Cotton Candy Black Tea

Alright – I really did NOT want to love this tea. I mean first of all its limited which it should not be. This should go into the permanent stash ASAP!
I need to get more of this. MORE MORE MORE.
Okay so seriously. It is better cooled. I have not had it cold brew yet – its in the fridge now. But I do like it more when I let it cool some. More of the flavors come out.
It is not overly sweet either so if you are thinking it would be TOO Sweet for you – its not.
So I started with my cup hot of course, took a sip and thought, nice black base. Good call Frank. Then another sip and thought, hummm pretty good but not a POW flavor, then another sip and just kept sipping. Somewhere toward sip 7 or 8 the tea was cooler. Then it was like BAM oh yeah! I re-steeped – got to cup 4 before the flavor was gone.
Made another cup.
Yummm a rific!
Then another cup.
Three steeps today each with three re-steeps and now a cold brew in the fridge.
I need MORE of this tea!

We actually had this one late for a number of reasons.

1. As the majority of people on Steepster having this 52teas advent box are on the North American continent, I’m several hours ahead of them. In order to make sure that I don’t spoil everybody’s surprise by having it at a time which is correct for me but way too early for all the rest of you, I have decided to drink on the correct days (or as close as that can be managed) and post with a day’s delay.) Possibly this is silly because someone has to be the first, but there you are.

2. Husband was under the weather and having the first tea of the box, and this flavour in particular, seemed a Bad Idea Indeed. It’s not really the sort of flavour that settles one’s stomach.

I had already peeked at what it was before he came home, so that’s how I knew it probably wasn’t something we should have on that day. I have to say that it suited me quite well to wait a bit. This company does some pretty bizarre flavours sometimes, and I have to say that to me this is one of the more crazy ones. Even now I cannot imagine this as a tea flavour. I couldn’t imagine it being very good, at least. So frankly, I was feeling a bit scared of it.

And do you know what the truly absurd thing is? I love caramel or toffee flavoured tea, so I’m not sure why this, also a sugary substance, seems so outlandish. It’s sort of the same sort of ‘family’, isn’t it?

Well. I thought that it would probably either be horrid or it would be very nice. I hoped it wouldn’t be horrid. I hoped it wouldn’t be totally sugared, because I just don’t do sweetener in tea. For many people a modicum of sweetener in a flavoured tea seems to bring out the flavouring more. I have tried it a few times, but that has never worked for me. All I get out of adding sweetener to tea is astringency. It has certainly never ever EVER made anything ‘pop’ in any sort of desirable way. Even the smoothest unbreakable Chinese black can be ruined completely for me if sweetener is added. So I’m afraid that what I was expecting here was a cup of sugared black. WAY too sugared black.

Even so, I’m trying to keep an open mind here. Keep myself prepared for the possibility of a positive surprise.

Well. It doesn’t smell like candy floss to me. It smells more like marshmallows and dry milk to be honest. Given my misgivings about this as a flavour to begin with, I find this rather reassuring. It makes me think that while it might not actually taste like candy floss to me, at least there’s a chance that it won’t just be black tea with sugar in it. Because let’s face it. Candy floss is nothing but sugar.

After steeping it actually does smell like candy floss. Possibly because it’s hot how. That is to say, it smells strongly of warm sugar.

Sceptical Cat is sceptical.

At least it still has that marshmallow-y feel to it. I’m not a huge fan of candy floss, except when I visit Tivoli in Copenhagen. It’s the only place where I want to eat the stuff and that’s more because of the feel of the place than for the having of candy floss at all. It’s… It belongs there. In other words, I’ve only had a few times in my life and have never been able to finish one off. I can eat maybe half and then I’m done with it. Possibly this is also part of why the flavour in tea strikes me as so absurd. If this had been released on April 1st, I would have wondered if it was an April Fool’s joke. (Although nothing really beats the infamous Tuna Melt Green Incident). But I do like marshmallows and that sort of foamy sweets, so…

Right. Enough with the dragging of heels. I’m going to taste it now.

I’ll count to three and then I’ll sip.

One …

Two…

Two and a half…

Two and three quarters…

Three!

Tastes… weird. It’s not quite the ‘black tea with sugar’ phenomenon that I had feared, but it’s pretty close. Neither as it candy floss. Even less is it those marshmallows I keep smelling. I don’t know what this is, but it’s not something I’m sorry I missed out on. To me, this is just some sort of generic sweetness, complete with accompanying astringency and stickyness, although not much this time.

I feel I ought to attempt to analyse the flavour like I normally try to do, but all I’m getting here is ‘sweet black tea’. That’s it. That’s all. I tried, I really did.

This was not for me, although I suspected as much already when I saw what it was. At least it wasn’t at all as vile as I had feared. This, although, not really to my tastes at all, is at least drinkable. And I would still rather have this than real candy floss.

Seems I’m the odd woman out on this one.

Last night, I received a request to try this tea. “I’m eager to know what you think of the new black tea base” said this request. So, I was happy to go a bit out of order and try this one. I confess that way behind in sampling my teas of the week from 52Teas … what can I say? I have so many teas to try and not enough palates or bladder space to drink them all at once.

After allowing it to cool a few moments, I took a sip, sort of casually, almost aimlessly, and my first reaction was “wow, this is a really good black tea.” Without even taking a moment to consider that this was a flavored tea, I started thinking of this as a magnificent black tea that is sweet, almost caramel-y, rich, and full-flavored. I started thinking of other “pure” black teas that are similar to this. Then I sort of shook my head when I realized that this is a flavored black tea, not some high quality, tippy, pure black.

This reaction, in my opinion, is the highest praise a tea lover can bestow upon a flavored tea, because more often than not, flavored teas are about the flavor and not so much about the tea underneath it all. Here, black tea and flavor have united seamlessly, with the flavor of cotton candy (and yes, I definitely DO taste cotton candy) highlighting the black tea in such a way as it essentially becomes a component of the tea and not an addition of flavor, if that makes sense.

And I think that this new base has everything to do with that. And let me examine this newly crafted, 52Teas’ base. It is bold and rich … much more well-rounded than 52Teas previous black tea base. The background flavor is SOLID and invigorating. It is robust and flavorful: sweet, malty and has a rich, bake-y kind of background to it, reminding me quite a bit of a Fujian black tea in many ways. And this is a very good thing, indeed.

When compared to the previous blend that 52Teas has used, this one is less astringent, and without bitterness. I do not need to come up with different parameters to brew it, I can brew this just the way I’d brew other black teas: 2 1/2 minutes in boiling water in my Breville. I don’t have to adjust the temperature or the brew time to assuage the black tea base the way I used to with other 52Teas.

Frank, you’ve crafted an excellent base here. I am very pleased, and so look forward to trying your future blends with this base (particularly my double chocolate decadence)! But for now, I this one deserves high marks!

I really wanted to love this tea. In fact I was sure I was going to. I have always had a special place in my heart for cotton candy. It is so delicious and brings back so many memories from being a kid. I had to order it… Taking advantage of the fact that I was ordering a pound of Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish, I added this on to my order.

The scent was initially a shock of cotton candy. A shock as in it hit me hard and almost had me wondering where the real cotton candy was hiding, it smelled so much like the real thing! The black leaves were dotted with yellow and blue flowers that made it fun to sniff and stare at.

Once brewed, I lost the scent of the cotton candy. Instead I found some generic sweet smell and a hint of something plastic (the smell almost reminded me of the smell of a brand new toy when you just open the box… wow… all childhood memories with this tea!) It wasn’t quite what I was expecting.
Unsweetened it tasted surprisingly smooth and a tad bit (only very slightly) sweet. Sweetened I found a problem. The upfront cotton candy flavor was there, but there was a plastic aftertaste that lingered on my tongue after each sip. Once I finished my cup, I had to drink some water because the taste was so strong. I drank the cup, but I don’t think I want another for a while.

I am going to hold off and try it iced before I actually rate it. The dry leaves smell so good that I am beginning to think that I might have messed up my brew somehow… Will try again in the near future and have my fingers crossed and my hopes high!

As for the new tea base, which I believe is also the same one I received with my pound of blueberry danish tea, I like it but I feel that the flavor is a bit harsher. It is definitely less bitter than the previous, but it has a tiny hint of smokiness that makes it a bit rougher in taste (if that makes any sense). It has grown on me. Initially it was a shock, but the more I drink it, the more I like it. I am ready to give the new tea base a thumbs up Frank! I think it is an improvement (not that an improvement was really needed, your teas were already marvelous!) :)

I got this tea what seems like a very long time ago, and I still haven’t tried it! I try not to dip into my 52teas that often since I know I can’t get them again once they’re gone for the most part, and I just knew I would love this tea which made me even more hesitant to try it. I don’t want to love it, I want to think “oh it’s good but I can live without it.”

Well, this is a tea I can’t live without. I cold-brewed it overnight, and sweet gods of cotton candy is it perfect. At first it’s just a very nice iced tea, the black base really shines and is wonderfully layered but not too heavy. Then, BAM, cotton candy. It’s not fake or artificial, it seriously tastes like cotton candy jut melted in your mouth. And the taste lingers, filling you with giddy childhood memories of eating cotton candy at the county fair and then running around in the petting zoo on a sugar high. It is SO good, I can’t really imagine this tea hot but iced it’s…. urgh, so amazingly perfect. Thank god they’ve added iced tea bags of this, though I think I could drink a pitcher of this every day which would put me in serious tea-debt!

There’s only one thing I would add to this blend: I wish it was blue! I’m tempted to put some food dye in mine just to make it that much more like liquid cotton candy.

Thank you tattooed_tea for this sample!

The black base is the first thing I taste, and it is delicious. As I am sipping, I am getting more of a strawberry sugar taste. In the aftertaste, I can definitely get the cotton candy association.

Next, I have to try this iced.

Oh this is good. I cold steeped it overnight and I couldn’t wait for later in the day to try it out.

I love the new black tea base, I taste it first and foremost and I really like it. I’ll have to give it a try hot too. But I can taste the Darjeeling in there, and it does have a nice depth that the old base lacked.

And then after you’re like, this is really is a good blend of black teas…boom, your taste buds are hit with cotton candy flavors. And there’s really no other way to describe it. It’s like you just put some fluffy pink cotton candy in your mouth.

I’m going to wait a week or two more before I have it again, because if it’s this good now I can’t wait to taste it when the flavors have had a bit more time together first.

I swear, Canada Post has made some really good changes! The last three packages I’ve received (ok, not the one from Fong Mong Teas) arrived in absolutely record time! Less than a week to receive my most recent swap, from Alphakitty (YAY!!!!) Which actually sucks, in a way, because my package is definitely going to take longer to arrive given that the estimated arrival was 6-12 business days.

Anyway! I cannot say enough good things about everyone I have swapped with. You’re all so ridiculously generous that even when I include a few extras, I am always WAY outdone! I mean, Alphakitty sent me little candies, and Azzrian sent me the cutest mini teacup EVER! To say nothing of the sheer number and size of samples!

Ok, so onto the tea. Steepster is still down, so I’m making a big list with these posts in a Word document. Probably good practice anyhow.

So yes. This came to me from the oh-so-generous Alphakitty, whose package from 52teas arrived just in the nick of time for her to include it! So excited, except I’m going to be mad if I like it because it’s unavailable.

The dry tea smells deliciously like cotton candy. Strangely, I’m not really getting that aroma from the cup – it’s more of a black tea with just a hint of sweetness. I definitely used enough tea, so that shouldn’t be an issue.

Ok, this is a bit of a letdown – I’m not tasting the cotton candy at all, really, except perhaps a bit in the aftertaste. The black tea base tastes ok (could be maltier IMO), but I’m so confused that I’m not really tasting anything else! I’ll have to read everyone’s reviews once Steepster is alive again, and see what I perhaps did wrong :( I should note that there’s just a teensy bit of astringency, so I don’t think a longer infusion would be wise for me.

Just tried with milk and sugar and I am liking the base tea blend, but still not really getting cotton candy. I really think Forest Berry Silver Needle was much more successful in that regard, as I swear it was strawberry cotton candy in a cup with a bit of white tea flavouring mixed in.

Oh well, no loss if this isn’t a tea for me, since I can’t purchase it anyhow! I’m kind of glad to cross another tea off my 52teas sampling list (which is huge. Anyone have a subscription and want to swap small samples of everything to me every couple months or so?!)

ETA: Drinking the second infusion (close to boiling/4.5min) cool and there’s just a hint of cotton candy in the aftertaste. Not a bad tea, but not a winner. I will cold-brew or ice the rest later.

First off, thanks for the sample Azzrian!! I so badly wanted to try this out and feel uber grateful to have the chance!
Now on to the tea… Hmmm, I’m not sure about this one. I think it’s one of those cases where there was so much hype about everyone loving it that my expectations are higher than normal. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great tea and I totally get the cotton candy association… but the “candy” part is a bit weak for my tastes. Maybe I should have used more leaf? (I thought I was being generous with my tea/water ratio!) or perhaps this would go better iced. Second steep, I added a dab of agave and it was a bit better. Oh well, it’s still very good!!! holding the rating til I try this iced. at this point though, I’d give it an 84.

I didn’t have time to write my tealog for this tea when I had it yesterday, so I’m playing a bit of catch-up. I try to minimize the number of black teas I keep in my cupboard, because I’m limited to when I can drink them unless they have lower than usual caffeine. This tea was delicious and fun, and if I were to ever see it available for sale, I would include it as one of the few black teas to keep on hand. The smell is bang on cotton candy, and the taste is a lovely black tea, nicely complimented with cotton candy.

I had to run some errands yesterday, so I had some of this tea and I had to leave the rest behind that I couldn’t fit in my travel mug. I must have been missing the tea, because I randomly purchased a perfume called cotton candy, without even smelling it first (totally out of character for me). Oh how I love cotton candy! Thankfully the perfume is pretty good, but I must say I like the tea even better. Deeeeelicious! Well done Frank!

Limited edition? WHY.

When I run out of this tea, I seriously think my life will end.**

:(

A real review when I’m not about to be kicked off the computer.

**No, not really.

tried this tonight, even though i know better and normally leave franks teas to sit for a few weeks to settle in. Just really wanted to get a sense as to whether i WILL enjoy it or not. I’m leaning towards enjoying it as a fun cup to drink occasionally, but time will tell once this has had a chance to really settle. :)

Mmm, the dry leaf smells exactly like cotton candy! At first I thought maybe it didn’t because it’s so floral. But then it really hit me! I’m hopeful the aroma will transfer into the taste.

The brewed tea maintains that sugary cotton candy scent, but the black tea is very present as well. Here we goooo!! Wow, surprising! It does kind of have that melt on your tongue texture like cotton candy. And it definitely has that pink cotton candy flavor, but it’s a little understated. I’m going to add some sugar to coax it out a bit.

Now it’s sugary, but it tastes like a regular sweetened black tea! I added a tiny splash of skim milk and presto! Cotton candy in a cup! It’s perfect!! Oh, this is really lovely. Really really enjoyable! No one but Frank could create a blend like this. It’s 100% original and 100% fabulous!

Also, major complements on the new black tea base! It’s not bitter or astringent in the least, and I like it much much more than its predecessor. It’s an ideal balance of flavors and holds up to re-steeps better too. The second infusion was almost identical to the first, and I’ve never experienced that with 52teas before!

This is definitely a newfound favorite. I never never do this, but I’m going to buy another pouch. I know I’m getting married and I’m supposed to be saving, but this is just too good to only have 1.75 ounces! Shhhh, just don’t tell the fiancé. ;) Look out, Steepsterites; buy this while you still can!!

Oh wow. This is amazing! I had the boo-berry cotton candy the other day, but I didn’t get anything cotton candy-y out of it, so I figured I must have messed it up and didn’t rate it.

With this one? NOPE. It’s perfect. It really actually reminds me of sticky cotton candy. I made it iced, but I had a sip of it hot before I put it in the flash icer thingy and both hot and cold it is really smooth, really sweet, and makes me think of sticky tongues.

I see this isn’t a regular for 52 Teas. I hope they change this because I’m going to want more. :| But I have a full pitcher of iced tea in the fridge, and I can try to resteep my leaves tomorrow too.

first pouch of the ‘12 days of tea’!
but, um… i peeked!

at ALL of them!!

i did it i confess. i got the box weeks ago and immediately sat on the floor of my bedroom and opened all 12 pouches and then smelled them and then put the labels on the outside of the pouches and then tasted a few and then texted my sister about them and then took some pictures of them and then folded and clipped each little pouch closed before i organized them according to date.
the end.

(i think i steeped it too long, should have maybe stayed with the 3 min steep. i seem to remember my previous cup being lighter and sweeter in tone.)

Backlogging. 6 days ago. Wednesday afternoon.

The February Backlog: From the 1st to today.

It seems like all the black teas in the 52teas 12 days of xmas teas are not morning teas. So after my first cup of the day I reached for this. I thought I had already logged it the first time I drank it when I opened it, but I only did about half of them then.

It definitely tastes like cotton candy. Pink cotton candy. And black tea. And yes, I do think the pink and the blue cotton candy taste different. This teas is really good. The second steep was even better, I think. Rating a 75 (good range 70-80).

I’m finally home for the holidays with my folks and I’m so excited! All the tea I ordered on the Black Friday-Cyber Monday sales was delivered here so coming back after semester finals was doubly anticipated. I’m running around with all these tea parcels and my father is just shaking his head. He told me that all he needs is his Red Rose. He’s missing out…

I didn’t know where to start but I figured I should get caught up on my 52teas advent calendar first.

Day one

Ah, my first cup ever, from this company! It’s funny that in all the times I’ve eyed the 52teas website and the various crazy “food items” I never imagined I would actually be able to smell or taste the tea in the blends. Yet, here the black base is unmistakably prevalent beneath a layer of fluffy cotton candy aroma. Neat! The scent that wafted from my advent packet makes me feel like it’s my birthday, or something equally exciting. Still, I’m somewhat skeptical; it smells so very airy and sugary but it has such a strong base!

I steeped it for two minutes. First impression is that it has a bit of an astringent nip! I was half expecting this to be over the top, artificially sweet, and the other half expecting it to be all bitter leaves. I’m pleased that it actually falls somewhere in the middle. The first notes are nippy but then it mellows down into a smoother black before finishing with a soft cotton candy brush. Melted caramel notes.

I’m torn on whether or not I love it. I’m disappointed in the astringency but I’m also happy that this is more a black tea with some unique flashiness than liquidized cotton candy that may have rolled in some tea leaves. I also appreciate that the flavour is prevalent and vivid without being overwhelmingly, nauseatingly sweet. It gets points in my book just for the subtle finish and true “tea-ness”.

I need to experiment with the rest of my sample. Maybe it would go well with milk? Iced? Iced latte?

I’m a bit behind on my 12 days of tea, but I’ve been a little busy and this just means the fun will last longer! This one smells amazing when you open the package. Takes me back to going to the county fair as a child and getting a big wand of pink cotton candy. The flavor of the cotton candy really comes out once you add a little sweetener. It also becomes more flavorful as it cools. I want to try a cup of this iced!

-Dry blend has large black tea leaves, large blue cornflowers and a few orange safflowers.
-Dry leaves smell like sweet cotton candy with a hint of black tea. Tea liquor aroma is sugary sweet.
-Tea liquor is a clear golden yellow color.
-Soft cotton candy flavor with a short sweet finish.
-Best with sweetener.
-Very good tea. Smooth and lightly flavored cotton candy taste.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me… A cup of cotton candy black flavoured tea. That’s right this is the first tea from 52 Teas 12 days of Christmas box I have been waiting for over a week to open day one and today came just in time, not sure if I could wait much longer.

Well this is a treat, took it work with me to drink throughout the day. On my third cup of which this sachet can make around 4-5 cups.

Boiling water and steeped for 4 minutes with a little sugar. This is wonderfully sweet and syrup like. The black tea is not very noticeable as its not bitter or strong. Very nice for a sweet treat :)

Second tea of the morning…..

I have been so excited to try this. I have been curious about Frank’s new black tea base…..I have to admit, it is a winner. Nice and smooth…tastes like good black tea but is not in your face so that it can better highlight Frank’s awesome flavor ideas. You have to admit, the man does tea like no other.

On that good black base, is the flavor of cotton candy! Sweet that is definitely cotton candy, and maybe cheap strawberry candy (you know, the stuff you could not get enough of as a kid! I am thinking strawberry taffy-ish stuff….) This has been a great little flavor trip down memory lane, and I am so happy that it includes tea as well. I love fun tea!

Usual teapot method.