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!

Well, it’s certainly been a while since I’ve last logged. There are so many tasting notes to go through! So, what have I missed here on Steepster?

Enough of the ramble, onto the tea. Well, perhaps a bit more ramble before I get onto the Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. (This log is to make up for my week of inactivity) A few days ago the weather was in the seventy/eighties and now it’s down to fifties. Blame it on global warming I guess. I’ve been cold brewing various teas due to the hot weather and I’ve completely forgotten to log them. The only one I kind of recall was Kusmi’s Almond Green. It was pretty decent cold brewed, but I still prefer it hot as the almond flavors are more noticeable.

Fast forwarding a bit, lately I’ve been busy packing things into boxes and preparing for a move. So those who are holding onto my address, don’t send anything to that address :). I’m currently sitting in an empty room on a fold up chair and using milk carton crates as a desk. This was kind of awesome until I dropped my bodum cup onto the floor not realizing the space that once occupied my desk was now empty. Sigh, I love glass, but those cups are sure pricey. Wondering if I should purchase myself a third one.

I want to thank Erin for sending me some tea. I packed away all my tea and stupidly sent it off to the new place without keeping a tin or two on hand, but luckily being the careless person I am, I forgot I had stashed Erin’s surprise package somewhere else! Wohooo! Thanks Erin! I don’t know what I was going to do without tea. How would I get anything done without some caffeine.

Oh side note / question, then onto Frank’s tea. When you offer people tea, are they unappreciative of it? I offered some Samovar Osmanthus Silver Needle and Florence to my guests and they thought Silver Needles tasted like water and Florence was just plain weird. Come on, Florence!??! Weird!?!?! That’s just brutal. I should offer them Lipton =]

Okay, Frank’s tea from Erin. I’ve never had Pineapple Upside-Down Cake before. Now I’m tempted to find me some. I think Frank does honeybush teas really well. Perhaps you should just specialize in decaffeinated teas ;). Don’t do that! We need those flavored blacks and greens as well, but this one is great. I wish I still had some Pina Colada on the side to compare, but honestly, this one is pretty good. Standard honeybush flavors, but the aftertaste, hmmm, it really stands out. It lingers on the roof of my mouth. I think it’s the cherry. As you finish off a sip, the flavor gets a bit sweeter and then there’s that lingering cherry/fruity taste. There’s a baking cake feeling to the tea as well. Made the tea hot and the cup’s all cooled down now and the flavors are still strong and kicking. Not a tea I would have purchased on my own, but after trying this I definitely need some in my cupboard. See Frank, this is why samplers are necessary. Thanks for sending some of this my way Erin =]

^{Last notes, it’s a bit fruity so you’ll probably have to like fruity teas to enjoy this one. You’ll also have to enjoy honeybush ;)}

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! :)

Okay! I’m happy! I doubled the amount and BOTH the Pineapple AND Cherry flavors came out more – just liked I hoped! This smells awesome and tastes great!

I finally cold brewed this tea and I’m a wee bit disappointed. It flattens out and tastes like a bit of cherry added to a rooibos. I’d guess that hot brewed is the way to go with this blend. I’d give the cold brewed version a 70. It’s still yummy, but no TG for this tea. NE

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!

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!