Pina Colada Honeybush

“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.)

I just did a 52 Teas suicide blend…a tsp of this and a tsp of coconut cheesecake honey bush with a half tsp of marshmallow genmaicha! And then I put it on ice…I uh, yeah maybe this was a bad plan, lol

After jiu jitsu my husband cracked up a coconut for us to drink out of and offered me the remains. Uggg, hate how much work it is to eat coconut! I gave up and decided to go for some tea. This one is from Kittena, yay!

I find this tisane (wooo!) tastes overall very mild, with a soft pineapple creamy finish. Hmmm, I thought this should taste stronger – I’m thinking I should of cold steeped this bad boy into a stronger form. Alas, I only got one shot at this sample, so maybe another time!

I am notoriously fussy when it comes to honeybush and roobois teas, don’t really like most of them but hope springs eternal, I guess… :)

This is a really nice offering from 52 Teas. I find that it needs to steep for at least 5 minutes or the flavor is a bit “thin”. The honeybush provides it with some natural sweetness but the pineapple and rum are the things that really stand out for me. I happen to be a coconut freak so ended up adding in some of my own organic coconut extract. Pretty tasty!

As I have mentioned before, I try to finish up many other teas before cracking into new ones, and I regret now that I waited so long to open this tea! It was extremely hot and humid yesterday (and it continues today) and I brewed up a large iced pitcher of this tea.

The dried tea mix is a blend of large coconut flakes, chunks which must be pineapple and honeybush splinters. The aroma is mostly pineapple with a hint of coconut.

Three heaping scoops of tea in the bottom of my pitcher, about 4 ounces hot water, 1/2 tsp German Rock Sugar, infused 7 minutes, added ice cubes (to shock the tea and stop brewing) fill pitcher with cold water, wait a minute or so until all chilled and enjoy.

The liquor is very dark – for some reason this was shocking to me…most likely because the smell is SOOO pina colada and I anticipated the yellow-white icy blends by the pool. The flavor is pineapple and coconut, as a pina colada should be, the honeybush was an interesting and wonderful base for this, it is naturally sweet but not overpowering, it works very well with the other flavors in the tea. The coconut and pineapple are both represented in large pieces amongst the tea. The brew, is creamy, as good coconut and pineapple blends come together in their citrusy and cream notes to make the perfect pina colada.

I have to say this tea was and is delicious, I am glad there is more for when I get home. Also, in true 52 teas fashion, I cannot wait to try this tea in a variety of ways: hot no additives, hot with additives, maybe more additives in a cold brew, and a smoothie/shake brew.

This tea is pretty amazing. It taste just like a pina colada. Since I usually only drink a pina colada when I am sitting by a pool, I wasn’t sure how I’d like it. I do like it though. It’s coconutty and then there is a sweetness from the pineapple. Not sure I am getting any rum flavoring.

The dry leaves are beautiful too. There are pretty shreds of coconut and giant pieces of dried pineapple.

The funny thing about this tea is that while I didn’t like the pineapple upside down cake tea, I really like this one and wish the cake tea had had this much pineapple flavor.

I’m definitely going to have to try this one iced. I wonder if it will be too much or if I will really feel like I am drinking a pina colada.

This is pretty decent!

Nice amount of Coconut Chunks and a hefty scent. Everything is very smooth and I would certainly try this one again!

I got to try some of this thanks to DaisyChubb. It is fantastic! There are copious amounts of pineapple and coconut in the mix. I have to admit, the dry smell reminded me of vomit. But I pushed forward and was rewarded with a delicious fruity and creamy drink. Yummy! I love the smooth coconut flavor. Half way through my cup, I added sugar and evaporated milk. Wow! I felt so guilty having a creamy sweet dessert for breakfast. But wait! It’s just a cup of tea. whew! Next time, I have to get some coconut milk and add that instead of regular milk.

Afterwards, I tried to eat the pineapple bits. Not bad! :)

Wow, delicious delivers what it promises. I will love to try this iced I bet is it amazing. It truly provides the essence of a true Pina Colada minus the alcohol. Yummy!

This is another one that Wombatgirl sent me in my surprise package.

I haven’t had honeybush for YEARS! I can’t remember what it’s supposed to taste like or smell like. I remember that I liked it, though. So now you might be wondering why on earth I’ve been avoiding it for so many years. The thing is, Steepsterites, when I decided that I liked honeybush… that was when I still liked rooibos as well. And today? I really don’t like rooibos. It’s not tea, it’s not interesting and it tastes like wood. So obviously I developed a certain scepticism towards honeybush as well.

This one was a gift though, and I don’t turn down a gifted tea without having tried it first at least once. (Unless it was pure hibiscus or something icky like that) On top of that, this is one that many Steepsterites have raved highly about. I take it a bit like the way to spot an excellent restaurant. 50 million flies can’t be wrong.

Let’s start with the aroma. Erm… It’s odd. Disclaimer, I don’t drink a lot of alcohol and I’ve never in my life had a real pina colada. I have no idea what’s in one or what it’s supposed to taste like, but based on this I’m guessing it’s something involving coconuts and pineapples. So back to the aroma and its oddness, I think it smells like cinnamon and something… wet. I’m not sure what the something is yet, but it’s definitely some wet something. Maybe it’s chewing gum? I’m leaning a little bit in that direction. Every so often I’m getting an alcoholic note as well. It’s not easily discernable and it only really shows up as an association to the champagne sorbet(!!! Apparently the ‘classic’ sorbet) that my father made last weekend when we visited my parents.

That aroma description doesn’t really sound all that flattering, does it? I’m sorry… Yeah, I’m still sceptical too.

…Okay, this is strange. And I don’t think it’s something for me. Where to begin?

First note I noticed was most likely the honeybush. It has the same sort of wooden flavour that I dislike in rooibos, so I wasn’t too pleased with that. It wasn’t as offensively spicy as rooibos though, so of the two I guess I’ll prefer honeybush. But I would prefer real tea.

Second note was a fruity sweetness. A TON of coconut and some sweet sweet pineapple. I would have liked some role-reversal here, to let the pineapple take center stage and the coconut to remain a little more in the background, but again, I don’t know if this way around is actually how a pina colada is supposed to taste. I just happen to like pineapples way better than coconuts.

Third note was alcoholic. Very alcoholic. Now, my alcohol habits are very very simple. I strongly dislike beer (ew) and I don’t care for spirits unless it’s mixed with such a large quantity of soda or similar that I can’t tell it’s there. Wine is pretty much the only sort of alcohol I drink, and even then I can only drink one or two glasses before I start finding it a little unpleasant. I don’t much like alcohol, I don’t much like the way it feels to be drunk, and I don’t like the way it feels when alcohol is swallowed. I work in a pathology lab. Alcohol is a chemical, not a beverage.

What this all comes down to, with the third note and the alcoholic feeling of it, is that it’s not a flavour. It’s just that feeling of heat on the swallow. I don’t like that. Not at all. If it hadn’t been for that particular note, I would have liked this a whole lot better. I understand, however, that since this is supposed to be a cocktail flavoured tea, and not a fruit flavoured one, and seen in that light, the alcohol note is a very nice detail. I personally just happen to not like it.

The fourth and final note is actually one that I hadn’t even found yet when I started writing about the first note, so I’m not sure if I really think it counts as a primary note. It’s related to the second note, however, and it has to do with the pineapple. When you eat pineapples, they come with a feeling of a sort of acidic astringency and the build up of an ever so slightly bittersweet aftertaste at the back of the throat. I’m having that same build up sensation with this one. Especially with the back of the throat sensation.

Apart from these four, I just get something sort of chamomile-ish and cinnamon-ish and that… wet something.

Sorry Frank and Wombatgirl. I can probably finish this cup, but I’m not sure what to do with the rest of the pouch. This blend was SO not made with me in mind. Not even slightly.

Dec. 14 Tea
This is my first time trying any African Honeybush tea. I am pleasantly surprised. The honeybush is very small so I used one of the bags sent with the teas. This tea has bits of pineapple and coconut and smells of pina colada and rum. The taste is what really surprises you, it does taste like a pina colada with a touch of rum. I am more of a black tea drinker and while this is a tisane I would not drink every day, I really liked this.

This blend is made of plenty of honeybush with large chunks of pineapple and coconut shavings mixed in. It’s really something to see and the aroma is so close to an actual pina colada I can’t stress how wet my palate was while waiting for the ensemble to brew the suggested 10 minutes.

The liquor brews an interestingly dark amber-brown. The aroma foretells the sweetness in the flavor. However the pineapple is subdued a bit with the coconut taking the forefront in the steeped aroma.

Once this tea is in the mouth it’s unbelievably smooth. For a tea without milk, this is a bit surprising. I enjoyed the play of the coconut on the palate with the pineapple tartness lightly teasing the edges of the mouth.

I recommend this tisane to everyone. It’s really something which needs to be tried, and at only roughly $8 (including shipping) you can’t go wrong!

Backlogging

I got a big, beautiful tin of this during the Memorial Day Blowout on Steepster Select a while back and I was super-excited to try it because of my love of all things coconut and the fact that it was blended with honeybush which I’ve come to enjoy rather more then rooibos.

The dry tea smelled AMAZING. Like “wow!”, “yum!”, and “can I eat it?” all at once. There were giant chunks of pineapple (a wee bit shocking at first) and nice big flakes of coconut. The scent was sweet with that rich creamy note I associate with coconut.

I made a cup of this following the directions on the tin, and went up to the 10 minute steep time because I wanted to maximize the flavour and since there’s no worry about bitterness why not? I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a sheen of coconut oil floating on top of the tea which I’ve come to expect from my other pina colada blend. I first tried it neat, and found it rather lacking in flavour. From the smell I’d expected a solid punch of tropical-sweet and coconuty goodness but it just wasn’t coming through, instead I mostly tasted honeybush (a slightly sweet woodsy flavour). I added a bit of honey to see if that would bring out the pina colada flavours and it did to a certain extent, the pineapple notes got more prominent but it didn’t do anything for the coconut.

The coconut in particular was a let down, I’d really hoped for the rich, almost oily mouthfeel I’ve gotten from other coconut teas, and the chunks of coconut in this one should have provided that…

Overall it was an alright tea that tasted okay, so I’m not really sure whether I’m actually disappointed or my expectations were just too high. Based on this I’m going to score it generously in hopes that my next attempts are more satisfying. Next time I’m going to forgo the honey and try a bit of milk/cream and see if that gives this tea more of the decadent heft I was hoping for.

WOW!! This is fantastic! I had this after dinner, and the coconut scent is everywhere. I LOVE coconut! I love pina colada! I also sense the pineapple flavor in this as well. I love the shape of honeybush with all the little wood-like shavings, large white coconut flakes, and chunks of pineapple. This is a great blend! I will def be making a purchase in the future! WOO!! :)

You must understand, I am a huge sucker for pina colada flavoured anythings. Throw some grenadine in a pina colada and I’m your slave.
I’m a slave to this tea.

My first 52teas package came today!
My first honeybush!
My first wanting to cry over how delicious this tea is.

These are the teas I was born to drink. It smells and tastes just like a fresh pina coloda, what more can I say? Huge chunks of coconut and an amazing tang of rum (which I appreciate… I appreciated it so much that I added a splash of the Captain).

Thank you Frank. You’ve found a lifetime customer. Or rather, I’ve found myself a lifetime tea supplier :D

EDIT: I should add, my kettle broke yesterday so I went and bought a new one today. And by broke I mean it almost exploded. I was making tea and heard a strange sound.. I looked and there were tiny holes in my cheap walmart kettle, and out of these tiny holes were tiny black balloons that were growing larger and larger.. so I dumped out the water and hid under the table but it was okay. wtf kettle? Anyways, this tea was made with my new, not even metal-tasting kettle that is electric. No timers or temp gauge sadly, but I’ll deal! The end. :)

Tea from last evening. Onto the shopping list this one goes! So happy that it is permanent. And many thanks to Jenn for the sample. :D

The brew is sweet, and the first flavor to stand out is the pinapple. I also catch the coconut, and something kind of rumish. Truly a satisfying dessert like experience. YUM!

24 oz teapot, 4 tsp honeybush blend, freshly boiled water, 7 minutes. Lightly Sweetened.

Holy toledoes Frank does this smell good! I can smell the rum, the pinapple and the coconut and when you look in the bag you see huge chunks of pinapple and slices of cocnut. It is so beautiful. I feel as if I am on a island watching the waves lapping against the shore!

I wanted to drink this iced so a doubled the amount and brewed it up. It is a pretty light golden color, reminds me of ginger ale.

First sip, yes, yes, yes this is soooo good! It is smooth and kind of creamy you can taste the rum flavor and the coconut and at the end a nice hint and tang of the pinapple. This is so good! You have to try this.

On another note Frank if you are reading this, I love your packaging and pictures the one thing though that I really like is when you have the instructions on the package! This one doesn’t and I noticed some others that don’t so I have to then look on another package… it’s just sort of an inconvience, but I wouldn’t change anything else!

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp
Additives: none
Tool: Zarafina herbal-loose-strong 2 cups
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: coconut, pineapple
Steeped Tea Smell: not much, little hints of pineapple and coconut but you have to sniff hard right over the cup
Flavor: rum, coconut, slight pineapple
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet
Liquor: deep dark reddish-brown

This tea does not taste woody like rooibos, and it is sweeter (due to flavoring or not I am not sure as I have never had pure honeybush). I very much enjoy the flavors as the blend very well into a smooth fruity fun drink. The flavors are all mellow, but present. Don’t expect the same kick in the pants strong flavor as an actual pina colada and you will be happy.

I think it would do very well iced.

Post-Steep Additives: added one teaspoon sweetened cream of coconut, delicious! Highly suggested.

Resteep: weaker but enjoyable

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/52teas-loose-leaf-honeybush-herbal-tea.html