Day 3!
Today’s flavor is Raspberry Almond Cookie Honeybush. Right away I notice the fragrant raspberry scent and see the vibrant color pop of dried raspberries in the dry leaf.
This is an herbal blend that reminds me a bit of those thumbprint jam cookies that pop up on cookie plates during this time of year. This blend is a bit more marzipan than butter cookie, but the almond nuttiness still pairs well with the natural caramelly, woodsy flavors of the honeybush.
I think this blend is best when brewed hot and strong for maximum flavor from the honeybush. Play up the dessert name by serving it as a foamy latte. Perfect for a before bed brew while putting out the cookie plate for Santa.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
When it comes to my tea flavors, there is usually some sort of inspiration behind it. Quite often, it was a flavor conceived during an afternoon of browsing through Pinterest. (I do like Pinterest!) I don’t really recall where I got the idea for a Raspberry Almond Cookie tea – but if I were to place a bet, my bet would be that I found it during a Pinterest browse.
I’ve never had a raspberry almond cookie. But when I think of “Raspberry Almond Cookie” – my mind evokes a thought of one of those little thumbprint type of cookies, you know, the cookies with a little indentation in the center where you could put a dollop of jam or marmalade? So, imagine that – if you would. A delicate almond shortbread that engulfs a little mound of raspberry jam.
And that’s exactly what this tastes like. I taste a good amount of raspberry and almond flavor and even a hint of buttery cookie. This is a naturally caffeine free treat – so it would make for a perfect dessert-y drink that you can enjoy before bedtime without worry that it’ll keep you up past your bedtime!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 2-Spoilers!
Day 2!
I am a big fan of 52Teas’ genmaicha flavors. They blend them with a bit of marshmallow root to take the slightly savory toasted flavors right over to marshmallow treat territory. I haven’t met a 52Teas genmaicha I didn’t like, so I was so excited to see today’s tea was Candy Cane Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha.
This tea works with their classic marshmallow treat genmaicha base and adds the vanilla mint flavors of a candy cane. This is such an unusual pairing. The roasted puffed rice in genmaicha evokes such a warm and toasty feeling in my mug, and now it is paired with the other end of the spectrum with frosty peppermint.
The mint pairs well with the green tea, and the vanilla candy flavor goes with the marshmallow root. The puffed rice adds a little bit of sweet breakfast cereal notes in the background. Another tasty genmaicha from 52Teas and a fresh take on the holiday candy cane tea.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
This is our first NEW tea of our 12 Teas of Christmas box (we reblend 8 teas every year, and create 4 new blends – but this year we did things just a little different . . . more on that on Day 8 of the countdown!) and this new tea is something special! Every year, I like to include at least one minty tea in the Christmas box because mint and the holidays just seem to go together, right? Last year, we didn’t have a minty tea in the Christmas box, and it wasn’t until I started working on the teas of the week for December that I realized that I hadn’t crafted ANY minty teas for the holiday season so I needed to come up with something quick and that’s when I came up with the idea for the candy cane white tea which I loved, particularly because of the candy canes that I used in that blend, an organically crafted, all natural, vegan, gluten free and allergen free candy cane. I simply fell in love with these things so when the holidays approached this year, I ordered some and then came up with the blend for which I’d be using them!
Also, I was a little surprised that this year, none of the Genmaicha blends were outstanding vote catchers in our poll especially considering that last year, we had two stand out Genmaicha vote getters – and since I do have quite a few Genmaicha fans out there, that suggested to me that people needed a new, interesting Genmaicha blend!
And here it is!
I started with organic Genmaicha and added peppermint, vanilla beans, marshmallow root and of course some bits of the aforementioned candy canes. The result: a yummy marshmallow treat-y cuppa with crisp, cool notes of peppermint! It tastes like a holiday marshmallow treat! So good!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
52Teas’ the 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 1-Spoilers!
Day 1! The 12 Teas of Christmas set from 52Teas really lets you surprise yourself, with the name of the tea hidden under a silvery scratch-off label on the pouch. It is one of the most fun and most unique daily tea surprise sets I’ve tried.
Today I tried Foggy Coconut Black Tea. In the past I tried Smoky Coconut from 52Tea and enjoyed it, but Foggy Coconut is a new one to me! As soon as I opened the pouch I was wrapped in the distinct citrus scent of earl grey. The fog in the name clearly refers to the London Fog drink, made with earl grey tea. Among the black tea leaves were big curls of white coconut.
Historically, earl grey teas are always walking that balance between crisp bergamot and creamy vanilla, so pairing an earl grey tea with smooth coconut was a winning idea. Even without milk, this tea is full bodied and has plenty of cream taste. The coconut adds a rich buttery feel and taste without causing too much of that oil slick on the top of your tea. All the vanilla creaminess is balanced with just enough of earl grey’s tried and true orange zest to make for a delicious and complex flavor experience.
This tea is also appropriately Christmassy: brew up a cup of Foggy Coconut in honor of the foggy night that Rudolph earned his place among Santa’s reindeer.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
My inspiration behind this blend is one of my favorite coffee shop drinks: a London Fog Latte! I order mine with coconut milk and half the usual amount of vanilla syrup (otherwise, it’s just too sweet!) One day as I was sipping on this drink, I found myself contemplating the beverage. I love the way the hints of coconut play with the bergamot but I found myself wishing that the coconut notes were stronger. (I do love me some coconut!) I also found myself wishing that the tea notes were stronger – which I felt would be accomplished if it didn’t have so much milk product in it – but then, the coconut notes would not be present. Then the idea hits me: why not make my own version of this drink with these improvements in mind!
And here we have it: I started with a base of Assam and Yunnan for a rich, bold, malty flavor. Something that could hold it’s own even with the strong note of creamy coconut. Then I added bergamot – I didn’t want to go too heavy on the bergamot because I didn’t want the coconut and bergamot competing with each other. I wanted enough bergamot to be tasted but not so much that it would interfere with the coconut flavor. Then I added some vanilla bean. Again, not a heavy vanilla taste – just enough to lend creaminess to the coconut and soften the edge of the bergamot and strong teas.
Then I went coconuts! This is a strongly coconut flavored tea but there’s enough bergamot there to give the cup the flavor that I was going for – this cuppa is my ideal London Fog! It’s got lots of coconut flavor without the milk drowning out the flavor of the tea. No “latte” required here, there’s enough creaminess to the flavor. Of course, if you want to go latte, that’s OK – but I’d recommend trying it without first!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cauldron Cake Genmaicha from 52Teas
52Teas recently did a whimsical and tasty set of Harry Potter inspired tea flavors. One of these blends is Cauldron Cake Genmaicha. I love the toasty puffed rice and warming green tea of genmaicha and 52Teas is the master of fun genmaicha flavors. Throw in a Wizarding World twist and I couldn’t wait to try this tea.
Cauldron Cake Genmaicha is inspired by a chocolatey, frosted cupcake. Alongside the familiar starchy rice flavors there are smooth cacao nibs, nutty cacao shells, and creamy white chocolate chips. A dash of sprinkles makes the loose leaf look even cuter. This tea looks very festive prior to brewing, with a wide variety of shapes and colors, and smelling like a sweet cake dessert.
This blend reminds me a bit of the honeybush-based blend Rocky Road. Both blends have cacao nibs, cacao shells, and white chocolate chips. However, 52Teas has been able to fit even more vanilla frosting flavors into the Cauldron Cake Genmaicha blend. The extra creaminess comes off as marshmallowy when paired with the puffed rice and roasty green tea.
I tend to drink my genmaicha teas without any milk or sugar, but this might be a fun latte to try in the future. Just be sure to top it off with a little whipped cream and sprinkles for the full effect.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: green genmaicha
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
Our fifth and final new tea for Harry Potter Month 2018! When I was going through my ideas for Harry Potter inspired teas, this one was at the top of the list because CAKE! Originally, I had considered doing this one as a black tea, however, I already had two black teas planned for the month so I decided to rethink the blend and create this as a Genmaicha blend instead.
Now, I haven’t ever had a Cauldron Cake, but the Harry Potter Wiki describes them as a mass-produced cake from Qizilbash Quality Confectionery in Pakistan. I confess that I’m not at all familiar with confections from Pakistan either. So when I went about creating this tea, I decided that a cauldron cake is probably a lot like a cupcake – only probably a bit more rounded at the bottom like a cauldron.
So I did my best to go with that kind of inspiration: a chocolate cupcake … err … cauldron cake with a cream filling and perhaps a light coating of chocolate ganache over it and then garnished with colorful sprinkles. And here we have our organic, Matcha infused Genmaicha blended with cake essence, cacao nibs, cacao shells, vanilla bean, white chocolate chips (vegan, of course) and sprinkles (also vegan, nut-free & gluten-free!)
It’s quite yummy and I believe that Honeyduke’s would be happy to serve this tea to their patrons!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Root Beer Float Black Tea from 52Teas. . .
I am lactose sensitive. I can have some dairy and be perfectly fine but too much and I am sick. This is especially true with ice cream. That is why I was particularly surprised when my mother took me to a restaurant called Jackson’s and happily let me order a Root Beer Float that came with a pitcher of root beer and a pint of vanilla ice cream. She’d been there before and knew what I was getting into…I did not. Needless to say I had to force my stepdad to help me out with the ice cream. Doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it though because root beer floats are awesome!
In light of my enjoyment of root beer floats, I was pretty pleased when this Root Beer Float Black Tea arrived as a sample in one of my orders from 52 Teas. Even more exciting are the delicious sounding ingredients of black teas, marshmallow root, sarsaparilla root, vanilla beans, calendula petals, and natural flavors. I made this as both a latte and a plain hot cup of tea.
My latte, though a bit watered down due to my inaccurate measuring, has a great sarsaparilla flavor. More than just the sarsaparilla which captures the root beer note, the vanilla beans and fluffy marshmallow combine with the milk to create a silky and creamy vanilla ice cream flavor. As a whole, the entire concept of root beer float is expertly captured in this tasty tea latte.
The plain tea is much more root beer than float. Granted there is a nice dose of vanilla and some softness from the marshmallow root, it is more heavily weighted towards the base black tea and the sarsaparilla root.
All in all, this tea (which is not currently available on the site but could be reblended) is a great take on the popular root beer float tea. Though it is good both ways I had it, I personally recommend the latte for a more accurate float. Just add a bit of whipped cream and a maraschino cherry and you got a treat worthy of any soda shoppe or 50s diner (but with much fewer calories :P).
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
