Pineapple Upside-Down Cake Honeybush

I was really excited to try this week’s blend. I bought it to make it iced, but it’s a bit dreary here today so this was prepared hot. I feel the need to mention how impressed I was with 52tea’s speedy (and free) shipping. I ordered this late Monday evening and got it today (Thursday).

I was also impressed with the huge pineapple chunks that were present through out my bag. It looks like I’m going to have enough chunks to have 1-2 in every cup! This was the sight upon opening up the bag: http://www.flickr.com/photos/47736372@N04/4544378422/

The dry leaves smell a lot like pineapple and cake. Once steeped, I can smell cherries as well. I threw in a bit of sweetener and prepared myself to be delighted.

This one’s a winner, folks! The taste is consistent with the smell: Right away, you get pineapple. You can even taste cake somehow, although I’m not exactly sure how Frank managed that one (way to go, Frank!). It’s a certain smooth, slightly sweet and buttery taste that is hard to describe adequately. The cherries are in the aftertaste and they linger in your mouth for quite some time. In case you were concerned (because I know I was), the cherry taste here is not the medicinal, children’s Tylenol cherry taste I was expecting. It really tastes like true maraschino cherries.

This is very good. It tastes like true pineapple upside-down cake. I half expected to lick my lips and find cake crumbs clinging there. It is delicious hot, but I can’t wait to try it iced!

Yummm—Maraschino Cherries! There’s a fine line between maraschino cherries and cherry cough syrup and I’m happy to say that the cherry-ness in this tastes like pure maraschino cherries—which I love because it reminds me of Shirley Temple drinks and childhood. :)

I do taste pineapple, sugar and a hint of cake. This is kind of like a canned fruit salad. It’s sweet and candy-like but not cloying. I wish there were more of a cake-y taste but I’m enjoying this a lot—it’s great as a dessert tea. It’s almost like Pineapple Ambrosia but without the marshmallow fluff.

I detect no pipe tobacco-ness or woodiness like I would with a rooibos. Honeybush is great! :)

Steep Information:
Amount: ~3 rounded tsp
Water: ~500ml filtered 212°
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (Herbal, Strong)
Steep Time: 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Maraschino cherry, sweet pineapple hints, buttery pound cake hints
Steeped Tea Smell: butter pound cake, pineapple, maraschino cherry
Flavor: sweet
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet, maybe pineapple
Liquor: dark translucent brown, hint of orange

It it more cake than pineapple and cherry…they are mere hints, delicious but not as sweet as I was expecting.

Post-Steep Additives: German rock sugar
Bring out hints of pineapple and cherry

Resteep: 10 min, 212° just as YUMMY

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/52teas-loose-leaf-honeybush-tea.html

Another tea I’ve been eagerly awaiting the time when my taste buds were back in action so that I could try it.

Yum! This is really really good. The honeybush proves to be an excellent base for the flavors here. I can taste the cake flavor which is rich and buttery tasting, I can taste the pineapple, and I can even taste a little bit of the maraschino cherry. I can even detect the caramel-y brown sugar… yum!

Okay, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is my husband’s favorite cake ever so I primarily bought this with him in mind since he doesn’t drink much caffeine. But, I will definitely consume more than my fair share of this pouch. The brewed tea has such a realistic cake scent that I found myself just staring into my mug – how did 52teas accomplish this? The pineapple/brown sugar combo is the most noticeable but that is my favorite part of this cake so I love it! The buttery, rich cake flavor also plays a large role followed by a touch of cherry which, thankfully, doesn’t taste like medicine. I’m taking this with just a pinch of sugar, but I think it would be divine as a tea latte which I plan on trying out soon.

Once again, another winner! This 52teas order really made my Monday!

Thanks Jessica for sending some of this my way to test out.

I was so impressed with the dry scent of this tea that I sniffed (huffed) the bag while the water was boiling. I love that there was a large chunk of pineapple mixed in with the honey bush. I love how sweet tasting this tisane is without any additions necessary. It tastes like a bite of sweet cake with sweet glazed pineapple baked into it and a slight hint of cherry. Yum. This was great hot and even better as it cools. I can’t wait for more of Frank’s honey bush blends!

Thanks LiberTEAS!!!!

This is very tasty but I would love it to have more of each the Pineapple and the Cherry flavors happening! This is fairly cake-like for a Rooibos and the flavors are gentle but yummy.

Looking forward to trying it ICED too! Woot!

A HUGE thank you to Kristin for sending this to me! I’d avoided 52teas and other limited edition type teas because of their limited editioness. I’ve finally come around and am willing to enjoy teas while they last. :)

Oh. My. Lordy. I open the packet and it’s like Maraschinopalooza. I become worried. I smell hints of upside-downness, but to me it’s all about the cherry.

I was surprised that the instructions were to get the water to boiling. I’ve only ever done around 180 for other honeybushes. But I think, “what they hey” and go for it boiling. I’ll definitely try some at a lesser temp out of curiosity and make a note of what the differences are.

Oh yes. Me likey. The first few sips were “this is sort of like a pineapple/cherry chapstick.” But honeybush is like that for me: it always is reminiscent of the old school flavored chapsticks of my youth. However, that sensation faded. This is probably more like my imaginary Pineapple Upside-Down Cake would taste like (it’s been years and years since I’ve had the real thing). I kept drinking and drinking and drinking and now my first cup is gone! Must make more. I did start to get the Pez-like quality that Kristin mentioned, but I drank it all before it cooled too much, and for me Pez is a good thing :)

This is so intense that I won’t be able to do it every day, but if I want something bakey-sweet after dinner then this’ll fit the bill perfectly. TG

The smell of this tea is incredible! Sweet and fruity – and the cherries – oh the cherries! (For those of you who don’t know, cherries are my favorite fruit).

I kept the steeping pretty mild this time so the results were a little weaker in terms of the added flavours – I could taste the honeybush fine though. I can still distinctly pick out the cherry and the pineapple, particularly as the tea cools. The fruit flavours mesh quite nicely with the natural sweetness of the honeybush – I think rooibos would ruin a blend like this but honeybush was an excellent choice for a base.

The rating I’m giving this tea right now is subject to change after I fiddle around with the steeping parameters a bit.

I love how this tastes. The flavors blend very well together and it is balanced very well. Yummy!

After my previous super tart tea I decided to try this tea that I have been wanting to try for a while now and thanks to the ever so nice Rabs I am able to do so! I sipped this tea right after it was done being steeped and with it being so hot I could only detect a bit of cherry and honeybush. Now that it was cooled off a bit to where I can sip it without being overly cautious I can taste the pineapple, the sweet cherry, and the honeybush…which BTW I think honeybush was an awesome pick for this blend as it gives the tea that “cake” taste…very impressed! This is a fun tea and a very well done bled :-)

Ah, I knew I could count on 52teas to get me all excited about tea again after tasting several duds. I think that any tea with the “natural essence of cake” as an ingredient is an instant winner, don’t you agree? Pineapple cake on the nose, with the cherry flavour coming through and lingering delightfully after each mouthful. Ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb!

Thanks to Mrawlins2 for sharing this tea with me.
The smell in the bag was of pineapple, the taste in my mug is almost cake like with a cherry at the end of the sip.
This one is a keeper. I do like honeybush! I do:)

This is a pretty weird one- sniffing the dry tea in packet I’d have not known how to identify it if it weren’t for the label. I admired the pineapple pieces in the mix, although I’m not sure why- I hate pineapple, supposedly. When I brewed this, my first impression was that it reminded me of the raisin toast 52teas blend, which isn’t a bad thing. The cherry tones in this just really resembled the raisins in the other. The second brew definitely had a bit of a kind of pineapplely fruitiness to it, unless it was just wishful thinking on my part. I do like this tea, but I’d never on my own identify what it was supposed to be. I wish the cherry came out more.

So…apparently this was supposed to be a birthday gift…it didn’t get to Mama France’s house in time, and she brought it up today.

Oh, my. Oh, oh, my. It tastes like a five-flavored pound cake…rum, pineapple, vanilla, orange, cherry. Oh, my. I can’t find words for this. It’s…amazing. Yes, I know that doesn’t tell you anything about the tea, but that’s all I’ve got. Yummy, amazing, goodness.

Not sure what I think of this one yet so I am withholding my rating for now. I’m not tasting much pineapple in this cup. If my bag has large pineapple chunks like Erin’s, they are hiding. I did manage to get a small pineapple chunk in this cup. Definitely getting some cherry as an aftertaste. But this one might taste a bit like pez candy too (like Buttered Cinnamon Raisin Toast).