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So I keep looking for Candy Cane Lane at my grocery store cause of all the hype that this tea gets. It’s almost the middle of December and still no Candy Cane Lane. You suck, A&P. And not just because you don’t stock holiday tea. (2nd to worst produce everrrrr) Fortunately, I have a nearby Trader Joe’s and I’ve been assured that this tea is the same. Yaaaay. I love you, Trader Joe’s.

So the packaging is just adorable. A polar bear in a sweater having a hot cup of tea. I want to meet this bear and have tea with him. I’ll bring some smoked salmon sandwiches. And the narwhale is invited too. We could do some holiday decorating. He seems into that sort of thing. In short, the package art indulges my childish imagination.

The smell of the tea reminded of the car freshener my dad used when I was young and prone to car sickness. I had a brief moment where I re-experienced all the times I threw up in dad’s old Lincoln. Then that moment was over and I smelled peppermint, cinnamon, and vanilla. There’s also some mystery smells that I don’t recognize. Together, it all smells kinda crazy.

Then I let it brew for a long time while I had dinner. The flavor is really close to a candy cane, actually. I’m sort of impressed. Then I notice the individual flavors. Nice. The more I drink this, the more I like it. I love the cool peppermint and the smooth vanilla. And the cinnamon works so well here. I do wonder why there’s sugar in the ingredient list. Isn’t the sweetening of a tea left up to drinker’s preference? And gum acacia? Whyyyyy? I’d like this a lot more if not for the last two ingredients. But I totally see myself drinking this when I find looseleaf inconvenient or when I want a peppermint fix. It would probably be awesome with chocolate desserts. Mint chocolate!

I’m having the last of my sample of this tea. Maybe I’m just down because of the short days and cloudy weather. A nice coating of snow usually cheers me up, but it’s been unseasonably warm lately. Anyway, this is a robust tea that begs for a bit of milk to soften it up. I graciously complied and added a tad too much sugar as well. It’s a nice comforting cup. Even if my palate is a bit lacking in sensitivity at the moment, I can still enjoy the stronger more straight forward or flavored teas. I’ll save my unflavored greens and oolongs for another time. :)

It’s been a while since I had an extended tasting of an oolong. This particular one had a ginseng candy scent the moment hot water hit the leaves. Interesting. It makes me a bit nervous though.

Steep one: vegetal. Tastes like cooked watercress. It doesn’t have the sweetness I’m used to in green oolongs. This tastes more savory. No milkiness. I feel like I’m having an off day. My nose isn’t picking up nuances as usual. The mouthfeel is silky smooth.

Steep two: the leaves have a honeyed vegetal scent so I’m thinking that the sweetness will make an appearance this round. Ah, there’s the sweetness on the tip of my tongue. The overall flavor is still savory though. It’s veggie soup. This isn’t milky still but very interesting nonetheless.

Steep 3: still veggie. This tea is not really holding my interest. It’s not bad but it doesn’t seem to have many interesting nuances. Or is there some thing wrong with me? Maybe I should take a tea break. :(

Steep four: The flavor doesn’t seem to have changed much. Hmmmm. Maybe I’m just not in the mood for this. I find it hard to believe that tea from Taiwan has made a disappointing tea.

I’m trying a mug of this thanks to CHAroma and I have to say, I am befuddled by the strong negative responses to this tea. I can’t detect anything offensive at all. It tastes floral and fruity. It’s a bit soapy, but not unpleasantly so. It’s very nice. The sencha base seems to get astringent easily, but that’s easily remedied by more careful brewing. And, as with the other Lupicia tea I sampled, the tea base and flavor harmonize to create a better whole. I really need to clear room in my cabinet so that I can order some teas from Lupicia!

The flavor does, in fact, remind me of the sakura mochis that are wrapped in the preserved leaves. I liked the flavor, but not the texture so I guess this tea is a perfect compromise.

I have to admit, I did not have high hopes for this tea. After googling roselle and learning that it’s hibiscus, I was ready to hate this drink. Then my husband requested an iced tea for dinner. So I brewed this up sort of light hoping to mitigate the overwhelming tartness I was expecting, poured it over ice and sugared it up. Wow. This is good. Is that really hibiscus? Is it because I made a light brew? Is it the sugar? Whatever it is, it’s good. It’s softly tart. But mostly, it’s fruity and delicious. Lightly blueberry and more grapey. The juiciest fruit tea of all time.

I ate the berries after brewing. They were tasty and very sweet. I would have eaten more of them, maybe saved them for oatmeal the next day, but they were full of seeds. I probably could have made a second steep. I have enough for a cupful another time. More experimentation laaater. I usually don’t buy fruit teas because they tend to disappoint, but this is certainly one I will consider.

I’m not sure what honeysuckle tastes like…. but if it tastes like a flowery honey, then this is honeysuckle. Smooth and refreshing. It seems to need more leaf than the oolongs I’m used to. Then again, I’m used to balled up oolongs and these are sticky. Perhaps I should start weighing my tea?
By the third steep, something woodsy is coming through to join the honeysuckle.

A very enjoyable oolong. It makes a good everyday tea. One of these days, I’ll have to stop getting new teas and samples so that I can actually drink a tea enough for it to actually be an everyday tea.

Anyway! I wanted to give it a try before deciding if I wanted to send it out on a swap. Turns out this is totally swap worthy so a few lucky leaves are taking a trip a Canada. yaaaay!

This is, quite possibly, the weirdest tasting hot beverage I have ever consumed. To me, the banana is very artificial tasting. But nothing has ever come close to real banana flavor except for real banana. That said, this is not bad. The raspberry seems to be doing background work, keeping the banana from being too over-powering. It’s sweet and barely tart and MUCH better cold.

I’ve been drinking this with leftover pie and other desserts. It makes a great compliment, actually. The smell sort of reminds me of Juicy Fruit gum. I’m really starting to love honeybush. While I’ll never buy this particular flavor, I know 52teas has lots of other honeybush that I’d love.

Thank you CHAroma!

Edit: Caught Mr. Snuggles (spoiled doggie) licking my mug. He hates real bananas though.

Yummy! This tea is fabulous! It’s a lovely green base that adds to the freshness of the peach flavor. The peach reminds me of japanese peach gummies. What are they called? The ones that are individually wrapped in it’s own plastic packet?
Anyway, that’s how this tea tastes. I love when the flavors work with the tea instead of trying to overwhelm it. Now that I have an idea how good Lupicia is, I’ll have to order from them next time I’m low on tea. (aka never :().

Thank you CHAroma for another great sample!

First sip had a taste that reminded me of strawberry seeds. No, not strawberries. Strawberry seeds. I think it’s the slightly astringent quality. As I continue to sip on this, I am tasting chapstick. I use to have this berry flavored chapstick. This tastes just like it. It actually does smell remarkably like strawberries and maple syrup, but the taste is chapstick. I think I’ll wait for this to cool a bit and try again. My experience with 52teas has been that the cooler tea tastes more like the intended flavor than the hot tea.

Ok, I tried it after it cooled down. Much better. It’s not longer like chapstick. It tastes more like what it’s supposed to. I think I’m even tasting a bit of butter. mmm! Tea is a bit astringent though. I’m beginning to see that 52teas varies a lot in tastiness. I really want pancakes now. I don’t even like pancakes.

Thank you for the sample CHAroma!

Very fruity and refreshing. I set my expectations pretty high for this one. It’s very lychee and sweet. The honey flavors are muted. All the sweetness is balanced by the toasty earthy flavors of the oolong.

I was also very amused by the dry leaves. Basically, they are delicate looking twigs which were almost too long to fit in my little pot.

The fragrance of the brewed leaves is just lovely. I can’t wait to share this with my sister. :)