52teas

Countdown to Catching Up – Tea 8!

This is a reblend from Frank’s era of teas . . . Hey! with my last anniversary, I think I surpassed Frank’s time as a chief zoomdweebie of tea. (That’s what he called himself, the chief zoomdweebie. As for me, I’m sure you’re aware that I refer to myself as the Mad Tea Artist of 52Teas!) I’m pretty sure he held on to 52Teas for 7 years, and in June, we celebrated our 8th year. So, yeah! That happened. Yay for me & 52Teas!

Anyway – I don’t know if Frank was ever as behind on crafting his teas as I am now. I do know that it takes me a bit longer than it did Frank because I think he would package the teas immediately after blending them rather than allowing them time to cure. I allow them to cure before I test them – I do this because I have found throughout my journey as a tea blender that a tea blended today will taste different 3 weeks from now than it does today. I want to give the teas time to cure so that i can test the true flavor of the tea that YOU will taste when you open the pouch, rather than what I would taste immediately upon blending.

Anyway – that’s part of the reason it takes me longer to get a tea out to you than it did Frank – in case you’re wondering.

So, let’s talk about this tea. Frank crafted this back in 2011 (I think). I didn’t have the recipe of this tea due to a computer crash, so, I kind of winged it – using my best guestimate on the recipe that Frank would have used. The tea is a little different: Frank used a black tea blend of Nilgiri & Assam, while I used a blend of Yunnan & Assam. Frank also did not include any dried pumpkin bits in his tea blend – and I used freeze-dried pumpkin as well as pumpkin seeds – which, I’m not sure how it would have impacted the flavor overall, as most addition of fruit does not really impact the flavor tremendously, but I like the way it looks when there are fruit bits (is pumpkin a fruit or a veggie – I know it’s a gourd, but is it classified as a fruit or a veg?)

So, there are definite differences between the two blends, and if I had to choose between them, I think I like mine more, if no other reason than my own ego. LoL

Nice pumpkin-y flavor, that starchy, pancake-y flavor that we all love from the pancake breakfast blend, plus a drizzle of maple-y syrup goodness. YUM!

Countdown to Catching Up – Tea 9!

I know I say this a LOT – but I absolutely LOVE how this tea turned out. It’s so very peachy! I think a better name for this would be gramma’s peach cobbler filling because it tastes a lot more like her gently spiced peach cobbler filling than it does a peach “cake” – which is what I understand a Kuchen is supposed to be, although to be perfectly honest, I’ve never actually tried a Peach Kuchen. I happened to stumble across a recipe for such a thing and it sounded delicious. Truth be told – I think I’m better at working out recipes for a tea blend than I am baking, so rather than trying to bake a Peach Kuchen, I thought I might just create a tea based off the recipe I found – and this is the result. (I think next summer, I might have my youngest try her hand at crafting a Peach Kuchen for me.)

Anyway, this tea is delicious. It has a lot of peach flavor, notes of cinnamon & ginger, as well as a hint of cake-y & custard-y flavors in the background. But the real star of this is the peach, peach is what I taste first & peach is what is there, proudly – throughout the sip. So good!

Countdown to Catching Up – Tea 10 (Counting down from 10 to 1!)

As I’ve mentioned previously – I’m very behind on getting teas out due to my cellulitis. An update on that: My legs are definitely getting better. They are healing, and they don’t hurt nearly as much as they did even last week. About 12 days ago, we were really worried that the infection had gotten worse, but after another round of antibiotics, they seem to be (finally) working & things are improving. Fingers crossed that this continues!

Anyway, because I was way too outraged & embarrassed at how behind I really was, I decided rather than call this a tea of the week (because I don’t even want to admit what month this is from to myself, much less anyone else!) I decided to call it a countdown to catching up! I figure by the time I’ve completed this countdown, I’ll still be a bit behind, but at least it will be a more manageable & easier thing to admit to!

But – anyway – this wonderful caffeine-free tea! Let’s talk about it! It tastes like someone liquified one of my cranberry oatmeal cookies! It’s wonderfully warm & inviting with the flavors of cinnamon, ginger & nutmeg. The cranberry brightens the cup a bit. The oatmeal notes are not overwhelming – but they’re there – enough to say – yep, this tastes like an oatmeal cookie!

Lately, I’ve been finding that most of my tisanes, I prefer cold-brewed. But this is best served hot. I like it with a drizzle of honey – but it’s also quite nice with a teensy bit of brown sugar to bring out that cookie element just a bit more. It’s also good without any sweetener, as I’ve had it several times without, but, I find that the cookie-ish flavors pop just a bit more with a sweetener of some sort.

Sipdown!

Well, I really hope that I’d already recorded this sipdown and that I still have some left… but I just found out that it was reblended for this year’s 12 teas of Christmas, so at least I’ll have more on the way!

Such a fantastic tea – the absolute closest there has been to my favourite Banana Oolong from DavidsTea and bonus – no artificial sweetener! The perfect creamy oolong base blended with ripe banana.

The 12th Tea of Christmas!

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and to those who do not, Happy Holidays! I wish everyone a very happy & healthy new year!

So, this tea! Today, I brewed it a little strong so that I could go latte with it, because I was in the mood for something creamy. I really enjoy this chai, there is a rich, roasted chestnut flavor (thanks not only to the vegan & nut-free chestnut flavor but also the touch of Lapsang Souchong in the blend) & a really nice blend of warm spices. The black tea blend is rich & flavorful even though it’s a latte.

This one makes a really nice latte, I do recommend brewing it strong though (using extra leaf to do so rather than steeping it longer) so that the flavors are not masked by the presence of the dairy.

The 12 Teas countdown is over, but tomorrow, I think I’ll start counting down the 10 teas to getting caught up! :)

The 9th Tea of Christmas . . .

Of all the teas that I’ve crafted for this year’s box, I think this one has been the most delightful to have in my tea studio. I love all the teas I craft – some more than others; I admit I’m not an impartial mom when it comes to my teas! – but this tea has been special, because every time I open the bin in which this tea is stored, my olfactory nerves are met with the most amazing scent. Sure, all of the teas smell amazing, but this one is a whole other level! It smells SO GOOD! I am truly going to miss it when it does leave the tea studio. I’m sure this one’s gonna sell out quickly!

Anyway, I’m also pleased to report that it tastes as good as it smells. This is one that also tastes amazing as a cold-brew, but I think it’s even better as a hot tea. Usually when it comes to my naturally caffeine-free blends, I tend to prefer them cold-brewed because there’s something about the process that brings out the very best in the flavors of the tisane. But this is one that I prefer as a hot tea, maybe it has something to do with the idea that a Maple Baked Pear would be better served hot (preferably with a drizzle of sweet cream over it!)

The tea has a really pleasing pear note with a luscious maple-y note & just a hint of warmth from the cinnamon & nutmeg. So good!

The 8th Tea of Christmas . . . (And YES I’m very well aware of how behind I am on these! LOL)

I’ve had several pots of this particular tea by now & every time I taste it, I’m surprised at how much I love it. Mostly because – while I adore lemon teas, I’m not always such a huge raspberry fan. I don’t hate them, but if I were to create a top 10 list of my favorite fruits, I don’t think raspberries would be anywhere on that list, even in an honorable mention category.

But here, the combination of raspberry & lemon works so well. The “Linzer” part of the blend is more or less a nod to my inspiration behind this tea. I wasn’t actually trying to create a “cookie” tea, mostly because so many of my teas in this year’s box are baked good flavored – gingerbread coffeecake, spiced snowflake cookie, tangerine cupcake & the one that was just announced for today, Christmas eve: candy cane marshmallow treat genmaicha. So I mostly just used the idea of a Linzer cookie as an inspiration & rather than trying to nail the flavor of a linzer cookie, I just added some vanilla bean & even a little bit of cotton candy which when added to the tea while it “cures” becomes crystalized & crumbles into little tiny sugary bits.

Anyway, I love the way it all turned out. It’s sweet, it’s bright & pleasantly tart & fruity. A tasty cuppa!

Day 10 of 52teas advent calendar. I had this while working today so admittedly wasn’t able to give it my full attention. The tangerine/citrus seemed to pop more when it cooled. The base is a bit brisk and tannic, but in a way that serves to temper what I agree is best described as “marshmallow frosting” flavor. It’s got that fluffy marshmallow quality but also that particular sweetness and almost texture of frosting. It did mess with my stomach a little but not too badly (and not at all a reflection of the quality of the tea, it’s my own body’s sensitivity).

Day 9 of the 52teas advent calendar. Such a cozy fall/winter tea. I love this maple flavor. I find the pear soft and mellow. The base is great for this – sweet and slightly nutty. I can’t decide whether this would take oat milk well or the oat milk would drown out the flavors, but I don’t really feel like standing up to go get oat milk.

52Teas 12 Teas of Christmas: Day 9

Wow, this is so good! It’s got a super fresh pear flavor, laced with just-sweet-enough maple and a smidge of cinnamon. There are some round, creamy vanilla custard notes, too.

One of my favorites of the advent season so far!

52Teas 12 Teas of Christmas: Day 8

Love this flavor profile! This is a super fresh, tart, and crisp blend that’ll get ya going. I don’t really get any cookie elements, but that’s OK!

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 19

A cozy floral tea! I actually didn’t get a ton of rose in my cup and, frankly, I could’ve done with more! I probably didn’t shake/mix the blend well enough, and I think I was pretty distracted while drinking this one. Glad there’s another cup’s worth in the bag!

52Teas 12 Teas of Christmas: Day 6

I was holding off on drinking this one until I was in the mood for spice! The level of heat is actually really nice, enough that you get a tingle but your mouth isn’t on fire. The chocolate comes through as it cools, as do some of the other spices.

A fun one for sure!

This is technically the next day in most time zones, but wishing everyone a merry Christmas/hope you had a merry Christmas!

We did Christmas with my partner’s family and then Hanukkah at home. It’s been a long day and I’m just now getting around to tasting notes. I knew Christmas was going to be a big and heavy meal, so I chose this blend from this year’s 52teas advent calendar as my take-along tea. I hoped that the tart fruity flavors and the slight briskness of the base tea would cut the heavy meal a bit, and they did! mission accomplished.

Day 8 of the 52teas advent calendar. The raspberry and lemon in this are so clear. Just the right level of sweetness and the right kind of tartness. The base tea is brisk enough to complement the fruit but not so brisk as to overwhelm it. My only critique, and honestly it’s not much of a critique because it still tastes really good, is that I can taste the cotton candy and am not getting a cookie note. Maybe just rename it “raspberry lemon cotton candy”?

Daughter Advent Day 21

December 21 Sipdown Prompt – Winter Solstice: drink a warm and cozy cuppa

I don’t usually have caffeine this late but I don’t think anything will keep me up tonight.

It has been a slightly topsy-turvy day. We did a bit of Christmas shopping but were unsuccessful for the most part, picking up only one or two small things. We were going to have a very light supper because tonight is a homemade ice cream night, but we had less ice cream left than we realized so we had some of Sam the King of Dogs’s birthday pound cake with a small amount of ice cream instead. Like an idiot, I then ate potato chips, which I can have safely about once every six months because they give me awful reflux any more often than that. Then after doing our advent reading and lighting the candles (a nightly affair) my neighbor called and said I was needed.

Turns out her family had a chili competition and they wanted an extra voter. I don’t eat much spicy food but I was glad to oblige for a good neighbor (especially since we had a very light supper) and tried four very different chilis. I was sent home with three of the four types for my troubles and a whole lot of cornbread so now I don’t have to cook tomorrow! Yay!

Returning home, I was ready to choose the cozy tea for today’s prompt and this one leapt out. Neighbors used to love my mother’s banana pudding and I have her 1940 cookbook with the recipe she used. I rarely ate it when I was a kid but I did make it for her once shortly before she died. Yeh, I think banana pudding tea is going to be one of the coziest things a Southern gal could choose.

And wow! I shook the bag as instructed and opened it and there were big pieces of banana! The steeped tea smells like real banana, and there is a nice body to it that gives off the creaminess of pudding. I don’t usually like additions in my tea but milk and/or sugar might make this a real stand in for the dessert as creamy as it is already. The banana is not fake or candy-like. Ashman said he found it to be a mild flavor but real bananas are.

We both enjoyed it very much, and it sure fit the bill for a warm and cozy tea. Banana pudding was a summer treat in my house growing up, usually for a cook out or family gathering, but this tea is definitely in the cold weather comfort category.

Day 6 of the 52teas advent calendar. The dry leaf smells clearly of chocolate/cacao shells. I made this up as an oat milk latte because duh, why wouldn’t I? It reminds me very favorably of Calabash’s Idris chai, which is a spicy, chocolatey black tea that I adore but am too sensitive to drink. Chocolate? check. Malty base? check. Gently warming spices? check. Sweetener would probably make this even better but I am enjoying it wonderfully without sweetener.

Day 5 of the 52teas advent calendar. This is a little busy for my taste. Adding a dab of agave helped clarify the flavor for me. Mostly I’m getting orange, clove, and cinnamon. I can’t tell if the base tea is a bit smokey or if it’s just the cinnamon creating that effect.

The 5th Tea of Christmas . . .

I’m a bit behind on posting these, I’ve been pretty busy with stuff so I’ve not taken a lot of time to just sit and write tea reviews.

I know that this tea probably caused a bit of confusion with its name – I questioned myself quite a bit on my decision to call it POG when it’s not the traditional POG of Passion Fruit, Orange & Guava. I absolutely love the Passion Fruit, Orange & Guava version & maybe someday?

But for the holiday season, I like to put out something every year that has Pomegranate in it because I think of Pomegranate to be very seasonal – as is Orange. So, I thought, why not blend them together this year? And then I wanted to add something a little more to it, and so I added Ginger. So, Pomegranate, Orange & Ginger is POG too, right?

Anyway, I do like the way this came out. I didn’t do a lot of tweaking to this blend, I thought of adding a bit more pomegranate to the blend but I liked the way the orange & ginger came through so I didn’t want to alter that balance by adding more pomegranate. I also find that the pomegranate pops a bit more with the addition of a little bit of sweetener (I prefer honey for this).

But it is a pleasantly fruity blend which usually makes me think of summer teas, but this has a definite seasonal twist to it thanks to the warm spices. The flavor of this is reminiscent of the holiday fruit punch that would be served at holiday parties when I was a kid.

Not getting any cookie or pastry notes, but this is such a cozy spiced blend. Mostly getting cinnamon at the forefront with some clove.

I too thought this blend was passionfruit, orange, guava, but pomegranate, orange, and ginger makes much more sense. This is super fruity- I get a ton of orange. I’m getting a slight bubblegum flavor from one of the fruits.

52Teas 12 Teas of Christmas: Day 5

I went into this assuming the POG was passionfruit, orange, and guava, but looks like it’s pomegranate, orange, and ginger — a more Christmas-y blend, I’m thinking (for those of us in non-tropical climes, at least).

This is super fruity and festive! It’s definitely get some zestiness from the orange, and I’m picking up lots of spices too: clove, cinnamon, and ginger. The pomegranate is a little trickier to detect.

I’m enjoying this lighter take on seasonal flavors!

Day 4 of the 52teas advent calendar. Drank this hot with no additives. I would have sworn this was a straight black tea with coconut and nothing else. I like coconut, so that’s fine by me! There’s some briskness and astringency that I was chalking up to the base but I suppose could be the bergamot. Overall a pleasant and cozy cuppa for winter.

52Teas 12 Teas of Christmas: Day 3

Sipped on this zesty lil number during my final [online] class of the semester! It evokes an effervescent lemon-lime soda to me, with lovely cranberry notes. It’s tart, but also a little syrupy, but also a little saline? I bet it would be absolutely smashing cold-brewed, maybe with a bit of seltzer added.

So good!