Walter Bishop Honeybush

Tea for ending the evening in a very long wonderful day. We managed to pick up a watch for both myself and my other half today (we’ve both been without for 1/2 years); found my wedding band -yay for it sitting in a drawer for a year lol AND we preordered the jungle book on blu ray because…well it’s my other half’s favourite movie from his childhood.

Bed soon to rest up as we’re going to try and hit the farmer’s market tomorrow for a day of being outside. and next week…next week we hit the aquarium!!!!!

Hooray! my 200th tasting note!

I don’t know who this Walter Bishop character is, but this honeybush is darn delicious!

I got this as part of the 52teas order I received yesterday. I was so excited to make a pot of this last night for bedtime that I actually went to bed early. Yeah…sometimes my logic is just plain ridiculous.

Back when I discovered I was a lover of honeybush teas, I was so happy. I have a very limited window of time each day where I can drink anything with caffeine. As a result, I found myself flailing in frustration amongst the various herbal blends, many of which had too much hibiscus for my liking. I picked at the rooibos blends with little enthusiasm for their woody taste. I enjoyed my mint teas, but I could only drink that on occasion before longing for some variety. When I finally tried a few 52teas honeybush blends I was downright ecstatic, and my keenness is still going strong. Honeybush is such a lovely base for all kinds of flavors, from fruity, chocolate/peanut butter, or cinnamon, I have yet to meet a 52 teas honeybush that I don’t like.

This Walter Bishop is probably my favorite strawberry flavored honeybush that I’ve tried so far. I also have the strawberry pie honeybush, and the strawberry rhubarb honeybush, which are also lovely, but I think the strawberry in this one pops a little more against the honeybush base. I’ll have to try them side by side to really make a fair comparison.

I enjoy this one both as a hot or cold tea. Out of curiosity I tried it with a pinch of sugar, but personally I prefer to drink it without adding anything.

Between the heavenly strawberry aroma that fills the room while this brews and the luscious taste reminiscent of a strawberry milkshake – this honeybush is a keeper!

So I’ve tried this tea a few times and liked it but didn’t love it. I thought that maybe it was time to go a little mad scientist on this blend! I mean, of any tea to experiment with this has got to be the best one, right? The goal was to make it taste like a real strawberry milkshake.

First off I steeped a spoonful of this with 1 cup milk, 1 cup filtered water stovetop style. While that was simmering I mixed up this weird concoction:

3 strawberries + a splash of rum (hey, it’s Walter we’re talking about!) + a heaping spoonful of vanilla curd + a sprinkle of caramel matcha

and blended them in the food processor until it was a nice fine puree. In case you don’t know what vanilla curd is, it’s pretty much the best thing ever: like lemon curd, only with vanilla beans. It’s like frosting in a jar! Uhnf, so good.

Then I mixed the puree into the hot tea and strained it all—which took longer than expected, because of all the strawberry seeds!

I think I’ve created the most delicious thing ever. It tastes JUST like a strawberry milkshake (only hot). The vanilla curd and milk makes it super creamy, the fresh strawberry makes it nice and fruity, the honeybush adds extra depth along with the caramel matcha. And the rum adds something extra—just like Walter would want, since I’m all out of LSD to sprinkle in it.

FIRST! haha sorry that was really immature but then Walter was not always mature now was he. Love that character and so sad to see him gone.
First nonetheless – ah the benefits of being in the same state as Frank who in his own right is a lot like Walter – the Mad Scientist of Tea! WOO HOOO.
This honeybush smells AMAZING in the dry form. OMG I can’t wait for it to finish steeping!
Its a honeybush so up to 10 minutes but come on it can’t take that long right?
I dunno. Im only a couple minutes into this steep and already the little sip I took tastes just like a strawberry milkshake! Oh I am going to have fun toying with this one, adding sugar, cream, milk, honey, etc and so on until I find the perfect way to have it. Sadness is that by the time I find just the right way to enjoy this tea it will probably be gone. I knew I should have got two packages instead of just the one. BAHHHHHH Frank should really have doubled up on his production of this one.
Anyway more later – going to go enjoy this cup! No rating yet but I am thinking it will be a high one!

Ok… so I should have drank this about an hour ago, because since then, my nose has really stuffed up. It definitely smelled like creamy strawberries earlier, but mostly just smells like honeybush now. And mostly just tastes like honeybush. Sigh. I don’t think the flavouring is particularly strong in here to begin with though, from what I’ve read, so it’s not surprising that I really don’t taste it much at all right now, though. I’m willing to bet that I will still prefer Strawberry Pie HB over this one, but I’m glad to have tried it! I’ll rate this when I’m not sick anymore.

ETA: Got more strawberry when it was cool and had sat for a while. Still tough to tell how much my cold is affecting things though.

I do like this a LOT cold brewed. I used it as a “non-tea” for the tea party at work today. Steeped 24 hours in the fridge (about 3 tablespoons to 1 1/2 quarts of water) then added slices of fresh strawberry. Yum! Upping the rating based on how much I like it cold.

No one really said much about it specifically, but everyone drank their cups down so it must have been okay. :)

http://s1165.photobucket.com/user/dagony/library/July%202014%20Tea%20at%20work?sort=3&page=1

I am treating myself to a tea latte for dessert!
The strawberry still isn’t as “in your face” as I would like, but it is very enjoyable. The milk really tones down the woodsy taste of the honeybush.

Before I sipped this tea, I thought that it was going to be nearly identical to Strawberry Pie Honeybush only without the cinnamon. I wanted to love the Strawberry Pie blend, but the cinnamon and other flavors made it a bit too sharp. That tea also left a bad taste in my mouth.

This one is much more smooth. I feel like I can finally concentrate on the beautiful strawberry and the honeybush background. I don’t think that there is much milkshake flavor here, but the strawberry and honeybush combination is lovely without cinnamon. It’s a rather simple and light tea – not too spectacular, but pleasant. I can see myself going through this pouch quickly! Might have another cup tonight.

Backlog:

I miss Fringe. I miss Walter Bishop. I think if it was not for his character on that show, I probably would have stopped watching it … I mean, I still liked the story line (although I do agree with Frank that it did not live up to it’s potential), but, I didn’t like it enough to tune in every week. I tuned in every week to see what Walter would call Astrid … or what crazy yet brilliant thing he’d say or do. In my opinion, he is one of the greatest television characters ever.

I was very happy that Frank created a tribute tea for him … and this is really a fitting tribute for Walter Bishop. My only complaint is that I taste too much honeybush here … I wanted more strawberry and creamy vanilla tones and less honeybush, but it all worked together quite well anyway.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/03/07/walter-bishop-honeybush-tisane-from-52teas/

PS: It gets 100 rating for no other reason than because it’s Walter Bishop’s tea.

Been drooling over this all afternoon….finally couldn’t resist anymore and tried my first cup!
First off it smells like (you guessed it)STRAWBERRIES! It also smells sweet….like candyish.

The taste makes me smile! It’s strawberry! Real tasting strawberry! And it’s got a sweetness and creaminess to it I love. I may end up licking the inside of the cup once I’m done. Man I love this stuff!