Breakfast Smoothie Honeybush

Big thanks to Raritea for this sample. I like it!
It is very fruity, a little tart, and just the right amount of sweet.
With a little milk, it really does remind me of a smoothie. A juicy fruit, banana runt flavoured smoothie that is!
What I didn’t find was the yogurt note that some people are finding. Hence the added dairy.
If I didn’t have a reasonable alternative in my cupboard already, I would definitely consider snapping up a packet.

“Day two” of 52teas twelve day advent.

I’m not a huge fan of the smell of this one; it reminds me of those medicinal powdered dairy energy drinks. The liquid has that chalky Tums quality to it too- like the fruit ones. Maybe it’s because I haven’t slept in the last twenty-four hours but I think I like the “healthiness” of this more than I would on another day. Although, quite possibly, the opposite may be true and my grogginess may be hindering my appreciation for it. Will definitely try it again tomorrow.

Besides Tums, this also reminds me of a banana & pineapple flavored Orange Julius, which I don’t mind at all. Still not a huge winner for me at the moment, though.

This tastes increasingly better and less chalky when it cools down- more like its smoothie namesake.

52teas 12 Teas of Christmas – December 15

I absolutely love breakfast. It is by far my favourite meal of the day; something that I sometimes fall asleep looking forward to. I don’t like breakfast when it consists of little but sugary stuff, or something I have to gobble on the go (which happens far too often for my liking) – no, I need breakfast to be large and hearty and full of fat and protein for the rest of the day.

Eggs. Eggs are just about my favourite food in the world. Cheese. Toast. Bacon, which is pretty much the only part of a pig I will eat. Okay, maybe ham sometimes. Turkey and chicken. (What? Those are totally breakfast foods.) Hash browns. Tons of spice! Salsa. Cream, especially over eggs. Pancakes, with butter and fruit and syrup. Oatmeal, with whatever crazy things mixed in that you can think of. Cups of milk and fruit juice. Aaaaand…tea, of course! Usually black tea, but I will make wild exceptions.

I am not, however, the sort of person who makes “breakfast smoothies,” although I do like smoothies. Too much fruit, I guess, and not enough meat or eggs. Oh, and most people think of a breakfast smoothie as something containing a banana, and I am not supposed to eat bananas. In fact, that is the reason I did not order this tea when it was first released – I noted that the ingredients included banana. Granted, I’ve never been clear on how problematic banana might be when it’s steeped, given that no one explained to me exactly how my allergies could be triggered by bananas, just “don’t eat them.” So I’ve avoided teas with banana for a while now, just to be safe.

More recently, I’ve finally, tentatively, tried tiny amounts of tea with banana and worked up to full cups, and determined that I don’t seem to get any kind of reaction to steeped bananas. Cool.

So I’ve had a few cups of this now, and really quite like it. I’ve also taken it to work, and made it into an actual tea smoothie with mango and coconut puree, and that was awesome.

There’s quite a bit of leaf in this little packet, since it’s honeybush; I might be underleafing it some and compensating with the steep time, but I’ve gotten 3 cups of it so far and there’s maybe one or two more cups left. The smell of it is quite sweet, and really overpowering; it reminds me a lot of what Rainbow Sherbet did to my kitchen. I let this cool down because I have it with (what else?) breakfast, so it’s usually not that hot by the time I get to it. But that’s fine, because smoothie, right?

The first time I had it, it was sort of sweet and fruity in a non-specific way…but I didn’t steep it more than a few minutes. This time I gave it several minutes, and that seems to have changed the taste profile considerably. The strongest flavour that comes through here now is definitely banana, which is strikingly weird to me simply because of how long it’s been since I actually had banana.

Underneath that, the flavour that is suddenly coming out more is actually honeybush, not the other fruit. I’m not entirely certain if I like that; something about honeybush is a little weird to me. Combined with the other fruit, there’s almost a bubblegum aftertaste that reminds me of stuff dentists put in your mouth.

Still, it’s pretty good. My impression of it on various cups has ranged from “quite good,” to “awesome,” so I almost think it’s one I’d want to experiment with and maybe I should get a bag of the re-blend while I still can.

Oh, and I just tried adding a drop of cream to the last of this cup. That brings out the smoothie experience a lot, since it adds that smoothie creaminess, which is lacking in the flavour alone.

Having a glass of this iced. I think this could be another VERY popular blend. It is really delicious. The orange, pineapple and banana are in perfect harmony. Just pure YUM.

Two nights ago, I decided that this tropical flavored honeybush sounded good after a smoked turkey, bacon, cheddar, and white BBQ sauce wrap for dinner. I’ve had this tisane before, I think twice. But can see I haven’t logged it yet. I remember liking it quite a bit though.

Upon opening my small tin of it this time, I noticed that it had a decent smell of sea water/salt water to both the dry and steep tisane. I had noticed the same thing when I finished off my Raspberry Chocolate honeybush sample recently as well. The taste however was normal for both. But it’s hard to reconcile the smell with the taste.

As for the taste of this honeybush, it’s most distinct flavor is banana combined with undistinguished other tropical fruit flavors, perhaps papaya and pineapple. I think I would have likely rated it a bit higher but for the scent issue.

I put the second steep away and drank it the next night after an Asian chicken salad for dinner.

2nd steep: 20+ mins.

Another sample from the calender and I really didn’t like it. I think it’s too strong for me… maybe it’s the honeybush (I had the same problem with the monkey fart honeybush) oh well on to the next tea :D

I used 1.5 tablespoons for 375 ml of water.

Upon smelling the dry leaf, I was immediately reminded of bubblegum scent which I think arises from the mixture of banana, pineapple and orange smells. This scent also carried over to the brewed tea. I’m detecting that honeybush beeswax candle smokiness in the background of the aroma as well.

On the sip I am definitely getting bubblegum flavour that blooms into a very full aftertaste. The beeswax candle smokiness is barely present but still there. This tisane is mildly sweet and hints at sourness. I can detect the citrus of the orange, the tang of the pineapple and the sweetness of the banana in the flavour.

I did not like the smell of this tea. It was sickly sweet. I don’t like banana flavored things they always remind me of banana runts which are absolutely disgusting.

Soooo….

I was shocked and amazed when I liked this tea. I’m not going to rate it yet because I’m still a little undecided on how much I like it. Um I don’t know if I’m even making any sense cause I’m exhausted but I never really understand how the weirdness of Franks teas actually works. I mean a hot fruit smoothie? Ewww!

But no. This works. I kinda want to buy a bag but I’m scared to blow my tea budget too early and not have any left for the next 10 days of tea. I’ve already bought weeping angel and brown coat tea last night so I think I’m in trouble this month….

Backlogged from last night.

Lately I’ve been staying up past midnight to write with a friend, and last night I as determined to get some sleep. So I decided to try a cup of tea before bed, but something caffeine-free. So I gave this one another go, and it’s definitely my favourite 52Teas tea!

On the 2nd day of Christmas…

This was surprisingly enjoyable. I have to admit that at first smell, I thought for sure I would not like this. I’m not a fan of bananas and that is the main scent of the honeybush.

It tastes much like Juicy Fruit bubble gum.

I’m really enjoying these daily teas and sharing them with a great friend. Looking forward to finding what tomorrow holds.