6111 Tasting Notes

77

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 167)

I is for… I Drink and I Know Things!

Whew, finally a day with fewer teas to choose from (so I’m mostly drinking resteeps today). This tea is more or less a medium-bodied chai with a licorice note from the anise. It’s mild and flavourful enough to drink without additions, which is nice, although I did intend to try it with some milk but forgot.

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70
drank Honey Drop by DAVIDsTEA
6111 tasting notes

(DavidsTea 2022: 80)

H is for… Honey Drop!

Another epic oversteep but the tea hasn’t particularly suffered, since there’s no actual tea in it. However – really not a fan of this one. I’m iffy on the “honey” flavouring that many companies use, and paired here with stevia, it’s too cloying for me and I’d rather just have real honey. I should save this tea for my husband’s next cold; I feel like it would work well for him, and maybe require less actual honey than he usually puts in?

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drank Highgarden by 52teas
6111 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 166)

H is for… Highgarden!

Being a green tea, this tea did suffer from my epic oversteep and is quite strong and fairly bitter. Aside from that, there’s a strong lemon verbena flavour, and that’s about all I’m getting. Oops.

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71
drank Holiday Sangria by 52teas
6111 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 165)

H is for… Holiday Sangria!

Epically oversteeped this (and the other two I’ll write about shortly). Multitasking definitely isn’t usually successful nowadays. Anyhow, since this is a herbal/fruit blend, it didn’t really suffer too much. I had some last night and didn’t care for it, but the rest (this morning) is full-bodied (probably from the oversteep), smooth, and kind of a sophisticated orangey bubblegum flavour. Sophisticated because there are supporting flavours that I’m too tired to try and identify, but which temper the bubblegum flavour and add interest.

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81

(52teas (Anne) 2022: already recorded)

H is for… Hot Buttered Banana Bread!

Already recorded this tea when I drank the 2021 advent reblend, but this note is for the 2015 reblend, and yes, this 6.5+ year old tea is my favourite of the day so far (probably will hold up – my last two are herbals and it’s unlikely to bump out this delicious tea). The banana is pretty light here now – almost imperceptible, really – but there’s a lovely nuttiness and buttery flavour that emerges mid sip through into the aftertaste. And, the black base is punchy but not quite astringent – you can taste the tannins but it’s not unpleasant. I’m really quite enjoying this mug.

I can’t really tell here that the nuttiness is walnut, so it is definitely different from the pecan in the latest blend, but both are good. I think the important factor is a nuttiness that is not, say, almond (that would ruin it for me).

gmathis

Look at you burning up the alphabet!

Kittenna

I’m having fun! It’ll be a bit more pathetic after “L” though as I’ll be on vacation, haha. Not the best timing but it is what it is!

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73
drank Honeyed Lemon by 52teas
6111 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 164)

H is for… Honeyed Lemon!

This was’t too bad, and did indeed taste like a light honeyed lemon black tea, but I’d have preferred more lemon. Or maybe lime? Honeyed lime? That sounds interesting.

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drank Hakuna Matata by 52teas
6111 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 163)

H is for… Hakuna Matata!

Another tea with no reviews (aside from one from Anne). So odd; I think people here other than me also subscribe? Maybe everyone is like me and fails at logging teas regularly, too :D

Anyhow, wasn’t a big fan of this one. The orange ended up dominating, the base or a flavouring ingredient imparted some bitterness, and overall I didn’t really enjoy it. I do think it needs another shot, because I don’t know the temp of the water I used as I was at my MIL’s place, so it may have been too hot.

tea-sipper

Yes, I’m so glad you are posting about all these teas from 52Teas that I have never even heard of, and apparently not many other people have written notes for.

Kittenna

There have been a couple good ones that I’m surprised about. This one, I’m at this point not a fan, and perhaps others with it felt the same and didn’t bother to write about it.

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62
drank Honey Butter Cookie by 52teas
6111 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 162)

H is for… Honey Butter Cookie!

As is seeming to be an odd trend lately, I wasn’t a huge fan of this hot – mostly just couldn’t taste much flavouring – but drinking it cold, hours later, I’m tasting some butteriness in the aftertaste. The honey was present all along, but I like it more now that I can taste the butter.

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79
drank Grapefruit Granita by DAVIDsTEA
6111 tasting notes

(DavidsTea 2022: 79)

G is for… Grapefruit Granita!

This tea has a really lovely grapefruit flavour, no bitterness, and was very unsweet, which was unexpected since it contains sweet blackberry leaves. I assume it was just luck of the draw that I didn’t get any in the 1.5tsp I used, but I was briefly pleased that it was a rare tea that hadn’t come pre-sweetened!

Probably one of my favourite grapefruit teas so far, if I had to choose.

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76
drank Gingered Plum by 52teas
6111 tasting notes

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 161)

G is for… Gingered Plum!

I can’t remember what I’ve thought of this tea in the past, but yesterday when I had it warm, I was pretty ambivalent about it. Nothing really distinctive, just a cup of tea. Today, after sitting out overnight, I’m enjoying it much more – there’s a really delicious creaminess in the aftertaste which follows some nice candied ginger flavours. On the initial sip, I get a bit of ginger but also almost a licorice flavour, which I’m not fond of, but this aftertaste is just stellar. It’s really interesting how some flavours show up like that, although I prefer a tea that tastes good both on the initial sip and in the aftertaste. It looks like I got a large size of this tea when I purchased it, so I’m glad that I do actually enjoy it!

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Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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