All Citrus

Backlog:

OK, so I’m getting there … slowly … I’ll get caught up eventually, I tell you!

I wasn’t all that excited over this citrus blend from 52Teas, I mean, who doesn’t have a citrus tea, right? but, even though this is no ordinary citrus blend, I still kind of felt “meh” about the idea of a citrus tea from 52Teas. Where’s the excitement, Frank?

But I changed my mind about this tea after I tasted it because it’s really quite lovely. The fruit notes are sweet, tart, and I really like the pineapple in this. It adds a really interesting note to the cup. The black tea is smooth and stands up well to the flavors.

Another great one to serve iced!

Really? I’ve not logged a tasting note for this?

I am doing a slight cleanout of teas (since I am now WAY too far above my 75 teas or less rule) and found that this one has zero notes. I drink it exclusively iced, using my typical iced tea brewing parameters and sugar ratio (1/4 cup sugar to 1/2 gallon of tea).

The citrus is a nice addition to a black tea, but these flavorings do fall a little artificial to me. Especially now that I’m drinking all the orange Dammann flavorings, which manage to seem so natural. It’s not as bad iced but I could see it maybe being a tad too fake if I tried it hot.

So, iced it is, for the duration of the pouch. Back to cleaning out the tea drawers and figuring out what I can send along, and what I need to throw out…

The dry and brewed tea smell very similar to Mountain Dew. On first taste of the hot tea, it is very blah. It is a black tea with some kind of lemoney, orange-y taste but there is not much black tea or citrus flavour taste. I added a few pieces of brown rock sugar and VOILA! It tastes just like Mountain Dew but without all the sugar. I love Mountain Dew, so I think this tea is going to be a good substitute. Can’t wait to try it iced!

Edit: Made this one iced. Brewed double strength for 3 minutes, added brown rock sugar, then chilled. It actually was not as good iced as I had expected. It still has a bit of Mountain Dew taste but it is very blunted. I would say it is more specifically citrus when iced. I am getting lots of lime and orange, there is some sweetness but it also has a tart finish. Kind of like Sweet Tarts candy. The black base is much more prominent when iced. It adds a bit of spice to the citrus flavours. Still good, but I think I prefer this one hot.

I was in need of an extra boost this morning and this tea was just calling to me. Given all of the citrus flavors I was surprised at how well they all worked together. At first sip the lemon and lime were at the forefront with the orange and pineapple coming through at the back of the palate. With each sip more of the orange flavoring came through and really melded with the lemon. It was an especially busy morning so my tea ended up getting cold on me but wow, the flavor really popped once cooled. This leads me to think that this tea would be incredible iced and I just can’t wait to give it a try. :)

Slowly working through my 52 Teas stash…

This one seemed like just the thing this morning. I feel like I might be getting a cold, so anything remotely resembling vitamin c is appealing for the moment. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it approximately 3 minutes in boiling water. No additions.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I was surprised by how much I liked this one. It has a delicious sharpness to the initial sip – it reminds me most of white grapefruit, but there are also hints of lemon and lime about it. The “main” flavour, though, is orange and I feel like that occupies most of the mid-sip, lingering just a little into the aftertaste. This one’s pretty natural tasting – like actual fruit juice and zest rather than “flavourings”. The black tea base is pretty solid, too, although not so strong that it overpowers everything else. Just right.

I drank this one hot because that’s what I do in winter, but I feel like it’d make a really good cold brew. I’ll maybe try that if there’s any left by the time next summer rolls around!

Tea #5 from Pass the Stash box

Definitely liked this better as it cooled..it would make a great iced tea!

Very citrus, but not just orange or lemon…everything sort of combines together.

Pass the Stash

This tea leaves smell like a great cup of lemonade. Oh, yes, how can I not be excited to try this one especially given the summer feel of it? :D

There are so many fruit notes in this cup, it is crazy. It hits them all: sweet, tart, crisp, fruity, you name it! The addition of pineapple in this blend was genius, it adds a whole new element to what deceptively looks like a run of the mill citrus tea. And actually, with a little bit of sweetener, it tastes like Mountain Dew to me. This is especially humorous as I have just gotten 52teas version of mountain dew..erm.. I mean “Really Big Hill Dew”..(haha, I love this name)..and to me, this tea tastes more like Mountain Dew to me than that one does.

I like this one a lot! I admit, it was the last of my 52teas shipment that I tried, probably because it didn’t have anything catchy about it. But, it’s a great morning tea for me. Nice strong black tea base flavor with citrus aroma/taste/aftertaste. I am already planning another cup.

I can’t pick out individual citrus favors, but I think that’s the point, right? I could see this being really nice iced. Ask me again in July. There might be some left. Or maybe not.

I brewed this for four minutes at boiling, 2t to 11oz. Next time I might try 3.5 minutes to cut the astringency.

I unfortunately made the mistake of putting honey in this tea without tasting it plain first. Lesson learned: honey in black tea does not suit my taste. I will not be rating this tea at this time, nor will I describe the taste. I do, however, love the strong citrus smell of the dry leaves, a good combination of lemon and lime overtones with an orange undertone. The lemongrass adds a very nice touch. While each scent is strong in their own right, none is overpowering.