52teas

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the start of October than drinking a nice big cuppa pumpkin cheesecake! I love the fall so much. I love that the mountains surrounding our house are all turning such wonderful shades, the air is getting crisp at night, and we had that full moon that was amazing! I am planning on visiting Gap later today to pick up a green cardigan I’ve been having my eye on. I’m hoping they have one small enough in stock as it’s a men’s item. I can’t wait to wear stuff like that at school again as it is the most comfy.
This tea has been a bit up and down to me. It doesn’t really taste like pumpkin to me, but rather pumpkin spices. I love that though so not too many complaints! I’m surprised I still have so much of this left as I think I’ve had it for some time now. I love the spiciness without having to burn my tongue off or knock me off my chair. This tea is great for fun and reminds me of Thanksgivings past.

So it has been a very long time since I’ve had this tea. I’d say that it’s okay, but not up very far on my list; which would explain why I don’t drink it very often. The flavor isn’t bad it just isn’t to my liking. It is very clean tasting to me. The spices are there, but in a way that makes them feel more blended into the flavor. This aspect of the tea is something that I do appreciate about it. The tea is very smooth, but it just doesn’t remind me of pumpkin. I can understand why it is such a difficult flavor to pull off!

I’ve decided that I haven’t given this tea enough attention. The dry leaf and liquor both have a smell that I can’t quite put my finger on. This tea has been a little back an forth with me. There’s elements of it that I really enjoy and some that are a little confusing.
The confusing part is the flavor. Although it is quite nice with its application of spice there is a lingering something…I can’t tell if it just tastes more artificial than 52 teas other flavors or something else entirely. Maybe it is simply that the flavor seems too “high” on the palate. Maybe this is a weird explanation for what I’m trying to say…
Something that I do need to try with this is some cream. I normally try to avoid adding sugar/milk to my tea but nothing says pumpkin pie like cool whip!
I think the best part of this tea is that the spice is there, but it in no way overpowers the blend. Many chai blends go too far in this aspect imo and this does a much better job at blending it into the overall flavor. It doesn’t have to be the star to have part in the show!

This is a lot like the White Chocolate Grasshopper Honeybush, but I think I like this one better since dark chocolate > every other chocolate.

It is everything as advertised, just like the ice cream flavor, sweet, minty, chocolatey, but nice and warm so you don’t have to be cold. Probably a good way to cure ice cream cravings if you’re like me and hate eating it in the winter. Oh who am I kidding, I always eat it anyway.

I finally got a teapot warmer and I love it so much. Now I can make the whole pot and not be sad that it’s cold after 45 minutes. Yay for World Market!

Experience buying from @Ashley: I bought this tea from Ashley when she was selling all of her tea. I received the tea quickly through the mail and my package was filled with many surprises. Thank you Ashley!

Packaging: 52Teas packaging is very professional: the iced tea comes loose in a small, sturdy brown paper almost-envelope-like looking package, with the label on the front.

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: Very fine tea leaves, with a strong smell, of Papaya!

Brewing guidelines: I used a fine mesh Teavana metal basket strainer inside a ceramic six-cup pot (yes, it was a little awkward in how it fit); stevia added.
…………….1st: near boiling, 3’
…………….2nd: boiling, 5’
…………….3rd: boiling, 8’

Color of tea liquor: Can’t remember for certain, but think it was an attractive dark reddish-brown color.

Flavor of tea liquor: Good! Iced, it tastes sweet and fruity. Although the last steeping was fairly weak, we still got three good steepings out of it.

Overall: Our first go around with one of Frank’s iced teas, and we liked it. I used my new metal basket strainer I just bought from Teavana, and while I like that the mesh is very fine, it was so fine it quickly got clogged up and I had to pour the water very slowly (I was hoping the fine mesh would help keep the tea in the strainer without the smaller bits sneaking out; it did it’s job, it just took f o r e v e r to pour that water). It was a little agonizing, but it’s really just a consequence of my choosing to use that particular filter for this very finely cut tea. I’ll make sure to choose a different filter next time. All that to say, I tried this tea from one of those ubiquitous cups of forgotten tea after drinking a glass of H&S passion fruit tea (which I often brew up and drink iced) and found that this Papaya tea was better tasting.

By far, this is the best honeybush tea I’ve ever had.

I am not a honeybush and rooibos tea drinker, the taste of those teas usually overpower the flavor of the blends they were intended for, especially rooibos.

The instant I had opened the bag, the aroma of pineapples and coconuts literally jumped at me, and I assure you the scent is very heavenly.

But, this is still honeybush tea, so I had still reserved my judgement until I tried the tea.

The beautiful thing is, this blend really works with the honeybush taste, as the pineapple and coconut help transform into a very bright pina colada flavor.

I’ve had this tea for a good while now, as the honeybush had worried me, but I am glad I finally decided to try this on the day the weather starts to turn into the minus degrees.

This is the last tea from the 12 teas of Christmas that I hadn’t tried.

I didn’t think I was going to like this, because I cannot stand that popcorn flavored jelly bean. But it is so very different because the butter here is not disgusting.

It is a savory tea, that’s for sure. It’s a lot like pancake breakfast, but I think even more buttery. The popcorn taste isn’t nasty at all. It’s like a salty aftertaste, with more of a savory taste from the grain. I like it.

We’ll see if it’s enough of a like to spring for some more.

To me, this tastes like a generic white tea and ginger blend. I wanted to taste the gingerale but all I could taste was a faint, very far off ginger in a basic white tea base. I think I may have overstepped.

So I can get through all the review of about 30+ teas I have tried last year, but not reviewed, I have set a goal of doing about one every 10 minutes or so for the next hour and a half or so. Here I go!

Backlogging, and based almost entirely on my memory

Experience buying from @Ashley: I bought this tea from Ashley when she was selling all of her tea. I received the tea quickly through the mail and my package was filled with many surprises. Thank you Ashley!

Appearance and aroma of dry leaf: A combination of fine and larger dark bits of tea and other things; strongly smells of a spicy chai; lovely!

Brewing guidelines: Ceramic sixteen-oz cup and lid, tea in metal basket strainer; stevia added.
Based on feedback provided by this community (thank you LiberTEAS and SimplyJenW for your replies to a question I had earlier this winter!), I heat a few ounces of milk (currently unsweetened soy) in my wife’s ceramic cup just before pouring the water. I still remember the response from someone (SimplyJenW?) that steeping it with the milk (rather than adding it later), makes it all feel as if they all belong together. I love that viewpoint!
Please see my profile if you are interested in my reasons why I steep the way I do
……….1st: Near boiling; 2’
……….2nd: Nearer boiling; 3’
……….3rd: Boiling; 4’
……….4th: Spot-on boiling; 5’

Color and aroma of tea liquor: The color seems to be different than the other chai’s (we have a bunch of different ones now) when mixed with milk: it looks richer, somehow. I like this! Smells as good as any chai with milk.

Flavor of tea liquor: I have had only had a few sips of this (so then, why am I writing this review then? Huh? Huh!? I don’t know! I guess because my wife’s not a writer, per se, and so I don’t think she would ever do it!?), but I remember it being rich and tasty. I believe this is still tasty through four steepings.

Blends well with: I would think this would blend well with any other chai.

Value: I don’t find the teas of 52Teas to be priced to fit within our budget, but for someone who wants a unique tea delivered to their doorstep I think 52Teas’ standard charge of $9/2oz (delivery included) is reasonable.

Overall: As I allude to above, I got this more for my wife than for myself (she loves chai). It’s possibly the best chai we have on hand. I know she likes it (she asked for it just last night). We both love that its decaf, and I love that it’s a handcrafted tea!

Revisiting this tisane today. I do like this, it just wasn’t quite what I expected when I first opened the pouch. With a fragrance so distinctly banana, I expected the flavor to be strongly BANANA. But, my first couple of sips were more yerba mate than anything else, sure, there were hints of banana and cherry, but they weren’t as strong as I expected them to be. However, the flavors do develop as I continue to sip, and now the banana is well-balanced with the yerba mate, and I like the way these two ingredients meld together. The sweetness of the banana softens the vegetative, earthy tones of the mate quite nicely. The cherry is more of a hint, which sort of weaves its way in and out throughout the sip, but is especially noticed in the aftertaste, where there is a cherry sweetness as well as a hint of tart.

This is actually quite good.

Hmm. I can really taste the yerba mate in this blend. A very strong vegetative and earthy flavor. I can also taste the banana very well. Less of the cherry, but it’s there. It’s tasty, but, not my favorite yerba mate blend I’ve ever had. I think I may hold off on rating this one until I’ve had another cup.

This is a tea that doesn’t stand well alone. With sugar, there’s a perfect cookie smell and a pretty accurate (although very much simplified) taste, but without it, it’s just a too-bitter chocolate tea. I could see this being a nice little Christmas surprise, but if you missed it, I’m sure you can find something better.

So when I had this in the 12 days of Christmas last year, I didn’t care for it at all. I bought up a bunch of 52teas stuff from KeenTeaThyme and some of hers was in there. I figured if it’s still going to taste good, it will now with having an electric kettle. And it worked out! I actually kind of enjoyed it, but it’s still not my favorite vanilla. Of course it’d be hard to take the place of Vanille des Iles.

It’s alright, I like the Assam, and the vanilla did finally come through for me. But I wouldn’t want it beyond this honestly.

I decided I’d give this one more shot at a lower temperature, and sent the rest of it off in a swap so that I can remove teas from my spreadsheet of tea instead of constantly adding them…which I did today. A lot. I always know it’s a good day when there’s a mail locker key in my box.

It’s better with a lower water temperature, but it’s still not that vanilla-y for me. Maybe it’s me.

I am not a fan of Assam, which is probably weird because I like malty flavored cold drinks but I guess for me, hot doesn’t do it?

It just tastes like a vanilla aftertaste that typical vanilla flavored things taste like. Where is the in-your-face vanilla others mention? Come to me!

Even though it’s not as vanilla as I hoped, it still tastes a bit like melted ice cream..or maybe that’s just the aftereffects of tasting some Thai tea ice cream at 10am and ice cream is still on my brain…hm…ice cream for lunch.

This reminds me of a blend I threw together myself! Great minds think alike?

Mate and mint are just a really excellent combination, and the vanilla adds a nice little touch. Personally, I’d rather have a stronger mint flavor but this would be an idea choice for someone who wanted only a touch of mint.

Greetings Steepsterites.

I’ve come over all meh and tired and stuff. Started quite suddenly last night with low-level headache, chills and sleepyness. I wonder if I’m nipping something in the bud. Clearly the best course of action under these circumstances is to have another cup of tea (and attempt to NOT play Bejeweled for six hours straight), and since I paid ransom to Tax and Customs on my 52teas order yesterday, it seemed a good place to start.

We’ve bought the cranberry black from AC Perch’s recently and I’m really pleased with that one, so making a comparison with this one seems impossible to avoid. I was sniffing the dry leaves of each side by side and the 52teas one definitely smells like it’s much more strongly flavoured. I thought the ACP had a pretty pleasant level of flavouring so on the dry aroma alone, I prefer that one, I think. This one is a bit too forceful and there’s a funny screaming pink and dusty teal side note that reminds me of bubblegum.

After steeping it still smells pretty strongly flavoured and bubblegum-ish. I could probably identify it as cranberry in a blind test, but it smells like there’s more to it than that. It’s that dusty teal note again. I’m not sure what it is, but it reminds me weirdly of Earl Grey (that can’t be right!) or some such. I’m pretty certain these leaves have never even seen bergamot, though… At this point I can no longer compare it with ACP other than from memory, but I can’t recall if this funny note also showed up in that one. If it did, then it must be some sort of quality of the cranberry itself, but mostly I’m inclined to believe that it has to do with the differences in the strength of flavouring and the differences in the base. I can’t remember what the base is on either one, but I seem to recall Frank having mentioned once that his black base is often Nilgiri (although I can’t remember where I saw that and may in fact have made it up) and I’m pretty certain that ACP is either something Chinese or Ceylon or a blend of both.

As mentioned, I thought ACP had a level of flavouring that was just right for me. Not too little and not too much. Clearly fruity but also with a detectable tea flavour underneath it. This one is definitely far more fruity, and there it is again, that teal note! Where is that coming from??? Anyway, strongly fruit flavoured and yes, definitely cranberry-ish with a sort of tangy sweetness. I still think there’s something citrus-y going on here as well, and I’m having a sudden overwhelming urge to try and do up some sort of orange and cranberry combination, now that’s I’ve got an abundance of both available to me.

This is definitely a pleasant tea and as usual I once again find myself preferring the fruity blends over the more outlandish ones that 52teas sell, but all in all, I do prefer the fruity blends to be either green or white, I think. Those really seem to be my favourites of all. For a cranberry flavoured black in particular, I think I prefer ACP over this one, although this is definitely also a good one.

I wish I loved this one as much as everyone else, I truly do! It’s not a bad tea, but the cinnamon I’m getting is more reminiscent of red hots than cinnamon rolls, and that really throws everything off for me. I enjoyed the hint of frosting taste, though!

Hmm… I can clearly smell and taste what’s supposed to be the flavor of buttery pastry, but it just keeps reminding me of yogurt. I think it’s a personal association more than an error of 52teas’ part, but nonetheless I can’t get the idea that I’m drinking yogurt-flavored tea out of my head.

I like this tea, but I wish it had about twice as much fruit flavor. That’s what I expect from this kind of tea, and I think it would cover up the yogurt-y weirdness as well. It’s a good attempt, don’t get me wrong, and I appreciate that it’s a different approach to dessert teas than I’m used to tasting, but it could be a lot better.

That said, I’m glad I got to sample this! I’m definitely curious about 52teas’ other pastry-esque dessert blends, because I’m sure some of them are wonderful.