Is there a better way to start my morning off than with a Pancake Breakfast? I don’t think so!
I’ve got a fair bit of familiarity with this one; I had one of the larger pouches of it during Frank era 52Teas and it’s one that I liked a lot initially and that I kind of ended up feeling a lot more ‘meh’ about the more I had it. The more of Frank’s black teas I tried the more I was able to identify this very distinct taste that his base used and the more I realized this tea really only tasted like a sweet version of his normal black tea base…
When I cracked open the package of Anne’s version of this I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be different? Familiar? Well, turns out that the initial aroma was EXACTLY the same to me as Frank’s. Like, it sent me right back to when I was living in Saskatoon sitting on the couch in the living room drinking a cup of this in the only infuser mug I owner at the time. My how the times have changed! But yes – the same sort of buttery maple aroma and hard to describe but perfectly distinct black tea base. Which is weird, ‘cause I’m like 95% sure Anne doesn’t use the same black base that Frank did.
Somewhat thankfully, now that I’m having my first few sips of this one I’m not finding it as familiar as the aroma was. Sure, it’s definitely got a buttery/maple kind of flavour but the base is a lot nicer, and smoother. The butter/maple combo does make me think of Aunt Jemima’s butter flavoured maple syrup – my Grandma used to by that by the gallon and when stayed at her house for a few weeks over the summer we’d have that on Eggos every morning. I wonder if Aunt Jemima is a Canadian thing or if the US has it too? I’d think that they probably would?
Apart from that, I’m also getting baked bread, malt, and nutty notes – especially the nuttiness in the finish. It’s quite pleasant, and a nice way to start off the day. I love dessert teas that kind of tread that dessert line really finely, like this one is. Just going on initial impressions, I do think I like this better than Frank’s version.
No I’m definitely not using the same teas that Frank did. Totally different suppliers.