52teas

This one is really growing on me. I actually can see this flavor as being spiced fig! Rooibos is the perfect base for it. I like it at room temperature with sugar and milk.

2025 TTB #22

After the aggressive “berry” chai this morning, this one is a welcome reprieve! Mostly, this is a beautiful fluffy white tea, almost effervescent on the palate with sweet notes of warm hay. I get just a whisper of strawberry in the sip and then a hint of marshmallow in the aftertaste. I’m enjoying it hot, but I think it would also be lovely iced!

2025 TTB #20

I definitely tasted both the lemon and the lime, but nothing about this blend was saying “cheesecake” for me. The honeybush did add a bit of natural sweetness, but nothing tangy or rich or creamy. But once I got over my disappointment about the missing cheesecake note, it was a lovely bright, fruity cuppa! I think it would be even better iced.

2025 TTB #13

Had to look at the tea description to see what the “cloud” in the name meant…marshmallow, apparently? Unfortunately, I didn’t really taste any marshmallow in the blend. The cherry flavor was quite mild and natural-tasting (which I appreciated, because I do NOT enjoy that overly artificial cherry flavor that reminds me of childhood Triaminic!) and the base tea came through clearly with a nice chocolatey note. Would have called this one something like “chocolate-covered cherry”, personally.

My first cup of this was quite marshmallowy! I liked it sweetened with milk. The marshmallow comes out the best when it cools to room temperature. The next time I had this, I felt much more neutral toward it. The white tea came out a little more than I prefer, but it was okay – it’s just a little light on the flavoring for me.

Sipdown

March 8 Sipdown Challenge Prompt – International Women’s Day: drink tea from a woman- owned company

This is another post-surgery gift tea from my daughter!

I have tried this three ways and I am kicking myself that it is all gone because I thought of a fourth way that I wish I had made it!

We had it hot with breakfast and Ashman said the cola part was NAILED. I agree! It is uncanny how much it smells like a cola, which led to a conversation about what the smell of cola actually is. I have made herbal “cola” syrups in the past and will probably do so again this summer. I didn’t get a lot of cherry or almond, and as a breakfast tea the base could have been stronger.

Next up was cold steeped. Now it really, really smells like cola! So much so that I decided to add simple syrup. This amped up the cola vibe quite a bit. I still mostly just taste and smell cola, and I am not really getting the cherry almond part.

Now I am wishing I had thought to make a tea simple syrup with it to add to sparkling water. It would have been indistinguishable from an actual soda, but much better for us!

Sipdown

I am shocked this is a sipdown. I think I had two or three packs but I guess I have been drinking it more than I realized.

Maple maple maple. I almost changed my mind and had waffles for breakfast this morning after smelling it because it smelled that yummy, but I am trying not to go with a sugary breakfast much and remembered how even yesterday the contrast pairing of another tea was better than the similar flavors pairing. So I had my more savory breakfast and let the tea satisfy that sweet craving, which was certainly healthier.

This tea lives up to its name. It is lovely, Anne!

2025 TTB #1

This one caught my eye right away, as coconut and raspberry are both favorite flavor profiles for me. Sipping it straight, I got a light natural-tasting raspberry flavor but not much coconut. The Assam base was also leaving me with a slightly bitter aftertaste. However, with the addition of a splash of milk, everything smoothed out and the creaminess of the coconut started coming through. A pleasant start to this box!

Cold brew sipdown of this ancient sample! Very pleasant and refreshing as a cold brew, with the mint and lime predominant – I think the watermelon flavour has faded a bit with time.

Sipdown! Sweet banana? check. Fluffy marshmallow? check. Toasty rice? check. My only complaint about this blend is that I don’t have any more of it.

Lovely! The lemon is in the forefront of this tea, but there is enough vanilla to the cup to soften the tart lemon to a more subdued bright citrus note that was flavorful without being too sour. The lavender is so nice – pleasantly floral without tasting too perfume-y.

Nice!

I’m not a huge white tea fan, and white tea is the main flavor here. Still, I don’t dislike it since it’s quite high quality. I taste some strawberry along with the base, but I know I’d prefer this as a green tea. It’s a little straightforward for me, but I suppose I do notice some marshmallowy flavor that’s nice.

So, I am WAY out of order with these countdowns, but does it really matter? I’m behind, you guys all know that.

Good news: my legs are pretty much healed up (my cellulitis!) The skin is really delicate still, though – but at least I don’t have to go to the wound care clinic any more. Going twice a week every week was a bit trying on the soul. I still get bouts of pain with it, I’m still not able to stand very long on my legs, but, they’re definitely way better than they were a couple of months ago.

Anyway – this tea! I love this tea. I don’t work with currants very often, mostly because availability of the fruit is not a consistent thing. But I do enjoy the few times that I have worked with currants – including this! It’s tart, but not too tart. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. There is a lovely creamy tone to the tea. It’s smooth & delicious. Something I could easily drink all day long.

I just updated the inventory for this particular tea, so it will no longer appear as sold out – until – well – it sells out again. :) Grab some while it’s here!

Edited to add: this resteeps well! The second steep is even better than the first infusion!

I taste the cherry without it coming off as medicinal, which is nice. The base reminds me a bit of bark, but in a good way. It was all too mildly flavored for my preferences though. The second time I had this, I didn’t really taste any cherry.

Countdown To Catching Up – Tea 2

This is one of my faves from my recent blends. It’s warm & cozy without being too spicy – making it the perfect cuppa for yesterday – maybe not today, but I’ll just transport myself to yesterday in my head since I was out adulting yesterday (aka running errands: grocery shopping, doctor appointments, – you know, all that less than fun stuff that still has to be done & I didn’t really have the time to sit down with a lovely cuppa.)

This tea is also incredibly tasty, so even though it’s not “that” season any longer & we are quickly moving into Spring, this is still so good that I’m going to be enjoying it well into spring.

The black tea base is nice & smooth, the spices are warm & inviting & this makes a fantastic latte if you wanna go that way with it, but I’m currently sipping it hot, no dairy & just a little bit of sugar to bring out the spices a little more. There are notes of maple here – while blending it, I decided that if I were having an actual gingerbread scone, that instead of clotted cream, perhaps some maple butter would be more appropriate & that little bit of maple really elevates the flavor of this cup.

I don’t rate my own teas, but if I were to rate this, I’d probably give it an 89. Yeah, not a perfect score & that’s just fine with me. This tea isn’t perfect, but, I also don’t know what else I would have done to make it better. A delightful, delicious tea that brings a smile to my face every time I sip it.

So I drank this one yesterday at work. We had some pretty freaking intense snow storms over the weekend, even by Canadian standards, and so a lot of the city was “snowed in” and working from home. I, however, left my laptop at the office over the weekend so I was kind of forced to come in. I was so cold when I got in that the first thing I wanted to do was just drink a gallon of chai. I settled for the mug, though…

I have to say that I think I agree a lot with Kaylee. I really enjoyed this tea, but I didn’t really get distinct notes of chestnut and the overall sweet brown and molasses-y sort of flavour with the spices (the cinnamon/ginger in particular) really made me think of gingerbread. Gingerbread with a bit of a peppery kick to the finish, perhaps. It was exactly the warming, aromatic flavour I was looking for though!

I’m curious to taste it again in the future to see if slightly different context brings out more of those nuttier flavours for me. But even if it doesn’t, I still think this is a really rich and well balanced chai profile regardless.

This has Earl grey vibes. It’s a little lemony and creamy. It goes well with milk and sweetener. I think it tastes best cold. The final time I had it, I mostly noticed spices that hadn’t been present in the rest of the cups – I guess they had all settled to the bottom! I never noticed the strawberry.

I had no idea what to expect for this one. The flavor was mostly slightly celery-ish chamomile plus a hit of ginger. Plain, I didn’t love the combination. Sweetened with milk, it was better, though not great. I considered adding flavoring syrup since it was a little plain.

I cold=brewed this overnight and I was actually worried that I ended up cold-brewing a bit too long because rather than it just being overnight, it ended up being more than 24 hours. Yikes!

But, surprisingly, it’s not bitter. The black tea tastes smooth. Surprisingly smooth, given the circumstances. The cherry & almond are nice together. It’s a favorite flavor combo from my early tea drinking days, in fact, my first company [LiberTEAS] also had Cherry Almond flavor – a black tea – sans the “cola” part, and it was definitely one of my favorite offerings from LiberTEAS.

Anyway, I like this. It’s definitely better as a cold-brew than when I drank it hot during the taste testing phase – even when over-brewed.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – February 2025 Tea #3 – February 14 – International Book Giving Day – have a cuppa and enjoy a nice read!

A blustery yet sunny day.  The perfect day to READ. (Like I need an excuse to read, or a prompt in order to read. hah.) I am currently attempting to read maybe seven or eight books in a row for the Morning News Tournament of Books that begins on March 6th. That’s my mention of the Tournament for this year.  I decided this tea was the perfect tea for the day – Chai but super cozy!  Cozy because it’s toasty!  I had to stock up on a couple of 52Teas marshmallow treat blends when I saw them.  I am occasionally on the lookout for them and a Chai marshmallow treat is definitely my sort of tea.  It’s good stuff!  A nice balance of sweetness, spice and the classic flavor of genmaicha.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 30 minutes after boiling // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  30 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

Now that I have NOT mistakenly thrown this tea into the infuser with another tea, I can write a proper tasting note.  This blend sounded intriguing, so I just HAD to buy a sample of it.  Mango and coconut!  Such an abundance of these fruits are in the blend itself — huge pieces of coconut.  Huge cubes of mango.   I wanted the starchiness of these fruits to shine.  Sadly, not much starch in the mug.  Really, the fruits here somehow mostly tasted like apple to me (though there is no apple in the blend and no apple flavoring).  If I had to guess what tea I was drinking, I would almost guess it was Simpson & Vail’s Apple Cinnamon French Toast blend —almost exactly.   That was surprising!  A good flavored tea, but not really what I was expecting, as 52Teas flavoring is usually very on point.
Steep #1 //  1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 25 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep

I was intrigued when I noticed cantaloupe in the ingredients for this one. When I opened the bag, I was hit with the scent of fresh cantaloupe, which was very promising. The flavor leans more toward the cantaloupe as well, despite raspberry being in the name. I really don’t mind because raspberry teas have historically been some of my less favorite ones from 52teas, and I almost never see cantaloupe teas. I drank this cold with sugar and a splash of milk, and it’s so fresh tasting and lovely. I have some cantaloupe juice that I made in the fridge, and this might be even nicer than that. The resteep was incredible too. I vote for more cantaloupe teas! The second time I had this, I tasted more black tea and less fruitiness. It was still lovely, but I wasn’t as wild for it as the first time.

Sipdown

A delicious Earl Grey cream style tea with rich flavor. All the quality you expect from 52teas.
So glad to have tried it!

I was inspired to open this by amandastory516’s tasting notes! I got it for Christmas but hadn’t tried it yet, as Ashman doesn’t enjoy bergamot and I have been tea with him quite a lot. Today I have breakfast and lunch both on my own, so it is a great time to have it, and I had it at both meals.

I am picky about my Earl Grey type teas. I don’t like fake bergamot or bergamot ln a lemony or thin base, like a high grown Ceylon. My preference is Keemun or another hearty black tea base that can be tasted and isn’t obliterated by the flavorings.

This one, happily, is what I hoped it would be! The aroma is unmistakeable bergamot, but not sharp enough to burn your nose hairs out. The creme brulee part is soooo smooth.

Drinking it, I think the cream part comes first. It is rich and full and feels quite luxurious. The creamy feel and taste are followed by bergamot, not at all weak but not overpowering, either. Having made it twice, I will say that even with my disinclination to overly strong bergamot, I liked the pot I leafed more heavily best. I did try it as separate steeps and also with a first and second steep combined. Both were very good.

If you like Earl Grey, London Fogs, and such, you will be doing yourself a favor to try this.