13250 Tasting Notes
So in full transparency, I bought this one because I was interested in the blood orange. Honestly, I had low expectations for the honey. I’ve had a couple different honey flavoured 52Teas blends lately and I’ve pretty much felt that they’ve all been a bit off the mark and just not quite the right honey profile. So I was pleasantly surprised when this turned out to be rather lightly blood orange flavoured and much more of the honey flavour that I’ve felt a bit has been lacking from other 52Teas blends I’ve tried. Especially as this tea cooled, that honey note really came through and was pretty rich and golden tasting. A perfect compliment for the lighter crisp and cooing vegetal notes of the fluffy white tea base.
Gongfu!
I almost didn’t grab a sample of this sheng puerh because the site description didn’t resonate with me, but I’m happy I did because this tea session has not been at all what I’d expected! Though the brothy savory notes I expected are still present, what I’m finding is that they’re pretty isolated to the finish of the sip and the rest of the session has been shockingly sweet and fruity! Consistently I’m getting notes of fresh Summer peaches, wild blueberries, and black currant syrup – all with a bit of a licorice undertone. After swallowing I’m left with a touch of soft astringency on my tongue, but it’s quickly washed away by the almost plump feeling that the next infusion starts with. Simply put, right now I cannot get enough of this tea!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CghcWK0ugAS/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f08fPkuOIU
Gongfu!
Steeped and paired with a handful of ripe raspberries! To be honest, tieguanyin has never been one of my favourite kinds of oolong. However, when you find a good one it tends to be reeeaaallllyyy good! I love the more caramelized sugars, toasted grains, and coffee like notes of this more medium roasted TGY. Of course, in my books, a roasty toasty and mineral tasting tea is always a welcome and comforting cuppa. What really sets this one apart for me is that sitting under the surface of those delectable flavours in such a beautiful and complex array of fruitier notes: grilled apricots and other sweet ripe stonefruits, candied orange peel, and maybe even a hint of papaya. I love how the raspberries add to sweetness of those undertones while giving more brightness and acidity. They can be pretty intense though, so it’s best to keep the snacking in between infusions and just let the tea wash down the lingering aftertaste of the berries!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgcmWEVuSMh/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSj2SgAuvgo
Gongfu!
Steeped while reading a new manga! To me, the “gold standard” of Hot Brandy productions is definitely the 2020 minis. It was hard not to directly compare the two in my head, and I have to admit that the minis came out on top. Even still, Hot Brandy is always an interesting tea; I’ve never tasted a blend of white tea and black tea quite like it! This session mostly tasted like dandelions dunked in brown sugar simple syrup. The manga was pretty good for a first volume. A lot of the series I’ve been reading for a while are coming to an end, so I’m definitely looking for recommendations of new ones to check out!
Tea Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgetGW3uDAS/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIhzToW3sCY
Gongfu!
Had a very robust session with this tea at the park over the weekend. This is such a full bodied and heavy black tea with such pronounced notes of oak, and with the gentle breeze and fresh air around me that almost grizzly, unsweet woodiness feels just so appropriate for the day! On top of that signature taste that carries throughout the session, there are also notes of incense, molasses, and leather with just a bit of malt. It’s not bitter at all though there’s a pleasantly consistent light astringency. This tea feels powerful yet understated!
Tea Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgZ3os0Oi7u/
Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0FyZh1ESN4
Cold Brew!
As I said in a tasting note earlier this week, I’ve been craving lavender quite a bit lately and there’s maybe no better tea company to choose lavender blends from than Dessert By Deb. She does really, really love lavender. The blueberry flavouring she uses is also really delicious though, and I’m not yet sick of it the same way I’m getting to be with the strawberry flavouring…
I think this cold brew actually came out mostly blueberry, which is maybe a little atypical since the lavender tends to be quite heavy handed across all Deb’s lavender formulations. It’s playful but still had a bit of depth to it. The lavender mostly comes through in the finish, which is more assertively floral but still has a softeness to it. It’s very refreshing and easy to sip on a lot of it one go without the flavours building up too much on the palate and getting unpleasant, or feeling “bogged down” by having so much cold brew in one go.
I’m actually getting so close to a sipdown of this tea now, and I don’t think I’m quite ready to finish it off! I don’t have a shortage of other lavender or blueberry teas from Deb, but this one is definitely my favourite.
Sipped on this one last night!
This was kindly gifted to me by the Montreal Tea Festival, so thank you for the tea! It’s primarily a Labrador tea blend, but there’s some other things in it as well like apple and cinnamon and (I believe) almond. It steeped up very soft and gentle, with a warming and cozy “apple pie” kind of taste from the combination of all the aforementioned ingredients. I can definitely see how the light and delicate profile with these baked, Autumnal flavours would translate into a name like “Autumn Breeze” – which is what the French translates to. It’s very romantic as a profile/concept, actually. Plus, I’m not a huge fan of Labrador tea but I liked the undertones still carried through the soft greener notes of it on top of those yummy apple and cinnamon pastry flavours.
I feel like for a long time Snickerdoodles had kind of fallen off the radar of most people and were sort of seen as “unpopular” but lately I’m seeing snickerdoodle flavoured things everywhere. It’s weird how some foods are almost cyclical in their popularity…
I’m sipping on this one right now and it’s actually pretty nice. I remember feeling underwhelmed a bit by it in past tastings, but as it starts to cool right now I’m finding that the softer flavours are representing its namesake well. Kind of starchy/doughy and baked tasting with hints of cinnamon and a nice maple/toffee kind of finishing note. It’s still not a favourite, but for a lightly sweet Sunday morning cuppa I feel I have nothing to complain about in this moment either.
Oversteeped this cup and it resulted in it tasting far more savory than I would have ever thought would have been possible given the ingredient list here. I still got that soft creamy starchy quality of the pandan in the top notes, but the body was brothy with notes of anise and the finish pretty harsh and bitter. Milk probably would have softened it up, but I was tired and couldn’t be bothered to get some. Plus, I only have oat milk in the house right now and I felt like that wouldn’t have been the best flavour fit…
Cold Brew!
So last time I had this my take away was that it was pretty thin. I have to say, this cold brew was not thin at all… but it also wasn’t super good.
I really love Ette’s Peanut Butter tea so I want to like this one so badly, but it’s just sickly sweet and cloying. I get the same kind of nuttiness that I enjoy so much in Peanut Butter and a hint of banana in a way that leans more banana candy/taffy but it’s just coupled with the most intense licorice root that pushes both flavours over the edge and makes them feel really artificial. There’s other things present in the brew like a hint of apple in the undertones and the woodier notes of the base used, but it’s hard to pay either any mind because the rest is just a lot.
No more cold brewing this tea. Maybe I can find a way to improve the hot cups though…
