52teas

First of all, let me just say what a totally weird concept this is for me. In Denmark, popcorn are served with salt. The end. No butter, no cheese, no caramel, no chocolate, no spinach, no coffee, no fruit, no curry, no fairy wing dust or whatever else whacky popcorn additions you lot can think up. No nothing. Just salt. Therefore, because it’s so utterly bizarre to me, I admit I’m wary.

I’m glad the pouches are so small here. They are just the right size for the small pot, and that means a small cup for me and a small cup for the boyfriend. So if I strongly dislike it, I don’t have a lot to go through.

Right, be positive, me.

In spite of the fact that I find this fairly bizarre, I do actually think it smells quite nice. It definitely smells like butter, but I’m not sure about the popcorn. I don’t really know how buttered popcorn actually smells, do I, so I don’t know exactly how drowned in grease you get them. But yeah, butter and also something sweet. I’m reminded more of jelly beans than of popcorn actually. (Oh wait a minute… I know there’s a buttered popcorn flavoured jelly bean. I wonder if I’ve ever tasted that one or if I avoided it based on bizarreness…)

Okay, the tea definitely tastes like popcorn. Slightly singed popcorn perhaps, but defintiely popcorn. How… odd. I get butter in the aftertaste too, not really a flavour of butter, but more the way the mouth feels having just eaten something with real butter on it.

This is erm… Well, to be completely honest, it’s exactly as weird and bizarre as I had expected it to be, but not as unpleasant as I had feared. It’s not really something for me, this, but it could also be a lot worse.

I made this as a latte, but since I only had about a tsp. left I had to blend it with another tsp. of some of Yogic Chai’s mix. Milk and brown sugar were added and everything steeped at the below parameters on the stove.

The mixture of the two teas was amazing. The caramel and vanilla were VERY evident here, the first thing I tasted when I took a sip, actually. A smooth, spicy latte and a really positive note to start the weekend out on. :)

This was day 10 (I think?) of the 12 teas of Christmas sampler from 52teas – I am finally getting around to trying both this one and the one from day 12 – both of which were the only new ones (to me) of the last half of the box. This particular sample was the only one of the 12 that had an improperly sealed bottom, but I was able to collect it and still have enough for two full cups, so it ended up okay!

Anyway – steeped one heaping tsp. of this in about 7 oz water at below parameters. The dry leaf was very ground up – I used a paper tea filter instead of my Breville because I remember someone saying how it easily got through the mesh basket, and I didn’t want to have a huge mess on my hands. It smelled quite spicy – no hints of vanilla and caramel, though.

Once steeped, I added milk (probably about 2 oz) and sugar because that’s how I like my chais prepared. Taste-wise, I think the overall spiciness of the chai was kind of weak – it didn’t have as much bite as I wanted. However, I did get a touch of vanilla and buttery caramel, which I suspect the milk and sugar were instrumental in bringing out. I didn’t notice any underlying astringency with the black tea base, but I didn’t try it sans additives so that could be why.

Overall, I think it is a nice, though mild chai. More for people who like the idea of vanilla and caramel tea with a hint of spice, rather than the other way around – but more than a welcome addition to my tea cabinet during this cold weather!

I have been on a roll with 52teas. I have been enjoying every one I tried. I guess I can’t like everything and lucky streaks can’t last for ever.

It took me a while to decide to purchase this, but I like vanilla, mate and mint enough that I eventually gave in. As soon as it arrived I opened it to sniff at it. It coated the inside of my nose with “toothpaste” smell. Not what I was expecting. It was very sharp. After this experience it took me a long while to urge myself on to try it.

I steeped my 2 teaspoons to 12oz of boiling water. The smell of the brewing tea was much more pleasant than the actual leaves. It smelled smooth and creamy reminding me of Creme de Menthe. At this point I became a little more optimistic about liking the tea.

I tried it unsweetened and I got sharp spearmint taste. The vanilla was there, but not as smooth as I was expecting it. The Mate flavor was permeating through all the other flavors. Its woodiness and slight bitterness reminded me throughout the cup that this mint had caffeine! It reminded me of Root beer, except it was hot (not really a good thing…).

Once it cooled down I found it a little more palatable, but I can’t imagine me actually wanting to have more of this… I will try it iced, which might work well since I do like Root beer (cold…).

Oh well…

Backlogging from Christmas: What a lovely and apropos finale to an amazing 12 teas of Christmas!!! This black tea is interesting to say the least. It’s sweet, and creamy but also has an almost floral-y element to it. I used a shorter steep time (thanks for the tip, Uniquity!) and I think I finally got a hang of it. It was a lovely christmas treat!!!

Moral of the story: 12 teas of christmas made the holiday season festive and bright!

I was angry last night. Really angry… My bother decided that the best idea he could possibly have was to through a party at my house because he figured that I would stay at the hospital because my Dad had surgery yesterday (everything went well!). I got home, expecting to unwind after work with my doggies, boyfriend, and tea when to my surprise there was about 20 drunk people and loud music blasting… I was sooo angry that I couldn’t even get myself to relax. As a kid I understand that an empty house that you have access to usually means fun, but this was not OK. Well, I didn’t get much sleep and I am still angry, but a tasty tea this morning will make things a bit better!

I bought a pack of this because I enjoyed it so much. It just arrived and it is exactly what I needed! Something spicy, strong, sweet.

I am not sure why the leaves of this tea are ground so fine… It keeps making me expect bitterness, but thankfully I haven’t gotten any from it. It smells great as long as you don’t inhale too strongly (instant sneeze… found out the hard way…)

I prepared it with my tasty condensed milk/skim milk latte mix. It put a wide smile on my face (at least until I see my brother again…) and finally got me relaxing. The vanilla was really strong this time, and the latte mix helped smooth out all the flavors. I couldn’t make my cup last me every long. That is usually a sign that I really am enjoying what I am drinking!

This reminded me of the first encounter I had with one of Franks teas. Not because of the similarity in flavors, but because of the intense smell that greets you as soon as the package is open. On this occasion it was mouth watering vanilla and spices. I think it was just what I needed tonight! The puppy is still growing and has decided that her favorite pass time is bothering my older dog. It is exhausting to control her after I am used to my trained and well behaved older doggy. I can’t wait for her to grow up! : ) In the mean time, vanilla, spices and black tea will carry me along.

I believe that this was supposed to be the 10th tea of the 12 teas of Christmas, but tasting it got postponed due to holiday craziness (though I did open it and sniff on the correct day!).

Did I already mention that the smell was spectacular? I think so… But I will repeat it, the smell was amazing! Vanilla and Spices and if I thought about it I could even get a hint of the caramel. Impressive.

I steeped 2 teaspoons to my 12oz of water. 3 minutes of wait while I drooled to the scent of spicy vanilla. Drum-roll and…. wow… so bitter… Added milk and sugar… Better, but bitterness still there… The aftertaste was good vanilla and spice, so I was determined to keep trying.

Second cup steeped for 2.5 minutes with only 1.5 teaspoons for my 12oz. After 2.5 minutes of fingers crossed, I had a first sip. Hmm… Not bad! Much less bitter and still about the same amount of spiciness! As an added bonus I got a tiny bit of caramel something that added to the vanilla. Milk and sugar added and it became delicious! I had to try really hard not to gulp it down. After that first sip, the caramel got lost to me, but the vanilla and spices worked wonders!

Now, I have two cups of Caramel Vanilla Chai in my belly and two doggies fast asleep. Aaahhh… Pure bliss! : )

So I’ve FINALLY gotten around to trying this again with milk. Actually I am thinking milk is the reason my stomach hates me so much, so it’s some unsweetened coconut milk for me.

The coolest part of this coconut milk is that since it’s meant as a milk substitute, it isn’t strongly coconut flavored, and so a bit in this tea doesn’t affect the flavor. It also does its job, effectively cutting that bitter flavor this tea has, making it far more enjoyable.

I added barely any sugar…like I would hesitate to say I even added 1/8 a teaspoon. Honestly, it tastes fine with just a splash of milk. I don’t think you need to sweeten it unless you want it to really pop. But it still tastes like a cookie that might be slightly good for you instead.

I just got back from an expedition to TeaGschwendner and my feet are dead and so I can update this right now…especially because my tea drinking right now consists of the Tazo available in the hotel…meh.

I opened and drank this on Christmas Eve because I knew I wouldn’t have a chance on Christmas. I tried to guess what it was before I looked at the label, and I got a hint of the chocolate but mostly just black tea.

It is very much like a Chips Ahoy cookie, and I didn’t sweeten it although I probably should have. It seems like that’s just what it needs to make it all out milk and cookies. But that’s what the rest of it is for.

First, and most importantly, Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope that celebrations were joyful and full of love!

Second, I have been a bit absent due to all of the craziness of the holidays, but things are returning to more normal and manageable pace. I haven{t been able to drink each of the Twelve Days of Christmas on the correct days, but I have been opening them on the right days. : )

This was the last of the series. I was really excited to find out what it was going to be! I opened the little packet right before we started opening Christmas gifts with my family. I was really happy when I smelled chocolate. I couldn’t place the scent as a whole, but the chocolate was jumping up and down and waving its hands at me. I was happy when I finally peeked and saw it was milk and cookies!

I steeped it and ended up with a pleasant brown liquor that smelled just like Chocolate Chip Cookies (the scent reminded me of the smell that hits you when you open a package of Chips Ahoy!). Unsweetened it tasted pretty generic. Just black tea that was vaguely chocolaty. I added brown sugar and the result was much more like what I was expecting. Sweet chocolate showing up first and cake/cookie hanging out as an aftertaste.

This is the first time that I felt that the tea base in 52teas got in the way of the flavoring. It was a bit astringent for cookie. It didn’t stop me from enjoying two cups of it (the second even more sweetened and even more cookie like! : ) )

I really liked this tea. Didn’t quite make it in to the “league of my favorite teas” but it was just what I wanted for Christmas present opening and family sharing and celebrating.

Once again, Merry Christmas to all! Thanks for sharing your thoughts through tea with all of us! It is a gift I cherish every day! : )

This is the 12th day of Christmas Tea … I hope that Frank will update the tea information here on Steepster… in the meantime, here is my review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2011/12/25/on-the-twelfth-day-of-christmas-52teas-sent-to-me/

Time to de-cupboard this tea. I found that adding some honey or agave nectar really brings out the pastry flavours as well as the cinnamon. I’m glad this one was added to the permanent collection as I’d love to buy this again some time in the future.

First of all – Frank, I love your teas, I truely do, but you have to find a better method for sealing the bottoms of your sample pouches. Today makes the second time I’ve taken a pouch out of the 12 Days of X-mas sampler only for most of it to fall out the unsealed bottom and make a huge mess on my floor. I also have a few that spilled their guts inside the box including the new mystery tea (which is no longer a mystery – sorry) and mixed together a little bit.

But enough of my whining, I really did enjoy this tea. The cinnamon tastes a bit more like those camdy cinnamon hearts than cinnamon rolls – sharp and hot vs warm and mellow. There’s a nice baked flavour that comes pretty close to the taste of pastery dough and the honeybush’s natural sweetness makes it seem like a dessert in a cup.

Vegan friendly :)
this is the tea equivalent of the Jelly Belly Jelly Bean World of Buttered popcorn-just in Tea ;)
it nicely combines a smooth black tea with buttery popcorn. Not too weird and nice to drink. It’s more subtle, which is good, because then the flavors might get weird…maybe it’s like the black tea equivalent of genmai cha ?..but without the history behind it…and that slight seaweed taste. It’s nice having the buttery-toasty aroma come at you while you are sipping. fun, different
Anyway, I like it….
ok, headed to Times Square on a Christmas Eve to work :/

Needed this to settle my stomach after too much dessert indulgence today. At tonight’s steeping, this is predominately cinnamon cream cheese frosting. There’s this tartness that comes from the cream cheese—and then this is offset by the taste of sweet cinnamon sugar.

Honeybush is an effective tummy soother for me, so this is very good as a nightime “tonic”.

Yummy yet beneficial—what’s not to like? ;)

Right off the bat, I can smell cinnamon cream cheese frosting! Paired with an amazing baked and “dough-y” aroma. Flavors of cinnamon, cream cheese and brown sugar are all detectable.

This is pretty delicious and true to its name. Especially delicious paired with Christmas cookies. :)

I love, love, love cinnamon rolls—so I’m pretty delighted with this!

This is one of those teas that the moment I saw Frank advertise it, I knew a pouch had to be MINE. However, I ended up bringing the pouch to work and sharing with friends so there isn’t much left! :(

BUT it’s the Dec. 24 tea in the 12 Days of Christmas for 52 Teas so happiness reigns! YAY! :)

This is one I’d love to see added to the permanent collection. It’s second only to Pancake Breakfast (and many of you know about my love affair with that blend).

This reminds me of a cinnamon sugar blend my mom would make for us to put on oatmeal and toast. (It was the only way I would eat oatmeal…doused in spices and sugar). This blend has just the right amount of cinnamon – no underwhelming and overpowering here.

I steeped it for the length of the cup as I do with honeybush tea. So I can’t infuse but I have one enjoyable cuppa. And I love that it’s caffeine-free; perfect for winding down in the evening.

This is a winner, Frank! :)

So I opened my Christmas presents tonight since I’ll be away from my family on Christmas. I had no idea my mom got me the 12 Teas of Christmas, and she had wanted to give it to me at the proper time but that wasn’t going to work. At least I hadn’t looked on Steepster beforehand today so a quarter will be surprises! Although by now I don’t think I really remember what was when so I can still be surprised.

I made this as a latte because I don’t like chai too much by itself and I have the s’mores chai and I figured this too would be too peppery for my liking if I didn’t. I have no idea if there’s some sort of more proper way to do it but I put enough tea for 8oz in but pour only 4oz of water in, then whisk 4 oz of milk on the stove, and once the tea is made, add it to the milk, make sure it’s all nice and hot then put it in my mug. Works for me, I taste everything so I’m sticking with it!

This is pretty good, I don’t know if I would drink it again after this because I have enough chais for the rare times I want it. I do like that it’s sweeter than most though, thanks to the caramel vanilla part.

Also the set of tsacs is going to save my life while staying in a hotel for 5 nights next week. I was trying so desperately to find a way to still have MY tea despite us staying really close to an Argo Tea.

I too thought this was the Extra Bold Masala Chai when I first opened the packet. Upon brewing, I taste lots of that delicious chai flavor with just a small hint of vanilla. I don’t taste any caramel at all, but seeing as fresh caramel causes me pain in an allergic reaction, that’s fine with me. ;)

This is very good, but the name isn’t entirely accurate. Vanilla Chai would be better – but who am I to judge?

I didn’t add any sugar to the chai (shocker, I know) and normally I do. Perhaps that would help round out the sharp edges of this spicy tea. I never add milk to chai because I’m allergic, but I also enjoy spicier teas.

Overall, this was a great one to try, but I’m not sure if I would buy it separately. I’m so very picky (OK, snobby) about my chais so that’s nothing new!

Finished my sample today – I had forgotten that it is basically ground tea and spices. Ugh. Threw some in my T-Sac and steeped as long as I dared (2 or 3 minutes). The smell is kind of yucky, very much like an old bagged chai, which it essentially is so that makes sense. Still no caramel or vanilla and boy would I like it if they appeared. There is a smell, almost like melted marshmallows roasting over a fire. The marshmallow business actually smells kinds good, but it’s lost in what smells like very bitter tea.

I just had some grapes so the first few sips aren’t necessarily accurate but they aren’t as bad as I expected either. I just get spice. Cinnamon at the end of the sip, like I ate powdered cinnamon. I also get ginger and nutmeg, but probably because those are the only spices I am very familiar with. It is bold and in your face, and definitely lacking vanilla or caramel. This is not a favourite and I don’t understand why my tastes are SO different from everyone else on this one. Even when I first tried it last December I hated it. Maybe my sample was a joke?

The only reason I’m drinking this cup is to warm up – and the only reason I can stand to keep drinking it is because of the T-Sac and short steep. Blech.

This one comes from my 12 Teas of Christmas sampler – when I opened it, I thought it was the Extra Bold Masala Chai, and was surprised to read it was Caramel Vanilla. The aroma pre and post steeping is just that of the bold chai (which I have had bad experiences with, it can get very very bitter). I did this cup with boiling water and a brief steep, maybe two minutes. After letting it cool I could get a hint of caramel aroma, but the taste was pure chai. Very similar to the Extra Bold Masala Chai. I get a hint of caramel at the end of the sip, but it is more an echo than a taste. As it cools it becomes more bitter, so I added a bit of milk which enhances the illusion of caramel and vanilla. Certainly not a favourite, but I haven’t had a chai in a while so that’s nice.

Update: That black tea is SO BITTER. Might do the rest of the sample as stovetop with milk, but I definitely shouldn’t use boiling water. Might go add some sugar as well as the milk (neither of which I usually add. I happen to think it’s a poor tea that requires milk or sugar, but I know that isn’t a popular opinion). Hoping that with alternate preparations I can really get the most out of this sample. Sugar and milk helped cut down the bitterness, but I’m still making a pinched up face while I drink!

Tea number nine from the Holiday Sampler today. It’s probably a familiar story – when Frank first blended this tea I dithered about whether or not to buy a pouch and of course by the time I’d made up my mind, they were all gone. It’s nice to see what I’ve been missing out on, although a little sad since once the two teaspoons-worth in the sample are gone – it’s gone.

The gingerale smell from this tea is lovely, sweet and gingery in an almost floral way – though maybe that’s the influence of the bergamot. The flavour doesn’t quite nail it, there’s a bit too much emphasis on the citrus flavour of the bergamot and not enough on the ginger itself. Maybe it would have been better to use lemon and/or lime peel instead to mimic the flavours. None the less, it’s a nice, enjoyable tea and the white tea base is perfect for it, supporting the flavours without overwhelming them.

So I skipped a couple of days of the Christmas sampler mostly because I’d had those teas before, and been busy working at some semblance of a job during the day. This is the first tea (since day 4) that I have not had before, and it seemed to sound better to me as an iced tea, so I brewed it and let it cool to try it that way. I just couldn’t imagine flat, hot ginger ale!

I definitely got the bergamot and some of the ginger, though the ginger didn’t have an overwhelming amount of bite to it. I also got some vanilla, strangely enough – I wonder if that’s the bergamot? To me the flavors didn’t resemble ginger ale at all as I know it – though maybe that’s the carbonation I’m missing?

Eh, it’s not bad – I just don’t see myself wanting to reach for it at any specific time. I think of ginger ale as more of a sick drink, so maybe that’s why I’ve had such a lukewarm response to this.