected just black tea with lemon from the name initially but there is a lot more going on.

Today I am having it as a sweet iced tea, steeped hot and allowed to chill in the refrigerator. Made this way, I am finding the ginger much more prevalent and the lemon less noticeable. It is smooth and lightly peppery – I have had three glasses just with lunch so it must be pretty good!

I do have a 12 ounce serving that I am cold steeping to drink unsweetened but it hasn’t been in long enough yet. Will report back on that one!

Edited to add: just drank the cold steep. Tastes much the same, but I feel like I get a vanilla note that I didn’t notice before and I don’t see vanilla listed as an ingredient. Maybe it is just a sweetness of the tea base itself. I added no sugar to the cold steep.

This is an interesting take on a lemon tea! It really does taste different from others I’ve had. The lemon is fresh, but not sour. The base is high quality, as always. It’s a nice combination, though a more standard flavor profile than I usually gravitate toward. I never realized it had black pepper and other spices!

This was delightful. I drank the whole bag much too quickly. It has a familiar 52teas spice blend, but one that I always enjoy. The base supports the flavor profile perfectly. It tastes desserty, like I could really see it being an oat crumble of some kind. I never tasted any cranberry. This was best cold sweetened with milk.

I crafted this inspired by a discussion with my youngest (who has discovered her passion for baking) a couple of months ago about what fruits go best with white chocolate, because to be honest, white chocolate isn’t my favorite flavor. I like it OK, I suppose, I mean, I wouldn’t turn it down if someone offered me some, but if given the choice between white chocolate or either milk or dark chocolate, I’m going for either of those rather than the white.

I think it’s just that white chocolate is a bit too sweet for my palate. So, I tend to prefer it when paired with profiles that have a bit of tartness or some other profile that will offer a nice contrast to the sweet white chocolate. Raspberry is one such example. The berry is sweet, yes, but it is also a bit tart & that tartness offers a really lovely contrast to the sweet white chocolate.

I enjoy the way this tea comes together – the raspberry is bright & slightly acidic but the presence of the white chocolate ensures that it doesn’t end up being too tart. The smoothness of the Chinese Sencha is pleasantly mild. This is so nice – a really pleasant afternoon tea.