Banana Bake

This tea has been on my wish list for literally years and was the main reason I felt compelled to order from T2’s closeout sale. Unfortunately, the flavor was a bit of a letdown for me. I definitely get banana – actually, quite a nice, natural banana flavor with none of the artificial Laffy Taffy vibes I often get from banana teas. But the “bake” aspect is totally absent…it’s just a brisk black tea with a fresh banana flavor and none of vanilla, nut, or bakery notes I was hoping for to bring it more into banana bread territory.

Another T2 tea I had been eyeing for awhile, and finally picked up during their sale ($5 for 3.5oz!). I absolutely love this tea. I love a creamy banana flavor on a mild black base, and that is exactly what this the delivers. It’s more of a banana pudding flavor rather than a banana bread flavor, which I appreciate. Can’t wait to try this as a latte!

Another sample from Cameron B I’ve been dying to try! Thanks so much! I’m pleased as punch that this tastes like one of my favorites: Butiki’s Smoked Banana Maple! At least the banana flavor is the same, anyway. It’s got a sweet, ripe, natural banana flavor that I couldn’t smell in the dry leaf at all, but it just takes over the mug. The black tea looks like a lighter brew, but the flavor is brisk and malty. I didn’t expect the flavor to be this strong just eying the resulting color. The second steep hardly tastes like banana at all which is a shame. Possibly I waited too long to steep on mistake, wasn’t really paying attention and the water was cooler than the first steep. So it’s not the fault of the tea. But I really liked the first cup of this. Makes me wish I had some actual banana bread…
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 9 minutes after boiling // 2-3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 12 minutes after boiling // 3-4 minute steep

Home – 9:00 PM

After that icy peppermint tea, I wanted something more mellow and sweet. Enter banana!

This actually has quite good banana flavor, much better than I expected (I’m too often disappointed by T2’s blends). It may not be the most authentic banana flavor, in fact it’s reminding me of banana pudding. But I love banana pudding!

The base tea is smooth with a little bit of malty briskness and a touch of astringency.

But mostly this is tasty banana pudding. It even tastes a little graham cracker or vanilla wafer-y. :)

I think my perfect banana tea would likely be a white base, but this one is pretty good!

Inkling Advent Day 7. I really taste the banana in this! I enjoy soy milk with banana, so that’s the combination I’m drinking today. The banana tastes fresh, mostly like green banana. The black base provides some heartiness without being able to taste it too distinctly. I don’t taste any baked element. I’m glad I got to try this again since it looks like my review from five years ago wasn’t quite as positive! I also happened to drink a banana pudding tea from 52teas today, which unfortunately outshines this one a little!

277/365

A-Level results are out today in the UK, which means Clearing, long, long hours, and a lot of hassle. I certainly know how to pick my last two days at work! I made this one up in my Timolino this morning, since I knew I’d need a treat. Dry, it smells amazing, really banana-y and totally delicious. Brewed, it’s not quite as strong a flavour as I hoped it might be, but it’s pretty good. It’s definitely banana, but there’s an underlying caramel and cream kind of vibe that’s also really nice. It’s more candy banana than actual fruit, but I’m okay with that – it reminds me of those foam banana sweets, and I actually like those quite a bit.

The black base here is perhaps a touch strong for the flavouring, although it’s possible that I overdid the brew time a little. I’ve got plenty left to experiment with (a whole cube!), and I’m happy with how it came out anyway so things can probably only get better. I’m glad I took a chance on 100g of this one – I’ve tried so many disappointing banana teas, that it’s nice to come across one that holds up well against my banana-based expectations. It was a little bit of joy in a cup this morning.

I have a soft spot for banana flavored black teas, so I had to add this to my order. It tastes more like bananas and caramel than a tray bake, but that’s fine by me. It’s sweet and it has nice banana flavor. There’s a bit of cinnamon which makes it taste a bit more like a baked good, but, overall, it’s just a sweet black tea with decent banana flavor. I’ve had a few cups of this – hot/straight, latte, iced latte. They’ve all been pleasant cuppas. Again, not a tea I’d rush out to repurchase, but I shouldn’t have any trouble finishing off my 100g.

One day I thought it would be really great if there was a banana flavored black tea I could drink. Not banana-coconut, not banana-walnut, not bananas foster, just banana. I decided to try T2’s Banana Bake, even though it supposedly has a hazelnuts in it. Luckily, I detected nothing but banana and black tea, with a bit of creaminess to it. Looking back on all this, I realized what I was actually pining for was probably Butiki’s Hello Sweetie, a tea I was only able purchase once, and immediately fell in love with. A tea, also, that will most likely never be replicated. But that’s unfair to compare T2 to, a nice, but much lesser tea, more akin I think to David’s Tea. I very much enjoy this hot, really don’t want to have it iced, and I think it may just carry me into the Fall season with no problem. Just a nice, banana-y black, good with breakfast or if you’ve got a craving for a dessert type tea. It will have to do.

I personally like Banana Bake iced, with a splash of vanilla soy milk.
Utterly gorgeous.
Notes of vanilla, and banana through this wonderful tea.

Sipdown (117)!

I had a good tea mail day today; packages from my tea twin VariaTEA and my Secret Pumpkin Anlina showed up today, so now I have a TON of stuff I get to sample and try! Even though my cupboard is only at 117, it feels like it’s swelled so much. But in a good way.

Couldn’t resist trying this banana tea as soon as possible, though; so it’s one of four teas from the two of them that I steeped up. And, this is really good; the banana flavour is really full bodied and fresh, and it’s complimented by a bouquet of vanilla and cream notes that make the whole cup so sweet and comforting. Additionally, the black base isn’t totally covered by the flavouring, and is very enjoyable without even the slightest indication of bitterness or astringency. The tea description also compares this to Banana Bread, and I can see the comparison.

Definitely a well done, and enjoyable tea!