Smoky Spice Black Tea

Tea type
Black Honeybush Blend
Ingredients
Black Tea, Honeybush, Lapsang Souchong, Natural Flavours, Spices
Flavors
Campfire, Cinnamon, Smoke, Spices, Anise, Cream, Spicy, Cardamom
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
High
Certification
Organic
Edit tea info Last updated by Cameron B.
Average preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 30 sec 11 oz / 340 ml

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11 Tasting Notes View all

From 52teas

Tea of the Week for September 14, 2015!

This tea actually began as my Masterpiece Chai. While I was blending the spices, I toasted my cumin and I think either the cumin was especially fresh (not a bad thing at all) or I used too much cumin (much more likely) but the resulting blend ended up tasting strongly of smoky cumin. So I decided to add some Lapsang Souchong to amplify the smoky notes and create a Smoky Spice blend. This is a chai with a pleasant smoky tone – it’s not overly smoky – which is fine with me because I’m not a huge fan of a strong smoky essence. This has just the right level of smoke with a pleasant spicy note that isn’t too spicy, and it’s a little sweet and a little savory. It’s really nice.

Large size is approximately 2 ounces.

All Organic Ingredients: Black Teas, Honeybush, Secret Blend of Spices, Vanilla Bean & All-Natural Flavors.

About 52teas View company

At 52teas.com, you will find unique, hand-blended artisan loose leaf teas: a new limited edition creation every week of the year. We pride ourselves on offering truly unique, one-of-a-kind tea blends that you won’t find anywhere else.

11 Tasting Notes

1403 tasting notes

This unopened three-year-old sample bag of tea magically turned up yesterday as I was heading out for a day of meditation. Oh hurray and happy days! I love this one and the smoky cardamom spice worked beautifully on a bitterly cold day. All the flavours are in perfect balance. Exactly what I needed. I am currently on day two of this and enjoying it immensely. A profound help in dealing with the kid shrieking next door intermittently throughout the day.

Have we discussed tea and mental health?

Also, why don’t I have more smoky teas? They are such a delight to have on hand when needed.

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190 tasting notes

See my full review on Sororitea Sisters:
http://sororiteasisters.com/2017/03/30/bonfire-in-a-cup-smoky-spice-from-52teas/

Flavors: Campfire, Cinnamon, Smoke, Spices

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85
4169 tasting notes

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – November 2023 Tea #3 – A smoky tea

It’s in the name!  There was an awkward amount of leaf left, and I’d rather have a too strong cup of chai rather than two steep sessions that are disappointingly weak.  So into the infuser it all went.  I do not regret it!  I probably should have been using more leaf the entire lifetime of the tea.  It’s much better stronger.  It’s slightly smoky while having a sweet aspect to it.  A decent amount of spices and then I can also tell there is some of the honeybush flavor peeking through.  I just noticed there was also vanilla bean in this one and somehow I always miss tasting vanilla in all 52Teas blends. I think I will raise the rating from an 82 because this is a well balanced blend (and again, I bet the overleafing usually improves a tea IMO.) I am extremely behind on my sipdown goal, which is a given, as I’m still away from the majority of my tea collection.   
2023 sipdowns: 93

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100
673 tasting notes

Smokey spice black tea by 52teas review.

Ru Yao dragon teapot gongfucha.

Dry leaf: spicy, star anise, cinnamon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKI_Q8oBz0F/

Wet leaf: same but intensified.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKI_UxYhdKF/

Light steep: I taste/smell; light —→ cream, cinnamon, basketballs?, brand new nike shoes? Both In a good way. Note: Must have lapsang souchong in it.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKJAffiB2Qw/

Medium steep: I taste/smell, light cream. Medium —→ cinnamon, basketballs , brand new nike shoes.

Heavy steep: I taste/smell; medium cream. Strong —→ cinnamon, basketballs, brand new nike shoes.

All in all a very yummy tea. Nice blend and lovely cha qi. I rate a 100 even though I’m not much for blends.

There must be some lapsang souchong in there. I love that tea.

Many thanks to Anne of 52 teas for the free sample.

Extra photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BKI_IfThyfT/

Flavors: Anise, Cinnamon, Cream, Spices, Spicy

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 2 tsp 6 OZ / 165 ML
MadHatterTeaDrunk

I think I have this one here. I might give it a go in the morning and/or this weekend. :)

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81
15006 tasting notes

admittedly i’ve had a litte wine now…so i’m not focused on this note. omgsrsly sent this to me and indicated on the bag that i should have it as a latte or nogtea…so i did. and it was goo esp once i added a little vanilla sugar to the mix.

…also jr mints + red wine = happy place for Sil.

Final Count: 164

Nicole

jr mints and red wine? interesting. :)

Sil

oh yes… but like WITH the wine… both in your mouth at the same time – most people drink wine with a meal and forget to actually have both in their mouth at the same time…not that i’m saying jr mints are a meal…i mean they could be..

OMGsrsly

That… mint and chocolate and wine? All together?!

Fjellrev

I’ve been craving red wine something fierce these past few days. Chocolate and red wine, I can see, but the peppermint, I can’t even imagine what that would be like.

Sil

we did a junk food pairing at a winery. It made my day our of all the junk food we did. the others were chips, chocolate chip cookies and twizzlers. All paired with different types of wines.

Sil

also depends on the red – but i haev a good sense for what i like when doing it heh now

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2291 tasting notes

Soooo. When Bear With Me mentioned this tea I had to get a packet of it as well. It sounded so intriguing! And I thought the “Secret blend of spices” bit was cute and a little cheezy.

Opening the bag, it’s kind of intense. The spices and lapsang mix to give almost a meaty scent. If you do not like smoky teas, stay away from this one. FAR away. Srsly.

Steeped for my standard time, it smells like a campfire. OMG, so good. Campfire and some spices. This is not a usual chai. I think I have to add some milk though. The weather is pretty perfect for this tea right now too. Although it got nice and warm today, now that the sun’s gone down it’s nice and crisp outside and I can smell that people are burning wood fires in my neighbouhood.

Letting it cool as recommended is hard.

Whoa.

This is seriously a smoky spice tea. There’s really nice smoke. There’s spices toasting in a cast iron skillet. There’s charcoal briquette BBQ going on a bit too, with everything rubbed in the toasted spice mixture.

I think I like it. Definitely not your usual tea. And actually fairly smoky. It’s almost as smoky as the Murchie’s Russian Caravan that I loved with maple whipped cream. So I might have to get some heavy cream and mix some up have with this tea.

(2 tsp in 12 oz for 3 min at 195F)

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
52Teas

And I thought the “Secret blend of spices” bit was cute and a little cheezy. – that’s just what I was going for! Haha!

OMGsrsly

It’s pretty easy to ID them! I love the crushed cardamom pods.

52Teas

I know. And I figure if anyone has any dietary concerns they can always contact me and I’m happy to offer them whatever information they need. :)

52Teas

@OMGsrsly – I crush all the spices myself with my mortar and pestle. I figure the whole spices – like allspice for example – isn’t really going to unlock a lot of flavor if it’s kept in it’s whole form, but if you use the preground stuff, they begin to lose their flavor almost instantly so I want to get as much flavor as possible while keeping things as fresh as possible.

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95
62 tasting notes

I was sure I’d like this the moment I read the description. Ever since I’d tried a lapsang souchong, I’d wondered how a lapsang chai blend would be. I steeped this mostly according to the instructions. The temperature didn’t quite make it as high as recommended, but it was a temperature I like to brew at. And after letting it steep for 4 minutes, I let it cool while I took a shower (probably longer than the recommended 10 minutes)

This chai is a little different, I’ll grant, since it’s heavy on the cumin (I think cardamom is usually the most predominant flavor I get from most other chais), but I do get a bit of the chai flavor, and the warmth of the cumin blends beautifully with the smokiness of the lapsang.

I think I’m going to want a larger bag of this one. Or two. It’s so fiery and warm. And again, different from anything I’ve had before.

Flavors: Cardamom, Smoke, Spices

Preparation
165 °F / 73 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 13 OZ / 384 ML
52Teas

I’m glad you enjoyed this one!

Magycmyste

It was great! Did a second steep today, it was just as good!

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