Featured & New Tasting Notes
Well everyone, I am back in the States… for those of you that didn’t know, I have been in Canada, more specifically Montreal since last Wednesday. While there I did a ton of exploring, bought way too much tea, and got to meet up with a tea friend!
Saturday I got to meet the amazing and sweet @Roswell Strange AKA Kelly. We did a little snack swap and she was so kind and threw in a ton of teas for me to try! So… since I have kinda a slow, boring, and kind of uneventful day of work today (got the surprise that I’m the only one on today…), I decided… why not try a few teas that she gifted me as well as a few that I snagged while we were at Camellia Sinesis and throughout the city! When in doubt, drink tea, you know?
First, I decided to try this blend because it was bagged and easy to take to work because desk job = not a ton of space. I had heard of almost before, I used to get Universal Yums and I think they had the same parent company because they sell their teas on their site (but not in their boxes… boo). So, I was really excited about this one. I love dessert teas so I knew these would interest me, I just never got around to ordering because of the crazy sipdown year I had… I think I got my collection to less that 20/30 before the last few weeks… then I went a little crazy (I went to DAVIDsTEA 3 times while in Canada…I blacked out and it was a hefty haul).
On to this tea:
I absolutely loved this tea! I was shocked to see that it was a pu’erh because it’s not often that I see bagged pu’erh blends aside from DAVIDsTEA and it was a pleasant surprise. This blend was certainly desserty and full of the brown-butter/caramelized flavor. However, what I liked the most was that I could still taste the pu’erh in it all. Sometimes, I think pu’erh can get lost in flavorings and blended ingredients and its nice to have such a great balance. Perhaps when I recover from the craziness that was my three-tote bag haul of tea… plus a Murchies order that arrived while I was gone (I forgot I placed it)… I’ll have to order some of this!
Thank you again to Kelly for sharing this and all the amazing snacks with me! I can’t wait to keep trying everything! I’m also happy to update everyone that I am officially going back to Montreal in October… so I’ll likely be making more bad decisions tea-wise then…
Flavors: Butterscotch, Buttery, Cake, Caramel, Earthy, Vanilla, Woody
Sipdown! (4 | 107)
Sipped through another bag of this, and it’s still just delightful. Perfectly balanced between sweet and tangy, and oh-so-refreshing for summer. To me, the predominant flavor is the orange and lemongrass, but I can taste tart strawberry as well.
So tempted to go ahead and place another order, but I want to make myself drink through some of my pound bag of Watermelon Cooler from Adagio first… XD
Flavors: Citrus, Fresh, Fruity, Juicy, Lemongrass, Orange, Strawberry, Sweet, Tangy, Tart
Preparation
This sometimes ends up a little thin. I overleafed it the most recent time, and then it was quite tart and slightly funky. It’s just not for me. It’s best cold with a lot of sweetener. Then it tastes decent, but I’d rather drink a different fruity tea.
TTB 2025
As the other tea notes say, this is very well balanced. I wish there was a bit more cinnamon, but nothing seems to be competing for my attention. I’m not sure I’d call it a chai, maybe chai adjacent or a spicy lapsang. Thanks for adding it to the box!
Neighbors had their 4th on the 3rd last night, which meant a late bedtime waiting for the pyrotechnics finale (I don’t mind the ones that go BOOM, but the ones that shriek make me nuts). Heavy-handed caffeine, cold, is the order of the day while I prep for VBS next week. (Fifteen cootie catchers folded; next project is origami hopping frogs. Wanna help?)
Tejava stays my favorite pre-bottled unsweet tea. Dark and strong without obnoxious citric acid. I never get the kick in the pants I need from iced tea, no matter how beefy, but this one at least provides a nice forceful nudge.
You know I would be there if I were closer!
Making hopping paper fronts sounds fun!
They never hop far or straight, so when you race them, you’ve got kids crawling on their hands and knees all willy-nilly trying to get them aimed toward the finish line. Organized chaos.
Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – July 2025 Tea #1 -July 3 – Air Conditioning Appreciation Day – drink a cold tea
oh goodie — I popped a hot tea in the fridge this morning to have later when it’s cold, without even remembering that was the prompt for today. :) And that tea happens to be this one. Such a pleasant tea to have cold. It’s like the flavor is simply sweet, without any sweeteners. On a strong base. I have a couple steep sessions left with this and then I will miss it.
Sipdown. I didn’t take good notes while drinking this, but it isn’t my favorite 52teas blend. Rum is the dominant flavor here, and I do enjoy the taste of rum, but somehow it didn’t seem quite right. Maybe a stronger base, or the addition of some vanilla, chocolate, and/or cinnamon flavor, would have given the blend a bit more balance. Not terrible by any means, there are just other 52teas blends I enjoy more.
After touring Arundel Castle, we found this tea shop while walking around the town. They say they make their own teas, so I bought almost all their herbal blends. This one is unfortunately not a winner. The fruitiness is just kind of chemically. Combined with the rooibos, it’s just fake and unpleasant. Cold with almond milk is the most palatable way to drink it.
Sounds like a loser! You want fruitiness? Buy a bottle of “Ribena” at a corner market. I love that stuff! Essentially blackcurrent juice drink.
Ha I brought back two pounds of dried black currants because I can’t get them where I live, but I’ve never been a juice or soda fan, so I didn’t try Ribena! Maybe I should next time!
Got a mixed package for Christmas of the 3 Catspring’s varieties of loose leaf yaupon. This extra teabag was in the box.
I’d be fooled if somebody told me this is a lighter roast houjicha. Hit all the right notes this morning with a summer fog that was sprinkling fine mist on every surface. Mellow and smooth and sweet. Decent caffeine kick to boot.
Will come back to this for tasting note details when I break open the looseleaf :)
This reminds me of the turtle flavor from a few years ago. I taste chocolate and vanilla. It’s high quality and tasty cold with milk and sugar. I definitely prefer how 52teas does chocolate over any other company. It’s very natural. I liked it, though I’ve preferred other similar 52teas blends.
This is supposed to be rhubarb flavor, and I guess I can see that! Combined with the woodiness of the rooibos, it’s not my favorite, but it’s okay cold! I became obsessed with rhubarb & custard candies, so now I buy every rhubarb thing I see, just chasing that flavor ha.
I had this twice cold, and it sadly never worked for me. The first time, it was much too mild. The second time, it was almost bitter, but the main flavor was the green tea with not too much other flavor shining through. I love white chocolate, and I sadly didn’t taste any here. There was a hint of fruitiness, but everything needed to be stronger.
My children told my mother to gift me some teas for my birthday. She gave me a pretty new tea pot and creamer with a gift box of 9 types of tea from this company. My guess is she picked them up together at on of the TJMaxx shops.
Grabbed my mug this morning and put the kettle on to boil. The tea bags appear to have finely ground powder in them. I steeped for about 5 minutes while putting together my breakfast, perhaps I could have let it sit a bit longer to increase the flavors. However, this is definitely the type of tea my mom would drink. Its a straightforward black tea with a hint of orange and clove. Nothing fancy and not too strong but absolutely ok.
Flavors: Clove, Orange
Preparation
The purple color is so lovely! The flavor is pretty light, requiring extra powder. The main flavor I taste is lavender, which is really nice. There’s a bit of something else like fruitiness, but I wouldn’t say blueberry specifically, and there’s definitely no macaron. I enjoy having a few herbal powders around for when I don’t have a lot of time, but I don’t think this is ultimately one I would repurchase.
I haven’t explored any instant herbals. Do you have any recommendations?
I’ve tried a few from DavidsTEA that are decent, but not notable enough to recommend. I had some awful ones from T2 ha. I’ll let you know if I find one I love!
There are a couple from Blume that I really love – particularly their Salted Caramel and the Acai Pomegranate from their SuperBelly line.
Ooo I’ll have to check those out – thanks for the recommendation!
I’ll keep in mind what to avoid and what to try! Thanks for the recommendations!
TTB. Laos. I want to go. I want to go to all the tea-producing regions. Side note: Don’t go looking up the tea until after you take a few sips, or their tasting notes will influence what you taste. Nothing quite like yelling PEANUT BUTTER in the middle of a group tasting. I once told a lady (when I was 10) that poi tasted like wallpaper paste. She looked at me incredulously and asked: You’ve eaten wallpaper paste?! Funny how our palates and minds put things together.
Dry Aroma: None. That’s okay. Last of the bag.
Dry appearance is very nice. Dusty. Milk chocolate brown with golden buds.
Flavor: Dark fruits. Woody. Mahogany.
Wet Leaf: I wish there were a better way to describe this note. I sense it in many black teas. Some might say malt, maybe raisin bread.
This is another one that I feel might not quite represent the full tea so I won’t rate it.
TTB. Being an American that is allergic to dairy I am constantly seeing dumb things with dairy in them. When I first came across this bag tucked away amid the many others I immediately dismissed it. “What have they done this time?” Was my first thought. Maybe added butter flavor like they did in that Buffalo sauce. But curiosity got the best of me and I took it back out.
It does have a somewhat buttery aroma once it’s brewed vanilla butter with mint.The flavor is strong with mint but the vanilla finds its way around your palate. It’s quite unique actually… Mint overpowers so much generally that it’s all you taste and while this starts out with mint in your face the vanilla slides up quietly and leaves you with a gentle mouth feel in the after taste that is really quite nice.
That all being said I do grow and sell my own mint. And this mint is a bit stale in comparison
Buttermints are an “old fashioned” hard candy popular throughout the UK, though my understanding is they’re particularly popular in England – though I know them more from the Scottish import store I grew up living near. Think like a buttery toffee flavour mixed with a soft peppermint note.
I’m trying to think of a North American equivalent and, frankly, blanking on one. The only thing coming to mind atm is Rhubarb Custards, which are also a British hard candy.
Anyway, the point being that Twinings is trying to emulate a specific but actually quite common/nostalgic regional flavour. It just so happens to be one that is far less well known (and therefore maybe assumed to be weird) here in North America.
Yup, sounds weird to me. No assumption needed. :-D
Ah!!! Thank you for the insight. I’m a big fan of Japanese foods and such so buttermint doesn’t seem to weird. I’m just glad it doesn’t actually have butter XD
I used to make something called Buttermints at Christmas and I assumed that was what this tea referred to, but I was wrong! They were candies made with butter, confectioner’s sugar, and peppermint oil and they were really just soft mints. They are pressed into molds or can be rolled into “snakes” and then cut into “pillow” shape. I did pillow shape, roses, and leaves. They were delicious! The butter is there just to bind the sugar together and you don’t particularly taste butter.
I use the same molds to make rose-shaped sugar “cubes” for tea parties. You mix regular sugar (not confectioners) with the tiniest bit of water and press it into the molds and then let it dry.
