52teas

SUPER DUPER THANKS TO AMANDA FOR THIS ONE!!!!
It’s been on my wish list for like a year and a half!!!

It does smell like an adult beverage and after a while it smells like a Grasshopper – The mint is subtle with the creamy and the white chocolate contributes to that. It leaves a lovely refreshing aftertaste.

More more I drink this – I fairly sure I could drink this everyday! YUM!
WINNER WINNER – Vegan Chick’n DINNER :)

(I just can’t bring myself to say Chicken Dinner…so it’s Vegan Chick’n Dinner LOL)

I’m afraid that I don’t love this. :(

It seemed like such a sure thing because I love genmaicha and I love marshmallows. (Plus I was hoping I would love this as much as the famous Malted Genmaicha!)

But I don’t taste yummy fluffy sugary marshmallows—I taste fruity pop rocks! Tossed in with some astringent green tea and toasty rice. I like the toasty rice—but the fruitiness is a bit overwhelming. I know that vanilla can sometimes manifest as “fruity” in perfumes—I’m wondering if it’s the same with flavors?

But anyways, I’m sad to say that this is not a fave. At least it is not what I hoped.

Next time, I’ll try brewing this with less leaf and see what I get.

So yummy! I just got finished writing a full-length review of this tea, which will publish in a few hours on SororiTea Sisters, so I hope you’ll watch for it!

It doesn’t surprise me in the least that I love this blend, since I absolutely flipped for Monkey Farts from My Sweet Honeybush. This might be even better, because the tartness in the raspberry evens the sweetness of the banana out just a bit… or maybe it’s the other way around, the tart of the raspberry gets mellowed out by the banana. Either way, it’s really a delicious combination.

CHAroma’s review is spot on for this. There’s not a strong apple taste, but the spices of cider are all there. I’m not big on spicy teas so I can’t say that I’m crazy about this one, but the spices are present without being overwhelming so it’s one of the more enjoyable ones that I’ve had.

I used the rest of this from the 12 Teas of Christmas to make a quart of cold steeped tea. Still delicious. Sadly, I have now broken my tea buying moratorium 3 times (But if you buy tea twice in one mall, does it only count as one time, so I can say 2 times instead? No?) so I am fully banning myself from even looking at more tea…but I reeeeeally want more of this D:

hopefully today is the last day I take iced tea with me until like, March. This is soooo good though, it tastes like candy.

I cold brewed it so it really just tastes like lemonade. I don’t get much of the white tea, which is what always led me to think white tea has no flavor. (Except I know that is not true now!) But so tart and good, when I get home I am making more.

I’m disappointed in this grape tea. That’s pretty much to strongest flavor and aroma coming from the dried leaves and the brewed product. Grape. Not raisin. I mean, it’s a nice tea, I guess…but when you say “oatmeal raisin” you tend to expect more. I don’t taste anything that implies oats, spices, or butter.
My rating reflects my disappointment.
They should have pushed up the grape flavor and called it a grape black tea
Oh, well

I am drinking this as I’m eating my spicey homemad (vegan, of course) Dal Makhani I made early. I’m downloading updated maps into my GPS. I’m ready.
I was excited for this tea, because I love cranberries,I love black tea & 52Teas usually is on target
The tea itself in the bag is nice to look at with the bits of cranberries and the cranberry aroma is right there. It’s freshly tart with fruitiness, but not overwhelmingly “per-fumy”
It’s pretty nice with a real tartness, that unique cranberry tartness that is tartness mixed with a little bitterness. Sugar can tame this, but I found it not unnecessary.
I’ll drink it a few more times then save it for iced tea! I’m sure it will be great iced. I like this tea,,,the tea flavor comes through and is equally present with the true cranberry flavor.
Yum
oh, yeah…goes well with Indian food ;-)

Just made this into a latte, and it is divine! Something about it makes me think of a gingerbread latte. It is delicious!!

First off, a HUGE thank you to Frank and 52teas for sending me a more-than-generous helping of this tea after a mishap with my 12 teas of christmas sample. It’s so great to deal with people and companies that genuinely care and support their products and customers. Thank you, thank you, thank you!! You are amazing!!

That being said, this was a delightful cup of tea. I have a love-hate relationship with chai and this fell on the side of the former. The warm vanilla and caramel notes were in harmony with the spice of the chai. But as I’ve been finding a lot lately, with chais a little sugar and almond milk go a long way and help to tone down the zestiness that is off-putting to me at times. I’m glad I have so much of it to enjoy now! I can’t wait to try making this into a latte, and have it keep me warm in these winter months ahead.

Tragedy Strikes!!

Previous installments of my 12 teas of christmas set have had significant holes in the bottom, where portions of tea have escaped, but previously I’d been able to salvage enough to make a cup.

That all changed today! The ENTIRE (and I mean every last particle) of today’s sample had disappeared through an entirely open bottom, leaving only the sticker left to taunt me about an amazing-sounding tea I won’t get the chance to try :(

I like this better iced than I do hot. It cold steeps well. I wish I had steeped up more of it, but I never have any idea what the temperature is going to be anymore, other than decidedly unwinterlike. So it’s almost like getting a flavor I love about fall/winter while not making myself more uncomfortably hot…I am not taking my big fluffy warm comforter off my bed just yet, it’s January!

When this tea was released, I was totally on a cranberry kick. Thankfully I am still riding the waves of it now that my first month of my subscription has arrived and I tore into this one first!

I kind of got distracted making dinner while drinking it. First I thought I may have steeped it too short because I got distracted by a bell pepper. I thought I was just going to do the prepwork and hold off on eating for another hour but my stomach disagreed, so an hour later the tea was not very warm.

And that’s okay, because at first I was not tasting cranberry. And now, I do. It really sneaks up on you, and it’s more prevalent now that it’s cooled. Yep, definitely still loving its sweet, tarty flavor.

I had to drink some sort of cranberry cocktail drink this weekend when thirsty at my boyfriend’s, and I would take this over that stuff hands down. It doesn’t have that nasty sugary flavor of those juices, making it way better. I like it.

And I believe this is my 100th tasting note, hooray!

I love s’mores and tend to dislike chai, so this was an interesting one to try. The smell is very distinctive — not quite chai, not quite marshmallows, and not really a combination of the two, just… distinctive. In a good way!

The liquor tastes like a weak chai… which is not a complaint in and of itself. Most chai is far too spicy for me, but this one is at just the right level for me to notice the spices without feeling overwhelmed… although I would prefer less peppercorn and more cinnamon. Sadly, I’m not really getting much s’more taste, even sweetened. There’s maybe a hint of graham crackers when I search for it, but overall it feels like it’s trying very hard and failing to be something besides a plain chai.

Overall, yay for being chai that I enjoy smelling and drinking, boo for being only barely s’more-esque.

Yay pomegranate! Pleasantly tart and fruity. Delicious as a warm, soothing infusion like this. I’m very pleased with the flavor. Very uplifting and refreshing—even when hot.

Cinnamon Roll Honeybush came in the mail today … dipping my little toe into the 52teas world for the first time. This one I should like, if any. The package did not have steeping instructions, so had to read through all the prior notes and strike a happy medium … 1-1/2 tsp./8 oz./195 for 7 minutes is how I prepared this.

Ok, so the tea … hmmmm, it smells really good. Can smell the cinnamon and a faint yeast factor. First sip, I’m getting the cinnamon for sure … not as strong as I had imagined it to be. Not getting any vanilla/icing, well maybe a little tiny bit in the background. I’m starting to think this may need steeped longer, because it’s a bit weak for my tastes. Hmmm ~ponders~

I don’t usually buy flavored teas but happened to purchase this on a whim (also this is my first tea from 52 Teas). I love oatmeal raisin cookies and I’m sure the cookie image sold me :)

There are about a teaspoon’s worth of oats and 7 raisins mixed with the tea in my bag. This is clearly just eye candy and doesn’t contribute any flavor.

The aroma straight from the bag is pretty intense. The main thing I smell is grapes?? (and I don’t mean raisin… I mean grape- like artificial grape) and vanilla/cream- maybe a hint of cinnamon. Sweet smelling. It smells like what I would imagine a cheap vanilla-ish or cookie candle would smell like.

The brewed tea looses much of that strong aroma- the grape is still there but it’s subtle as is those vanilla notes. The dominant aroma here is black tea.

Taste: definitely not oatmeal raisin cookie and NOTHING like I was expecting based on the dry leaf aroma. Mainly malty black tea (is the base an assam?). There really isn’t much flavoring that I’m picking up on. After adding milk and sugar, whatever flavorings are in there are a bit more pronounced.

Overall I’m not too impressed.

Adding the milk and sugar bring the tea somewhat closer to a real cookie. Who doesn’t love sugar?? :) But I don’t like the idea that I need to add something to improve it.

Then again… maybe I’m not being fair. Oatmeal raisin cookies DO have sugar in them and they are perfect with a nice glass of milk.

It’s not that it’s not enjoyable… it’s just not anywhere near what I was hoping to experience. Where’s the cookie?!? But as I said, I’m not a flavored tea kind of guy so your experience could vary… and perhaps my expectations are too high… and maybe I’m being a little too harsh.

Although I wouldn’t purchase this blend again, I’m not sworn off on trying anything from 52 Teas in the future. The price is right: $9 for 2oz of tea shipped, not bad to just try something fun out and risk not loving it.

does it taste like oatmeal raisin cookies? not really, at least not on my first try, though of course i’ll make more. but it is nice and sweet and yummy. paradoxically, when i first finished steeping it i thought it was oversteeped, but as it cooled it tasted understeeped…hmm

Ok I got distracted because I had to make this hummus: http://www.cookincanuck.com/2012/11/creamy-curry-hummus-recipe-healthy-snack/ Hummus is way too terrifyingly easy to make especially now that I know I can get a jar of tahini for a more reasonable $6. (This one does not include any tahini which is why I like it.)

Still lukewarm, this is great. Mostly banana, still enough raspberry. I actually think I may like it better cold, I’ll have to give it a try. It seems like as it cools off, it gets creamier.

All around it’s a nice sweet drink.

Tasting note thing does not like my laptop lately…it’s probably my terrible internet. Yesterday I was chatting w/some hockey friends (actually it was more like insulting another team in a chatroom for hours) and I was like I really want tea but I don’t know which one to make.
Little did they know when I cant decide it’s not because I can’t pick “green or black” or something…and when I said how many teas I have one of them told me I am their hero lol, so some of you with 100+ on here are legendary status then.

Tonight I decided to go with something new (though I did that last night too). My mom got me this for Christmas , I probably asked her to get it and I don’t even remember.

I like to leave honeybush steeping forever so the flavors get really strong. That’s like one of my favorite things about herbals, especially if they have something I love…so you can probably tell I love raspberry. This is like drinking raspberry juice. This could be strange hot, but it doesn’t seem weird at all to me.

I am really not a banana person, but the banana tastes like an afternote to me. This is really fruity, but not cloyingly so. I think that’s the honeybush part making its appearance. I think it really pulls this together, I can’t imagine this flavor with anything else but honeybush.

I bet it’s really good iced. I will give that a try sometime to take with me to school. I feel like the only motivator for my terribly boring semester is going to be taking tea with me in my tumbler. (Intro to landforms, can I introduce you to a cliff?)

52teas 12 Days of Christmas Sampler 2011 – Day 11

Yay! Cinnamon Roll Honeybush! I mean, I’m not excited about the Honeybush part. But I LOVE cinnamon rolls!!!

And this tea pretty much just tastes exactly like cinnamon. I get a hint of cloyingly sweet Honeybush, but mostly I just taste delicious cinnamon. This is probably the best Honeybush tea I’ve ever had. I’m not getting anything resembling a hot buttery roll, but it’s still good.

I have to give this a lower rating because it is Honeybush, and pure cinnamon tea isn’t all that special. That being said, it’s not an overabundance of cinnamon. It’s executed well.

The bottom line: I usually absolutely detest Honeybush, so that should be a huge tip off how great this tea is. Buy this up, people!