53 Tasting Notes
It will do. I bought some this morning along with a great new cup for my tea at work, since I dropped my tea pot.
I was hoping for a steadfast standby for when I was wanting a plain cup of tea. Unfortunately, This tea was not robust, and rather flat. I steeped a second cup using water at a full boil but with not much improvement (earlier I was in a rush and my first cup was with hot water from the water cooler, which is better for greens). There is definitely a floral note to this tea, but it is lacking the depth I have become accustomed to.
My husband now declares me a total snob. Bridgehead, I love many things about you, but not this tea.
Preparation
Life in Teacup never fails to please. This is my go to source for unadulterated great tea.
This Keemun Black is a really nice tea. A little smokey and woody, it smells a bit like a Finnish sauna. Its liquor is warm and steamy, along the same theme. I oversteeped this cup but it’s not bitter at all, and the deep, almost chocolate coloured liquor is comforting, cozy, and complex.
I’m referencing a long paper right now, and this is just the cup to keep me company. Thank LIT, I love your teas.
Preparation
I’ve run out of banana bread black by 52 teas (I may cease to exist until a reblend).
Luckily, Lisbet sent me a pouch of this in a swap, and while not quite the crack that banana bread black has become for me, it is really quite good.
The dry tea is definitely blueberry all the way. I could imagine myself sitting on hot Canadian shield rocks in late summer, picking and eating the ripe, wild blueberries. A great feeling to have from smelling a bag of tea!
Steeps up nicely, with blueberry smells wafting around the room. I’m not quite as fond of the black Assam base, but the blueberry taste is rich and lovely, not at all fake and just perfectly sweet. Definitely an overall good tea, although it won’t replace my banana bread sigh
My last cup…the rest is on its way to another Jen. I really liked this tea, and it was my second from DavidsTea (first was milk oolong!). I apparently have never logged it.
The scent from this tea is enticing. When I brew it at work, you can smell it throughout my entire section. It even caused a colleague to go buy some herself. It raises comments when I bring a cup in meetings.
The scent is heavenly, the chocolate and mint combination perfect. For anyone who likes a peppermint tea, this one is very minty, and marries the chocolate tones nicely. I could drink this forever — certainly I need to restock!
The only thing I would change, are the scary red lips. While pretty, I doubt they add anything but extra chemicals to my cup. I’d love to see them gone, or a list of ingredients to reassure me that they are not as evil as they look!
Preparation
Meh… Far too much cinnamon here to taste anything else. It’s pretty to look at, and makes a nicely tinted tea, but aside from that, it doesn’t have much to offer. I’m hoping it was a function of what ended up in my cup… Maybe the next cup will be what I was looking for. (temp 95 stepp 3 min…iPad hates the slider bars!)
Preparation
Here goes. It is the week of 52 teas.
This has a really nice smell as it is steeping. I was so enthusiastic, I forgot to smell it dry in the bag. Next time!
The strawberry comes out as well as the subtle butter smell. I’m not sure that I’m catching the brown sugar or cinnamon. Actually, there it is, a little bit of cinnamon, but just a hint, which I rather appreciate. Cinnamon can be overbearing.
The strawberries are sweet and just a little tart, as if they are just ripe, and not yet mushy. The is a really pleasant sipping tea. It’s very hot right now (I brewed it with boiling, as you can see), so I’m interested to see if other flavours pop as the tea cools.
Definitely glad I got this one to add to my nightime tea options. Which reminds me, I have to go review Frank’s chamomile. It was really, very, good – and anyone who can make chamomile taste good deserves serious props (a word I learned from my 17 year old, lest you think I’m hipper than I am!).
Preparation
Interesting. Not interesting bad. Just interesting.
I’m not sure if I would have bought this if I had tasted it on its own. That being said, I’m not sad I received it! The cherry flavour is bam!, smack you in the face cherry. Cherry without sweetness is an interesting experience. Like a Halls cough drop without the methol. The tartness was nice, but I really want to reel the intensity back a bit. I’m going to think about what I could blend this with to make the cherry a little more subtle (chocolate, perhaps?). I almost killed a colleague with this, though, so share carefully, with fair warning!
Preparation
I’m not going to divulge how many bags of 52teas tea arrived today. It will keep me happy for quite some while, which is sad, because it means I should resist the weekly teas for at least a month.
Anyhow, Hot Buttered Banana Bread is steeping in my pot. The scent of the dry tea is fabulous – most banana scents are overwhelming and cloying. This one is just right (Goldilocks would be pleased!). As it steeps, banana wafts up from the pot, with some nutty undertones. I haven’t had a black tea from 52teas before, so I’m much looking forward to my first sip.
The black base has a maltiness along with an astringency to it that really compliments the sweet banana, and the, well, nutty walnut. I would not have thought to marry these flavours, and yet this so totally works, I’m really very happy I ordered this. This would make a perfect breakfast tea or morning break tea.
I don’t know Frank, you’re making me rethink my rating system and my previously stated preference for unadulterated oolongs.
Preparation
Happiness is right! What a cheerful blend this is. Definitely fruity, but not overwhelmingly so. The oolong still shines through, unlike many a flavored tea. Now I need to go research kombucha, preferably with a nice warm cup of tea to keep me and my iPad company…
Preparation
Now that my cold is well and truly gone, I can actually taste my oolongs again. Milky and I spent the drive home together. Oh how I love this tea. Milky, buttery, creamy, smooth. Then a little bit of floral and a hint of green. I need to go do steep 2 now. I think monkey picked and milky are neck and neck for my fave oolongs. Time for a steep off!