My husband (type B, carnivore) and my brother (type A, vegetarian) are friends, but they don’t agree on many things. One of the few they agree on: me. I’m great and they know it.
The other thing they both like: facon. (Fake bacon.) They adore this strange compromise between bacon and fantasyland.
I’m not much of a facon person, but I think this tea is fascinating. This facon/rooibos/pineapple tea is totally unlike anything I’ve ever had. It’s juicy, salty, and throaty. It’s lush.
It’s also a little bit peculiar.
I decided to take it and shove it in people’s faces. My roommate says it smells like “green olives.” My husband says it smells like “throat soothing medicine.”
I don’t know if it’s something I’d purchase, but I am so glad I got a chance to try it. This tea is so original. I’ll enjoy the rest of my sample.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea was reblended by request from one of our start-up Kickstarter contributors. I started with organic red rooibos and added bacon and pineapple flavors. I also added freeze-dried pineapple bits and vegan bacon bits – this blend is 100% vegan but I can’t be 100% certain that it’s 100% gluten-free. I’m not sure if the vegan bacon bits are gluten-free and the packaging didn’t assist me in finding out. The company that I ordered them from wasn’t any more helpful. (Sorry!) So if you’re one who needs to avoid gluten, I wouldn’t recommend this tea. I do take very special care to avoid cross-contamination – so the other teas are fine – but this tea, I’m not 100% sure of it’s gluten-free-ness.
The original description of this tea goes like this:
Did you think we were done playing with bacon teas?
So did I. But check this out: I was thinking about how much I enjoy a Hawaiian pizza or just a nice ham with a pineapple glaze and nice juicy pineapple rings baked on it… My wife is of the opinion that meat and fruit should not be mixed, but… well, nobody’s perfect, right? Anyway, I was thinking that if ham and pineapple is good, pineapple and BACON would be even better. And when I was thinking about what base tea to use, it occured to me that the woodiness that I personally somewhat dislike about rooibos might go well with pineapple and bacon, and oh boy does it! Juicy pineapple, salty bacon and refreshing rooibos are an amazing combination. Not to mention that it’s a guilt-free indulgence.
I stuck pretty close to the recipe for this blend. After reading my review of the original blend – read it here – I seem to recall the original blend tasting a bit too sweet, kinda like pineapple bubblegum with bacon flavoring which is just a little bit weird. Fortunately, I’m not really tasting that now which I’m grateful for. I taste pineapple – it’s the strongest flavor component and I taste bacon. The bacon flavoring does lend a certain ‘salty’ factor to this blend but you might want to add just a teeny pinch of salt to the cup to enhance that salty bacon flavor. But I don’t taste “bubblegum” or that sweet, sugary note that a ‘bubblegum’ description would seem to imply.
I am enjoying the balance of flavors better here than I think I did with the original blend – so overall, it’s a win for me. And hopefully our contributor enjoys it too and it’s a win for her!
Taster size is approximately 15g.
organic ingredients: rooibos, freeze-dried pineapple, vegan bacon bits and natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
#FanaticFriday: Pumpkin Spice Latte Genmaicha from 52Teas
I’m a huge fan of 52Teas. Always have been. So I thought I would take over SororiTea Sisters today and chat about a few new offerings from 52Teas!
The weather is turning colder and with that comes all things pumpkin. Yes, I am one of those pumpkin addicts that go crazy. Now I don’t go nuts and buy pumpkin flavored cookies and pumpkin flavored candy, but I do flip out over pumpkin coffee (when I drank coffee), pumpkin in different dishes, and pumpkin in tea. So when I opened up my first monthly subscription from 52Teas and saw this tea in the lot, I may have gotten a tad giddy.
Brewed up per the packages instructions, this tea had an amazingly rich cinnamon roasted note. I allowed the tea to cool for a moment and took a sip. I was instantly greeted with those same deeply rich cinnamon notes with a roasted overtone. You could tell this was a genmaicha blend but the cinnamon notes really took the tea to a different level. Delicious!
But this tea is Pumpkin Spice Latte Genmaicha and I have to say with the first infusion, I didn’t really pick up any pumpkin. So I brewed up more water and brewed up a second infusion, hoping to pull out the pumpkin flavor. This go around I allowed the tea to cool longer. Took another sip and this time the pumpkin flavor was a bit stronger but not a ton. Even with that said, this tea was delicious! The pumpkin added a sweet note with the same lush cinnamon roasted tone.
With a tea like this one, you would think the pumpkin flavor would smack you in the face, but this one doesn’t. To me, this was a more gentle pumpkin flavored tea that still delivers that fall like experience with every sip. I am still crazy about this tea and can’t wait to try my remaining taster as a cold brew.
All I really have left to say about this tea is this is a tea that is perfect to welcome in the fall! Can’t wait to see what teas are in my October box!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This time of year, it seems impossible to avoid the Pumpkin Spice trappings – there are pumpkin spice goodies every where you turn! Well, rather than fight ’em, I decided to join ’em and create a Pumpkin Spice treat of my own! And why not? I love the flavor! The pumpkin is sweet yet savory and the spices add a lovely, deep warmth to the pumpkin notes.
I started with organic Matcha infused Genmaicha and added chunks of real, dehydrated pumpkin, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla bean and marshmallow root to create a tea that’ll make you happy this time of year has finally arrived! This tea is terrific served straight up, but a drizzle of honey in this is oh-so-nice!
Taster size is approximately 15g
ingredients: green teas*, popped brown rice*, dried pumpkin chunks, marshmallow root*, crushed and whole allspice*, cinnamon*, nutmeg*, vanilla bean* and natural flavors*
*denotes organic
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
#FanaticFriday: Spiced Cucumber Melon Green Tea from 52Teas
Because I am such a fan of 52Teas, I thought I’d take over SororiTea Sisters to chat about a few of their blends. Though this blend isn’t a new one, I finally had a chance to try it so its new to me!
Spiced Cucumber Melon Green Tea is one that arrived in one of my mystery grab bags that 52Teas offered not too long ago. I’m a huge fan of their green teas but being one that isn’t a huge fan of spicy teas, I wasn’t sure what I would think. But I wanted to go out of my comfort zone a bit, so I steeped up my water to 175F, allowed the tea to steep for a few minutes, cool for a bit, and took my first sip.
This blend is a mix of green tea, cucumber, peppermint, lime leaves, ginger, black pepper, habanero pepper and natural flavors. What I found so fascinating about this blend was how refreshingly cool the tea came across while having a spicy kick in the background. An odd mix of flavors but one that really works well.
Each sip yielded this gorgeous cucumber melon flavor with hints of lime and peppermint (think mojito style) at the beginning and the aftertaste is where the spicy kick came to play.
A wonderfully strange mix of flavors but one that I’m loving! Such a refreshing mix of cucumber and melon with an air of spice. This blend is still violable but I’m not sure for how long seeing as I just emailed 52Teas to see how much of this tea they have left. I might just have to buy the remaining inventory!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
Spring is here and with that brings some fresh flavors – like Cucumbers and Melons! Last year’s Cucumber Cantaloupe Oolong went over really well, so I thought I’d like to bring the flavors of cucumber and melon together again but this time with a green tea base and with a touch of warm spices to contrast the cool fruit flavors of cucumber and melon (yes, cucumber is a fruit. I looked it up on the internet and I know the internet wouldn’t lie to me, right?) Then I added a touch of mint and lime to perk up the palate.
It’s sweet and gently spiced. It’s refreshing and it’s a little different. It’s really good.
Taster size is approximately 1/2 ounce.
ingredients: organic green teas, organic freeze-dried cucumber, organic ginger root, organic peppermint leaves, organic lime leaves, organic crushed black pepper, dried habanero peppers and organic natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
#FanaticFriday: Peach Cheesecake Honeybush from 52Teas
I’m a huge fan of 52Teas. Always have been. So I thought I would take over SororiTea Sisters today and chat about a few new offerings from 52Teas!
Today I was just craving a dessert tea and I have to say this one hit the spot perfectly for me!
52Teas creates an amazing line of dessert teas that satisfy any sweet tooth. With the leaves starting to fall and almost at the end of September, I was craving a tea that had a fall touch and a dessert feel.
Peach Cheesecake Honeybush has a lovely gathering of fall like spices with a honeybush background. The tea itself has even a fall look with the lovely large chunks of peach and pops of lighter yellows on a bed of brown honeyhbush. Doesn’t get more fall than that!
Brewed with fresh boiled water and allowed to steep for 5 minutes, this tea had a lovely spiced peach aroma that made my mouth water. I couldn’t wait for the tea to finish steeping.
Once I was all set and the tea cooled for a moment , I took my first sip. Pops of vibrant fresh peaches spiced to perfection with cinnamon and a hint of ginger with a lush silky creamy finish.
This blend is sweet with just the right amount of spice to give the tea the much needed contrast. I’m crazy about this tea right now and have almost tanked out my taster size that I received in my monthly subscription box. This is one I’m going to have to think about getting a larger size.
Peach Cheesecake Honeybush is one of those perfect teas that has that subtle fall feel with those pops of vibrancy that give you all the tea feels!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Herbal/Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
When I was determining the tea menu for this month, I knew I wanted to do one last peach tea as the summer wanes. I also wanted to do a cream cheese type of tea because it’s been a little while since our last cream cheese offering. So I decided to bring these two flavors together to create a Peach Cheesecake Honeybush!
I started with organic honeybush – I thought that the natural nutty-like flavors of the honeybush would make a nice base for the flavors of peach and cheesecake. Then I added freeze-dried peach chunks and cinnamon and natural flavors to create a sublime, dessert-y treat. This blend is all organic, gluten-free, allergen-free and naturally caffeine-free – not to mention delicious!
Taster size is approximately 15g.
organic ingredients: honeybush, freeze-dried peaches, cinnamon, ginger root, calendula petals and natural flavors.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
#MusicandTeaMonday: Mango Rose Daiquiri from 52Teas
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
This tea is no longer available but please click below for a listing of what is currently offered.