52teas

I want to add a tasting note from the friend to whom I gave the rest of my tasting pouch since she knows the taste of mango very well. I asked for her thoughts since I don’t know what mango tastes like by itself.

“I tasted both the mango and the coconut very well. It was excellent with my breakfast. My husband loves mango and this reminds me of when I used to make him grilled brown sugar mangos years ago. He said that when he was overseas, they served grilled mangos with raspberry and honey drizzled on top.”

Safe to say she loved it, and I wouldn’t be surprised for her husband to come home and find both grilled mango and mango tea waiting for him.

Sharedown

Another tea I had a couple of times and shared to my new tea friend. (A while back I gave her Blueberry Lemon Lavender and she used it for tea with her young daughters and they all loved it. She highly recommends it as a tea party tea!)

I had never had mango by itself that I can recall so I don’t know exactly what it tastes like. I liked this blend a lot, and mostly I tasted a slightly toned down maple syrup in comparison to Pancake Breakfast Black, with a bit of creaminess and vanilla. If I squint, I might detect some fruit but since I don’t know what mango tastes like, I don’t know if that is what I am tasting,

I have asked my friend to report back once she drinks it but I don’t know if she has ever had mango. Lovely tasting blend, though!

Sharedown

I have had this a couple of times and decided to share the last of the pouch with my new tea friend who is trying lots of new things.

I have had the Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha before, and this is true to that blend with lovely chai spices added for a “just right” level for me. There is nothing too hot or too savory leaning in this for me, it is just a lovely addition to the marshmallow treat line up of blends.

Sipdown

This is reminiscent of the Snowball snack cakes (minus the chocolate cake part) I ate in my youth. My big sister bought us lots of junk food and Snowballs were the only form of coconut I would eat back then, being sold on it by the sticky marshmallow coating on the cake.

Overall, it is a nice marshmallow and coconut green tea!

Sipdown

This was a really lovely tea for breakfast. Ashman and I had it with our tortilla egg bake and it goes so well with food. After breakfast I made a third steep to sip as we do some work this morning and while it is lighter, it is still worthwhile to sip on.

This is a nice Yunnan profile. I had one or two years ago from another company that were so peppery and they gave me a bit of a tummy ache. This one is classic Yunnan without ache and not peppery.

I think the vanilla is fairly subtle, and oddly enough I noticed it more in the third steep. Perhaps that is because we were sipping and not eating.

Delicious tea!

March Sipdown Prompt – your freshest green tea

This qualifies as freshest because I just got it this morning! There is a tiny, sparkly pink gift bag that appears every few days with a gift from my daughter inside ever since my second surgery of recent months and this was today’s gift. I am glad I saw it as I was making breakfast because sometimes I don’t see it until later in the day.

The peach aroma is soooo nice in this. Even though I do like many peach teas, I confess that some punch you in the nose and sometimes have a sharp boozy aroma. This was more a nice, strong, natural peach aroma. There was a swirl of other scents as well and a really deep inhale told me there was some ginger here. I can tell it will be just right and not spciy hot.

As I pour the tea in my breakfast cup it is almost clear but builds up in the cup to a soft yellow. The taste is smooth, sweet, divine, and didn’t get overpowered by my breakfast food.

I am really torn as to whether I want to try it cold steeped or iced because I really love it hot.

Edited to add: had it again at lunch with Ashman and the ginger is more noticeable in this pot, but still well within my range of ginger preference.

This one is really growing on me. I actually can see this flavor as being spiced fig! Rooibos is the perfect base for it. I like it at room temperature with sugar and milk.

2025 TTB #22

After the aggressive “berry” chai this morning, this one is a welcome reprieve! Mostly, this is a beautiful fluffy white tea, almost effervescent on the palate with sweet notes of warm hay. I get just a whisper of strawberry in the sip and then a hint of marshmallow in the aftertaste. I’m enjoying it hot, but I think it would also be lovely iced!

2025 TTB #20

I definitely tasted both the lemon and the lime, but nothing about this blend was saying “cheesecake” for me. The honeybush did add a bit of natural sweetness, but nothing tangy or rich or creamy. But once I got over my disappointment about the missing cheesecake note, it was a lovely bright, fruity cuppa! I think it would be even better iced.

2025 TTB #13

Had to look at the tea description to see what the “cloud” in the name meant…marshmallow, apparently? Unfortunately, I didn’t really taste any marshmallow in the blend. The cherry flavor was quite mild and natural-tasting (which I appreciated, because I do NOT enjoy that overly artificial cherry flavor that reminds me of childhood Triaminic!) and the base tea came through clearly with a nice chocolatey note. Would have called this one something like “chocolate-covered cherry”, personally.

My first cup of this was quite marshmallowy! I liked it sweetened with milk. The marshmallow comes out the best when it cools to room temperature. The next time I had this, I felt much more neutral toward it. The white tea came out a little more than I prefer, but it was okay – it’s just a little light on the flavoring for me.

Sipdown

March 8 Sipdown Challenge Prompt – International Women’s Day: drink tea from a woman- owned company

This is another post-surgery gift tea from my daughter!

I have tried this three ways and I am kicking myself that it is all gone because I thought of a fourth way that I wish I had made it!

We had it hot with breakfast and Ashman said the cola part was NAILED. I agree! It is uncanny how much it smells like a cola, which led to a conversation about what the smell of cola actually is. I have made herbal “cola” syrups in the past and will probably do so again this summer. I didn’t get a lot of cherry or almond, and as a breakfast tea the base could have been stronger.

Next up was cold steeped. Now it really, really smells like cola! So much so that I decided to add simple syrup. This amped up the cola vibe quite a bit. I still mostly just taste and smell cola, and I am not really getting the cherry almond part.

Now I am wishing I had thought to make a tea simple syrup with it to add to sparkling water. It would have been indistinguishable from an actual soda, but much better for us!

Sipdown

I am shocked this is a sipdown. I think I had two or three packs but I guess I have been drinking it more than I realized.

Maple maple maple. I almost changed my mind and had waffles for breakfast this morning after smelling it because it smelled that yummy, but I am trying not to go with a sugary breakfast much and remembered how even yesterday the contrast pairing of another tea was better than the similar flavors pairing. So I had my more savory breakfast and let the tea satisfy that sweet craving, which was certainly healthier.

This tea lives up to its name. It is lovely, Anne!

2025 TTB #1

This one caught my eye right away, as coconut and raspberry are both favorite flavor profiles for me. Sipping it straight, I got a light natural-tasting raspberry flavor but not much coconut. The Assam base was also leaving me with a slightly bitter aftertaste. However, with the addition of a splash of milk, everything smoothed out and the creaminess of the coconut started coming through. A pleasant start to this box!

Cold brew sipdown of this ancient sample! Very pleasant and refreshing as a cold brew, with the mint and lime predominant – I think the watermelon flavour has faded a bit with time.

Sipdown! Sweet banana? check. Fluffy marshmallow? check. Toasty rice? check. My only complaint about this blend is that I don’t have any more of it.

Lovely! The lemon is in the forefront of this tea, but there is enough vanilla to the cup to soften the tart lemon to a more subdued bright citrus note that was flavorful without being too sour. The lavender is so nice – pleasantly floral without tasting too perfume-y.

Nice!

I’m not a huge white tea fan, and white tea is the main flavor here. Still, I don’t dislike it since it’s quite high quality. I taste some strawberry along with the base, but I know I’d prefer this as a green tea. It’s a little straightforward for me, but I suppose I do notice some marshmallowy flavor that’s nice.

So, I am WAY out of order with these countdowns, but does it really matter? I’m behind, you guys all know that.

Good news: my legs are pretty much healed up (my cellulitis!) The skin is really delicate still, though – but at least I don’t have to go to the wound care clinic any more. Going twice a week every week was a bit trying on the soul. I still get bouts of pain with it, I’m still not able to stand very long on my legs, but, they’re definitely way better than they were a couple of months ago.

Anyway – this tea! I love this tea. I don’t work with currants very often, mostly because availability of the fruit is not a consistent thing. But I do enjoy the few times that I have worked with currants – including this! It’s tart, but not too tart. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. There is a lovely creamy tone to the tea. It’s smooth & delicious. Something I could easily drink all day long.

I just updated the inventory for this particular tea, so it will no longer appear as sold out – until – well – it sells out again. :) Grab some while it’s here!

Edited to add: this resteeps well! The second steep is even better than the first infusion!

I taste the cherry without it coming off as medicinal, which is nice. The base reminds me a bit of bark, but in a good way. It was all too mildly flavored for my preferences though. The second time I had this, I didn’t really taste any cherry.

Countdown To Catching Up – Tea 2

This is one of my faves from my recent blends. It’s warm & cozy without being too spicy – making it the perfect cuppa for yesterday – maybe not today, but I’ll just transport myself to yesterday in my head since I was out adulting yesterday (aka running errands: grocery shopping, doctor appointments, – you know, all that less than fun stuff that still has to be done & I didn’t really have the time to sit down with a lovely cuppa.)

This tea is also incredibly tasty, so even though it’s not “that” season any longer & we are quickly moving into Spring, this is still so good that I’m going to be enjoying it well into spring.

The black tea base is nice & smooth, the spices are warm & inviting & this makes a fantastic latte if you wanna go that way with it, but I’m currently sipping it hot, no dairy & just a little bit of sugar to bring out the spices a little more. There are notes of maple here – while blending it, I decided that if I were having an actual gingerbread scone, that instead of clotted cream, perhaps some maple butter would be more appropriate & that little bit of maple really elevates the flavor of this cup.

I don’t rate my own teas, but if I were to rate this, I’d probably give it an 89. Yeah, not a perfect score & that’s just fine with me. This tea isn’t perfect, but, I also don’t know what else I would have done to make it better. A delightful, delicious tea that brings a smile to my face every time I sip it.

So I drank this one yesterday at work. We had some pretty freaking intense snow storms over the weekend, even by Canadian standards, and so a lot of the city was “snowed in” and working from home. I, however, left my laptop at the office over the weekend so I was kind of forced to come in. I was so cold when I got in that the first thing I wanted to do was just drink a gallon of chai. I settled for the mug, though…

I have to say that I think I agree a lot with Kaylee. I really enjoyed this tea, but I didn’t really get distinct notes of chestnut and the overall sweet brown and molasses-y sort of flavour with the spices (the cinnamon/ginger in particular) really made me think of gingerbread. Gingerbread with a bit of a peppery kick to the finish, perhaps. It was exactly the warming, aromatic flavour I was looking for though!

I’m curious to taste it again in the future to see if slightly different context brings out more of those nuttier flavours for me. But even if it doesn’t, I still think this is a really rich and well balanced chai profile regardless.

This has Earl grey vibes. It’s a little lemony and creamy. It goes well with milk and sweetener. I think it tastes best cold. The final time I had it, I mostly noticed spices that hadn’t been present in the rest of the cups – I guess they had all settled to the bottom! I never noticed the strawberry.

I had no idea what to expect for this one. The flavor was mostly slightly celery-ish chamomile plus a hit of ginger. Plain, I didn’t love the combination. Sweetened with milk, it was better, though not great. I considered adding flavoring syrup since it was a little plain.