52teas

Coconut is the strongest flavor, but the kukicha gives it a hearty backdrop. This was best sweetened with milk. I taste coconut and marshmallow and that’s nice, but a little simple. The next two times I had this, I found it too plain for my tastes. The flavors didn’t shine anymore for whatever reason.

Once I let this cool and added milk, it tasted super nice and sophisticated. The anise is the strongest flavor, but it combined beautifully with the base, and a bright, yet desserty hit of orange comes next. This flavor profile really surprised me – I didn’t expect to be such a fan, but I really enjoyed my bag.

Sipdown!

Again still have a packet left. This one’s not anything particularly special, just a solid version of a blueberry black tea. Nice authentic flavour, robust base. A go-to when I want something straightforward but not quite a straight tea.

TTB 2025 – When I added the leaves to my strainer, I saw a beautiful dried orange piece and could smell the spices. The fruit and spice flavors were present in the brewed tea without being overpowering. Overall, I enjoyed the taste, but my only complaint is that it left me with a dry mouth feel.

TTB 2025 – This tea tastes sweet and lemon-limey. I drank it plain and did not get any notes resembling cheesecake, but I still found this tea to be enjoyable. It kind of reminded me of drinking a lemon lime soda.

I’m drinking this cold with sugar and milk, and I’m enjoying the quality of the blueberry here! It’s so fresh and authentic. This one is straightforward, but high quality.

TTB 2025 – To me, this blend does not taste like a cookie, but more like the spices that would go into a Christmas cookie. It’s somewhere in the realm of gingerbread cookie spices, but not really ginger forward. I think it’s a tasty blend, and the little snowflake sprinkles are adorable.

Sipdown! I oversteeped this by at least ten minutes today, but actually it was fine. Just made it a little more citrus-tart than usual, but not unpleasantly so. I’ve never gotten a significant creamy note from this particular blend. Mostly I get lemon, lime, and sweet. Surprisingly, I like it better hot than cold. Not one I feel the urge to restock but I enjoyed it while I had it!

The aroma of this tea is absolutely delightful. Ashman has tried other pear teas and wasn’t fond of them so I drink this by myself, but I think he would like it. His complaint against pear flavor in general is that it tastes floral to him. This tea smells like sunshine.

I don’t know what the natural flavors mentioned in the ingredients might be, but something about this tea is citrusy to me – thus my impression of sunshine when smelling the dry leaves or the steeped tea. It could be just a brightness in the base but I find it delightful. It was just the thing to brighten and cheer this gray and blustery day.

The scent of fresh mango was super strong. The first time, it turned out a little astringent seeming even though I steeped this shorter than the recommended time. The resteep was somehow tastier than the first steep. It was mostly super mapley pancakes, which was nice! On subsequent steeps, I kept the time under three minutes and let it cool completely before drinking. Then it became really wonderful, blending the mango, coconut, and maple perfectly.

Soy milk complements the banana flavor well. This is so similar to other 52teas banana blends that I assumed I’d had it before until I checked Steepster for a note to be sure. It’s best cold, and I may have enjoyed the resteep even more than the first. It tastes nice, but the banana could be even stronger, and nothing about it says pie distinctly to me.

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!