Pina Colada Honeybush

I purchased this tea at the same time I purchased the strawberry matcha, but I haven’t tried it until today – so many teas, not enough time (nor does my bladder possess the wherewithal to drink as much tea as I’d like to!)

So I made some of this to enjoy with lunch.

It’s got a really nice, strong flavor. The honeybush seems well suited for flavoring, and I prefer it over rooibos, I’m glad that 52 Teas seems to have embraced honeybush as well. I like how the natural sweetness of the honeybush works so cohesively with the pineapple and coconut flavor. And as much as I enjoyed it as it was hot, I am finding it even more enjoyable now that it has cooled significantly… this will be a great tea for the summer – iced!

YUM!

I changed my picture (no one really uses pictures of themselves on Steepster, so I decided to do the same). However on one browser it shows up as the photo of me and on the other it’s the hamster in a teacup. What is it showing up for everyone else?

Okay, now onto the tea..
This was a sample from momo way back when that I decided to cook up tonight.

When I first brewed this hot I barely tasted anything. I wasn’t sure if this was a bad batch or the tea was just too cold. But now, as it cools, I definitely taste more of the flavor with the pineapple and coconut.. This is definitely a tea to drink cold or cold brew.

This tea isn’t wow-ing me, it’s just okay. I’m leaving off a rating, though, since it might be an older tea and the flavors might not be as spot on as they were when this tea was first released.

Indigobloom thank you again for another sample! (I may never get to all of them lol)
This one is MEH to me. Now I am thinking MAYBE this is an older batch? The ONLY reason I think this is due to the label. I think the labels are different now. Either way I don’t get ANY flavor out of it I mean really NONE.
Hummm it smelled REALLY good across the room when steeping – then I went over to the cup and lifted the lid and sniffed – NO SMELL? what the ???
LOL
This tea has be totally bewildered.
Not rating.
Something is amiss.
I think my tea was hit by the whammy fairy.
It totally zeroed out any and all flavor.
It wasn’t me I am sure (yeah right)
SIGH…. oh well closer to a different tea now WOOT!

Backlogging.

For the first tea of Christmas, Frank gave to us Pina Colada Honeybush.

So my thought was to cut open each sample pack and, being careful not to look, smell the tea and see what I thought it smelled like. Even with my nose a bit stuffed up and even if I had not known that 52 Teas has an award-winning Pina Colada Honeybush, I’d have thought this tea smelled exactly like a pina colada. I could actually smell the rum as well as coconut and pineapple. And everyone is right when they mention the huge chunks of pineapple and shavings of coconut.

I tried to convince myself to have a nice caffeinated black tea to wake me up and save this to drink later in the day. But I could not.

Steeped up, the tisane smells distinctly like rum and coconut. It’s a nice medium brown with a bit of amber. It tastes of coconut and rum. I do not get any pineapple specifically. But it’s exactly pina colada overall so it must just be blended in very well. And the coconut — it’s very creamy. I don’t know how Frank does it, but it is.

I should say that I’m not a big fan of pina coladas. If one of my sisters were to mix some up as a summer drink, I would drink them. But they are not high on my list of frosty drinks of choice. I’d be a margarita girl, I think. And no, I do not think margaritas in any way would make a good tea. But I’ve digressed. This is not a tisane I would have likely ordered. But I loved it. I did. So much so that I had barely finished the second paragraph of this tasting note when my mug was empty. Of course, I got up and put the kettle on to try a second steep right away.

And yes, I did eat the chunk of pineapple and the shavings of coconut. They tasted like Pina Colada Honeybush. _grins This mug smelled only faintly of pina colada and the tea was an opaque amber brown. It tasted like the essence of Pina Colada Honeybush. But, this tisane is that good that it is worth steeping a second time even for that. It makes me want to try 52 Teas’ Coconut Cream Pie.

Frank, you rock my sox. I cannot wait to try the rest of my samples.

I gave this tisane an 88 rating, which is on the high end of my great range (80-90).

2nd steep: 12 min.

I’ve been wanting to try this tisane since it was released, and I finally treated myself to a pouch over the holidays. Yay!

I will post this caveat before my review – I brewed it between crying for an hour over the PBS show Nature about the real story of Elsa the Lion from Born Free, and Downton Abbey, so my usual care in brewing was absent! I was stingy with the tea, and the time! I splashed too much half and half in it in my haste to hear the introduction to Downton, but…

OH this tisane is delicious!!!! It tasted creamy, rum not like in a drink but in a baked good, flaky coconut, a sweet pineappley flavor – but all swirled in creaminess – if that makes sense? The thing I liked best about it was that it was good to the last drop – I know a real Pina Colada is “too much” for me and by the middle I’m like UGH because of all the frothy creamy. I also love the honeybush base. Sweet and no wood/cigar (which would not work in a pina colada!).

I can’t wait to make it again under careful conditions! Because I use a little half and half I’m going to use 3 tsp of tisane for 16 oz water and let it brew for 6 minutes. I think that will be perfection.

I can see why this one won an award, 100%!!!!

Wow-o-wow-eeee-wow! Piña Colada Honeybush is FANTASTIC!!! Stop reading and go order some right now! I apologize for my excessive use of exclamation points, but I’m blown away by just how good this tea truly is. Yes, I know it’s an award winner but… I’ll stop gushing now. I think you get the point.

I cold steeped this tea overnight. At first sip, there’s a distinct very natual, sweet pineapple flavor. That moves to a nice kick of smooth, delicous rum. The finish is sweet, creamy coconut. I well on my way to drinking the entire pitcher in a few hours time. Yum!!!!!

I’ve been wanting to try this, thank you so much Emilie for sending me enough to really experiment a bit with it before I commit to a pouch of my own.

I LOVED how it smelled the moment I opened my mailbox. It was a bit like tropical bubblegum through the envelope, and then I couldn’t resist it so I’m up late.
Again.

I always let honeybush teas steep as long as I can, so this probably went a good 10 minutes. Hot, I don’t like it. I was going to be sad because there are so many tasting notes raving about this tea, so I decided to let it cool a bit more then poured it into a glass with some coconut milk and a couple ice cubes.

Now this is muuuuuuch better! It’s mostly coconut to me over everything else, but the pineapple flavor adds a good fruity sweetness. I’m not really getting rum, but that’s okay with me because it’s good as it is.

Not my favorite though, but that’s more to do with how much other tea I have that I’d rather drink before I buy more at this point. Maybe someday!

::happy dance::

I cold brewed this puppy and finally tasted the fruits of my Frank’s labor tonight. Thus the dance of happiness.

I smiled when I was scooping the tea into my pitcher since I think that from any other company I would’ve freaked out at the sight of a ginourmous hunk-o-something amongst the chippies. But since it’s a 52teas blend I figured that it had to be pineapple (it was).

It’s been years since I’ve had a pina colada, but most of me says that this tea captures a non-alcoholic version. But then I start second-guessing myself. I think the solution is that I need to find a real pina colada in the near future to compare it to ;)

What I can say for sure is that this is one of the best honeybush blends that I’ve had so far. It’s also one of the best iced teas that I’ve had so far. TG

Steepster friends? You post way too much. The backlog I have to get through is huge!! :P I’m allowing myself a bit of time on Steepster before getting back to work… partly because my order from 52teas arrived today!! Yay!!

The dry tisane smells mostly like pineapple. Delicious!

I can mostly taste the pineapple initially; the coconut emerges mostly at the end of the sip. I can tell it’s honeybush, but it’s not inyourfacehoneybush or anything, which is great (unlike some blends I’ve tried).

Overall, pretty good, but not quite as good as I was expecting. I will have to try it again sometime without my mouth tasting immensely like green onion like it does right now though…

I bought this one a few months ago. Then put it aside when I decided I did not like rooibos/honeybush. Made it yesterday and wow! This is naturally sweet and tastes like a smooth pina colada. A definite winner and makes it reconsider my honeybush ban (still the rooibos ban is in effect).

I definitely think I prefer honeybush to rooibos.

A couple weeks ago, I blended up my own Pina Colada tea – Coconut Oolong, Pineapple Oolong, and Buttered Rum. This has that same kind of flavor, but with an extra warm woodiness from the honeybush. It’s quite lovely!

Also, it’s caffeine-free… which my blend definitely was not. Hahaha! Thanks for sharing, Stephanie! This is yummy. I’m going to go have another cup.

Oh my goodness!! This tea literally tastes like Pina Colada! I can taste the pineapple and the coconut in this,

Im really glad that this is a honeybush tea, I couldn’t imagine trying this as a black tea, somehow, I really wanted to put this tea in a tall glass, with tons of ice cubes and a cherry on top with a little umbrella.. perfect! :D I like the crisp texture in this tea, I just don’t know why I’m screaming for it to have some cherries in!!

the only thing is that I’ve no more of this left :( I really really want some more!! it’s so sad.

A short but sweet note:

Yes, very pina colada-like! It’s similar to their Pineapple Upside Down Cake without the cherry or cake-ness. I can taste the rum and coconut flavors pretty clearly (but if you’re scared of the rum flavor being too harsh, don’t be—it just serves to enhance the yumminess of the pineapple and coconut).

Essence of the tropics, this is! I’m been drinking this so often that the 4 oz tin I have is practically half empty already. So I’m very glad this is part of the permanent collection!

Tropical fruit deliciousness, I can’t wait till summer to try this one iced

Had this today steeped in boiling water for 8 minutes with a few crystals of german rock sugar. I enjoyed this better unsweetened. The flavors masked themselves a bit too much with the sugar. I do like this tea though!

Thanks jessiwrites for sending me this one to try out :)

I kept smelling this one waiting for it to cool, and I couldn’t really smell anything tropical or pina colada about it.

However, the first sips were lovely and tropical! Evidently the taste is hidden away in there. I can slightly smell is now that I’ve had a few sips, but still nothing compared to the taste. I think this tea really nailed the pina colada flavour. I’m actually quite impressed.

The resteep is not quite as flavourful but I’m going to enjoy every last drop since I had enough for only one cup :) I also put the used leaves in the fridge to cold brew overnight.

I used 1.5 tablespoons of dry leaf for 375ml of water. Infused for 8 minutes.

Very mild tasting. Coconut and pineapple flavours really come out in the aftertaste. The honeybush imparts a mild sweet-smokey flavour to the aftertaste. I am reminded of the extruded ‘Rockets’ candy by the scent and the flavour.

The diluted flavour is really driving down the rating for me. I maybe let the dry leaf sit too long in the bag before trying it. I’ll hold off giving an official rating for now.

Thanks to Kittenna for sharing this with me!

“I was tired of my lady, we’d been together too long.
Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed.
And in the personals column, there was this letter I read:

“If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you’re not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I’m the lady you’ve looked for, write to me, and escape.

Tee Hee hee thanks to Amy Oh for sending me this sample. I was writing a letter for the station’s digital edition of CCM Magazine. Unfortunately not listening to Rupert Holmes but to the David Crowder Band-Give Us Rest. So I have not tried to many varieties of honeybush. I like the pineapple flavor that comes through. I didn’t get much coconut this time around. I’m writing and not really paying attention to the brew, but then I get a whiff of something. Holy crap rum! That is spot on! The only thing that this is missing is the creaminess of a real Pina Colada. For your enjoyment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsZ5a5UQvrs

Got this from AmazonV and I am so glad that she was generous enough to send me it as I’ve been dying to try it. Thanks AmazonV!:) I wasn’t too surprised by the dry look of the (bush?) heehee but the smell was amazingly good just like a pineapply, coconutty, pina colada smell so that was a good start then poured the water and let it steep and set the timer for 7 minutes. When the buzzer when off I was a bit surprised by the dark liquor in my cup and I have to say first off that I have tried about 5 other 52Teas blends and haven’t really cared for any of them now having said that I do have an order on the way because I really want to find something I like from 52Teas and this P.C. Honeybush maybe my first really enjoyable 52Teas experience. I cannot tell you what Honeybush tastes like as I’ve never had it plain but this blend is pretty good a nice tropical tasting cuppa!

Sorry guys but this one I find totally hard to describe, there’s not like alot going on here or anything its just very tropical and not in an extreme way in a good way! Way to go 52Teas and Muchos Gracias AmazonV!!

If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain…
…or, well – nevermind the rain. If you like pina coladas, you’ll probably like 52teas take on them. Dry, the leaf hits you with pineapple – good pineapple (not runts-style fake fruitiness), then boozy rummy goodness all backed up by creamy coconut.
Pouring proved to be a bit of a problem as my coil-filter teapot was much too effective at holding back the big bits of honeybush, while clogging the spout and allowing some tiny bits to flow through. A second strain in the quickly rinsed pot rectifies all. I really like this pot. That’s the first time it’s experienced such a dilemma. Hmm.
Steeped and piping hot, I think the honeybush comes forward first (this is my first honeybush, but since my first-sip impression wasn’t pineapple, rum, or coconut, by brilliant deduction I assume it’s the honeybush).
As it cools, the pineapple is mellow-sweet and the coconut stays close on it’s heels, rounding out the flavors in my mouth. There’s a slight drying in the back of my throat and down the middle of my tongue, but it’s not enough to be unpleasant.
A splash of cream (yup, conveniently I have an open carton of heavy whipping cream – go big or go home) really takes this to the next pina colada level. Creamy, pineappley, coconutty goodness, and if I swish, is that caramelly sweet backdrop perhaps rum?
Though a bit too sweet to use as an everyday-tea, this will come in handy as a dessert stand-in. Kudos 52teas! (by the by, i just looked up the rest of the lyrics to Jimmy Buffet’s Escape (the pina colada song) – oh sad. and here i thought it was just about innocently throwing back a few blended beverages. boo. bad, jimmy. naughty naughty.)