Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Lots of people have commented on our banana tea blends in the past. We’ve used banana in a few blends inspired by banana pudding, bananas foster and even banana bread, but I thought this week we would really go bananas and just go with an all out banana tea. We’ve blended our Pettaiagala Extra Long Leaf OP black tea from Sri Lanka with real freeze-dried bananas and organic banana flavors, and this, my friends, is bananatacular! It’s bananaramic! It’s enough to leave you humming the Batman theme–“Nana nana nana nana nana nana… Batman!”
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Taster’s Review:
Can say Banana Pudding? Wow. This smells just like Banana Pudding. Like the kind you would have during a family get together. You can even see the banana chips in the blend. This just smells so good! I’m now officially singing the Batman theme.
Now it is time for the test. Liberteas had already informed me to let this cool. So I did. And made an iced tea out of this.
This tea may be one of the best I’ve had from 52Teas/Zoomdweebies. Creamy Banana Pudding. Wow. I can find nothing negative to say about this and am creeping on the site now to see if there is any left. No artificial flavors here. Just smooth rich sweet creamy banana flavors that really mingle well with the black tea base.
Might just need to place an order. Insert me taking a sip here. Need to place an order. Insert me taking another sip. Yeah. . .Have to place an order. Must try this a a latte.
If you are looking for a banana tea like I have been, this will take care of any craving you may have. I am impressed.
Goodbye from LiberTEAS!
This isn’t a tea review.
Tomorrow starts a new chapter in my life as a tea aficionado. For the last six plus years, I’ve been writing tea reviews and I’ve loved this “occupation”. It offered me the unique opportunity to sample teas from all around the world – teas I might not have otherwise had the opportunity to get to know.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you might be aware of the fact that I recently ran a successful Kickstarter campaign and the purpose of the campaign was so that I could take over 52Teas brand from its creator, Frank Horbelt.
Frank has had several different tea ventures over the years. Recently, Frank realized that he wanted to devote his full efforts to his iced tea business, Southern Boy Teas so he asked me if I would take over the brand 52Teas.
I was excited by the prospect. Some of you may be aware that I used to operate another tea business: Life, LiberTEA & the Pursuit of Happiness, which was later simplified to LiberTEAS. I closed that business about 7 years ago because I realized that I’m much better at creating teas but not so great at running a business. So when Frank offered me 52Teas, I was – like I said – excited but I was also a little nervous. (OK, a lot nervous!)
So I talked to my oldest daughter who is incredibly sensible and smart hoping she’d tell me what I should do. I was surprised – happily so! – when she offered to help me with this undertaking! So we became a team!
Now, I don’t have to worry about the running the business part of the business. I can just do what I do best – creating teas. And with a brand like 52Teas – what an amazing platform! I get to create a unique and unusual tea blend every single week!
But because I’m back in the tea business, I won’t feel right about reviewing other people’s teas. I don’t think it will be an ethical thing for me to do. And it certainly wouldn’t be ethical for me to review my own teas. So, I’m saying goodbye to the SororiTea Sisters Tea Review Blog.
But, I’m not riding off into the sunset. I’ll still be very actively involved in SororiTea Sisters. I did, after all – co-found this blog with TeaEqualsBliss! This blog is still my baby!
As you are probably aware, we’ve brought on a few more sisters over the last few months, and you can get to know them here. They – along with TeaEqualsBliss – will do the writing, and I’ll act as administrator of the blog.
I’ll still be posting the reviews to Twitter. I’ll still be occasionally posting them to our Facebook page. I’ll still be around – I just won’t be writing anymore. At least – not here. But I’ll have my own little blog space on the all new 52Teas website.
So, don’t be a stranger! Please feel free to stop by and drop me a comment on my new website. Or better yet: buy some tea! Or buy a lot of tea! More tea = more happiness!
Mighty Organic Earl Grey Tea from Tea Leaf Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Leaf Co.
Tea Description:
A GBOP grade of black tea for this earl grey and blended with extra bergamot essence creates an infusion especially well suited for London fogs or for those seeking a strong bergamot flavor in their tea. Much stronger than the classic, malty notes, and a lively cup.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Mighty Organic Earl Grey Tea is the last of four teas that Tea Leaf Co. sent me to sample. I figured I’d save the Earl Grey for my last day as a tea reviewer and go out with all my favorites!
When I opened the pouch, I was a little surprised by the aroma. I could smell the bergamot, certainly, but I could also smell licorice. I thought my olfactory nerves were deceiving me!
I brewed this tea in my Kati Tumbler (seriously, folks, if you haven’t gotten yourself one of these yet, you really SHOULD!) I measured 1 bamboo scoop of tea into the basket of my Kati and then poured 12 ounces of boiling water into the tumbler. I let it steep for 3 minutes.
After the brewing was complete, I lifted the cup to my nose to smell the brewed tea. Again … I smell licorice! Weird! At this point, I’m starting to worry that I’m coming down with something.
But the flavor is NOT licorice! The flavor is bergamot! Distinctly! It’s tangy and it’s a little sweet, it’s citrus-y and it’s bright. It’s bergamot.
So don’t let my weird experience with the aromatics throw you off – this is an Earl Grey tea – a “Mighty” fine Earl Grey! The black tea is richly flavored and has a pleasant, robust taste that’s just right to greet you in the morning and give you that gentle shake awake that you need. It has notes of malt that mingle with the bergamot in a pleasant way.
The bergamot – along with the orange peel – offers a sunny flavor. These two citrus notes together create more of a citrus-y flavor rather than a straightforward bergamot note which I don’t really mind because I can still taste the distinguished flavor of bergamot.
Overall, a really good Earl Grey. Where does it rate in my Earl Grey ratings? I think it would be somewhere in the upper echelon of Earl Grey, but it’s not in the top three, or even the top ten. It’s much better than many of the Earl Grey teas I’ve tried, but not as good as some. I’d definitely recommend it to the Earl Grey aficionados out there – it’s absolutely worth trying, you might find your new favorite even though I didn’t find mine!
Pomegranate Burst™ Green Tea from Good Earth
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Good Earth online or Wherever Good Earth Teas are sold.
Tea Description:
Sure we all have responsibilities, but that doesn’t mean we have to settle into a routine. Break things up with the tingling intensity of Pomegranate Burst™. Blended with the goodness of green tea and the unexpected tart flavors of pomegranate and cherry, one sip will be enough to shake up an ordinary day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I brewed this Pomegranate Burst™ Green Tea from Good Earth without knowing the ingredients in the tea – only knowing it’s a flavored green tea. So, I brewed it the way I’d brew any other bagged green tea: using 8 ounces of hot water (170°F) and steeping for 2 minutes.
After I finished steeping the tea, I noticed the color – it’s a vivid ruby color, just like the color of a pomegranate aril. This communicated “hibiscus” to me. And after my first sip, yep … there’s hibiscus in this. Ugh. That first sip told me something else: there’s stevia in this too. Double Ugh. And it’s not even the natural leaf from the herb “stevia” it’s steviol glycosides which is the chemical compound of stevia. And I can taste that chemical taste from it too. Triple UGH!
Served hot, this just isn’t my cup of tea. I taste to much hibiscus and stevia and a syrupy cherry flavor (read: cherry flavored cough syrup) for me to derive much enjoyment out of drinking it. I do taste pomegranate and hints of raspberry. Those flavors might be nice if my palate wasn’t overwhelmed by the flavor of hibiscus, chemical tasting stevia and cough syrup.
No green tea flavor to speak of here. Just none.
Not one to want to give up on a tea so quickly, I decided to cold-brew a few bags in my half gallon pitcher, hoping that the cold brew might soften the overpowering flavors that I experienced with the hot steep. I used 5 tea bags for 2 quarts of water and stashed it in the fridge for about 8 hours.
As an iced tea, this is a little bit better but not much. The cherry flavor is not quite as cough syrupy as when it’s brewed hot but it still has that cough medicine taste. The chemical stevia notes are a little less apparent although I can still taste it. To offset the flavor of the stevia somewhat and try to make the sweet taste more natural, I added some agave to it and this addition helped make the drink more palatable.
On the positive side: I do like that I taste the pomegranate and the raspberry and these two fruits have a pleasant fruity flavor. The hibiscus is also less apparent as an iced tea. This tastes a lot more like a fruit drink than a tea though.
I think it’s fair to say that this was not a win for me. It wasn’t horrible but I find it difficult to move past that artificial taste of the stevia. It really ruins this drink for me.
Lemongrass & Pandan Tisane from Chiang Rai Tea House
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Chiang Rai Tea House
Tea Description:
An exquisite, balanced blend of two fragrant herbs typical of South East Asia. The lemony flavor and aroma of lemongrass is a great match to the sweet, vanilla-like taste of pandan. If you haven’t tried pandan yet, this infusion is not to be missed. The lemongrass-pandan combination is known to relieve stress, ease constipation. detoxify the blood and, being caffeine-free, it’s also the perfect after-dinner beverage. As for all our teas and herbs, these two are also organic.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t recall ever having tried Pandan before, so this moment with Lemongrass & Pandan Tisane from Chiang Rai Tea House represents a new experience for me.
Pandan is interesting! It has a sweet flavor that is reminiscent of rice. The description above suggests a vanilla-like taste and I get that too, but I think I taste more of a rice-like flavor than a vanilla one. I’m quite enjoying it!
I have tried a lot of lemongrass in the past, but I must say that the lemongrass that I’ve sampled from Chiang Rai Tea House is truly exceptional. I realize that there are people out there that might thing that ‘lemongrass is lemongrass’ but for those people, I’d recommend trying one of Chiang Rai Tea House’s lemongrass offerings and that might change your mind. If nothing else, you might find the curly shavings of the lemongrass more interesting and enchanting than the typical blades of lemongrass that you might be used to.
The combination of the sweet, citrus notes of the lemongrass with its subtle hints of butter complement the pandan in a very pleasant way. This is a really nice caffeine free drink – one I wouldn’t mind drinking on a regular basis!
Overall, I’m really happy that I had this opportunity to try this Lemongrass & Pandan Tisane – Pandan is delightful and so is the lemongrass! A really nice tisane.