On the Fourth Day of Christmas 52Teas sent to me. . . .

by Sophia

On the 4th Day of Christmas, my true love (I mean…52 Teas!) gave to me Peach Blackberry Crumble Black Tea! There are two ingredients in this blend that are my favorite when combined: peach and cinnamon pieces! Of course, there are also whole blackberries in here which definitely adds a unique twist, but the cinnamon and peach together are one of my favorite combos. This is obviously the fourth tea in this box and right now they are 4/4…I’ve loved them all! Every morning I scratch off the stickers and I’ve been so excited to try each tea and I truly haven’t been disappointed yet.

 Once this blend is steeped, you can definitely smell the sweet warmth of the cinnamon and just a hint of peach. It is one of the most perfect smells! On taste, the black tea is actually very bold and it’s slightly overpowering the other flavors. I do wish the peach and blackberry were more present. I feel like a different base may have allowed the flavors of the fruit to shine through a bit more. However, it is still a great tea. Very energizing, I’m getting a little energy boost so I must be right in saying that the black tea used here is pretty bold. I think that if iced tea is your thing, this would be a really great iced blend!  Either way, I would summarize this as a bold black tea with hints of peach and blackberry and a yummy cinnamon aroma. My anticipation for tomorrow’s tea is eating at me and I can’t wait to open them all but I’m controlling myself because I love the surprise! It is like a Christmas present every morning. We shall see what tomorrow’s brings

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  52Teas
Description

This tea is not available on the website but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Black Tea

On the Third Day of Christmas 52Teas sent to me. . .

by Sophia

On the third day of Christmas 52 Teas gave to me….Chocolate Hazelnut Strawberry Honeybush tea! When I scratched the label off of this one and started to be able to make out the name, you should have seen my face! I didn’t get a chance to try this blend back whenever it was available at 52 Teas because I don’t believe I had heard of the company yet. The other day I saw someone mention it on Steepster and I was really interested in trying it and wondered if I would ever get the chance. Imagine my shock when I saw it as Day 3’s blend!

                I don’t think I mentioned yet in these reviews, but I’m currently pregnant with my second daughter. I’m due in February! Because of my pregnancy, whenever I see a tisane (herbal, honeybush, rooibos, or fruit infusion) blend, I’m always really psyched because that means I can drink it as much as I want, whenever I want, being as they are naturally caffeine-free! So, I am very happy that this beautiful myriad of flavors are part of a honeybush base.

                Now, I am not usually a fan of chocolate in tea, but something that 52 Teas does is use cacao nibs and shells instead of actual chocolate chips, so I am not as afraid of their chocolate blends as I am with other companies. The chocolate is light here, not overpowering or artificial tasting. The strawberry and hazelnut are light, too. No one ingredient overpowers the other. Instead, there is just a little hint of everything combined with the sweet and herbal taste of honeybush. It’s really enjoyable, even though since I am a huge hazelnut-lover I wouldn’t mind if the hazelnut flavor was a little stronger. Other than that though, this is definitely something I would choose to drink again. I have been really happy with all the teas in this holiday countdown box and I have no doubt the fun will continue!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Honeybush
Where to Buy:  52Teas
Description

This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in 52Teas

On the Second Day of Christmas, 52Teas gave to me. . .

by Sophia

On the second day of Christmas, 52 Teas gave to me…. Holiday Marmalade Green Tea! I have been really excited to dig into these teas. With Day 1, I actually had opened it on the 1st of December, not realizing that we were starting these on December 12th! So, I kind of got a little “teaser” at the beginning of the month and have been counting down the days till I could officially start. One thing I really enjoy about 52 Teas as a company is that their blends are always so unique. I feel like a lot of tea companies out there are kind of repetitive and I really love that I can count on 52 Teas giving me something different and fun each month. Day 1’s tea definitely hit the nail on the head with uniqueness, and I’m happy to report that Day 2 is just as lovely!

Holiday Marmalade has an orange aroma and you can definitely smell the spices as well. I can see the clove buds, nutmeg, and big slices of oranges! The smell of this actually reminds me of Hot Buttered Spiced Rum Green Tea that was blended last year at 52 Teas. On taste, the two of course are different as this tea has no buttered rum flavor. I’d say that this one is less “dessert” and more of a nice, clean taste that would go well with any meal at any time of day. I do love spiced orange and I think that the green tea base works great here by adding a vegetal flair to the cup. This tastes like a green chai that gets a citrus twist from the orange slices. It is very comforting from the spices and also refreshing  from the green tea and orange.  I do believe it would taste good iced. If you happen to be in a warm climate during this winter (lucky you!) that may be a nice benefit to this particular blend.

Both Days 1 and 2 have been a success for me with this 12 Teas of Christmas “calendar”. I hope they were for you, too. Check back tomorrow for my take on Day 3….I have a feeling it will be a good one! 😉

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Green
Where to Buy:  52Teas
Description

This tea is not available but click below for teas that are.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Green Tea

On the First Day of Christmas, 52Teas sent to me. . . . .

by Sophia

Every December we happily look forward to the Christmas teas that 52Teas puts together for their Christmas box. Our Sister will be giving us the daily low down on which teas made their way into the box this year .  . . . .

The First Day of Christmas

Coconut French Toast with Cardamom Maple Syrup Black Tea

For the First Day of Christmas, 52 Teas gave to me….coconut crusted French toast with cardamom syrup! This was the tea of the week for June 15, 2015 and at that time I had not yet heard of 52 Teas, so I am really excited to have the chance to try this. It sounds like pure Heaven!

The dry leaf smell is creamy, maple-y, and coconut-y! There are big chunks of coconut and cardamom pods. Maple and cardamom tend to go well together and, in my humble opinion, coconut just goes well with almost anything!

I steeped this tea for about 3 minutes with very hot water and I also added just a tad bit of agave. This is so, so good! The cardamom shines through so well, its not overpowering though. Sometimes I feel that cardamom can add such an intense flavor and end up outshining the other ingredients, but here it just accents everything. The combination of coconut and maple add this nutty sweet and creaminess. I am very much enjoying this one, so this holiday TEAson (see what I did there?) is off to a fantastic start! I am going to enjoy the rest of this cup now and also finish the entire sample bag- and can I be honest with you guys? I feel like I haven’t done that in a really long time. I mean yeah I’ve found the teas I’ve been ordering to be very enjoyable, but to finish off the cup and the rest of the tea leaves? That’s rare for me these days so i’m really happy to be loving this tea so much.

So cheers to you and yours, enjoy this lovely symphony of flavor, and come on back tomorrow to see what I have to say about Day #2!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  52Teas
Description

I think we should kick off this holiday countdown with some BREAKFAST – don’t you? How about some delicious coconut crusted French Toast with a touch of butter and some sweet maple syrup that’s been infused with the warmth of cardamom? Sound good? Yeah, it sounds good to me too!

Here’s our original description for this tea:

This tea was inspired by a very memorable breakfast. Coconut crusted French toast that was topped with melted butter and a cardamom syrup. I went a step further and added maple flavoring because it sounded like a good idea. It tastes even better than it sounds!

I stuck close to the recipe here although there’s a bit more cardamom here than in my past versions. I wanted to highlight the cardamom!

organic ingredients: black teas, toasted coconut flakes, cardamom pods & natural flavors

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Black Tea

Pancake Breakfast from 52Teas. . . . .

by Sophia

I’m really excited to be reviewing a tea that is part of 52 Teas’ permanent collection! Its nice that they started this because I like having options that aren’t always Limited Edition. I never tried their Pancake Breakfast Black Tea before, but when I saw it I had to grab a sample pouch because anything that involves pancakes or waffles always peaks my curiosity.

Smelling the dry leaf of this smooth black tea blend I could definitely smell the maple syrup. Now- something that happens with a lot of teas that are created after a pancake or waffle usually end up tasting like maple. It’s hard to capture the taste of a pancake or waffle. I mean, it’s only tea after all and there are only so many options when it comes to flavoring them.

That said, if I did not know that this was called “Pancake Breakfast” I probably would have thought that it was a maple flavored black tea. However, when I think real hard while sipping I can almost taste the pancakes towards the end of the sip on the tip of my tongue. Is it really there or is it my imagination? You can decide that for yourself!

Either way, it is quite delicious and its the perfect tea for breakfast time…which as we all know, is any time you feel like it!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  52Teas
Description

Because the love for this tea is so strong, we stuck closely to the original recipe.

One difference is that we’re utilizing different teas in our black tea base.  I think you’ll notice the difference and I’m confident you’ll feel this was a change for the better!  We’ve made a really yummy thing even better!

Ingredients:  Organic Black Teas, organic marigold petals and all-natural, organic flavors.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Black Tea