52teas

Sipdown (398)

This is another tea that is more astringent than I would like…again, I blame age which is why this feels like the right time to say good bye. Other than the astringency, there is a cream soda (mixed with black tea) flavor that is better hot than cooled.

It may not be the Wizarding World of Harry Potter’s frozen butter beer but it is still a pretty tasty tea…like root beer but better. Check out my review here:http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/03/27/butter-beer-black-tea-from-52teas/

I tried Butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Theme Park and unfortunately, this is not butterbeer. This tastes more like Cream Soda mixed with black tea. However, the base for Butterbeer is often Cream Soda so I can see where this tea was going but fell a bit short. Not a bad tea, just not the butterbeer I was hoping for.

ETA: I added milk to this and frothed it to make it more like a latte and that brings this tea closer to Butterbeer but still not quite there. As a latte it has a bit more complex flavor as it is creamier and more buttery. Plus some butterscotch notes come through just a bit. I am still prominently getting Cream Soda and Black tea though.

ETA: Well my friend has found the key to making this taste like butterbeer. Milk and a handful of German Rock Sugar. Not the healthiest drink but Butterbeer is not the epitome of health either.

This tea is always nice but I never quite enjoy it as much as Sil so this packet, like most of my others of it, will be passed on to her :)

Sipdown (377)

Every time I revisit this one I am impressed and yet I don’t reach for it often so rather than letting it grow old(er) in my cupboard, this is going somewhere it will be truly appreciated…Sil’s cupboard.

This cup is malty and rich with sweet pastry notes. Blueberry is also present, of course, and very reminiscent of homemade blueberry pie filling (well I guess danish filling). Cream cheese doesn’t come through as clearly for me but tbh I don’t miss it. This really is good and if my cupboard was smaller I would happily keep it and sip away but this has sat for so long already and I know it will be forever before I grab it again. Better it go somewhere to be enjoyed while it is still fresh…ish.

I found a package of this, still sealed and in a tin, hiding in a bottom drawer of my tea stash. Well, it has held up overtime. At least well enough to stand out in a smoothie made with milk, vanilla pudding, and a berry/cherry frozen fruit blend.

It actually made for an amazing smoothie. Blueberries were prominent but the sweet jammy blueberry you would find in a danish, as opposed to the potentially more tart fruit. Plus, the cream cheese element latched on to the vanilla pudding and was really heightened because of that – like vanilla cream cheese icing. Seriously, so good.

As per many suggestions, I steeped this at a lower temperature for only 2.5 minutes. It does wonders for the flavors. This tea smells and tastes delectably of blueberries! Yum!! However, I am not picking up on cream cheese flavors (although a bit it is creamy in texture). I am not complaining though because it is still a deliciously flavorful drink.

I would say it is similar to DAVIDs Blueberry Jam except less artificial tasting and with a stronger sweet blueberry flavor. In fact, I would say this flavor is probably what DAVIDs was aiming for as this has a more sweet blueberry jam (or perhaps even more like blueberry pie filling) taste while Blueberry Jam tastes more like juice.

I made a pitcher of this tea at the beginning of the week and have been enjoying it chilled each morning. I brewed it using water just under boiling for 3 minutes.

This is a great caramel black tea. It is smooth, creamy, and kind of sweet. I don’t add sugar or dairy to my tea in general. The sweetness in this case is all the tea. The cheesecake comes through in the aftertaste for me. This has been an enjoyable tea that I looked forward to drinking.

TTBC
Oh wow this is good. I wish there was enough for another cup :-( This was like a hot chocolate milk shake. For some reason that sounds disgusting but it was so delicious! Add this to the teas on my wish list. So good!

I freakin loved this tea when it first came out! Like adored it. Now that it has been sitting around for a while, it has lost it’s umph. There is a little something bitter in the front part of the sip, followed by some flatness and ending with more bitter. I might be getting a little flat chocolate in the end. This is a prime example of my tea hoarding nature gone wrong. I wanted to save this tea so I could savor it over time and revisit it when I missed it, but it was better fresh and I should have guzzled it down when it was fresh. So sad!

Oh no! I’m so bummed! I guess the flavors don’t hold up well over time in this tea. I plowed through half the bag, decided to savor the rest and take my time with it to make it last, but that may have been the wrong choice. All I can taste is the oolong. So sad.

I told myself no more purchases from 52Teas. At least not until I go through some of the 10 or so bags of it in my cupboard that I’m already working on, which will take a while now that it’s winter and I’m not likely to cold brew the blacks the way I prefer them. THEN I saw this tea and I had to have it. I’m a sucker for tiramisu and it’s an oolong which means I’d likely brew it hot and drink it this winter. Must be the 50% Italian in me as well as one of my three gateway loose leaf teas being a discontinued and longed for rooibos tiramisu.

Anyways, I opened the bag and was greeted with a super strong alcohol scent along with chocolate and creamy coffee. The smell was amazing and delicious. Once brewed, the marshmallow root comes out as creaminess, the chocolate and coffee merge and the alcohol scent fades into the background with the oolong as an aftertaste. It works really well together and I’m guessing I have already gone through half the bag. I have gotten two good steeps out of each serving with a third steep being a little weaker, but letting more of the oolong flavor take center stage.

Now I have to figure out how much I love it. One more bag worth? Two more bags worth? Do I not overdo it and hope for a reblend in the future? I’m spending way too much brain power agonizing over it. It’s a good life.

AJRimmer Advent Day 17

This smells like gingerbread, but tastes like spicy curry minus the curry. There have been a couple of teas I’ve tried recently like that. They have all the other delicious spices in the mix aside from the curry. My association with curry makes for a distraction when trying to ID the chocolate. I can do it, but my brain keeps going back to curry. It also reminds me of a chocolate bar that had a lot of curry (the dish, not the spice) flavors in it. Trying to focus on that association while sipping. There is a little bit of heat left in my mouth after each sip. Cayenne, is that you? Curry or chocolate bar, I like it either way!

I love spicy chocolate, but this tea just isn’t hitting the spot for me today. I guess I need to be in the right mood for cardamon even tho it is a favorite spice of mine. There is a little bit of kick with the chili which I like, but doesn’t leave my mouth burning. I’ll have to try it again on a “I have not been up all night with a sick kid-o who has the scream of a ring wraith and wanted a second dinner at 1am” kinda morning. sigh I like those mornings.

TTBC
I think this is pretty good but I’m not getting much s’mores from this. It’s a tasty chai but I don’t really get any marshmallow or chocolate or graham. It’s more of a sweeter chai. It’s not bad. It’s just not s’mores. There was only one sample size left so this is out of the box.

TTBC

This is literally candy corn in a cup its so good. And I am obsessed with candy corn, my mom sent me a care package with a 5 pound bag of candy corn. if 52teas is having any kind of black friday/cyber monday deal i will deff be ordering some of this from them…. who am i kidding i will probably end up ordering some anyway :)

Backlog:

YUM! This was one I was really looking forward to from the moment I had read the announcement of the flavor. I LOVED the gingerbread chai that 52Teas created once upon a time, and so I was really looking forward to trying this to see how it stacks up.

And I think that maybe … just maybe … this might be better than the gingerbread chai! Of course, it could be that it’s been a while since I’ve had some gingerbread chai and my memory has faded somewhat, although that was one of the more memorable chai memories that I’ve had.

I think what I love best about this is the green tea base. The lighter, crisper green tea allows for the flavors of gingerbread and sweet, cakey/bakey, buttery flavors to come through! YUM!

As I type this, a few months from when I wrote the original review of it (check it out here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/08/23/gingerbread-coffeecake-flavored-green-tea-from-52teas/ ) I am finding my mouth watering by the memory of this tea. I may have to find it in my stash and experience it again! YUM!

Having a pretty lazy Saturday wile the hubby is out of town, and kids aren’t bothering me too much. Daughter asked for tea (running out of French Toast tea…her favorite!), and I decided to make some of this.

Nice and relaxing…a tang in there, but nice and mellow.

I really like this tea! I can taste the coffee taste, but it is more than that. It is a refreshing coffee taste. It tastes like tiramisu dessert! Very pleased.

Tea #3 from Another Traveling Tea Box

I would definitely buy this if Frank ever decides to reblend it. The flavors are all very well balanced. The sip starts with marshmallow and has a malty finish. The mint did not overpower the flavors at all. I LOVE the marshmallow. It adds so much sweetness with a bit of creaminess.

The second steep lacked the malt notes and the marshmallow mellowed out a bit. The flavor was a lot more like a creamy, minty green tea.

This tea came as part of the bestsellers sampler pack so I thought I would give it a try. It tastes exactly like Pina Colada. The only problem is I am not a fan of Pina Coladas. I am going to avoid rating this one because I definitely won’t be drinking it again but anyone looking for a Pina Colada tea should definitely invest in this one. Into the swap box this goes.

This is interesting. There is cinnamon, and also an artificial sweetness that I’m sure is meant to mimic the icing on top of a cinnamon roll but is not a flavor I am enjoying in my tea. It is drinkable, and I have definitely had worse teas, but it’s not one I’ll be reordering.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Sunday, October 31st: Halloween Tea #1

additional notes:  Had to go with the trusty candy corn tea today, as I’m thinking of Halloween teas.  Though I think the actual candy corn pieces are now gone, it still has a lovely sweet flavor to it the blend on that thick assam base.  I will miss this when it’s gone! 

Additional notes: I’m trying to think of Halloween teas with caffeine and the only one I’m thinking of right now, is this one, which I already had this month….. I don’t know what to steep up today! Any ideas would be appreciated!