52teas

I’m so happy I finally got some of this tea! I’ve been eyeing it since foreeever! I was lucky to purchase a bag of this before it was sold out. It went pretty fast!

anywho, the tea is great! I love the dessert-y sugary scent and slight toasty rice scent is soooo mmmmmm. I’m wishing the toasted rice flavor is more prominent, but it’s yummy otherwise. The mouthfeel is thick and creamy. It’s savory and sweet and so freakin good. I should have ordered 2 pouches…but then I’d feel bad about depriving everyone else of this tea.

Steep two had only a hint of candy sweetness but it was still awesome.

Following other people’s suggestions, I tried adding agave nectar to my cup this morning and while I found that it did give the tea an interesting kettle-corn flavour it didn’t do much for the astringency of the tea base. It’s a nice idea but I’m afraid I still don’t care much for this blend.

Another tea out of the 12 Days of X-mas sampler (I’ve given up trying them in any sort of order). I was expecting something a little more salty and buttery with this tea, but the result tasted more like kettle corn – which is fine by me although it feels a bit like false advertizing. ;) The black tea tea base comes across as rather astringent in this blend for some reason (which is a bit odd as I’m pretty sure Frank uses the same base for all his black teas, and it’s never really bothered me before) and I found it sort of distracts for the popcorn flavours.

Hmm, not bad, but not my fav either.

I made this way too weak on Sunday and was sad because I bought a bag before I even got my 12 teas of Christmas set. Today though, I did it right. Awwww yeah.

I love genmaicha and I love marshmallow treats. It tastes exactly like that. Sweet, nutty, and delicious. I’m glad I got a bag because I am definitely going to want more. I think the rest of my sample will be used before I even get back to my apartment tomorrow afternoon!

It also has me wondering what if I made green tea marshmallows and then use them to make rice krispie treats…

My electric kettle is still set up next to my bed from the shu nuggets the other day. I almost don’t want to move it to the kitchen because Sebastian loves the thing. When the kettle starts to make that “whoooooosh” kind of noise, he starts chirping. Every time. Sorry, Sebastian, you can’t have chocolate or caffeine.

I started on my gingerbread house (yeah I know) and so this is my cup of tea while it dries, as I get together all my Black Bear Lab orders from the past couple of days (almost $40! yay)

So this is from last year’s 12 teas of Christmas and it’s still pretty cashew and caramel tasting, not so much chocolate. I possibly should have added a bit more tea to it, but I’m quite impressed with the flavor anyway since it hasn’t been kept in the best container.

It’s still pretty good but it also wasn’t really a favorite to begin with. I’ll finish everything I have of it though!

I opened the page to add a note last night and I didn’t even do it. Welp.

As soon as I smelled this, I knew I would like it. Caramel and chocolate? Aw yeah. Cashews aren’t my favorite nut but it fits in just right in the tea.

So good. I thought I definitely oversteeped it because loading the washing machine took longer than I thought (nothing like someone putting stuff in there but not running it…what), but it was good. I taste the base tea, and everything works together for a good tasty tea. I don’t want to sweeten it but I feel like just a touch of sugar would really make it even better.

This particular tea has been one I have wanted ever since I read about it here on Steepster. My favorite breakfast food has always been cinnamon rolls and tea is my favorite beverage, so both, combined, seemed like heaven to me. Sadly, it was sold out, and I would read over and over everyone’s reviews over and over in hopes that one day I would be able to try it!

One day, I was super excited to find that Frank had revived this! I couldn’t order it fast enough! In fact, I ordered two packs at once, confident that I would love this. It was a long wait, but I eventually received my two packs (and an extra of Pancake Breakfast!). I was at the office, and I didn’t have time to sit down and enjoy it, but I opened it and sniffed it. It wasn’t one of the blends that immediately took my breath away, but it was pleasant. :3

As soon as I got home I brewed it. I couldn’t wait to try it! Sadly, when I did, it wasn’t what I expected at all. I tasted the cinnamon, but I got no dough or icing. To make matters worse, there was a sour aftertaste that, I assume, came from the honeybush. I was desperate to like it. I tried longer brewing time, shorter, sweetened, no sweet, milk… I was almost resigned to give up on this tea. I had been so excited… I decided to put it up, and try it later.

This tea showed up in the 12 Days of Christmas I decided that the time to try this again was approaching. Finally, today, I gave it another try.

I brewed it for much longer than I meant to, my dogs distracted me, and what I meant to be like 4 minutes ended up being more like ten. To my pleasant surprise, it smelled really really good. I sipped it and it tasted even better!!! I got the cinnamon and dough, the icing, and very very little (thankfully…) odd aftertaste! I then sweetened it with honey. I rarely do this, but today I felt that honey flavor would add to the cinnamon roll effect. I was right! It was absolutely cinnamon-roll-doughy-creamy-sweet-sticky goodness!

The second brew was still very good, just not as flavorful. I drank it happily as well.

I am really happy that this tea finally came through and proved its deliciousness! I love it and could drink it everyday. I am actually considering another back up pouch… hmmm….

All I have to add to the reviews before me is that I love this tea, as well. The dry leaves are beautiful and smell great..it reminded me of opening a bag of vanilla beans @ work. It introduced me to corn flowers, which may, or may not add some flavor notes to the final brew, but do have their own aroma…..lmost nutty and something like Caraway seeds? It probably adds to the complexity of the brewed tea.
It’s creamy-almost like caramel with a natural vanilla bean flavor that is satisfying, but never overwhelming. Th Assam is great here
love this tea…sad that I know it will run out and be gone forever haha

Got this from the 12 Days of X-mas sampler – I’m finally getting around to trying the teas from the days I missed. First of all the smell of this tea is just incredible, it really does smell exactly like the rainbow sherbet that as a kid I used to look forward to for dessert. This is the tea I smell whenever I open the sample box – although that might be because this was one of the pouches that spilled its guts as the pouch wasn’t sealed properly.

It’s noticeably missing the sweetness I’d normally associate with sherbet, so I’m going to try sweetening it next time to see if that makes a difference. I can clearly taste the orange and the lime but they aren’t so stong that they taste bitter or astringent – they’re part of a whole, and not meant to stand alone. The raspberry is a bit trickier, it could be a little bit stronger, but again I’ll see if adding sweetener brings it out more next time.

I really enjoyed this one Frank, you outdid yourself.

Wahhhh I had been hoarding the rest of the small amount of this tea from the 12 Teas of Christmas box, but I went into my caffeine free box and decided I’d drink the first thing I pulled as long as it was new or gone in a cup. And this was it.

Of course, it’s not like I can’t buy more of it, just not right now.

I would have preferred to have at least another half teaspoon for this cup, so it’s kind of light even after a 10 minute steep.

Letting it cool is helping too, first it was just a little coconut flavored. Now it’s come out more and I’m getting cheesecake again. It’s so sweet, smooth, and creamy. Earlier I had a frozen cheesecake bar from Trader Joe’s, it had blueberry but this tea is making me wish it was coconut! (Best dessert ever btw, 100 calories and 8g of sugar. They aren’t very big as you’d expect w/that info but it’s a perfect amount.) This isn’t one of my favorite cheesecake blends though, but I still love it.

Oh I’ve missed this tea. But no new teas anymore for right now, even if they were around!

I really, really need to buy a whole bag of this sometime soon because I love it a lot. I’m glad it’s permanent so that I have time.

There’s just something awesome about how coconut and honeybush work together. I was getting cinnamon the first time I had this, which I figured was the honeybush, and this time around it’s just all around sweet.

Oh cheesecake teas, I love you.

Finally getting back around to the 12 teas of Christmas! I put everything into little ziplock bags so I can pick and choose now, so this had to be first!

I get a lot of cinnamon, but I’m pretty sure that’s the honeybush. It comes out more to me than the coconut, but that’s still there. And the best part is the slightly tangy, super creamy taste. I may have to pick up a bag of this sometime soon.

I’d never had honeybush until I tried 52teas, and I don’t think I’d trust anyone else with it, amazing.

This is my hangover tea today. I mean – my happy new year tea!
Don’t get me wrong, I have a grand total of 3 drinks last night! It was the red wine that did me in. I really can’t mix any other drinks with red wine. I get that from my mom.

A few days ago I brewed this up normally and threw it in the fridge. It’s a very pleasant iced tea, but I get more “white tea” flavour than ginger. I felt the same when I had a hot cup before I made the iced tea. It’s still nice though! Very refreshing and slowly hydrating my brain and settling my tummy.

Also also, I’m counting calories in an attempt to eat a little healthier – only for one month! It’s not a diet, just an awareness thing. That’s my small resolution! Then, in one month, we will have moved out of this horribledemoninfestedcraphole of an apartment and I will feel alive again! And THEN – off to Halifax in 3 months. If that’s not a fresh start for a new year, I don’t know what is :D

This morning I woke up early, for no reason in particular. Since I was up I decided to make myself an early breakfast and a nice big cup of tea. My tea of chioce was this one (yes… I still have some left from my 12 days of Christmas boxes… In my defense, I did have to boxes…). Some people (Angrboda in particular) loved this one, I enjoyed it, but definitely not loved it).

I brewed it nice and strong and added some of my home made latte mix (delicious if I may say so myself…). Since this was the second envelope of it that I opened I got the chance to compare them. There was more flowers in this one, and even though it has sat around a while, I got a pretty strong vanilla smell.

The tea was dark and creamy, and once I added the home made latte mix is was a pretty enjoyable cup of tea! No sparks are flying and no hearts are floating around the room, but I am happy with how this brew turned out.

Right after I drank it, it was time for ice skating training. Yes, even after not being able to walk for a few days, I decided to go back and train once more. I did more than last time, so I am probably am going to be even more sore than last week, but it is really worth it. I feel so free on the ice. Ice skating and tea all in one morning and doggy and boyfriend in the afternoon. I loved this Satrday!

Vanilla is my favorite flavor. No ifs, ands, or buts… When I saw that French Vanilla was one of the teas in the 12 days of Christmas (day 8 if I recall correctly…) I was thrilled! Vanilla and from 52teas… Wow… My hopes and expectations soared!

The only bad thing about getting so excited is that your expectation become exaggerated and may lead to disappointments. This was my case this time around… I didn’t write a review on the first day I had it because I had gotten myself so worked up about trying it, that I was sad after I dad. A week and a few days later, after reading how much others liked it, I picked it up to try again. I am happy I did!

The leaves smell more like cream than vanilla to me. The more I smell it, the more it reminds me of vanilla ice cream and not just plain cream. The black tea base is very prominent, but this isn’t a bad thing at all.

The resulting darkish brew is vanilla tasting, but still prominent on the cream aspect of it. Without any sweetener it is an enjoyable smooth creamy tea, I didn’t get straight vanilla. With sugar added, the vanilla peaked through a bit more. The creaminess of it was the most notorious aspect to me. The black tea base was a little astringent; I felt that this obscured the vanilla a tad.

The second brew was more enjoyable to me. The astringency played down and the vanilla was still strong enough to be evident. Half unsweetened and the second half of it sweetened. Both enjoyed!

Worth trying, enjoyed it, not my favorite vanilla, but it is still a good one! : )

Well after reading all the reviews I am glad to see that I wasn’t the only one who thought this tea smelled fruity which is kinda of weird… I sweetened this because that is what I do with all my teas, I was not sure how it was going to turn out but it was pretty pleasant. This is one of the teas that I wanted to try but not buy such a large amount. It does taste like popcorn a bit smokey almost. I get just a hint of butter at the end. I think I may have steeped a bit to long though because the black tea is pretty astringent. I am really glad to try it but it wouldn’t have been something that I would keep around. Nice job though Frank for getting the flavors correct.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2tsp
Water: 500ml 175°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: coconut, runts banana
Steeped Tea Smell: vegetal, barky, roasty
Flavor: coconut, roasty, vegetal, hints of runts banana
Body: Full
Aftertaste: astringent, roasty
Liquor: translucent dark brown-red

meh…I wanted more banana and coconut, it’s hints of favor in a roasty vegetal brew.

Post-Steep Additives: sugar
brings out the coconut flavor

It’s an OK cup, but I really haven’t been fond of any hojicha teas.

Blog: http://amazonv.net/2011/12/52teas-loose-leaf-hojicha-tea-coconut.html

Here’s another one I would have been shocked had it not been in here. (Actually, as this is the second to last, and I understand the last is a new one, there is at least one other that I’m a bit surprised wasn’t included.) I count it a bit like the pancake one. I like them, but I expect I’ll probably prefer them in solid form.

To my surprise, I found the leaves in dry form smelled a lot like mulled wine. I think it must be some of the spices in this stuff that does it, probably also the nature of the honeybush, but I was not expecting it to be so mulled wine-y. (Here’s a Christmas blend idea for next year. Mulled wine, maybe with orange also. And it should probably be on a (are you sitting down? Better sit down for this) honeybush base, I think.)

After steeping, it’s less mulled wine and much more cinnamon-y and baked goods-y. I really like the smell of this. It seems very close to the real deal, to the point where I can even imagine approximately how moist the roll in question would be.

The flavour is very close as well to a real cinnamon roll, but the honeybush adds a little extra tangy note to it which seems to stick out a bit. I wasn’t expecting that note at all, and it feels a bit like it’s trying to detach itself from the rest of the flavour and run the other way. Once I get a little more used to it being there, it doesn’t seem to be as glaring, as if that slightly tangy note gives up the escape attempt and falls neatly in line with the others.

I remember some others mentioned even being able to find notes of icing in this, but I haven’t managed that. The closest I get is the idea of icing, but then that’s fine with me.

Basically I’m enjoying this one a LOT more than I thought I would. And it’s not even a tea base. I’m shocked at myself, Steepsterites. Shocked!

This is another one I was hoping would be in the box. Caramel! Vanilla! Those are words to get me interested in many things indeed. But then the chai bit… I’m not a chai fan. Actually I’m beginning to wonder if it’s starting to look like I don’t like anything at all. I do like plenty of stuff, I swear! It just seems like I have a tendency to dislike many things that others like.

So yeah, chai. Not a huge fan of that, but due to the whole caramel or vanilla business, I was dithering about giving it a go anyway. As is quite normal for me, by the time I decided I was brave enough, it was gone.

Second chance, though. Now to see if I’m missing out hugely or if I had a lucky escape.

The leaves were teensy tiny. The pot will be easy to clean out because most of them landed in the strainer anyway and can be tipped straight in the bin.

As it is a chai, I thought it would be suitable to serve it with milk, and because it was harder than expected to pour equal amounts of milk in the two cups (sharing this with the boyfriend), it turned into rather a lot of milk. Since it’s chai, though, and these often seem to get steeped in warm milk, I didn’t think it mattered.

It smells sweet, but spicy. Very ginger-y to my nose. We’ve been around the ginger-issue before, haven’t we? Apart from some generic sweetness, I can’t really tell whether it’s caramel or vanilla or both or neither. It’s just sweet and it’s not sugar.

Due to the milk, it’s quite lukewarm, and I have to say that the primary flavour I’m getting here is that prickly ginger again. Oh and milk. It may be because I used too much milk and it got too cold really, but I can’t really find much of other flavours. A bit of cinnamon at the bottom maybe, but I’m unable to spot anything else.

As chais go, though, I’ve definitely had worse. I don’t find it super-spicy-offensive, apart from the ginger, which I could have lived without, but it’s drinkable. I wonder if the fact that I can’t find very many spice flavours in it is actually to my advantage.

Yeah, now that I’ve tried it, it’s probably for the best that I took so long to gather up the courage.

Oh dear. I don’t like ginger… It has even been decided long ago that I probably shouldn’t even bother trying ginger ale. There have been a few teas in the box that I didn’t much like, but this is the first one where I’ve thought from the start that I didn’t think I would like it. I’ve been sceptical of some others, yes, but haven’t expected something outright unpleasant. But here we go, then. In for a penny, in for a pound and all that.

It smells ginger-y, but also sweeter than I had expected. Not as stabby on the nose. I suspect that’s the white tea shining through.

Okay, not more procrastinating. Here we go.

Yes, it’s ginger-y and not really very pleasant for me, but it could have been a lot worse. Just like with the aroma, it feels a bit mellowed out by the white tea. Or the ale-y bit, I don’t know.

Still though. Ginger. I’ll just stop here, I think, because ginger. Sorry. It’s just… Ginger.

I was hoping this one would be in the box! I’ve been on a bit of a vanilla quest since I had that awesome vanilla Nilgiri from Chi of Tea, but I never tried this one before. First of all, it came out before my interest in something vanilla flavoured really took off. Second, I was a bit concerned about the Assam base. I’m rather ambivalent when it comes to Assam, you see. When done right they can be very pleasant, but when done wrong… It’s not a pretty picture.

More and more though, I became interested in trying this one after all, Assam base be damned, but of course by then it was much too late. So yeah, I was putting some hope into this Christmas box! I know Frank is reblending everything in the box for sale, but as I’m way ahead of you as I’m writing this and will be in England by the time the rest of you get to opening this one and it becomes available on the site… If I like this one, I’ll just have to cross my fingers and hope there’s still some available when we get home.

IF I enjoy it.

The aroma of the leaves were strongly vanilla-y and also very Assam-y. All malty and strong and stuff. It seemed an even mix of the two aromas. After steeping, it’s mostly vanilla, and it’s a creamy sort of caramel-y vanilla. It’s almost honeyed. I think it’s the sweet, malty note in Assam and the sweetness of the vanilla that are interacting to create this extremely candy-y note. The aroma is definitely a win. (Could it be…?)

In the flavour, I’m not getting an overwhelming vanilla note. At first it’s generally clean Assam, and then the vanilla comes swooping in on the aftertaste, practically filling my mouth with vanilla. Oh. Oh dear. I was afraid this would happen. I do so hope that when I get back from England there will still be some available of this. This is exactly what I want from a vanilla flavoured tea. It’s my perfect vanilla black, and it’s limited edition. How bloody typical!