Breakfast Smoothie Honeybush

Received this from kittylovestea, she was very generous with the tea.

Dry this smells very banana like & creamy. Can you even smell creamy? Like banana & yogurt.
Steeped it smells banana like, but more like banana runts than real bananas. The taste is that of a handfull of runts, minus the sweetness. But also hints of bubble gum.
Ok so I totally don’t get breakfast smoothie, but this is good. It paired greatly with my hockey in game in which we won…. woooo!

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp
Water: 500ml 212°F
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL
Steep Time: 7 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: pineapple, orange, banana, sweet
Steeped Tea Smell: pineapple, banana, orange
Flavor: honeybush, sweet, hints of banana
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: orange, pineapple
Liquor: opaque dark brown

fairly delicious

Post-Steep Additives:
1 spoon agave nectar
brings out all the fruit flavors and puts the honeybush as a secondary, aftertaste

I am really enjoying this!

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Blog: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2012/02/52teas-loose-leaf-honeybush-tisane.html

I had this iced today and it was pretty tasty. Not really vibing on the bubblegum scent, but the taste is more fruity and less candy. I wish it were a little bit tart, it just feels like it’s missing something. Overall though it’s fairly refreshing and nice to sip on. I like to do a shorter steep on rooibos and honeybush, especially when I’m planning to drink it cold, so a 2 min steep was perfect.

I’m wondering if a cold steep would fair better with this one. I don’t mind it, but it’s pretty forgettable and I’m not nearly as fond of it as I was when I first got it.

In other news, I picked up my first CSA share of the season! I always get way too excited about my veggies. Nothing like fresh produce every week, and it’s so nice to have already paid for it. The farm we buy from lets you choose which veggies you’d like from their market stand, and they had a pretty substantial selection already. We left with broccolini, baby kale, carrots, new potatoes, zucchini & pattipan squash, snap peas, and raspberries. I cannot wait to shove it all in my face :D

Day 2 of the Christmas sampler!
I’m glad I’m not alone in thinking it smelled like bubblegum. I was really happy to see that today’s tea has bananas. One of the first teas I tried from 52Teas was Monkey Fart (hee!). I loved the way Frank captured the banana flavour (it was punch-you-in-the-face candied bananas rather than the more organic somewhat bland banana taste).
1 tsp in 350ml of water steeped for 2 mins. I love the creaminess of this tea! I get a really strong banana flavour (but interestingly enough, it isn’t a candied banana taste. It’s a nice flavourful creamy banana taste.)with hints of orange and pineapple in the background. I’d really love to try this iced.
Like with the Cotton Candy tea from yesterday, I’m sad that I can’t order a pouch of this (but I’m still glad that I got to try it!).

Tea #2 of the Twelve Teas of X-mas. This blend smells very much like bubblegum or maybe tutti frutti – which is a bit disconcerting at first. After it steeped the flavour resolves itself into actual fruit notes, mostly orange and banana. They go very well with the honeybush base which gives it just the right dash of sweetness. I don’t normally do honeybush with milk, but for some reason I could see myself trying the next cup with some to really give it that smoothie taste. I love it, and I may very well buy a pouch if my Christmas budget permits it.

On the second day of Christmas, 52Teas gave to me…Breakfast Smoothie Honeybush!

And, wow, does it smell amazing. At first, I thought “bubblegum”, but that’s not quite right. It’s pineapple, I think, that comes through most strongly, followed by the orange and banana in equal measure. I can see chunks of fruit among the honeybush base, and my mouth is watering already. I think this will make an amazing morning tea, but the fact that it’s evening now isn’t going to stop me giving it a try.

After reading some advice on here, I brewed this for 2.5 minutes in boiling water. It smells just as it does dry — intensely fruity, with a sort of yoghurty undertone. Something’s still making me think “bubblegum”, juicy fruit to be exact, but I don’t mind that at all.

To taste, this is, again, exactly as it smells. I can almost believe I’m drinking a smoothie, except that it’s hot. The honeybush base was an excellent choice — it’s naturally sweet and perfectly complements the flavours.

All told, another amazing tea. I’m being spoilt with these, I know. I probably won’t want to drink another brand again now that I’ve finally experienced these. Honestly, what took me so long?

Wow, got this in my 12 Days of Tea (which I’m just getting to now…December was busy).
Brewed it up on a snowy day off. Normally I’d go with something warm and wintery for such a day, but this little gem came out of the bag instead. It smelled very bubblygummy dry, but once infused that sickly sweet scent went away and left a nice fruity, sweet tea.
I added a little sugar, but probably didn’t need to as this is very sweet. This is very breakfasty and reminded me of some sort of tropical beach drink, which was a nice change from the weather outside.
The sweetness increased as this cooled, and the last few sips were just way too sweet (but probably would have been fine without my added sugar). Would I buy this? No, but that’s because I HATE banana. Hate it. This has quite a strong banana flavour, but has enough pineapple to balance it. It was enjoyable, but I wouldn’t drink it again necessarily simply because of my distaste for bananas. It’s still a very well blended tasty tea.

This has got to be one of my favorite teas I have gotten from 52teas. The flavor is perfectly balanced and it’s nice and soft on the palate. I’ll certainly be drinking this all the time!

UPDATE:

I had it iced and I must say that this is my absolute favorite so far! Icing really brings out the orange in it.

I had wonderful company to share this tea with which made the whole experience even more enjoyable! First, most of our group was not over thrilled with the fact that this was a “fruit” tea. I insisted to the naysayers to keep an open mind…:)

I actually enjoyed the initial aroma, a cross between warm banana bread and juicy fruit gum. I have to say, the tea was a very pleasant surprise! I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the tea was creamy, sweet and really good. I would say the banana was the predominant flavor with just a slight “tang” of maybe the pineapple. Even if you you are not a fruit tea lover, I beg you to give this a chance. It just might surprise you…

I wish I could have another cup, but alas there is no more! Sigh.

dessert time!
as i watch Bones.
http://instagram.com/p/Sjj_Ckoc6F/