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The dry leaf aroma is strongly ginger. The brewed tea aroma is lemon. The flavor is a light mixture of the two on a solid oolong base. I think the oolong lends a slightly scone-like note to the tea. It’s definitely more scone to me than cookie. If I add sweetener, it may shift more towards the latter. But I’m quite enjoying this sans additions.

I have had the stomach flu for the past 48 hours. I finally feel better today. This ginger tea is hitting the spot. There’s something pinching in the back of my mouth though. Not sure what that is but certain ingredients have evoked this reaction in me in the past. Maybe the lemon myrtle? Anyway, this is a solid ginger tea. Re-name it Lemon Ginger Scone Oolong and it’d be a complete success. I’ve got two packages of it if anyone wants to try it!

The dry leaf aroma is a lemon icing dream. The brewed leaf aroma is even better! I wouldn’t think that’d be possible. The flavor is deliciously lemony but missing that sweetness I get in the aroma. I added a little Truvia and there it is! Now this tastes exactly like iced lemon pound cake! YUM! This tea is perfect! There isn’t a single thing about it I don’t love.

And now I’m going to cry because the measly 1 oz I have of it is all that’s left in this world. Why WHY did Butiki Teas have to close??! Excuse me while I go ball my eyes out. wails and sobs Okay, I’m back.

This tea is so delicious and mouth watering. The flavors are masterfully blended to complement each other and the base perfectly. The white tea is a beautiful, high quality, fuzzy silver needle. It tastes like a ray of sunshine beaming into a lemon orchard frosted with fluffs of sweetness. This is pure ecstasy in your mouth. I will shed quite a few tears when my meager stash of it is depleted. That will be a sad, sad day indeed. But today, today is filled with sunshine!

Frank’s black teas are usually best at 2.5 minute infusions. But I think this one could have gone a little longer. It’s pretty calm for a chai. Maybe I didn’t grab enough spices from the pouch. I added some Truvia and now it’s more to my liking. The sweetness brings out a creaminess in the base that is quite yummy. It doesn’t seem to need milk at all. It could use a lot more spice though. This is like the calm, meditative, little sister of Chai tea. It’s similar but different. Much calmer, quieter, and sweeter (or at least sweeter now that I’ve added Truvia).

I went back to my tealog and read my review on 52teas’ other Pumpkin Chai. I seemed to enjoy that one better with a longer infusion, so I’ll definitely try that with this one too. I didn’t find that chai very spicy either and it did have a nice creaminess. I guess this one is pretty similar. In fact, the only difference might be the base. This is made with Pettaiagala Extra Long Leaf OP. The older chai was made with Premium Assam.

Anyway, I do like it; it’s just not what I expected. If I think of this as a creamy, slightly spiced tea, then I really like it a lot. Second infusion for 6 minutes was just as delicious. A yummy treat! I will enjoy my two pouches of this. Although I have to say that 0.5 oz of this one doesn’t go far!

This is a lightly flavored tea. I’m getting a nice orange and ginger flavor with almond lingering in the background of the sip. It didn’t strike me as sugary sweet like cookies, so I added some Truvia. Now it’s more like a Christmas cookie! I think imagination here is key. I am getting some buttery cookie aspects along with the warmth and spice that reminds me of Christmastime. The white base is muted here, allowing the flavorings to shine through and take the spotlight.

Mmm, I’m very glad that I bought two packages of this one. I’m really enjoying it a lot! There’s something special about Frank’s white tea blends. They’re always my favorites. I drank this one pretty quick. Time for a resteep! I infused the leaves for about 5 minutes the second go-around. And it’s just as tasty as the first cup! That’s rare for 52teas blends. I think I may grab a few more pouches of this before it’s too late…

I made this cup and then didn’t get to drink it because the baby had a meltdown. Now that she’s in bed for the night, I can reheat it and enjoy it. The dry leaf aroma is roses. The brewed tea aroma is the familiar chocolate malt of Chinese black teas. The taste? A perfect combination of the two aromas: roses and chocolate malt. Yum! Now this is my kind of Chinese black tea!

I really like the rose flavoring here. It’s mostly in the front of the aftertaste, which transforms and leaves a lingering cocoa taste. The rose is also very natural and not too potent. Mmm, I really like this tea. As it cools, it gets a little bitter. I definitely should have done a shorter steep. It reheats well though. I think I microwaved this cup two or three times because I kept getting distracted with things and couldn’t finish it all in one sitting. Thanks to Teavivre for the free sample! I will definitely enjoy the rest of this.

I grabbed this one cause I felt like a Chinese black tea. However, this was not the kind of Chinese black that I like. It tasted like smoke and tobacco. Yuck. Not my cup of tea. Sadly, I poured the cup down the drain. It was way too strong and just not to my liking at all. I’m sure it’s perfectly enjoyable to other palates. Maybe I shouldn’t have started with such a long infusion. One or two minutes would have been plenty. Thanks to Teavivre for providing this free sample. I’ll re-home the rest of it to someone who will enjoy it.

I’ve been meaning to try this tea for a long time. Today is the day! The brewed tea aroma is herbal. I can definitely smell the marshmallow root, which I believe is the base for this tea. First sip is a little lackluster. It just tastes like sweet marshmallow root. I’m going to add a bit of Truvia to see if I can coax out more cake flavor, although I suppose that risks making it too sweet.

It is very sweet now. I can imagine this tastes like white cake, but let’s be honest. I don’t think tea can taste like cake. A lot of what makes cake, well, cake is the airy fluffy buttery texture. Tea simply can’t replicate that. This is probably as close as it gets. The more I sip it, the more I notice resemblances to cake. This is good but not remarkably good. I have to say after all the rave reviews, I’m a little underwhelmed. I think my expectations were too high.

If I moderate my expectations, this is an enjoyable tea. I love that it’s caffeine free. It will satisfy my sweet tooth cravings on those days when all I want to do is stuff my face with cake. In that respect, this is a great alternative to the real deal. Now I’m off to celebrate because today is a big day! It’s my baby’s 4 month birthday!

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The dry leaf aroma is strongly raspberries. The brewed tea aroma is the same and the taste is fairly one dimensional. I added a bit of Truvia and now it’s sweeter like cake. Mostly though, this one is a lightly flavored raspberry tea. The base here is nice and complementary. It lends a certain cake-y-ness to the flavor. I can imagine I’m drinking a white cake with raspberry icing. It’s not an in-your-face cake taste. It’s more of a pensive allusion to cake instead. I like that I can enjoy this tea without milk, but it definitely needs the sweetener. Overall, a pretty good tea.

52teas 12 Days of Christmas Sampler 2013 – Day 12

Yes, it is 2015. Yes, I have waited to try this sampler for a year and a half. I bought it before I was even pregnant and now I have a 4-month-old daughter. That should tell you how old this is.

Why didn’t I drink it earlier you ask? I don’t know. I think it got lost in my cupboard and I’ve only just now found it. Of course, with a new baby, I hardly have time to make a cup of tea, let alone drink it, LET ALONE blog about it! In fact, I’ve had to start and stop this note multiple times so I could take care of her. I love her more than anything in this world but man, she is a needy baby!

I’m also sick right now. I have an ear infection and it’s caused my nose to run like mad crazy. I’m super congested, so probably not the best time to start drinking a new tea. I thought the dry leaf aroma was still pretty potent though. I think I’ll work my way through this sampler backwards. I’m starting with #12! I have another minute or two before her fussing becomes crying so I’m going to make the most of it! Ooh, hubby just agreed to give her a bottle for me. :D Now I have at least 5-10 minutes. :)

This tea has held up pretty well given its age. I probably should have steeped it longer. It has a white tea taste with a slight sugary sweetness. I added a little Truvia and now it has an even sweeter flavor. I have no idea what a sugar plum is supposed to taste like (or if it even exists) so I can’t say for sure if this tastes like sugar plum or not. It does taste good! Kind of like grape but different. Not so grapey. LOL! Can you tell it’s been a while since I blogged about tea? I think my writing skills have run off with my slim physique.

Anyway, this is a good tea. I have always loved white teas, especially Frank’s blends. I’m sad that he’s closing shop but interested to see what LiberTEAS does with the company. I tell you, I leave the tea community to start a family and all my favorite tea vendors close! If I had a more inflated ego, I’d think it was because I stopped buying their tea and it’s my fault they’re going out of business. But of course, that’s ridiculous…right? :P I jest. But in all seriousness, I am sad about 52teas and Butiki Teas closing. At least with 52teas it will live on in some form or another. I was able to make a large purchase of Butiki Teas before they closed and I did the same with 52teas. I got a much better deal with 52teas though because of the 50% off sale AND I had a couple hundred rewards points. So I got about $44 worth of tea for $14! :D

But I digress. Again.

This tea is yummy. I’m enjoying the cup. Sadly, subsequent infusions will have to wait because my time is up! Back to mommy duty!

I’m working from home today, the baby’s at daycare, and I finally have a moment to myself to brew a cup of tea. I swore to myself I wasn’t going to order a bunch of Butiki teas and then let them sit around for months untried. But then I had a baby and all Hell broke loose! The only tea I’ve had in the past 3+ months is Mother’s Milk teabags. I hardly remember what it’s like to have time to enjoy my old ritual of brewing tea: heating water on the stove in my kettle, using a thermometer to get just the right temperature before adding the leaves, waiting for it to steep and then enjoying multiple infusions while musing about what to write in a tea note. Those days of abundant time are gone! I’m lucky if I find time to shower once every couple days. Don’t get me wrong; being a mother is the most rewarding thing I’ve done with my life to date. But I do miss some aspects of life before motherhood, and brewing tea is definitely one of them.

So today I am making some tea and taking the time to enjoy it! I’m so sad Butiki Teas has closed. I managed to place a large order of my favorites (sans Almond Indulgence because it was already sold out) as well as some new-to-me ones before Stacy closed for good. The brewed tea aroma of this one smells amazing! I’m definitely getting cinnamon and a hint of vanilla. The flavor is WOW! So nuanced and delicious. The flavor seems to evolve throughout the sip, first being cinnamon and vanilla and ending in a lovely, hay-like Bai Mu Dan. Yum! White tea is the perfect base for these flavors. This is good!

I added a tiny bit of Truvia to see how sweetener affects the flavors. Hmm, it really seems to have brought the squash to the forefront. I was missing that before. I’d say the most downplayed element in this tea is the cinnamon. It’s there, but only a quiet whisper complementing the other flavors. This is a really lovely tea. I’d say that I recommend it, but sadly you can no longer buy it. :( But if you’ve been hoarding it like me and have yet to try it, you definitely should!

For those of you who are interested, I’ll write more about the birth of my daughter in another note. For now, here’s some pictures of my Olivia. :)

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