Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
After the success of our Malted Genmaicha and Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha, we’re back at it again. Here’s a blend of Japanese Genmaicha (sencha green tea and toasted rice) with real freeze-dried cherries and natural cheesecake and maraschino cherry flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
When I tore open the pouch, I could recognize the cherry cheesecake aroma immediately. I could even smell the graham cracker crust! The brewed tea offers mere hints of what I experienced with the dry leaf, but it is enough to inspire one to deeply inhale before taking a sip to enjoy the sweet, delicious fragrance of cherry cheesecake.
I steeped this tea using a low temperature (170°F) for two and a half minutes in my Breville One-Touch. The flavor is quite nice, but, not really what I had hoped for. I expected a WOW! – This is cherry cheesecake kind of flavor but I didn’t get that. Yes, I taste the individual notes of cherry cheesecake: I taste the sweet and tart notes of the cherry, I taste the creamy, tangy flavors of the cream cheese, I even taste a slight buttery tone that melds well with the toasty flavors of the genmaicha to form a sort of crust-like taste. I even taste the sweet, fresh flavors of the green tea.
But, somehow, these flavors aren’t coming together in a seamless fashion to create the flavor of cherry cheesecake for me. It’s kind of like one of those gourmet deconstructed dishes where all the elements of the cherry cheesecake are represented but they aren’t put together in the usual way.
Don’t get me wrong, it is still a very delicious cup of tea, and I’m enjoying it very much. It is just different than what I expected.
I do notice that as the tea cools, the flavors do come together a bit more than when served hot, so I would recommend serving this one as an iced tea … I think it’s much better that way. I also found that the tea yields at least two infusions, which is nice, and I enjoyed the second cup just as much as – if not more than! – the first cup.
So, overall, it is a very enjoyable tea, but, I don’t know that I would consider this an adequate substitution for a cherry cheesecake. Delicious yes, but, not quite that delicious, if you know what I mean.
On the Seventh Day of Christmas, 52Teas Sent to Me …
I was pretty confident that this blend would appear in this 12 Teas of Christmas box, because it is probably one of 52Teas’ top 3 sellers this year, if not of all time. (Note: I don’t know this for sure, it’s a guess based only on the response to the tea on Steepster as well as the fact that it had been reblended several times before it was made a permanent part of the My Sweet Honeybush line).
This is also one of the only tisanes out there that I’ve purchased multiple pouches of, as this became a daily beverage for my daughter for a while. As much as I love most of 52Teas’ blends, if I were to purchase multiple pouches of all of them, well, I just wouldn’t have any room in my kitchen for anything but tea… and my family would disown me. As it is, they’re getting pretty frustrated with the amount of tea that I own now.
But, I digress.
I am really glad that this tea was in the sampler box, because I’ve been out of it for a while now, and I’ve missed it. It’s nice to revisit it!
COCONUT CHEESECAKE FLAVORED HONEYBUSH
As I mentioned above, this was my daughter’s favorite tea for quite a while. And, one sip will tell you why: it’s really delicious. Sweet and creamy, with a delicious coconut flavor that lingers. The cheesecake flavor here is very well pronounced with a tangy cream cheese and sour cream kind of flavor in the background.
The nutty flavor of the honeybush ties in well with the pastry-like flavor.
I find this just as delicious now as I did back in February when I wrote my full-length review of this tea. It makes a wonderful late-night treat that will satisfy my sweet tooth without calories, and since it’s honeybush, it’s caffeine-free too!
Maple Cheesecake Ti Kwan Yin from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
Here’s another extremely limited edition bonus blend. We have enough for exactly 24 1.5oz. pouches of this incredible blend, and when it’s gone, it’s GONE.
We started with a competition grade Ti Kwan Yin oolong for this blend and infused it with the flavors of sweet maple and tangy cheesecake. This is not going to last long, so get yours before it sells out.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A few months ago, Frank from 52Teas posed a question in the Steepster Forum, asking for ideas/suggestions for flavors for a few very limited edition teas (or V.I.T. = Very Important Tea). One of the suggestions I made for the Ti Kwan Yin was Maple Cheesecake … and viola! Here it is!
And I have to tell you that this tastes even better than I imagined it would back when I suggested the flavor. The Ti Kwan Yin is sweet, creamy and possesses toasty notes that compliment the maple flavors perfectly. And I think what I like about this particular blend best is that the competition grade Ti Kwan Yin is not outplayed by these other flavors. It stands out, strong and proud, as it should.
The maple flavor is sweet and offers a certain warmth to the cup, giving it a very autumnal kind of taste. The “cheesecake” flavor at first seems a bit absent, but, as I near the end of my first cup, I find that it comes through very well, with a lip-smacking tangy flavor that is distinctly cheesecake-y. And … what was that? Yes, I did just taste a hint of buttery pastry-like flavor. YUM!
Yes, 52Teas is my favorite tea company, and yes, I say this often: this is one of 52Teas’ best blends yet! But, this really is one of their better blends to come out recently. Sadly, this is a V.I.T. blend which means it was also very limited and has sold out, and will most likely never be blended again.
But, if you were one of the lucky few that managed to get your hands on one of the few pouches of this blend, I recommend infusing your leaves at least twice. The second infusion is even better than the first – the cheesecake flavors really seem to POP. This tea is plenty sweet on its own, but if you want to bring out the flavors a little more, try adding a tiny pinch of sugar. Or … better yet … try a drop or two of real maple syrup.
Absolutely delicious!
Pumpkin Cheesecake Black Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
As for this week’s tea of the week, I’ve been getting requests from a few customers to start creating some fall blends, so here we go. This is our unique blend of Indian black teas blended with marigold petals and natural pumpkin and cheesecake flavors. I have a feeling this is another one that is going to sell out fast, so don’t hesitate or you might miss out.
Taster’s Review:
First, for our readers from the United States:
HAPPY NATIONAL PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE DAY!
Yeah… I didn’t know it was National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day today either, until I was browsing around and stumbled upon an article about it. I hadn’t even planned on trying this tea today, but, after finding that article, I decided that I would tip my teacup to recognize this national holiday.
I guess the more obvious way to celebrate the day would be to bake a pumpkin cheesecake. However, the first time I actually tried to bake a pumpkin cheesecake, it was a disaster. I had all the right ingredients, and I even bought a spring form pan. I mixed it up, baked it, and when I pulled it out of the oven, I dropped it. KER-SPLAT! All over the kitchen floor. I haven’t tried to bake one since. So, yes. I think that this tea is probably a better way to celebrate the day for this clumsy baker …
When I opened the pouch, the aroma of pumpkin and spices greeted me enthusiastically. The brewed liquor loses much of the pumpkin scent, but, the spices are still noticeable, I am especially noticing the fragrance of clove.
This is really yummy! Of course, that’s no big surprise for me, since Frank hasn’t really let me down yet (at least, not to my recollection!) The flavors are very well integrated here, as there is not a flavor that I notice “first” – I taste them all, although they aren’t all equally represented.
The black tea is the strongest note. This is Frank’s “usual” – that is, a blend of Nilgiri and Assam tea. It works well in this blend as it is not overpowering, but it is strong and well-defined. The flavor of spices are also prominent. Specifically, I can taste clove and cinnamon. And while the spices are prominent, I don’t find them to be too overwhelming. I am not finding this to be a spice blend, rather, the spices are a pleasing accent to the pumpkin notes.
There is a really good level of pumpkin flavor. It isn’t as obvious a pumpkin flavor as in some other blends, perhaps, but I like the amount of pumpkin taste I am getting. The cheesecake flavor is there too with just the right amount of cream cheese tang.
Overall, what this tastes like is like someone liquified a slice of pumpkin cheesecake and added it to my black tea, and added a dash of pumpkin pie spice. I prefer this hot (but maybe that’s just because it’s cold outside), and I prefer it with just a little sweetener added . I used a bit of turbinado sugar, and I think that the molasses really played well to the flavors of the tea.
I can think of no better way to celebrate National Pumpkin Cheesecake day than with a cup of this tea, especially if you’re a clumsy baker like me.
Cherry Cheesecake Green Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Product Description:
I decided to try to create one of our very popular cheesecake blends with a GREEN tea this week. Our buttery sweet Chinese sencha seemed a good fit for a cheesecake tea, and wow did it prove out. This is light and delicious and decadent all at once. Enjoy!
Taster’s Review:
Have you ever just poured yourself a cup of tea that was just so tasty that you didn’t even really stop to think about the tea? I mean, for the usual tea drinker, that is a good thing, I mean… good tea, can’t go wrong with that, right? But, for one who reviews the tea (that would be me), it can prove to be somewhat of a challenge to review a tea when it is gone before I am able to sit down and consider the tea and compose my thoughts.
Well, this tea is guilty of challenging me in that way. I finished off what I brewed before I could sit down and write about it. Fortunately, I can make more . . .
The green tea base that is used here is Frank’s (aka the guy at 52Teas) usual: a Chinese Sencha. It is sweet and buttery and makes a wonderful base for the cherry cheesecake flavor.
I drank my first cup of this tea without sweetener, and it was really delicious like that. But for my second cup (this cup), I decided to add a little bit of turbinado sugar. And WOW… that really made the cheesecake flavor come to life. I can taste the tangy cream cheese flavor and the buttery pastry crust.
The cherry flavor is a sweet cherry flavor. While it does have a somewhat “candied” cherry kind of flavor (like the glazed cherry topping of a cheesecake), it doesn’t taste artificial nor does it give off that cherry cough drop kind of taste.
This tea manages to disappear from my teacup just as fast as a slice of cheesecake on my plate would.