I had a large sample pack of this, enough for a small pot of tea and not just a cup. Since it is caffeine free I thought it would be perfect for some after dinner snacking and would satisfy the sweet part of my sweet + salty cravings! The base is honeybush, thank goodness, and not rooibos. I don’t usually sweeten my teas and this already contains both white and brown sugar, but I am going for dessert here so I don’t mind.
The instructions call for a seven minute steep. I thought that was perhaps to give the cinnamon chips time to melt. It is worth waiting for! If you could melt a Snickerdoodle cookie (one of our favorite kinds) and pour it in a cup, this is exactly what it would smell like and taste like. The aroma was so incredibly sweet that I thought it was going to be TOO sweet for me, but it wasn’t. I am glad it was paired with popcorn and not a sweet dessert, though, because that would have been too much sugar for me! This was so rich, full bodied, and full of cinnamon goodness! The cinnamon is sweet and not hot. The brown sugar gives it real mouth-roundness, as Graham Kerr used to say.
I should have added a touch of milk, in retrospect, to get that dunked cookie vibe! This would also have made an astoundingly good latte. I may have to get my hands on some more to try that!
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
Snickerdoodles are the perfect holiday cookie. Packed with that classic cinnamon and sugar flavor, this tea will quickly become a family favorite!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Pina Colada Honeybush from 52Teas. . . .
I have very few herbal or caffeine free blends. They tend to be…bleh. I find that so many of them just taste like chamomile and…whatever. Or they are red rooibos and let me tell you, honey, me and red rooibos just DON’T get along.
When I got this, I didn’t think of it as a caffeine free option for evening, but rather as a nice change for summertime drinking, and planned to ice it, but OH MY GOODNESS. I made my first pot of it tonight and it was so much more than I was expecting.
First let me start off by saying that I don’t think I have ever had a pina colada, though I am aware of the ingredients. Daughter and I sang a bit of the Pina Colada Song to set the mood. (I like Pina Coladas! And getting caught in the rain!) I think this should probably be made a prerequisite before being allowed to sip.
Oh, but that sip! What a nice surprise! Yes, it is a little boozy tasting, but it is a just right boozy taste. I had a rum raisin tea not long ago that would have set off a breathalyzer. Yuck! But this was just perfect to showcase the fruit and coconut. Because I really feel that the fruit, coconut, and booze flavors were in perfect balance. The honeybush base is so nice. Why, oh why isn’t honeybush used more?
It was brilliant without any sweetener of any kind. As a night time tea, this is important to me since I have occasionally noticed that sugar tends to keep me up as badly as caffeine does.
So I am going to need a lot more of this tisane because I am going to need some big old iced pitchers of it when the weather gets hot and sticky, and some big old pots of it to send me off to bed satisfied and chill. It is currently unavailable but hopefully will be hitting the website again REAL SOON.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for the blends that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Day 21-Plum Deluxe Tea Advent Calendar. . .Spoilers!
Day 21 and I’m not going to lie, I was crazy excited about the tea blend just by the name alone. . .Banana Bread Dessert Tea! I mean seriously, does it get any better? I couldn’t wait to check this blend out so I prepped up freshly boiled water, allowed the tea to steep for five minutes and cool for an additional two. I poured myself a huge cuppa and sat down to enjoy what I thought would be banana goodness.
Upon first sip, it seemed I didn’t really get much in the way of banana but more chocolate. I noticed that while the tea was steeping I was getting some pretty heavy notes and didn’t really get much in the way of banana there either. Though I was bummed I didn’t get the banana love I was hoping for, this tea is still rock solid and delicious. The chocolate, honeybush, and cinnamon mingle together in a wonderful way providing this delicious flavor.
There is a subtle nutty flavor here and there and I think that is possibly where the chestnut essence is coming to play but with the bold flavors going on, I think the banana just isn’t there for me. Now I do have to say, I’m a banana freak so I was hoping for a blast in your face banana flavor.
Even though this tea didn’t quite deliver the flavor on the label, I’m still devouring this tea down and have had several more cuppas. I’m going to say that Day 21 was a successful blend indeed!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Plum Deluxe
Description
This tea is part of the tea advent calendar.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
EggNaughTea from The NecessiTeas. . . .
The holidays are fast approaching and that means eggnog. Lots of eggnog. And eggnog means eggnog lattes!!! They don’t say “it’s the most wonderful time of the year” for nothing.
I figured what better tea to make as an eggnog latte than EggNaughTea, a caffeine-free blend of honeybush, nutmeg, marigold petals, marshmallows, and flavoring? However, to be able to discern the tea from the latte, I also decided to make it as a plain tea. Both were brewed in 200F water for a little over 5 minutes.
Sipping on the hot tea, I can tell this is a high quality honeybush base, especially since it is one of the only things I am tasting. Sweet honey flavor. I wish I could say I was tasting the nutmeg, vanilla, or rum that is supposed to be here but alas they are lost on me.
Nevertheless, while I may find it a little lackluster tea plain, this is making for an ah-mazing latte! It boosts the nutmeg and vanilla in the regular eggnog, while the honey of the base makes this scream “decadent dessert”. Think sweet creamy custard deliciousness.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This tea is a holiday blend so check out The NecessiTeas site for all of their great holiday blends!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
My Peeps from The NecessiTeas. . . . . .
What do you do when you have a box of forty teas to taste and review? You hope and pray that there are some caffeine free blends so you can do some of your tasting at night! And if you don’t like rooibos, you pray that there will be some HONEYBUSH BABY!
And hallelujah, my prayers were answered! I don’t think I have had a honeybush tea I didn’t like and this one looks absolutely adorable! Tiny freeze dried marshmallows, pink sugar crystals dotted here and there like sparkling gems, plus brown sugar sweeten this blend, but the main flavor shining through for me is the honeybush base.
Adorable doesn’t cut it by itself. The tea has to taste good, too, and this one tastes like a holiday with a touch of vanilla. We don’t usually add sugar to tea in this house so there was a moment of hesitation as we tried it. But even with three sources of sugar in the blend, the tea is not too sweet. There really isn’t enough of it to turn me off. We made a whole pot, we are drinking a whole pot, and I don’t have to worry about lying awake all night.
Three cheers for My Peeps! Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!