Neapolitan Honeybush

We just had a very bizarre power outage – I came home to no electricity! – but thankfully everything is now fixed thanks to some long hours from the power company – at 8 pm we shouted “Let there be light!!! (and internet!)”. The first thing I did when the power came on was make tea! I chose this one because I wanted something sweet to ease all my worry.

I was a nervous wreck making it – in a mad rush to try and reset all the clocks in the house, make sure everything was now working, etc and I was too heavy handed with the leaves and probably steeped it a bit too much. I tasted a strong, delicious strawberry flavor and my first taste of honeybush! Yum! Sweeter than rooibos and less cigar humidor-ish! I fear that my heavy steep and the addition of honey masked the vanilla and chocolate flavors. Nevertheless, it was very delicious! I love the honeybush and the strawberry was so natural and good. It does not need honey at all, and I think a 5 minute steep would be more suitable.

Frank just announced that I was a second week winner… or at least that’s what I thought when I read the subject of the email he sent me. It turns out I was lucky number nine. Not really disappointed though since other people deserve a chance. Anyways, I placed an order of this when I picked out my free tea last week and I was hoping it would be as superb as the Pina Colada one, but unfortunately it’s not as good. It’s still quite delicious, all the flavors are indeed there, but I’d take a bowl of ice cream over this tea any day. Sorry Frank! I think the same chocolate from chocomate comes out the best in this tea, but there are definitely vanilla and strawberry flavors lingering about as well. Overall decent cup of tea, but I won’t be missing it when my stash is finished.

Finishing this up today I get a different taste than before. I steeped for about 10 minutes and get a creaminess behind the chocolate and rooibos notes that really suggests the neapolitan flavour. I still don’t get vanilla or strawberry, but as I said in my last note, I find chocolate always takes over.

I did shake the dust out of my infuser this time, though an annoying amount has fallen into my mug. It’s a good thing this is a rooibos, otherwise it would be undrinkable. I am getting a sharp taste of the rooibos in the back of my throat, and for once I almost understand what people mean when they say a mintiness. I must confess I am not found of this strong rooibos presence, but it’s completely my fault. Nice to see another sample finished!

I want a dessert tea and a dessert tea I shall have! I’ve been drinking oolongs all day so it’s time to switch gears. I may have too much caffeine coursing through my body to sleep currently, but I’m going to try to settle down with this lovely honeybush.

Neapolitan Honeybush tastes like warm melted ice cream. That may sound gross, but let me assure you it’s darn pretty fantastic. At first sip, I taste creamy vanilla which develops into a rich chocolate flavor, and then it finishes with the wonderful taste of fresh strawberries. Amazing! I suspect that this beauty may be even better iced.

Yum! Dessert craving satisfied.

I drank this last night. A friend and I have started reading the horrible published fanfiction that is 50 Shades of Grey and just laughing ourselves silly over how horrible it is. Oh man. I think I am scarred for life.

As it is the written trainwreck I can’t look away from, now I am finally getting around to it. Actually, all of today I have been worrying like crazy over an orchid I just got. I had to return it for a different one and it makes me sad. Oh well.

This time around, this tea tasted a lot like chocolate covered strawberries. It didn’t seem as creamy or vanilla-y this time around but it is still DEFINITELY one of my favorite honeybush blends ever, even after two cups!

I’ve gotta learn to be careful with my honeybush/rooibos teas. After a long steep, the flavors I don’t like come out and ruin things. AFter 6-7 minutes, it starts to taste like sour wood.

Anyway, over steeping aside, this tea is nice flavored! It’s actually better than any neapolitan ice cream I’ve ever had. The strawberry was sweet and juicy and the chocolate was totally yum. I didn’t get much vanilla, but I’m betting it’s the stupid sour wood flavor that’s getting in the way. I’ll have this again soon, steeped correctly, and then we’ll see. I’m enjoying this one though. I’m glad I picked this one over the strawberry pie, though I’m sure that one’s good too. :)

Love this tea! Honeybush is one of the only teas that I like flavored now. This tea delivers, when you open the bag you get the strawberry and chocolate right off the bat. I almost never add cream or sugar, but I added a little and it was like drinking ice cream. Satisfies the sweet tooth. :)

My packet arrived today—so quickly too! Yay!!! :)

Even though I have countless teas to try, I just had to rip this open as soon as possible. I needed my honeybush fix! :P

I’m sipping this piping hot. I’m getting the sweet honeybush flavor very strongly. Then there’s the definite ice cream vibe—I’m not sure how I’m getting that since the liquid is hot, but somehow I perceive “ice cream”. Must be the vanilla with its sense of creaminess. The chocolate is bittersweet. The strawberry has cherry notes.

The scent screams Neopolitan Ice Cream! The classic boxed variety (just like in the picture). Makes me want to run out and buy a box right now. ;)

I like this very much and will reach for it often. As usual, 52teas doesn’t disappoint!

I just picked up a packaged from Doulton in the postoffice!!!
For those who don’t know (but I am sure you do) Doulton held a contest some weeks ago. AND I was one of the lucky winners!

So I picked up this package full of amazing teas (thank you, thank you, Doulton!) and the first thing I noticed was this wierd sweet smell. I sniffed every bag in the box until I found the sinner. It was a unopened bag but I swear I smelled it!

The color of the steeped tea is very close to rooibos color – if not identical.
It smells very sweet and… taste very good. The honeybush taste a lot like rooibos but it’s more neutral? And It really does taste like the icecream! Just a little cream or milk and I am sure it will be dead on!

Like it- love it – want it.

Having a cup of this – this time I did it latte style with a bit of warmed, frothed milk. It is so much better this way! The milk brings out the creamy flavor of the blend. Nice!

I am improving the rating on this one just a bit… because I can!

Thanks to RICKY for this sample. This was a fun tea. …Neapolitan ice cream was a favorite at my house when I was growing up so I really looked forward to trying this…Of course, the chocolate disappeared first, and vanilla was the last to go…

On to the tea: First, honeybush is preferable to rooibos. The strawberry flavor predominates. I added sugar and then a bit of milk. Somehow, although I could not detect any individual vanilla and chocolate flavors, this tasted like melted neapolitan ice cream when all 3 flavors blend….

I couldn’t wait any longer for my friend to have time to come over to try these teas that JENN sent! I did manage to keep my hands off the piña coloda one, since we are both looking forward to those lovely tropical flavors!

This is my second honeybush ever, so today I decided to also look it up and find out a bit more about the plant and it’s benefits. Nice! I am not a fan of rooibos, so I really want to like honeybush tea!

I tried this one first because I am not a fan of Neapolitan ice cream, and I want to work my way up through the samples! See, I do have SOME self-control!

This is good. I took it plain and hot, and next I want to try it iced with a wee bit of raw sugar. I think I am definitely going to find some nice caffeine free options for evenings.

I mostly picked up the strawberry flavor, maybe got a little vanilla, and really didn’t pick up the chocolate. It could be that additions really enhance those flavors, so I expect it may change when I ice it and add sugar.

Thank you, Jenn! I am excited about trying all these new goodies! A “thank you” package is in the planning stages!

I opened the little sample pouch of this tea I got as part of the Valentine’s Swee-tea exchange (thanks AmazonV!). At least I think this tea is what the ‘Neapalitain’ lable is refering to… ⌐_⌐

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love how Frank uses real flavouring that you can see right in the tea. I’m finding big cocoa nibs, pieces of vanilla bean, and bits of dried strawberry all mixed in with the honeybush – it’s great. The result does smell very much like Neapolitan ice cream which makes me a feel a bit nostalgic as I haven’t had that particular type of ice cream in years but it was a pretty common treat at my house when I was a kid.

The flavour doesn’t quite get there in terms of authenticity, although it certainly makes a game effort. The chocolate flavour seems to dominate everything else to some extent and I wish the strawberry in particular made up more of the flavour profile. Despite that, I’d still count this as another awesome blend from 52Teas. :)