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So, I moved from Vancouver to Red Deer, AB about a month ago. Of course my entire tea collection made the move with me. I haven’t had the chance to sit down and enjoy some tea, however, until today.

Taking the last of my precious Xanadu to make iced tea. It’s so hot here! And it’s supposed to get hotter. And I don’t have a fan of any kind. Here’s hoping that some delicious berriness will help beat the heat.

Enjoying a mug of Coffee Pu’erh before I have to go to the dentist. Blech! I hate going to the dentist. The tea is a little strong this time; must remember to steep this at the lower end of the recommended steep time. But it’s still yummy, and it will help get me through this stupid appointment.

You can’t go wrong with vanilla and mint. Or so I thought. Turns out I have to be a bit more careful with my brewing technique.

The first time I had this, I loved the smell of the dry leaves and couldn’t wait to drink the tea. But it was very bitter. I couldn’t finish the mug! I had steeped it for about 7 minutes and added a little bit of sugar.

This time I steeped it for only 5 minutes and put both sugar and milk. Much better this time. Up until now, I hadn’t really given thought to the taste of different mints. The spearmint is quite different; I’m not sure yet if I like it as much as peppermint. But the combination of mint and vanilla is very nice. The maté is very different for me too; earthy and rich. I’d like to try this as a latte as well.

Just have time for a quick note before I take off for the airport and fly to Moncton for work. This is a very nice chai. I made it with 1/3 hot milk and 2/3 steeped tea with a couple of teaspoons of sugar. Nice and relaxing. I don’t find it much different from other chais in my stash; I was hoping for more of a ginger kick. Still, I enjoyed this very much.

Yummy! I’m learning that Frank’s teas totally deliver on the advertised flavour. This is amazingly just like strawberry pie. Love the smell of the dry tea. Love the strawberry and vanilla notes once steeped. Don’t love the fact that my mug is now empty… LOL Oh and I drank this straight up, no sugar or milk, which is quite rare for me. This tea is definitely a new fave :-)

I like coffee and tea equally well, so I was intrigued by the idea of mixing the two. I asked at the store whether I should get this or Jumpy Monkey and was told that this was the better of the two.

It smells like coffee and becomes very dark while steeping. I added sugar and milk since I don’t drink black coffee. This is my first foray into pu’erh teas; I don’t get the fishiness that a few people talked about. Maybe because of the strong coffee notes. I can taste the caramel notes, not the chocolate or almond so much. I really like this tea. It’s like a very smoothed out version of coffee. The second steeping tasted just as good, maybe even a bit smoother and better. I may start drinking this at work instead of the coffee in the break room.

On my recent visit to Davids Tea, I had no intention of buying tea for myself. The goal was to buy a tin of Jolly Jellybean for my sister-in-law and get out before I succumbed to temptation. After all, I just got a double shipment of tea from 52teas 6 days ago. Like all well-laid plans, this one went out the window once I smelled the new spring teas! I left the store with 2 tins of Jolly Jellybean, a bag of Birthday Cake, a bag of Coffee Pu’erh and a bag of Oh Canada.

The dry scent of Birthday Cake reminds me of the grocery store slab cakes of my childhood. So does the scent after steeping. I like sweet teas, but even this one had me a little nervous.

I drank the first half mug straight up. Nice. You can definitely tell it’s a rooibos tea, but I wasn’t getting the birthday cake taste. So the second half that I’m drinking right now has a half teaspoon of sugar and a splash of milk. There’s the cake! It’s like creamy icing and moist cake. This will be a great way to satisfy my sweet tooth when I want dessert after dinner. (This is the second time this week that I’ve had a “baked treat” type tea. I’ve got to find a few more like this!)

Readers who have seen my previous reviews will know that I am constantly in search of the perfect chai. I think a good 40% of my tea stash consists of different chai blends. Many of them are good; they’re just not THE chai I’m searching for.

I knew this one probably wouldn’t be the one either, just because caramel and vanilla aren’t part of a true chai blend. I do, however, love anything sweet so I got this to satisfy the sweet tooth (or would that be sweet tastebud?). I made it today for the first time with a bit of sugar and about 1/4 mug of heated milk.

I can definitely taste the vanilla and the caramel. I can also tell it’s a chai blend. I’m not sure what I think yet. Acutally, no, I know what it is. I was expecting more desserty tea than chai, and so I’m still trying to get that expectation out of my head. It’s growing on me with every sip. I’m going to play around a bit with the milk to chai ratio next time, and maybe try brown sugar instead of white. My rating is more “to be decided” because I have a feeling that it’ll go up once I find the right balance for me.

OMG! I’m drinking a cinnamon roll, and I’m in heaven :-)

There’s a bit of a saga around my first order from Frank; you can read about it on my blog at http://missmylin.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/the-tea-saga/

This tea was one that Frank sent me in the replacement package. I wouldn’t have thought to order it myself, but I’m sooooo glad I got the chance to try it. I’ve never tried honeybush before; I love rooibos though so it’s a perfect fit for me. And this really is like drinking a cinnamon roll. I tried it plain first which is great. Then I added a little bit of sugar which was like putting icing on the cinnamon roll vs. eating it plain.

I am definitely a 52teas convert, and I can’t wait to try the rest of the teas in my shipment!

So I thought I’d try this again, just to see if I’ve changed my mind.

Nope.

I steeped it for 4 minutes this time, but still had that bitterness that I really dislike. I still don’t get any caramel notes. I do catch a citrusy sweet aftertaste that redeems this tea somewhat. Good thing I only have about a mug’s worth left in the package. Maybe I’ll try it as a latte and see what happens.