52Teas Send Message

On the Eighth day of Christmas . . . this is one of my faves, so I am happy that it won the votes to be in this year’s box. Bold black teas, sweet blackberries, tasty pastry notes. The note of warm cinnamon. It’s all there. Yummy!

I know that I’m all mixed up with the days here … but … On the fourth day of Christmas. . . I held off on drinking this until it was later as I tend to prefer tisanes when it’s later in the day, but my days have been so hectic that I haven’t been taking the time to sit back and enjoy a tisane in the evening.

So I’m glad to be taking that moment now. This is so good – I think that I forget just how good it is until I actually start sipping it – the stretches in between when I’m not drinking it – I forget just how good it is. I love this – it’s best when iced because soda is meant to be enjoyed when it’s cold (I prefer a hot brew and then chilling it rather than a cold-brew though) but I also love it when it’s still hot, like I’m drinking it now.

The cranberry is nice, there’s a pleasant tartness to this but the sweeter “soda” notes give it a sweetness to soften the edge of the tart berry. A really nice combination.

On the sixth day of Chrisrmas . . . this is another new blend for our 12 Teas of Christmas. As I mention on my blog, what I envisioned with this tea is a cinnamon cupcake topped with a green tinted vanilla buttercream frosting topped with a raspberry. The raspberry isn’t supposed to be a strong flavor, just an accent on top of a sweet, cinnamon-y, vanilla-y, cake-y kind of taste. I really love the way this one turned out.

On the 5th Day of Christmas . . . I’m a little behind as I haven’t yet posted my review for the 4th day of Christmas – but it kind of works out for me since that tea is a caffeine free selection and I’m really in need of some caffeine now – then in a bit, I’ll write a note for the 4th tea. A little backward, of course – but it works for me.

Anyway, this tea! I was happy this tea earned the votes to be reblended because a) I’ve gotten so many requests for it to be reblended; and b) I love it.

Big Blueberry flavor, hints of danish and a touch of smooth, creamy cream cheese. YUM!

On the Third Day of Christmas . . . Of the four new teas that I created for the 12 Teas of Christmas, this is one of my four favorites. (Yeah, that’s what I said.) Seriously, though, I love this tea. Yummy gingerbread notes – plenty of spice! – and notes of pancake, as well as notes of maple-y goodness. So good!

On The Second Day of Christmas . . . Of the various green teas that were on the poll this year, two won out most of the votes. This and one other that you’ll find later on in this countdown. I’m not at all disappointed with that result, because I love this tea and I’m so happy that others love it too.

Sweet, toasty flavor from the green tea and yummy banana with sweet, creamy marshmallow flavor. So good – really, what could be better than this? A wonderful way to spend my tea break this afternoon!

On The First Day of Christmas . . . of the teas that won enough votes to make it into the 12 Teas of Christmas box, this tea received the fewest votes – just enough to earn its way into the box. It actually tied with one other black tea – the Mayan Chocolate Chai blend which ended up being the featured reblend for this past November. Because I wasn’t sure which I should feature in the holiday box and which I should blend as a featured reblend, I just reblended both at the same time and told myself that I’d let my tastebuds decide when it comes time to do the taste test.

And in a sense, that’s exactly what happened. When it came time to do the taste test for each tea, this one was ready to roll – and the Mayan Chocolate Chai needed a bit more tweaking before I was ready to release it.

I really like this chai. I find it’s a different tasting chai depending upon the temperature of the tea. When it’s still quite hot, you get a nice hit of spices and some vanilla. Some caramel too, but the caramel isn’t as strong as it is as the tea cools. The more the tea cools, the stronger the caramel (and vanilla) become.

Either hot or cold, it’s really quite nice and comforting.

PS: You might notice on my blog I refer to this blend as “Caramel Vanilla Chai v.2” – the “v.2” is because this is bit different than the original. Specifically, the original version of this tea (Frank’s version) was a fairly fine ground chai. This also utilizes a CTC blend of black teas, but the leaf size is definitely larger than I recall the ground leaves were in the original. But, I didn’t label this tea as a v.2. And, I figured in an effort to eliminate confusion, I wouldn’t add a whole new listing with the v.2.

This was the “Featured Reblend/Bonus” tea for October of this year. It wasn’t exactly a reblend because while both Frank and I (as LiberTEAS) had crafted apple green teas, they weren’t quite like this one so this is a new tea, but not necessarily an entirely new concept. And since Washington is known for its apples, I figured it was the perfect tea to include with our “I Love The Pacific Northwest” theme.

I really like this tea. It is a combination of both Fuji & Granny Smith apples so you get a little bit of the sweetness from the Fuji and the tartness from the Granny Smith in every sip. The green tea is our combination of Gunpowder and Chun Mee and it seems to provide a nice base here.

Nice, crisp apple-y flavor with a smooth, sweet and slightly grassy background from the green tea.

But what I can tell you is this: I am the featured teamaker of the Amoda Tea Subscription Box for December – and what I am tasting at this very moment is one of the teas that I crafted for the Caffeinated box.

And it is yummy!

I’m very excited about this collection that I crafted for Amoda – I worked with Lu Ann @ Amoda (she curates the boxes for Amoda!) and she helped me determine which teas I’d craft for their box. It was a lot of fun to come up with these teas – and I think you guys are gonna love ’em!

This is the tea of the week for October 14 & I’m sipping on it right now. I cold-brewed it overnight and it is SO GOOD cold brewed! It’s good – you know – brewed traditionally (hot) but the flavors really come to life when the tea cools a bit (whether hot brewed or cold brewed, I tend to prefer this one when it’s cold. Good hot – awesome cold.)

For those of you unfamiliar with Salt & Straw – it’s a really unique ice cream joint that makes handcrafted ice cream using not-so-ordinary flavors. Like Strawberry Honey Balsamic with Black Pepper … or Pear & Bleu Cheese – which are two of my go-to flavors on the rare occasion that I do go there. But if you’re in the Portland area (I know there are some Southern California locations too!) be sure to check to see if they have any limited edition flavors (like chocolate caramel potato chip cupcake – yes. It’s a real thing.)

Anyway, my go to is usually a scoop each of the two aforementioned flavors – strawberry honey balsamic with black pepper and pear & bleu cheese. These two taste amazing together.

So I decided to go with that as an inspiration – using some of these flavors and reimagining the others. I started with Chinese Sencha for it’s creamy, buttery taste and texture and added some Green Rooibos for a little bit of lightness and to enhance the fruity flavors of the blend. Then I added strawberries & pears. Instead of honey balsamic, I added honey essence & brandy essence. Instead of bleu cheese I added cheesecake essence.

I love the result. It is sweet, fruity, creamy, and there’s just a hint of pepper and brandy. A bit of tang from the cream cheese. A really unique and interesting set of flavors that just – work. I love this.