Pina Colada Honeybush

I had this last night. Thanks for the sample, Stephanie! It pretty much delivers. It tastes like piña colada and honeybush! No surprise there! It wasn’t bad, but for some reason I was hoping for something more, something that makes me go “wow.” I didn’t get that.

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.

If you like pina coladas (cue music), this is a great version of that flavor profile for sure. Just turns out I’m not a fan of that flavor combo, so I don’t love this tea but I recognize it’s very good for its kind. (So why did I buy this, you ask? A few reasons: I realized I’ve enjoyed all the teas I’ve tried that have ranked highly in this particular championship—never bought with that in mind before, have simply noticed over time—I’ve also realized I prefer 52teas’ honeybush-based blends over the black tea ones usually, the reviews on Steepster are quite good, and I love all the flavors in this combo separately in tea, just not together [probably because I associate them with ick plasticky beach cocktail experiences rather than anything inherently unappealing], so hoped perhaps one would dominate over the others in a way where I’d think “specific fruit X, yay” rather than “oh that drink, oh no”. If any of that makes sense.)

It is relatively unplasticky, no small feat for this kind of thing. I really like how the pineapple is very upfront but then the coconut’s at the back, smoothing its sweetness and thinning properties out so you get something bright and sweet followed by something creamy and nutty instead of one steady amorphous plastic blob of generic tropical mixer flavor. It really is a fine tea and if I liked pina coladas I’d probably be all over this; even as things stand I appreciate it. Tempted to eat the (huge!) leftover pieces of pineapple and coconut.

Received this from the Zoomdweebies kickstarter.

I am not a huge pina colada fan. This one pretty much smells dead on like pina colada. There are large chunks of candied pineapple and coconut shavings mixed in with the honeybush. It actually looks quite appetizing.

It tastes quite peppery to me. I am finding this is the same “spice” I get with most honeybush blends. There is definitely a pineapple taste and a coconut taste. It is not creamy like a pina colada but I didn’t add any milk/creamer ,so if I did I think it would have felt a bit more like a pina colada. It is sweet but not too sweet, which I am liking. I think the sweet factor is one of the reasons that I don’t really like pina colada drinks so much.

I feel like I am getting a hint of rum. But that may be because I often associate pina colada with Malibu rum (or because there is actually rum flavour in this blend).

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!

Thanks for a bit of this one to sample, Courtney! Apparently it is one of 52Teas best. There are pineapple chunks and big coconut flakes. It is pretty good. One minute first steep — two minute second steep. I think the pineapple and the coconut are equally balanced and on a sweet honeybush. I didn’t detect any rum flavor though. Does anyone know if honeybush makes your throat less scratchy that rooibos? I’m still not sure what the difference is. It reminds me of Tea Licious’s Pina Colada rooibos that I had ages ago.

This is from the 2012 sampler pack. This was pretty good. Not my favorite, but a pretty fun cup.

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!