Coconut Banana Cream Pie Hojicha

I really liked this tea today. I think that the only thing that has me turned off to this blend is that hojicha, for whatever reason, kind of bothers my throat. I can’t tell if this is a me thing or what; but I feel kinda gunky after drinking this. I tried a plain hojicha last week and had the same problem; so it isn’t anything wrong with 52 tea’s blend.
This tea is super awesome any time of day which what I enjoy about it as my collection has been shrinking. I never feel like I can’t sleep after this so that is a plus in my book. The flavor is heavily banana with notes of pie crust and light coconut. I think that I will try this with the almond milk/coconut milk blend next time I make it.

Augh. My computer is all sorts of not-working, and even writing tasting notes is not going so well. I think the computer needs a restart, and perhaps some “medical” attention…. :/

Anyways, this was the last of the teas I threw into a travel mug this morning, courtesy this time of LiberTeas. I’m still quite the fan of this tea and the hojicha base. It’s so toasty and perfect; the banana flavour isn’t runt-like, but like actual banana chips, and there’s such a lovely creaminess. I’m getting some astringency with my boiling water infusion, but it’s the sort of astringency that I find bearable (hard to explain). I would really like this blend to make a reappearance!!

Additional notes: I had been thinking of this treasured tea that I’ve only got a couple teaspoons of, but I had some anyway. I think it’s my favorite 52 Teas blend. I just love the balance of banana and coconut flavors. Both creamy! And the hojicha is perfect with this blend. I steeped for 45 seconds this time and it was very nice.

yum, it’s a tea “nightcap” – hoping there is not too much caffeine in this one. Definitely a dessert tea, great with some soymilk. I don’t see it as a coconut cream pie as much as a coconut banana cake made with whole wheat flour. Anyway it seems to be hitting the spot at the moment.

I was very disapointed when I missed out on the inital VIT teas so a big thank you to Amy Oh for giving me a sample. The hojicha gave this tea a really interesting baked flavour that was still smooth and almost creamy in nature. It mixed well with the banana flavour which tasted quite genuine, and while the coconut was more of an afterthought it worked well with the whole blend too.

This sounded so delicious as I was perusing old 52teas blends here on Steepster that I put it on my shopping list. Lucky for me Amanda still had some in her cupboard and sent me a sample!

I really love the toastiness that hojicha has and this particular blend did not disappoint. The coconut and banana were there, but I found it behind the roastiness of the base. Would have liked it to have been the other way around, but it was tasty nonetheless.

I did resteep the leaves and still found plenty of toastiness in the leaves, but the coconut and banana flavors left the scene. I’m sure I could still get a third cup of tea out of the hojicha if I really wanted to milk this tea for all it was worth, but I’m plenty pleased with the two steeps I had.

I’m starting to wonder what this would be like as a hot tea latte… Sweet, hot, toasty goodness, I bet!

Side note: I really love the huge coconut shavings that Frank uses in his coconut-flavored teas. A true testament to quality over quantity!

I’d snatch this one up if it were reblended!

I had planned on trying this tea today … and as it turns out it was the last tea of last month’s shipment … err, that is, teas blended in September but were shipped all at once to me in October as part of the monthly subscription plan. I finally decided that I had to start subscribing, because I ended up ordering every week anyway. This way, my paypal account has time to breathe in between payments … so long as Frank behaves himself and doesn’t make any of those surprise mid-week VIT blends (or 12 days of xmas sampler boxes)

So, anyway, this is the last of my September teas to try from Frank, and wouldn’t you know that the mail arrived a very short time ago and brought my October package. Yay! More tea!

This is pretty tasty, but I really expected to like it more than I do. I love Frank’s banana blends (and I’m very happy he is on a banana kick lately). Don’t get me wrong, I like this a lot and it definitely delivers what it promises … it tastes like coconut and banana, and these two are pretty evenly balanced. I think I need to let it cool a few more minutes to see if I can taste more of the creamy pie taste, which is what I think I’m missing.

Until then, I’ll hold off on rating it.

Edited about 10 minutes later: Ahh… there it is. I can now taste the cream pie flavors. The hōjicha is light and toasty. This is really good.

Steep Information:
Amount: 2tsp
Water: 500ml 175°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 2 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: coconut, runts banana
Steeped Tea Smell: vegetal, barky, roasty
Flavor: coconut, roasty, vegetal, hints of runts banana
Body: Full
Aftertaste: astringent, roasty
Liquor: translucent dark brown-red

meh…I wanted more banana and coconut, it’s hints of favor in a roasty vegetal brew.

Post-Steep Additives: sugar
brings out the coconut flavor

It’s an OK cup, but I really haven’t been fond of any hojicha teas.

Blog: http://amazonv.net/2011/12/52teas-loose-leaf-hojicha-tea-coconut.html

Again, this is a tea where I just want to smell the dry leaf all day long. Ohhhhmygod.

I love this combination of flavors. I taste everything, starting with toasty green tea and then coconut, all the way to the creamy banana flavor that lingers after each sip. This is so good.

Yum!

Nice coconut flavour! Creamy and toasty. I could smell the banana but I couldn’t really taste it. I still have a little bit left; I’m tempted to throw some banana chips in the next steep to see if I can boost that flavour a little. Also maybe steep it in coconut milk?