Eggnog Honeybush

Just not feeling this one, and can’t get anything eggnog-ish out of it anymore – just something cloyingly sweet that’s not sitting right. Into the swap box it goes…

Welp. I tried to love this one.. but I’m not getting any of the eggnog flavors out of it.. A nice spice flavor with a touch of creamy sweetness but not eggnog. Time to make space for some new tea!

This sample comes from Kaliboo, Thank you!

This is a decent honeybush. It doesn’t scream eggnog, but it has some nice spice to it. Sweet, creamy nutmeg. It was a nice dessert for tonight.

SSTTB: Pick #3

One thing I’ve learned through swaps is that if you have the opportunity to try a 52Teas blend you definitely take it because, while they are often hit and miss, there are some real gems to be found and since everything is so limited and the reblends are never quite the same you never know if you’ll have the opportunity to try it again! So I’m definitely going to try and taste every 52Teas blend in the box, and I will for sure be adding some to it as well.

This is what I started with last night. I have to say this was not one of those awesome gems (Fruit Hoops is totally sticking out in my mind right now; damn that one was good!) but it wasn’t awful either. I find Frank’s honeybush often comes off as really peppery to me and this tasted like that at first but as it cooled off that flavour faded. There were some light eggy notes to this and a soft but consistent creaminess, and I definitely picked up on the nutmeg but overall I just didn’t feel like this was obviously eggnog flavoured. It was sorta too weak and generic.

But I’m definitely happy to have tried it because I remember being so tempted to order it when it came out! And like I said, it certainly wasn’t bad – it just wasn’t stellar either.

Compared this tea with TeaG’s Rooibush Eggnog. Review can be found here: http://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/241510

Backlog:

I’m not typically a fan of rooibos or honeybush … but when Frank makes a honeybush blend, I look forward to trying it. Frank has a way with honeybush, and to my recollection, there haven’t been any of his honeybush blends that I’ve been terribly disappointed by.

I think honeybush is a great base for eggnog flavors, the nutty, sweet notes of the honeybush go nicely with the flavors of a traditional eggnog.

Piping hot, I find that the flavors are a little muddied. This tea benefits from a few minutes of cooling time … and then yum! I can taste notes of vanilla, and that creamy, eggy, custardy flavor that I expect from eggnog. I like that the cinnamon is a subtle flavor here and doesn’t overpower, although as I state in my full-length review of this tea http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/04/eggnog-honeybush-blend-52teas/ I think that nutmeg would have been a better spice than cinnamon (or perhaps a combination of nutmeg and cinnamon).

There is a light drizzle of the boozy flavors and that works alright for me too. Overall, I enjoyed this one, although I like it better with just a little nutmeg added (which I have added to all my subsequent cups of this tisane.)

When I opened the package, I was almost overwhelmed with the smell of rum. That’s pretty much all I got from the tea. (Edit: Apparently it’s bourbon and brandy flavours. Well. Booze then. It smells like booze.)

So I decided to mix it with a little marshmallow leaf. And it’s really good this way, although I don’t notice any cinnamon or nutmeg flavours at all. Just rum booze, sweet marshmallow leaf, honeybush.

I think this will need to marinate a bit longer to reach full potential. Either that, or I need to shake up my package better.

(1.5 tsp honeybush, 1/2 tsp marshmallow leaf)

I’ve also mixed up some of the honeybush and marshmallow leaf in a small tin, as an experiment. Same ratio. :)