Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
I know how much you loved our Banana Pudding black tea, so I decided maybe we should try it with a genmaicha, and let me tell you, the toasted rice element of the genmaicha combined with the sweet sencha green tea takes our banana pudding flavor recipe to a whole new level of yummmmmm.
Like with the black tea version of Banana Pudding, we’ve added freeze-dried bananas, coconut and organic flavors. I think this one is going to be very popular. Can’t wait to hear what you guys think of it.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I usually like to do my reviews of the 52Teas in order from when they were released, but I skipped over this one. I’m not sure exactly why, except that I forgot that I had this tea in my stash. Usually when I brew a 52Teas tea for a review, I go to the website and see which tea I should review next. But I sort of skipped over this one because I thought, Banana Pudding? Oh, I already reviewed it. The tea I was thinking about was the Banana Pudding Black Tea. I forgot that Frank (the chief Zoomdweebie from 52Teas) had more recently created a Banana Pudding Genmaicha!
Then I realized as I was going through my tea stash that I had this tea just waiting for me to review it!
And YUM! This is good.
I think I might like this one even better than the black tea version, if for no other reason than the delicious, roasty-toasty flavor of the Genmaicha seems to add something nice to the banana flavor. It’s sort of like a banana flavored rice pudding with delicious, toasty vanilla wafer cookies. Mmm!
The sip starts out with a sweet banana-y flavor with a subtle grassy note from the green tea. There is a light, buttery note that accentuates the “wafer cookie” like flavor. Then I taste the toasty notes of the roasted brown rice, and this adds a sweet, nutty dimension to the cup that melds beautifully with the banana and the creamy vanilla notes. As the sip nears the finish, I pick up on more of the sweet, “baked” notes of the wafer cookie.
It’s a really delightful combination of banana and vanilla custard-y flavors, nutty tones, buttery notes with just a hint of grassy/vegetal notes from the green tea. The flavors all work together very well. A really tasty flavored genmaicha!
Two thumbs up for this one!
Strawberry Banana Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
I think someone suggested this. Honestly, I can’t remember. I’m getting old and you know they say the memory is the second thing to go. Wish I could remember what the first is. Anyway, of all of our teas, our banana teas and our strawberry teas seem to be extra popular, so why NOT make a strawberry banana tea? Sure, I imagine it’s not the most original combination we’ve ever come up with, but it might just be one of the most delicious!
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
OK … when Frank told me that this would be the tea for the week of May 26th, I was less than thrilled with the news. See, I sent him a quick message and told him that his tea for that week needed to be spectacular, because it was my birthday week. So I had big expectations. Like something fabulously chocolate-y or something like that. Perhaps a new tomato blend.
Note to Frank: I would still love to try a green tea with tomato and basil and black pepper and perhaps some tulsi … maybe a Chinese Sencha and Gunpowder blend for a base. Call it LIberTEAS Summer Salad Tea.
But I wasn’t expecting him to say something like Strawberry Banana. Of the many fruit combinations that are out there, Strawberry Banana is one of the most popular. You can find it in flavored yogurts and in just about every smoothie bar out there. And I’m not a big fan. In fact, I’ve often found myself wondering what it is about this combination that seems to attract so many fans. I mean, I like strawberry. I like banana. But together, they just … kind of lose something. The strawberry is less strawberry-ish, and the banana is less banana-y.
And while I do like strawberry teas and banana teas on their own, I just didn’t see Strawberry Banana Black Tea as one that I would really do flips over, nor is it one that I would have purchased for myself if I didn’t actually subscribe to 52Teas and automatically receive each of the 52Teas that they make every year. I’m just not a fan of the combination of Strawberry and Banana.
But, believe it or not, this is actually pretty good. There is a plentiful strawberry flavor, and I find that I’m tasting strawberry long after the sip is finished. It is a long lasting flavor that keeps on going into the aftertaste. The strawberry tastes sweet and a little bit tart, with that tingly berry sensation that tickles my tongue at the finish. The banana isn’t quite as strong but it is a nice flavor. It’s a sweeter banana note, and it actually has a slight creaminess to it that I like.
The black tea base is a smooth tasting base. It doesn’t taste as rich as I seem to remember some of the black teas from 52Teas tasting, so I don’t know if they changed their black tea base again or if it’s just because of the way this particular blend of flavors work with the black tea base. It’s still a brisk tasting black tea, and it’s got a nice, smooth, round taste to it and I’m enjoying it. I’m not finding it to be overly astringent nor is it a tannic tasting tea, so it’s a good base, just not quite as … rich in flavor as I remember the black tea base from 52Teas tasting.
This is good, and it makes me really glad I’m a subscriber and I had the chance to try this tea, because like I said before, I probably wouldn’t have tried it otherwise. This wouldn’t have been a tea that I added to my cart if I were shopping without the subscription. It tastes good hot, and it’s delightful iced too!. My youngest daughter gave a happy thumbs up to it too! We both enjoyed it!
Passion Fruit Banana Shou Mei Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Wow! I just have to say: passion fruit is some ugly fruit. I mean, it’s just not attractive at all. I was looking for a picture of it to incorporate into my label and all I can say is that it’s a good thing it tastes better than it looks.Bananas, on the other hand, are much more appeeling. So, I decided to marry the two in our new Tea of the Week with some nice shou mei white tea. This is a tea that will make your mouth happy. Like not just pleased, but happy.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh yum! I agree with the above statement: this Passion Fruit Banana Shou Mei Tea from 52Teas is really making my mouth happy! The flavors of banana and passion fruit taste AMAZING together.
The Shou Mei white tea base is ideal for these fruit flavors – it’s delicate enough to allow the flavors really shine, however the flavor is not so soft that it gets pummeled by the strong fruit notes. I taste the light, sweet notes of the white tea. It’s soft, a little bit earthy and I taste a hint of creaminess from the tea too.
The real stars of this blend, though, are the fruit flavors. These two tropical flavors are made for each other. The taste is sweet and fruity (well, obviously, right?) and with the smooth, fresh, creamy taste of the white tea, it’s almost “smoothie-like.”
It tastes great hot, but I think this one is best iced: it becomes a really refreshing treat! Yeah, I know that I’ve often sang praises to 52Teas blends, but trust me when I say that for this tea, the praises are well deserved. It’s really, really YUM!
Rooibos Chocolate Banana Tisane from Tea of Life
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Tisane Description:
South African Red Bush or Rooibos Tea is a pure and natural herbal blend. Freshly harvested and finely chopped rooibos goes through a process of oxidation with the aid of the oxygen from the atmosphere and subsequently dried int he sun to produce a deep mahogany red cup of which is one of the most popular and healthy herbal drinks today.
“Tea of Life” is proud to introduce five New Naturally Caffeine Free Rooibos Teas combined with Dark Chocolate with delicious natural fruit and mint flavors for your enjoyment – all day and into the evening.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! I usually enjoy banana flavored teas and tisanes, and being a chocoholic, I’m never one to turn down something chocolate – so I went into the experience with this Rooibos Chocolate Banana Tisane from Tea of Life pretty certain that I’d enjoy it. Even though I’m not always excited about rooibos blends, I thought that the nutty/woodsy notes of the rooibos would meld nicely with the dark chocolate and banana flavors, so I wasn’t too worried or apprehensive about trying this tisane.
What really makes this tisane a winner is the dark chocolate flavor. It is a really rich and wonderful chocolate note. It isn’t a bittersweet chocolate taste – perhaps the sweetness from the banana as well as the natural sweet notes from the rooibos help to soften the chocolate. But I like that even though some of the bitter notes have been subdued, the chocolate is still the main flavor I taste here.
The banana is sweet and it has a really interesting flavor that falls somewhere in between true banana flavor and banana flavored candy. It’s not quite banana runts, but it’s not pure banana either. It tastes more like a banana that’s been roasted in the oven with dark chocolate morsels. The dark chocolate is melted and drizzling over the banana that is becoming sweeter from the heat. A slightly caramelized banana … dipped in dark chocolate. And as far as I’m concerned, that’s the best way for a banana to taste.
The woodsy notes of the rooibos are there, but they seem to play a background note to the foreground of chocolate and banana. And that’s quite alright with me.
This is really tasty!
Butterscotch Banana Flavored Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
One of the things I find cool about blending flavored teas is that I can combine flavors that might not otherwise get combined. I’ve never seen butterscotch and banana combined in anything else, but guess what? It’s an awesome combination. Hope you like it as much as I do!
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Tasty!
At least once a month, I receive a package from 52Teas. I subscribe to their monthly package, which means that all the teas of the week are sent to me at the end of the month, after the final tea of the week for that month has been created.
For the month of November, THIS Butterscotch Banana Flavored Black Tea from 52Teas is the tea I was really looking forward to. Butterscotch and Banana? Yes please! I have been a fan of Frank’s banana teas for quite some time, and to combine it with the rich, buttery, caramel-y taste of butterscotch seems sort of … well, heavenly to me.
And this is really good. There is a bit more butterscotch than there is banana, and that was a wee bit disappointing, because I found myself searching for the banana flavor. Oh, I can taste the banana, but, there seems to be a little less banana flavor than I was hoping for.
That said, this is still a really good tea. The butterscotch notes are really yummy. And I love the way they meld with the black tea flavor – it tastes quite creamy and decadent. The black tea is robust and invigorating, and the butterscotch softens the black tea just a tad. The banana notes come in about mid-sip, and they are there … I just found myself wanting more banana.
Overall, a very enjoyable cuppa. I found that this tea definitely benefits from a short cooling time (most teas do) so that the flavors can emerge. That said, don’t let it cool too long, because I preferred this one hot. Still tasty when it’s cold, I found that the butterscotch notes were much more indulgent tasting when the tea is hot.