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So, my mom just called to ask me if I saw the weather for Sunday and Monday. Let’s just say I have some pretty amazing -15F (-26C) weather to look forward to. I’d imagine this was once of the last cups of iced tea I’ll be having for a little bit. I wonder if hibernating for a week is an option.

Very mild and smooth when cold steeped, with accents of honey and currant. While I’m still partial to my Darjeelings as a luxury iced cup, this is very, very good.

This cup brews up a very light brown/green, almost like the color of real Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It’s a little smokey, a little lemony, a lot raspberry and strawberry (which only pops more as the cup cools). This might actually be pretty good iced.

Overall the flavors work okay together. It’s nothing remarkable. I don’t really care for Gunpowder like I used to, so I’m really meh about this, though. (But I did finish my cup).

This is so beautiful my oh my oh my.

This first steep brews up a lovely champagne color and is primarily a sweet green oolong with highlights of jasmine.

The second steep (4:00) is where there really opens into a beautiful bouquet. The color becomes slightly warmer and deeper. The rose becomes the dominant flavor, but the other’ still play in the background. It’s lovely and immersive without being perfumey or artificial, and it manages to be strongly flavored while still being delicate.

The third steep (5:00) smells more of lavender and tastes more of it too. While the rose is still a dominant flavor, the lavender matches it in presence. There’s a really gentle jasmine flutter at the tail of the sip.

This tea is elevating me to a place of calm, and zen, where things are all teddy bears puppies and butterflies. I just want to get lost in this cup forever.

Thank you Short Sorceress!

Sweet and prominent fruit flavor, that comes across as more raspberry than pomegranate and at times, and more than a little bit artificial. Tastes a lot like a pom-raspberry filled candy. I don’t think I’d seek this one out again, but I wouldn’t turn down a cup.

So I started drinking this one plain, and while I enjoyed it like that (it’s earthy dark cocoa and bright but not bitter orange, and very good), I was struck by a thought.

I made homemade hot cocoa mix for Christmas gifts this year, and we definitely had a good deal left over. So, I mixed a scooper of that into my tea. And now I have something creamy, sweet, and deliciously chocolate with a subtle undertone of orange.

Thanks for the sample Shmiracles! This was fun!

Consuming this today for the ease factor. We didn’t actually stay up late last night, but have I’ve been running on empty for a while now and today feels like the appropriate day to chill.

I really don’t know if ‘gentle citrus flavor’ is how I would describe this one. It’s like drinking a subtle (and not soapy) Earl Grey with accents of orange and yellow fruitloops. Despite being a bagged offering, this really works, and makes a sunny, happy cup. This would be a good EG for people who don’t like bergamot.

Happy 2014 Everyone!

A very smooth, full-bodied cup with a toasty flavor and some malt. There’s a tiny amount of astingency, but no bitterness. There’s also some citrus accents that flower in the back of my throat and a subtle bit of stone fruit sweetness that winds through the whole cup. Because of the nuanced flavors Fiance didn’t realize this was an unflavored tea until I mentioned it! As the cup cools, the stone fruit becomes very prominently apricot, and slightly bolder in the cup. This would probably be an amazing iced tea.

Thank you Short Sorceress!

On the (belated) Fifth Day of Christmas, momo gave to me…

Looking at the dry leaf is like looking at a lot of Davids blends — if I didn’t know better I’d say it was herbal. I don’t really see anything in the way of tea, but there are big shreds of coconut and berries. It’s quite pretty.

Very much toasted coconut and burnt sugar (almost caramelly). This is a creamy, decadent cup. There’s a sweetness present that at times crosses into cloying; almost as if I hit a pocket of sweetener or something despite not adding any. This seems to get worse as it cools. Of course, there’s nothing in here that tastes like white tea, either.

Thanks momo!

After getting more than a good handful of other 52 Teas black blends under my belt since I’ve first tried this one, I was all ready to change up the steeping parameters to reflect what I learned, and found that because I’d brewed this at work the first time, the water temp was pretty much perfect the first time (195ish).

In any case, I really enjoy this. And so does Not-so-fond-of-banana-desserts-Fiance.

It’s still creamy, and flavorful, sweet, banana-flavored (in the same way that Jello pudding is, though) cup. There’s a definite coconut note chilling in the sip, and a little bit of vanilla. And at the lower temperatures, the black base stays smooth and doesn’t overwhelm the flavors (which are amazing).

This is still one of my favorite banana teas.