Lisbet

I am going to hold off giving a numerical rating to this until I decide what I think of it! It’s really unusual, as is so often the case with 52Teas’ blends. My first thought upon sipping this was that it tasted just like the scent that’s in the Lush cosmetics’ Christmas Party bath bomb and Champagne Snow Showers products. But that might, um, sound repulsive. It’s just unusual. I can’t seem to think of anything else now that I’ve made the association. But I actually can see how this is gingerale-y as well. It’s very interesting, and I’m looking forward to another cup, so I can try to sort out my opinion on it.

Okay, this plus vanilla soymilk = excellent tea latte. What an amazing beverage. I need to upgrade my rating of this, as I now never want to go without it.

Okay shifty look I like this one, but I don’t love it like some of the other reviewers. That’s not because I don’t enjoy coconut- because I really and truly do. I just don’t get the cheesecake thing. I am liking the sweet coconut (second cuppa I tried vanilla soymilk and it’s yummy). I do feel like there’s maybe, if I use my imagination, a hint of cheesecake crust in there, but I’m trying a bit too hard, methinks. Don’t get me wrong, I am still enjoying this one though!

I don’t want to overdo it with this one, but I already want another cup. I thought I disliked strawberry teas. Or, maybe I just dislike strawberry tisanes… but anyway, this is a perfect honeybush blend. It’s so very much like shortcake- definitely a sugary strawberry, or a strawberries n’ cream. I hope this really is calorie free and it’s not made out of ground pie, because I may be addicted to it. My complements to the chef! (This is SO going to get latte’d with vanilla soy milk.)

I got this as a free sample, and my first thought was ‘this is going to be horrible’. I’ve liked Tulsi tea in the past though, and used it to help fight outbreaks of the stress. Tulsi is a great Adaptogenic herb. In the pouch I thought: Am I really going to drink something that smells like a Caswell-Massey soap? Apparently I AM that curious.

So, I’m never going to buy a box of this because I don’t really want to drink roses, but it’s not at all unpleasant, per se. I definitely am getting the perfumey rose petal taste while drinking this, but they’re gentler than I was expecting.

In high school I worked for a shop that sold rose petal flavored ice cream. Customers were often curious. I tried it a few times and didn’t think it was terrible. It just wasn’t my thing.
If you think you won’t mind the rosiness, tulsi tea is great for you and this is a great company.

Oh, yum. I am loving the combination of what tastes like orange zest with a subtle presence of chrysanthemum, and of course the pu-ehr. This isn’t one of those ‘cave moss’ pu-ehrs, but a light tea with a dark (lookin’) brew. Really delicious. I love that the orange isn’t overpowering, and that despite not really digging plain chrysanthemum tea, I can enjoy this. Chi of Tea gave me this as a bonus sample and I am thanking them in my mind right now. Of course, this is on the re-order list now too. :)

Oooh this is absolutely delicious. I love it. I can’t believe it’s oolong, but at the same time, it definitely has the smoother mouth-feel of oolong and none of the astringency of black tea. It’s also lightly sweet and creamy, perhaps perfect for a tea latte (but delicious by itself). I am seriously into this one. MmmmMmmm…. I love that it manages to not be artificial. I tried a "vanilla"+earl grey blend recently that tasted so plasticky. This doesn’t.

I am obsessed with recreating the Starbucks Earl Grey latte, which I think is all about their vanilla syrup, and not really about the tea. But here I am with my vanilla-soy milk and earl grey tea, trying my best. I oversteeped the tea on purpose, and I am still suffering from the weak-flavor problem. I know this isn’t the more expensive Starbucks’ Tazo Earl Grey in nicer bags. but I am not going to bother to pay extra just to drown the thing in vanilla soy milk. These are very strongly flavored, but hmmmmm…. might have to just try leaving the tea bag in. I mean, I chose Tazo because Sbucks uses it, but also because if these things don’t deliver the strength I need in the drink, nothing will. Seriously, like bergamot before buying a box of this stuff.

These cute little hearts are perfect for Valentines Day, but really I’d enjoy them at any point in the year. They make it extra- fun to make a cup of tea. And the cup that results is great- not too smokey, or too dark, just a good rich cup of what’s almost like an oolong to my palette. I had an acupuncturist who recommended pu-ehr as a beauty treatment (drinking it), and also for stress-relief. While I don’t know about these claims, I’m enchanted by the little hearts, and even took a photo of them before I brewed one.

How did I miss this? Oh how? How? :)

Ooooh I also want to try this one.

I admit it. I totally want to try this one :)

I was afraid of this one after reading Kristin’s review, but she sent some for me to try and I do love a new tea. I’d also been considering picking this one up at a local shop… hmmmm. You know, it’s not as bad as I feared, but I don’t like it. It reminds me of pomegranate and cherry fruit tisanes, which I almost universally dislike. It’s the whole “warm jello mix” effect. I wonder if this tea would be good to make a dessert with though- I think a sauce based on this with a dark chocolate cake would just be amazing. It’s very “dark cherry”.

I got this, like so many other folks, in part to try to recreate a Starbucks tea latte at home (when I use up my current stash of earl grey I’ll try the Tazo earl grey too). For me, the vanilla syrup seems to just make the beverage, so I am trying to compensate at home. Next time, for example, I am going to try vanilla sweetened soy milk rather than my unsweetened vanilla almond milk+ honey. (The almond milk otherwise did a good job).
The trick for me is to just leave the teabag in the cup, and use no water. Steep the thing in the milk directly. Do you get a better result from steeping it in water for a long time first? Curious.

Anyway, I like this one plain as well. It’s a nice sweet vanilla-apple pie type of aroma. Well done on Tazo’s part, as I usually cannot stand apple.

What is up with this tea? Older (lower income) women keep offering me free samples of this and asking me to let them know if I want to buy a box. Is this the Avon cosmetics of the tea world? Anyway, fresh with new free samples I thought I’d give the earl grey a try with a splash of vanilla almond milk.
Nothing much to say about it- it’s a perfectly good run-of the mill cup of bagged earl grey. I like that it’s organic though.

Gahhhhh I ordered too much of this tea and even though I still LIKE it, I’m pretty sick of it. I grit my teeth and drink it regularly to try to get through it. Maybe I should start turning it into tea lattes.

Okay, I’m going to have to fill in the gaps on this tea listing later, because SpecialTeas site is strangely depleted of tea right now. They have no earl grey in stock, and almost no decaf. I actually purchased this and mixed it with their Decaf Vanilla (also M.I.A.) because I wanted to try to fudge a decaf version of their delicious Earl Grey de la Creme. But to no avail. This makes for a strangely artificial tasting earl grey. The vanilla is very plasticky and the earl grey decaf version fairly weak. Oh well. So much for my ingenuity.

What an adorable tin! I’m just going by the picture of course, as I am lucky enough to try this in sample form thanks to Kristin’s kindness. Steepster’s been on a Harney’s kick for a while, eh? I like that, because there’s a shop with a big Harney’s selection near my house.

I totally brutalized this poor tea, because I wasn’t paying attention and failed to note that it’s a white tea. So it got boiling water. I did realize my error three minutes into steeping it, and took out the leaves, though. I really like this one, but I’m going to have to give it another shot with the proper water temp because the oversteeped leaves are overshadowing the delicious flavors.

Oh this IS a great holiday tea. I can imagine that I’d have enjoyed this one while devouring Christmas cookies. I didn’t sweeten this at all, so the black tea could come through… hmm I think this one at least a partial relation to chai (cousins?). I also will add that I don’t think it’s particularly novel. I’ve had this taste before from other tea vendors. But, y’know, I LIKE it so that’s not a bad thing. I find this one soothing. My tummy is a mess today and this is helping. It’s also a dreary rainy day (if I weren’t in southern TX it’d be snow) so this was a good choice. Whine, whine.

What the? I am giving this a pretty high rating because it really tastes like bacon plus black tea. I often HATE maple, but I really just tasted the bacon so I didn’t need to stab myself a fork to end the pain.

I hated this so very much. I couldn’t even finish a single cup. But it is exactly what it claims to be, so it deserves a high rating. My J tried it and just thought it tasted like a smokey black tea, so it may even be tolerable to folks who enjoy, say, lapsang souchong. Scary. Truly, truly scary. A great present for that bacon lover in your life. Me, I’m a vegetarian.

It’s a cup full of red-hots! I had a ridiculous headache when I brewed this cup, and no ibuprofen seemed to make a dent in it. I feel like drinking a cup of this on Valentines’ Day would make me smile, and get a bit nostalgic for classroom V-day parties from childhood. That said, (Kristin, brace yourself)- I’m not sure I like it. On one hand, it reminds me a bit of Teavana’s Ayurvedic chai. On the other hand, it lacks the tempering lemongrass notes. I think it may be a bit too sweet, really. I’m having it as a dessert tea with a chocolate cupcake and I’m still going ‘argh the sweetness’. Am going to keep trying this until I like it as much as Kristin does :)

(In other news, the husband and I are watching a Deep Sea nature film and Johnny Depp narrated it, and it’s pretty weird.)

I am doing terrible things to this tea right now. I brought it to school and thus filled it up with water cooler water. Too hot for this delicate tea. But it’s still delicious. I have had silver tips many a time in the past, and this seems to be a quite good one. (By the standards of my blunt palette anyway). It’s delicate and slightly sweet with an undertone that almost reminds me of pu-ehr. I can’t wait to try it in my new tea travel mug:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FGW720?ie=UTF8&tag=lizmarks-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B003FGW720

Oh this is gooooood. I knew I was in for a treat when I smelled the tea bag and it smelled like the most delicious vanilla ice cream you’d ever hope to sniff. And brewed, it’s just as delectable. The black tea isn’t too astringent, but it keeps the tea from being too sweet. I had been really sick of dessert teas (particularly cacao ones), but this reminded me that I need to not ever make pronouncements about an entire category of tea (except hibiscus tea, which can stay away from me). This is a great accompaniment to the cupcake I also have.

I was super surprised when I reached my scoop into this bag, and what came out was a kind of powdery substance. What the? I actually assumed this was a black tea blend before getting to try it (thanks Kristin!) when I’d see it come up on people’s feeds. As I drink it, it definitely has an overtone of red fruit tisane. Behind that is the cinnamon spice. It makes my mouth pucker a bit. Overall, I cannot decide about this one. I wouldn’t buy it, but I don’t dislike it per se. Um, hm. Will have to experiment with it.