This sample came to me by way of LiberTeas and her big box of samples on Teatra.de. Since I am cleaning house (well, trying!) in terms of samples I opted to use this guy for a pot for the beau and I after work. I’m not getting much aroma from the loose leaves, but I’m assuming this tea is getting older, since most reviews of it are from a year ago or more. I will admit up front that I am very uncertain about banana flavour in tea – Most banana teas involve chamomile which is the bane of my existance, so the opportunity to try banana cheesecake is too good to pass up.
Knowing that Frank’s black tea base and I don’t always get along very well, I let the water cool to 95C and only steeped for 3 minutes. These precautions yield a brick red liquor with very little aroma, though there is a tinge of bitterness underneath (almost coffee-ish). There’s not much by way of banana or cheesecake in the aroma but there is a vague sweetness on top of it all. If I could just get the “top” lawyer of the aroma, this would be a very appetizing smell.
First sips are pretty nice. No bitterness, but also no banana. I’ll chalk that up to the age of the tea and the fact that it was in a little plastic bag next to lots of other teas for a while. The general flavour is sweet and lovely, reminiscent of 52Teas’ Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish. I’m not really getting cheesecake here, but there is definite sweetness. Very nice to have tried!
