52teas

A delicious combination of freeze-dried blackberries (soooo aromatic and authentic) and a pleasant green base. I loved the blackberry flavour because it was completely natural but still strong. The green tea was smooth, lightly vegetal, slightly sweet, a few fruity (stone fruit?) notes. This tea is great iced and/or coldbrewed

Sipdown (641)!

I know this is supposed to be a chocolate/ginger sort of cookie profile, however sipping on this one I found that it tasted more of sugar cookies with mild spice notes (ginger, allspice, cinnamon) and vanilla and not chocolate at all. Still really enjoyed it though, and it still fit the namesake IMO – just not exactly what Anne was going for, I think.

Thanks for the share VariaTEA – this is one I was curious about when it first came out, but not enough to actually get any for myself. It’s nice that I got to experience it anyway.

Finally trying this one!

Thanks Kittenna and the rest of the Toronto area tea gang for helping pass it along to me! It smells really nice; definitely a touch of a boozy quality with lemon undertones. Not a sweet or overly tart lemon – just like an every day lemon? If that makes sense.

Steeped up, it’s not quite as boozy as it smelled – in fact it doesn’t remind me of whisky all that much in general. However, the Yunnan base tea is still REALLY nice; it’s got a lovely thickness to it in terms of mouthfeel and it radiates warming, rich malt, cocoa, freshly baked bread, and raisin notes that are just very smooth. Basically rolls over the tongue, coating the mouth and lingering in a very lovely way. The lemon is also not lost; definitely a more mild lemon without a ton of sweetness or acidity; more of a lemon zest/peel I suppose, thinking on it. Just a little bit of pithy astringency, but only enough to give realness to the flavour and not enough to negatively impact the drink.

Even if I didn’t think “Whiskey Sour” when I drank it, I still enjoyed it A LOT.

Latte Sipdown (647)!

Decided to blow through my whole sample of this to make one glorious, spectacularly frothy latte at work today. I had a tough time deciding whether or not to do it hot or iced, but ultimately went with hot because even though it’s really hot outside today it just seemed like this was just more likely intended to be drunk hot.

It was pretty good; I definitely don’t think anyone would be able to miss that the flavour here is sweet, creamy and cooling “Candy Cane” – it just penetrates through the creamy milk in a very clear way. I’m used to drinking a lot of candy cane black teas though and unfortunately I don’t think I was able to distance this tea from my impression of those ones as much as I should have because for the bulk of my time spent drinking this I just couldn’t help but think that it really lacked a lot of body and substance apart from the general candy cane notes. I mean, it didn’t taste bad – it’s just that by the time I had finished the mug I still didn’t feel like I had really been satisfied with the tea’s overall flavour.

Definitely a bit more of a ‘so so’ flavour overall…

Sipdown (648)!

This one was a VariaTEA share – and for three weeks I’d been waiting for the page to unglitch from the mobile cached mode so I could add it to my Steepster cupboard; finally yesterday I decided to just finish the tea off so that it wouldn’t bug me anymore and just leave the tasting note in my queue for whenever the page was fixed. HOWEVER; Arby is an absoloute genious and figured out a way around the mobile caching glitch!!!

So listen up:

Click the ‘edit tea’ link; it will NOT bounce you back to the login page but will instead actually open up to the page where you edit tea entry date. From there, just hit save. Doing this resets the tea’s page and it will no longer be stuck in the mobile cache mode!

As for the tea itself…

I know it’s a very popular blend here on Steepster but I have a bit of a confession to make; up until now I had never tried it. In fact, not only had I never tried it but I had done so on purpose. ‘Cause here’s the thing; I fucking hate jello. There’s something about the taste that just causes me to constantly gag while eating it no matter the flavour, and the texture is just so slimy and weird. However, even as far as jello ‘flavours’ go the lime is probably the worst one other than lemon – it’s just not good stuff. So, I had no desire to relive that in tea form.

However, I’ll try any tea at least one and so I buckled down and braced myself for what I was sure wouldn’t be a great cup of tea. However, I was actually surprised because this doesn’t taste bad! Like, I kind of get the fascination and interest. A big part of that, for me at least, is just that I don’t think it actually tastes much like jello at all. Instead it’s a very bright/sweet lime taste that reminds me more of lime flavoured candies like Skittles. There’s also just a hint of creaminess to though, especially in the finish.

It’s a really interesting tea, and I’m glad I tried it because it’s not at all like what I expected. Now, would I order it for myself? No – but I’d drink it if served and without making any sort of stink about it.

I had an all 52Teas tea day yesterday without even trying. By the time I got to the rooibos, I figured out what happened! I finished one of Frank’s monkey farts, Anne’s Chocolate Hazelnut Strawberry rooibos AND was pleasantly surprised that a Coconut Cream Pie blend that Frank made still had quite a nice flavor of coconut — the second steep was even more delicious (I think the bigger pieces of coconut actually last longer than the tiny pieces.) I had this one yesterday (first steep) and today (second steep). It seems like a lot of tea in one day, but sometimes first steeps and second steeps blend into the day before or the next. But I’m sure having fun appreciating all the lovely blends that Frank and Anne have made.
This one should be ideal for me, as I love lemon, strawberry and basil! I wish the resulted flavor had more basil than it does but it is mostly lemon. It seems like much less basil than the Tomato Pepper Basil blend that 52Teas creates. I like this one, but I’m surprised that the flavors don’t pop more. I’m not really tasting as much strawberry and basil. The green tea flavor might be more than the other flavors. This is certainly not an older blend yet! I love the idea for this one anyway.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoon for a full mug// 38 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 28 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

While the white tea and pineapple flavours are evident (there are even chunks of freeze dried pineapple!), I’m not getting much in the way of angel food cake. There are hints of creaminess and vanilla, slight sweetness, but no distinct real cake or angel food flavour. I do like the white base, it is flavourful but lets the pineapple come through nicely.

this one is pretty “meh” for me. For starters, i don’t really need more peach teas in my life and secondly this is kind of under whelming. It’s peach..but that’s about it and the peach flavour is really almost muted. it’s not BAD…but it’s just average.

My actual “cupboard” and I are on shaky ground today, as I found this and it WASN’T EVEN IN MY STEEPSTER CUPBOARD… or even in my list of teas. I don’t think this has ever happened before. Poor little tea! I do at least remember where it came from, since it was stored with the teas from M Mack. Thanks for the sale, M Mack!
Anyway, the name of this tea is extremely accurate. Right away I’m tasting an authentic pear, but it also has a very sweet flavor like the ‘candy’ in the name. The white tea is perfect with it. On the second steep, the earthiness from the white tea is there in the cup more than the first. And the pear candy is more in the background. This is probably because I steeped it too long and too hot, but that’s my fault, not the tea. The first steep was perfect! Mugs really make a tea sometimes, and I was enjoying it today in my gorgeous Simpson and Vail dragon mug: http://www.svtea.com/Midnight-Blue-Dragon-Tea-Infuser-Mug/productinfo/A1956/
Steep #1 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 16 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

This has been hanging around my cupboard for a long time and I finally cracked it open today. Alas, now having tried it, I think there is a reason I subconsciously put this off. It was a whole lot of smoke and some cinnamon and not much else. No raisin. No butter. No baked goods. I didn’t love it.

June Wedding! I still haven’t done an Earl Grey as my “something blue” (at least, I don’t think so), so here we go! Those pretty blue cornflower petals totally qualify!

I love everything about this tea… the aroma of the leaf has such a sweet aroma, it’s like a coconut creme dessert, with this citrus twist from the bergamot. But brewed up into a cuppa… This is hands down the best Earl Grey I’ve had to date, and may have a lot to do with my project earlier this year in adapting my palate to bergamot… a flavor I used to abhor. Because when I took a chance on this tea, everything was just perfect; it has a super creamy mouthfeel with a lot of natural sweetness, this really full, natural coconut flavor, and the sweet creamy coconut blends so well with that normally sharp/biting citrus bergamot flavor to mellow it and compliment it in a way that the flavors together create this slight tropical note. The bergamot feels pleasant rather than overbearing like I get with so many other Earl Greys. Additionally, the black base is super smooth, with no bitterness or astringency… it’s just a really wonderful cup! I kept wanting to horde my little packet of this so I wouldn’t use it up, but since I know coconut doesn’t keep long, I’m finally at that point where I’ve told myself, “Sara, you are just going to have to enjoy it now, and move on.” I certainly wouldn’t want to risk the coconut going bad and lose the good thing I could’ve had… Man, if only this tea were a permanent collection tea! I really do mean it when I say it’s the tea that changed my whole mind about Earl Greys in general. (And despite it’s name, it’s one of the few that I don’t have to drink as a London Fog just to get down!)

Sipdown (636)!

Another VariaTEA share – I’ve never had the OG Frank era version of this to compare with Anne’s take on it, but if I’m being honest I find almost all Pumpkin Chai teas kind of all taste the same. It’s sweet spices, pretty much. Sometimes you taste pumpkin, sometimes you don’t. They’re fine – but a little overhyped in my opinion.

This one is also… fine.

It’s smooth and warming, and I think I can taste a touch of pumpkin but mostly it’s the same spices I normally get from a Pumpkin Chai tea, but maybe with a little more thought into the ratio so that they read as a little more balanced and harmonious. Nice and thick, full bodied flavours. I’d probably be a little more into it if I was actually drinking it around Autumn. It’s just fine though.

(To be fair, I’m not really the ‘intended audience’ for a blend like this, though)

Sipdown (639)!

So, I passed this one up when it originally came out because I wasn’t sure I wanted more bergamot infused things in my life and I wasn’t totally sure that I thought coconut would pair. Well, VariaTEA passed some along to me and now I have to admit that I’m really kicking myself because this was INCREDIBLE.

It tasted exactly like a very smooth, and sweet London Fog but with the addition of creamy, buttery coconut. The vanilla was the strongest note overall, and it was so good! Very, very rich and flavourful – like decadent Madagascar Vanilla. I should have known from past 52Teas experiences that it would be this incredible; I’m almost never let down by a 52Teas blend with vanilla in it! I also think that the vanilla deserves the credit for being the thing that really did make the coconut fit in with the bergamot. Vanilla and bergamot are such a good pairing, as are vanilla and coconut so vanilla just becomes this perfect flavour bridge to create a very solid trio.

I added just a touch of milk halfway through the cup to make this a bit more like a London Fog – it was equally tasty with milk but had a bit more body in terms of mouthfeel.

Honestly this was just… the best. I would 100% support a reblend.

I made this hot and iced with the intention of writing a Sororitea Sisters review. That is not happening because I am being lazy. I should also be drafting instructions on how to do my immigration applications for whoever takes over my job when I leave but instead I am sipping on the hot tea…well more like chugging and watching Bones. It is nice but this hot cup is a lot more orange green rooibos than orange raspberry green rooibos.

It’s hard to believe that the FIFA World Cup is here again when I remember the last one like it was yesterday, hanging out in my West Coast apartment watching match after match while sipping on excellent tea. Work has been such a drag, facing endless passive-aggressive task dumping while coworkers stand around and do nothing but play on their phones, being subtly pressured into giving up my volunteering job/only day I’m unavailable if I want to continue getting more hours (while others with much worse availability get around the same hours), etc. Lather, rinse, repeat. So more so than ever, I’ve really been yearning for peace and quiet with a cup of tea.

This tea! I was so stoked about the apricot, vanilla, and candied violet combination. Violet! Always a pleasure having in my teacup. But I couldn’t taste any? I think my taster pouch had like 2-3 pieces of candied violet in total, so that could be why. They can be potent little things though, as I have a little tin of candied violet that I randomly treat myself to every once in a while and they pack a punch in terms of flavour.

Here, I am mostly getting very subdued apricot, maybe a hint of vanilla. I’ll admit that I was hoping for apricot à la ATR’s Tangier (RIP). Ok, maybe not that intense, but definitely more pronounced. I can taste the base more than anything, actually. I guess that isn’t a bad thing either, because after all, aren’t we all here for the actual tea and not the mix-ins?

this is so perfect.

Thank you for sharing Sil! This was a nice coconut green tea and since I had basically a whole freeze-dried raspberry in my filter, the sip ends with a lovely raspberry top note. This is much smoother than I anticipated with no grassiness from the base or lotion from the coconut. Just sweet coconut flavoring atop a light green tea base, with just a bit of raspberry. It reminds me slightly of the retired tea from DAVIDs, Fantasy Island…and I miss Fantasy Island so this is a welcome addition to my cupboard.

For some reason this made me nervous. I think it’s the base tea. Whatever it was, I put off drinking this for a year and now it is in my sipdown box. It is a little more green than I would like and almost floral but there is a nice stone fruit flavor. I don’t know if I am 100% sold on peach but it is fruity and floral and not anything to be scared of. Though not something I will be restocking.

So I ordered this. Then placed another order with 52 Teas and forgot I ordered this so I ordered it again. Luckily it’s a pretty tasty tea between the creamy coconut that melts into banana. It tastes a bit like banana bread to me which I am more than happy with.

This is delicious cold brewed or hot. Tie Guan Yins are one of my favourite teas.