52teas

I really love cucumber tea. HOWEVER, this is just not my thing. I have tried it several times and can’t get into it. I am sending the rest of my packet on in a swap….I hope someone else likes it!

The fragrance of this blend both dry leaf and brewed is extraordinary! There is a strong cola flavoring which is paired nicely with refreshing lime. I am not one to add sweetener to my teas and found that there is absolutely no need to do so here. Once more Frank has impressed me with his ability to create a perfectly balanced blend and has given me renewed appreciation for black teas. I don’t drink so I can’t say how close this is to the actual drink its named for … but does it really matter if it tastes this good? ;)

Sample sipdown! Thanks again, teapot1!

This one was calling my name this afternoon, so I had to have some. The smokey taste is still present, but it isn’t as powerful as I remember it being before. Added a little cream to this, and it made the icing notes come out a bit more in the taste, which was nice. The cinnamon and honeybush taste were also a little more balanced, and were both the most pronounced in the cuppa. A good after-lunch dessert tea!

Now for a quick run to the post office!

See previous tasting notes for a bit more detail.

This sample came from a swap with teapot1. Sipdown!!

Dry: I was surprised at how much this smells like a cinnamon bun! I’m only picking up a little of the honeybush scent (totally fine with me, as I’m not a huge fan). The cinnamon is the most prominant, followed by the sweet icing smell! Yum! I’m so excited for this one!

Brewed: Seriously. I am getting liquid cinnamon bun. This smells so good! The cinnamon and icing smells are so right on target here. A little of the honeybush scent is present, but thankfully it isn’t overpowering or strong. It fades into the background, and I actually think the sweet smell of it works nicely with the cinnamon.

Taste: Not 100% as good as the smell, but it’s pretty close. The cinnamon is definately front and center, with the icing being more subtle than in the smell. I’m also getting a slight smokey flavor (?) that I’m a little confused about, but it isn’t awful: just unexpected. The honeybush is present in the beginning of the sip, but as I said, it kinda works well with the cinnamon and the sweet icing so I don’t mind it much.

Overall, this is probably one of the better honeybush blends I’ve had. I love the smell, and wish the brew tasted just like it, but the taste isn’t too far off. I love the cinnamon and icing notes, and am impressed at how close to a cinnamon roll they are. Yum! The smokey flavor – puzzling, but it fits in alright with the rest of the flavors. It just isn’t what I’d expect in a cinnamon roll tea. UNLESS the cinnamon rolls were baked over a campfire flame. Spot on cinnamon roll? No. Tastey cinnamon roll-esque brew? Yes.

Thank you, teapot1 for sending this to me. I enjoyed it, and was very happy to have gotten the chance to try it.

UPDATE: The smokey taste lessens a bit as it cools off.

Sample I recieved in a swap. Backlogging this tasting from yesterday, and making the rest of this tea right now. Addition comments not a part of yesterdays tasting will be at the end under “Update”. This one came from Alphakitty. Sipdown!!

Dry: This shoots me right back to when I was a kid. We went to a couple of fairs every year and I was always getting cotton candy and fried dough (Oooh. Now I’m thinking fried dough tea!). This smells like pink cotton candy (and also a little like Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum…hmmm); sweet and fun (yes, you can smell fun).

Brewed: A little of the black tea base has seeped into the scent, but it’s still incredibly sweet and cotton candy smelling!

Taste: Hmmm. I don’t know if this is traslating for me in the taste. I’m getting a rooibos flavor, which is totally strange! Maybe the tea sample picked up on another sample in the package? I am getting a slight sweetness, and it does taste faintly of cotton candy. The aftertaste is definately cotton candy (yay). I am picking up the black tea base, too, and it’s slightly astringent. I think I’m going to wait for this one to cool down a bit, and take it from there.
-Once cooled down, this tea definately gets better. The astringency is gone, and the cotton candy, sweet flavor picks up. The aftertaste is still the most cotton candy-esque, but I’m digging this one cold. Next brew I’m going to add sugar and see if that helps it hot.

UPDATE: Sugar is definately a friend of this one. It brings the cotton candy flavor out to a good level, so long as you don’t add too much. I’m still slightly getting that strange rooibos-like taste (maybe my taste-buds are just translating something in this tea into rooibos) but it isn’t as powerful. The black tea base is nice and subtle (no astringency). I’m liking this one a lot more today.

Overall, not bad. I don’t think it’s a favorite, but it was pretty good. Thank you, Alphakitty, for sending this one my way. I’m glad I got to taste it! =)

UPDATE #2: I put what I had left from this past steeping in the fridge for a bit – the cotton candy/sweet flavor really popped after that. Changing this from a 74 rating to a 78 to reflect this nice change.

Mmmm… blueberries. This tea smells delicious. And it tastes great. I’ve made Danish with this flavour. Now I crave pastries.

Thanks to Yssah for this tea.

I have been wanting to try this tea for forever, and KittyLovesTea was nice enough to send a sample with our swap (thank you!) The dry leaves smell strongly of butter and maple syrup, yum! I’m wondering if having this tea right before breakfast will make me want to whip up some pancakes for my morning meal? Ohh, this is good! There’s a nice bready/cake-like flavor mixed in with the black tea, and then a rich syrupy finish. And with all of that a thick, buttery smooth consistency. I’m not sure how all of that is possible in one little cup of tea, but there it is. This one definitely has me craving some fluffy pancakes now!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with yellow petals.
-Dry leaves smell strongly of butter and maple syrup. Tea liquor aroma is of sugary maple syrup.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark brown color.
-Pastry and bready black tea flavor with a rich maple syrup finish. Buttery mouthfeel.
-Best with sweetener. Milk optional.
-Excellent tea. Reminiscent of warm buttery pancakes and maple syrup.

Sipdown 2020! 9/365

Last cup was pretty light on flavour, but this tea is OLD.

This tea is quite old; I believe it may have come out before I was into tea, and I ended up with a partial package of it from a swap. Anyhow, it was still ok the other day, mostly just a cinnamon black at this point, but with the a good cinnamon flavour (sometimes it’s weird and unpleasant, but not here.)

Thanks to silvermage2000 for a bit of this tea!

I had pretty low expectations for this one as it appears to be rather crushed up (I was assuming it would be wicked bitter), but I just took a sip and am pleasantly surprised! I’m tasting kind of a caramelly sweetness mixed with cinnamon. And, shockingly, no bitterness. Ok, a bit. But it’s really not bad!

I could see myself having enjoyed this tea quite a bit when it was first blended. At this point I think it’s pretty old, and crushed up, as I mentioned, but the flavouring seems to be pretty tasty. I can’t really say whether or not it tastes like a snickerdoodle because that’s not a sort of cookie I’ve ever made (I’ve eaten them before but don’t really recall), but yeah. Tasty!

ETA: Left this on my night table overnight, and finishing it off now… I really like this! It really tastes like a cookie in liquid tea form. Mmmm. Gonna find out later if the re-steep is tasty too.

so much cleaning and baking this week. Glad i’m spending time at home and getting things done because it means i can drink my tea, but there’s a small part of me that would very much like to be on a beach somewhere, enjoying some sun! this is still a tasty option for me, though i’ll hold off picking up another bag right away i think…absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that haha

Another tasty treat from 52 teas…I’ve been trying to give some thought to the teas that i’d like to see reblended and around for purchase all the time while i drink these two greens.

Needed another green tea to pair with the other green tea i brewed up and since i’m drinking 52 teas today, i figured this one made sense :) Still enjoying this one.

windy afternoon here, so this is making for a warm comforting treat. Really hitting the spot today with it’s marshmallow vanilla goodness.

Another tasty treat from this afternoon. Happy to have this one around for the occasional green tea cuppa!

mmmmm delicious! happy to have this back in my cupboard :)

Final count: 42

Sample from Evol. I made a giant mug of this today while i had to interview some potential candidates for the team. It was delicious and made me miss this tea a bunch. Maybe i’ll be able to catch a reblend of it because it’s one of the few green blends i love. a lot.

mmm thanks for the revist on this one variaTEA only thing to say here really is that i’m glad this is still delicious esp after frank’s awful mishaps with it. go go liberteas!

frank’s was an awful 45 rating… this version back up

Sipdown and that was a giant cup of no thank you. I tried airing i out but it didn’t help.

Figured I’d kick this into my travel mug this morning since I’ve got the smores genmaicha on the way. I’m not as in love with this as everyone else it seems but overall, it’s not a bad little genmaicha.

Sneaking on here to post that I’m sneaking this in between testing. Detailed note and rating later…but this is really really nice. I haven’t had many genmaichas but so far this really is nice and tasty.

Brewed 2 quarts using 185°F water for 3 minutes. Put the pitcher in the refrigerator to chill overnight.

Delicious fruity tea. I definitely taste the pomegranate and blackberry, but the pomegranate is more prominent to me. It is naturally sweet and has a lovely sweet, white tea aftertaste. This actually reminds me of the Forest Berries Silver Needle VIT.

I really really thought I’d written a tasting note on this this morning but apparently not. Let’s see if I can stretch my mind back that far. Busy frustrating day so this note will be sparse in the details.

Tea was good. Not as good as fresh but I did manage not to underleaf it this time. Still enjoyable and worth drinking. I sent the remainder to Lariel in the package but this is not a sipdown because I’m pretty sure I have another pack of this at home somewhere.

Desk tea sipdown though. Off the list.