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My first order from 52teas! Really exciting! I love oranges and I love pineapples, this sounded like a good one to me.

Once you cut open the foil packet the smell is really strong. The packet didn’t smell like anything before hand though, which I like because then there wasn’t any scent contamination with the other one I ordered. The first whiff to me wasn’t entirely appetizing though. It rather reminds me of tropical flavored carbonated water, like the ones you find at the supermarket that you buy when you’re craving something fizzy but don’t have much money. AKA entirely artificial. I didn’t get individual scents of either orange or pineapple.

I’ve only ever had honeybush in a teabag before, so the visual was mildly surprising. It looks like mini-woodchips! Actually it really reminded me of saute’d lemongrass, but that’s a different story. The bag was kinda tiny for a 2oz, but it was jam packed full. I suppose these leaves don’t exactly need room to breathe. I heard that it’s similar to rooibos, which I’ve discovered is not one I’m fond of, but honeybush isn’t nearly so offensive to me.

There aren’t any brewing instructions, and for my first time I felt kind of lost. So I filled up my cup with 195 water and took it upstairs with me. Then added the tea. I figured if the temp was a little lower, I could get away with a longer steep time, cause really I didn’t know what I was doing. Honestly I have trouble steeping things for a long time. I’m impatient so those greens and such that only take a minute or so are my best friend.

I probably brewed this for maybe 7 minutes, at least 5. The liquor was like a maple syrup color… and it still smelt artificial and meh. The smell does get better as it cools though, surprisingly, as the flavors stand they start to differentiate a little bit. Mostly though it just smells like fruit punch. Probably would be a tea that benefits from making iced or cold steeped.

The taste is mildly minty, like rooibos but not as medicine/herby, so I don’t mind it. It’s not as strong as peppermint tea though. Maybe like fruit punch, diluted alot, and garnished with mint.

I’m not sure yet if I like it, it deserves another tasting, but I still find it (right now) like the artificial flavored water, just without the fizziness.

… Can I resteep this? Does one resteep honeybush?