52teas

This tea smells amazing in the packaging—absolutely decadent and sweet! I steeped it a little longer than the recommended 5 minutes because I like my black teas strong. I was disappointed at first when it had fully steeped, because the scent of the tea was NOT what I expected. It had a weird woody, potato-y scent to it. However, I had read on 52teas’ website and on here that the tea was brought to its full potential as a latte or with cream/milk and sugar. So, I added some sweet cream liquid creamer and some turbinado sugar and WOW. This tea is a yummy, sweet treat. I am looking forward to trying 52teas’ latte recipe with it.

Tried this one again at a lower steeping temperature. Was a little better, but husband still refused to drink it as it didn’t help the smell. I did manage to drink about 1/4 a mug of this before I decided to throw in the towel. I always tell my kids “you have to try it before you say you don’t like it”. Well, I did. I don’t like it. Even a little. Suppose they can’t all be winners, eh?

I was really excited about this one when I read the description. I don’t normally care much for green tea, but how could I resist malted milk flavored tea? When I opened the bag, I was greeted by a lovely maple scent, with a slightly toasty overtone. However, as soon as I added water to this, I had to pour it straight down the drain. The smell was something akin to compost with rice cakes in it. My husband, who enjoys green tea, couldn’t even tolerate the smell long enough to take a drink. I may give it one more shot, (monitoring the water temp a bit more as I think it was near boiling the first time) before I throw it into the trash, but I really don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference. What a waste. Bleah.

It smells like birthday cake. However, the flavors are definitely those of the flowers that are inside. It’s a bit of a disappointment that it’s not a stronger cake flavor. I may send it to my cousin in college who enjoyed it when we tried it the first time last weekend. Maybe it’s better with milk and sugar? I’m out of milk and sugar does a little something for the tea, but thinking the milk will help.

It sounded like an odd flavor, but what the heck. And the shipping was very speedy! I opened the envelope and the scent was coming through the bag… I drooled. It smelled EXACTLY like buttered cinnamon raisin toast! I have no idea how they did that, but it’s amazing.

Put a wee bit in a T-sac and used my Chinese cup with the lid to keep all that lovely scented tea steam in… I am in love with this tea. The tea base itself is an incredibly smooth and mellow black tea that brews a dark chocolatey-liquor quickly. I let the sips sit in my mouth before slowly swallowing so I can enjoy the hint of cinnamon, the over-note of the raisins (both of which you can actually see in the bag), and the totally yummy hints of butter all the way through. This beat things like hot buttered rum or apple cider by MILES. I really find myself feeling all comfy and warm with this tea. Bravo, gentlemen, I can’t wait to try something else by this line. In a few days. After I’ve gotten all I can out of this pouch.

(NOTE: second steeping of the same T-Sac for a few minutes longer equalled another great cup of pretty close to the same strength. I may try a third this time.)

Well, I’m typically quite intrigued by rooibos although it’s really not my fave tea at all. Nonetheless, I was excited to try this offering by 52teas.

The color is a beautiful golden red. I know that there is a better way to describe it but I’m tired and a bit at a loss for words. The aroma is slight, really slight, makes me wonder of the taste.

The taste of rooibos is not lost but may not be as strong as most others I’ve had. I don’t really taste the cinnamon much but there is a light sweetness coming from the figs.

Overall it’s fine and I will certainly finish the 2 oz bag I purchased. I have just got to quit buying rooibos and remember it’s just not my fave.

UPDATE: After repeated brewing, the cinnamon does become stronger and I am enjoying it even more. I’m getting ready to try a fourth steeping and we’ll see if that is one to many steepings.

Wow, I think this smell is way to potent for me first thing in the morning. Going to have to stick to an afternoon cuppa with this tea. Although, I’m having a friend over to talk about her trip to Pakistan later, maybe of all the choices, this will be her pick?

I used to have a Dr. Pepper for breakfast, however, nowadays I need a bit of time after I crawl out of bed before ingesting that sugary goodness of pop. I think it’s the same way with this tea. Tastes a bit too much like Coke for my early morning (OK, it’s after 7am but I think anything before 9 is early.) Sorry I can’t give a very clear description – not awake yet. Will try again some afternoon.

UPDATE: I have to say that this tea is growing on me. I like it more each time I have it. I have also found that when the smell is too strong for me in the mornings, I just put it into my travel mug and I have little aroma, just enough to highlight the tea.

Cherry Cola takes me back to when I was growing up. I remember drinking ice cold cherry cokes on a hot summer day in the yard or even over at the local (sadly, long since gone) DQ. I was thrilled to get my first shipment from 52teas and pulled this one out right away to try it first.

The smell is a bit much for me, it is really quite strong. While I like the overall flavor, after much consideration I’ve decided that there is too much cherry flavor for me. I do like it but am looking forward to now trying the second steeping as others have mentioned it stands up well to such. I also look forward to sharing this unique tea with friends.

I had high hopes for this tea, but they weren’t met. It’s almost like hot water with a hint of dark chocolate. You might as well take a pass and go for some hot cocoa instead. ;)

That said, the leaves themselves smell amazing, a rich chocolate smell. But in the end, taste is what matters and I wasn’t blown away.

I’ll try some variations in the steeping method later.

I have to say, this tastes EXACTLY like buttered cinnamon raisin toast. It is truly delicious. I can see now that we are going to have to reblend it. We have it out as our tea of the day today at our brick and mortar shop, Zoomdweebie’s and everyone is LOVING it. Best comment so far: "Gnarly! That really tastes like buttered cinnamon raisin toast! How did you do that?"

Unlike other people who have tried this tea, I love dates. I eat a date just before nearly every workout. My special fancy party food includes dates stuffed with marzipan (which is a challenge to get stuffed and on the table for guests without having them disappear in the meanwhile.) So I expected to like this tea.

There is a slightly odd perfume-like fragrance from this tea. It doesn’t smell like dates. It doesn’t really taste like dates to me either. It has a strong bitterness with that odd perfume-like note. Hmmmm. I don’t really care for it.

i just got this in today and was VERY excited to try it. sadly i had to wait all day. the dry leaves smell very creamy and you can smell the candy bits. the color of the tea itself is a dark amber thats a bit murkey from the chocolate. usually i dont like chocolaty teas but wow this one is delicious! its probably because of the melted toffee. i can see this super stuffed package going quick :) all the flavors work very well with each other making it a very good flavored tea.

I decided to give this another go this morning, but I’ve got an intense-ish day of baking ahead of me and I need to make this short. [A true challenge.]

I can taste the pumpkin. That’s very nice. But in order to get to it I need to sift through the spices a little, because to me this is heavily spiced. Not spicy hot, but spiced like…pumpkin pie. So at least appropriate. For that they get points.

The one thing that I definitely don’t like about this is that it’s drying my mouth out rather noticeably. Also, it’s just a little on the bitter side. I probably should try this out as a proper latte, or maybe I’ll just top it off with some whipped cream. However, I think I’m going to hold off on it for a while as I suspect it’s making my stomach a bit upset.

Anyhow, it easily claims the crown for the best pumpkin flavored tea I’ve had, but I’m probably not going to reorder it. And now, I can finally put a rating on this. [Yes, that was bothering me.]

Right. At this point, Adagio has whipped my pumpkin pie tea expectations into a frenzy, so I am going to put a caveat on this rating in that it is extremely likely to change after I experiment a little bit more with this tea.

When I think pumpkin pie, I think rich, thick, and creamy, with sweet buttery crust. Does this tea live up to that? No, it does not. But it DOES have a discernible pumpkin taste, and given that achieving that seems to be notoriously difficult in the world of tea flavors, I must give it props.

The first time I tried this, I was pretty disappointed because it was kind of bitter, but the water was a teensy bit hotter [like 205] and I had let it sit a little bit longer [4:45 ish] so that could account for it. I also tried adding milk to it that first time, but it drowned out any flavor I was able to get out of it, so I steered clear of it on the second go round. The second time it still had some bitterness to it, but the pumpkin flavor was much more apparent. It reminded me of a pumpkin soup I had at a restaurant one time, though not nearly as creamy.

I might try to fix this up chai style eventually, but let’s be honest, that probably won’t happen for a while because I have too much other tea I want to get at. I also think that before I can truly appreciate a pumpkin flavored tea I need to work at scaling down my expectations. Actually, you know what? I’m going to leave the rating off of it this time and save that for when I’ve spent some quality time with this one. I’m feeling distracted at the moment and not solid enough on my opinion of this to rate it definitively.

I normally don’t like mint teas even though I love mint in candy. However this doesn’t taste like ordinary tea mint. This is more like eating a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. I need to dash out the door to travel to MIssippi. Next time I drink it I’ll be more exacting with the description. (There will definitely be a next time with this one.)

If you like rooibos, this will probably be perfect for you. I’m not a huge fan of it, but I decided to try this one as a caffeine-free alternative to the chai. I love spicy blends, but I didn’t think this one was as flavorful as it could have been. The overtones were mostly vanilla (the rooibos only enhances this), with a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg in the mix and a sweet finish. My husband has since taken ownership of this tea and loves it, but red rooibos is one of his favorites so there you go. A great rooibos, a not so great gingerbread.

The first thing I noticed about this tea was how darned pretty it looked in the package. The bits of purple and yellow (flowers of some sort I think) throughout really make it look festive. I brewed it with boiling water (minus a few seconds) for between 4 and 5 minutes (tried it at slightly different times but didn’t notice too much of a difference). Like all the 52teas black teas I’ve tried it’s a forgiving tea so if you go over a bit it doesn’t hurt the flavor. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more of a flavor to this aside from a nondescript sweet overtone with a smooth finish. Not really all that birthday cake-y, but it was good for what it was. I didn’t dislike it, but I wasn’t blown away either. A good starter from 52teas if you’re not feeling adventurous enough to try one like the maple bacon flavor. Yes, really.

Of all the teas I’ve had from 52teas to date, this one is by far my favorite. It’s got the spice blend similar to chai, but with the sweetness and aroma of pumpkin pie. I didn’t notice any bitter flavor to this when I let it steep a little long once (oops), but I think all the other flavors in the blend may help cover that. As far as black tea goes, it’s very forgiving, but most of the 52teas blends are.

I should start off by saying that chai is my favorite kind of tea. Ever. So when I saw 52teas offering this as part of their end of year top 10, I jumped at the chance to try it. It smells wonderful in the package, but I was a little concerned about the overwhelming amount of cayenne pepper I could see in the bag. Turns out, that concern was well founded. It’s hard to say whether I liked the other flavors of this tea as the cayenne just overpowers the rest of it. It needed more of the cinnamon and chocolate and way less of the cayenne, though the pepper in moderation would add just the right amount of spicy to this blend. All in all, it was okay, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering it again.

Wish there was more of a mandarin taste…

Mmmm! Delicious! 52teas outdid themselves with this one. It really is like sipping a warm chocolate malt. Very comforting on such a cold day! Soon we will be out in 13 degree (!) weather for our run and I’ll be glad to have this warm bit of comfort in my tummy. I’ll probably need another when I return. For medicinal purposes, of course.

I’m upping the rating because I found myself craving this tea. Always a good sign with a tea.

I gently set the tea on the table to steep when my beloved looked up from his book (a rarity since he hardly ever notices me when he’s deep in a book), sniffed the air and said, “Chocolate tea?” It really does smell good, like good deep chocolate.

It tastes wonderful with a creamy, malted, chocolate, mocha taste and something slightly grassy. No bitterness. No astringency. No weird dusty taste. It’s a far cry from my yerba mate experiences of twenty years ago. (Those were the experiments that led me to swear never, ever, ever again to try yerba mate.) It’s quite nice. I can see using this as a base with ice and soy milk for a chocolate malt smoothie.

I find it so rewarding when you finish tea. I purchased a bag of this and was given another bag from a friend (thanks Madison!!) so though not officially gone, I completed another sample of tea and can make more room (for more tea).

This one I infused hot, five minutes, with three rocks of the German Rock Sugar, and the smallest splash of half and half. This tea without any additives is a little bit bitter, has a natural unsweetened pumpkin taste, a bite of cinnamon, a hint of nuttiness and the black tea flavor. I like natural pumpkin, so I am not put-off by the bitterness, but I do really think the sugar helps to round it out and meld better with the cinnamon. The sugar makes the pumpkin taste sweeter and not be so forceful and actually helps to add to the nuttiness so that it is a little more pronounced and not so hidden. The half and half is really just a bonus for me, pumpkin pie should always be served with whipped cream, and this is the best way for me to get that in the tea :)

As a final note, this tea is still one of my favorites by 52teas, it is right up there with the Coconut Cream Pie, and now that I finished up a sample, I can open up my Peanut Butter Chai!