Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
The original blend was a black tea base with marigold petals and organic flavors. We can do that!
Our black tea base IS different from the original. We spent months developing a black tea base that is well rounded and flavorful. To learn more about it, click here.
So we took our all-new, go-to black tea base and blended it with organic marigold petals and all-natural, organic flavors. As the original description states; “It’s a guilt-free (vegan even) caramelly, cheesecakey, pumpkiny feast for your sweet-tooth all wrapped up in the hug of a great cuppa premium black tea.” And it is!
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about subscribing to the Tea of the Week Program here.
Taster’s Review:
52Teas recently had a grab bag on sale of a mix of their teas and who am I to say no to that. I jumped on the opportunity and picked up two grab bags. I couldn’t wait to try some of the new takes on old favorites. 52Teas has recently gone thru a much needed (IMO) management shake up and I’m thrilled with what Anne has put out for us so far. To be as transparent as possible with this review, I did purchase this tea from 52Teas and it wasn’t a sample from Anne. This review is 100% my own honest review of what I thought of this tea.
I was excited to try this one. I distantly remember enjoying the original version of this tea and was looking forward to the reboot. I brewed this black tea up with water that was at 212F and allowed it to steep for a 3 minutes. I was picking up some lovely caramel notes and a certain sweetness but nothing that I would say translated into caramel pumpkin cheesecake.
I took my first sip and the lovely caramel notes that I was picking up translated into a lovely caramel flavor. I loved the caramel flavoring that 52Teas has used. Rich and creamy. But I do have to say, I am missing any of the other flavors like the pumpkin or the cheesecake. I tried steeping this tea a few different ways and always came away with this being more of a caramel flavored black tea than the pumpkin cheesecake.
Now, I did have a friend try this tea and they loved the combination of the pumpkin and caramel flavors. She said that the more she drank the tea, the more she picked up those pumpkin notes. She really liked it and said it was helping her sore throat.
As far as a flavored tea goes, this tea was quite delicious. Like I said, those caramel flavors were very good. But this tea is supposed to be a caramel pumpkin cheesecake tea. So yes it is really tasty but it seems the title doesn’t exactly match up. Regardless this tea found a home with someone who really enjoys it and to me that is a winning combination!
Now to see what other lovely teas are awaiting me from my grab bag!
Sunshine Cottage from Sunshine Cottage
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Sunshine Cottage
Tea Description:
Good Morning Sunshine! Start every morning off with this bright and happy, citrus and tropical fruit blend, and you’ll start every day with a smile. Lovely as is, with a drizzle of honey, even a splash of milk. Great iced when the weather heats up!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Good morning sunshine is right! This tea starts your morning off right!
This lovely tea is from the amazing Sunshine Cottage Etsy store, a store for all those flavored black tea fans out there. Sunshine Cottage tea is a take on a tropical tea and a happy way to wake up in the morning with a bright colored tea to add to your tea spot.
I brewed this tea up with boiling water and let it steep for about 4 minutes. Allowed it to cool for a moment and then indulged myself in the tropical citrus aroma that was delighting me.
First sip and yes! This tea is a tropical citrus tea for sure. The citrus is almost like a juicy tangerine flavor while the tropical flavors are more subtle in the background. There are hints of this tea becoming astringent but I’m not picking that up right away. It is more of a lingering aftertaste from drinking the tea for a few moments.
On the package of the tea there was also a note about jasmine being in the blend and I’m sad that I’m not picking up those notes. I can’t say what a jasmine tropical citrus tea would taste like and honestly it may not go well together but I kind of want to try it.
As the tea sits now it was a delight and one that I would have no probably making up for the family to enjoy. I bet this would make an incredible iced tea and I have plans to try this as a cold brew to enjoy in the morning.
Whoopie Pie from East Indies Tea Company
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The East Indies Tea Company
Tea Description:
Black tea, whoopie pie taste with chocolate bits, white chocolate bits, cocoa powder and sparkling sugars
Taster’s Review:
A while back, there was a group buy to East Indies Tea Company, a company that seems to be a distributor for a lot of smaller tea companies. Since we had quite a group of us, we were able to purchase some of the teas that would not necessarily be available to us otherwise.
This one intrigued me for some reason. I normally do not enjoy a chocolate tea and do try to stay away from them. In general, I am just not a fan of chocolate. Weird, right?
Whoopie Pie is made up of white chocolate and milk chocolate. The tea itself smells like a cookie. Incredibly sweet. I brewed this up as a black tea-212F-3 min for my steeping parameters.
I shared this one with the upstairs dwelling twin teenagers so I’m curious to see what they think. I took my first sip and yes, this tea is right up a chocolate fans alley. The chocolate is sweet and silk like. I don’t pick up any artificial notes and am enjoying the cuppa I have. But I can say that this is not a tea that I would want any more of and keep looking at my cup wishing that the tea would magically disappear. I can see this tea as being a great tea to drink while trying to stay away from a chocolate snack at 2pm when those cravings start to hit.
For chocolate fans and chocolate tea fans, if you have the chance check this out one. As for me, this tea will be finding a new home.
O’Malley’s Escape from Treehouse Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal
Where to Buy: Treehouse Teas
Tea Description:
If you like Pina Coladas and gettin’ caught in the rain this tea is for you! It’s a favorite herb and fruit tea that bursts ingredients of pineapple, apple, rosehip, coconut pieces and hibiscus petals. If you are allergic to coconut stay clear. Small Batch Blended and from Sing Buri, Thailand. It has a low antioxidant level and its a caffeine free herb and fruit tea. Steep: 5-10 minutes at a temperature: 100C, 212F. This can be re-steeped for additional cups! Also, makes great popsicles and pink tea for tea parties!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
With a description like the one above, my expectations for this tea were pretty high. I mean who doesn’t love a sweet tea that carries you away!
The tea mix itself is beautiful. I adore the colors and love how pretty it looks as the tea steeps. The dry mixture smells fabulous. Sweet and tropical. My excitement level was rising to taste this sweet tropical treat!
I brewed this up per their recommendations and was enjoying how the water was turning into a beautiful pink color.
I took my first sip and sadly- this tea didn’t hit the target for me. I wanted to love this tea so much. At first taste, you can pick up an almost strawberry flavor that reminds me of a strawberry Popsicle. The flavor isn’t very strong and is more on the weaker side. The coconut is subtle and gentle. I think with a tea that is being considered a pina colada, I wanted the coconut flavor to be strong. I didn’t pick up any pineapple or even any of the hibiscus tartness. This tea was more of a lightly flavored strawberry flavor. I can see this being a great tea for a little girl’s tea party but not for me. I would like my flavors a bit stronger.
My last thoughts on this tea is that maybe this tea is one that needs to be cold brewed or even steeped longer than the 10 minutes to really bring out the flavor. I did share the remainder of this tea with a tea drinking co-worker and her thoughts were in line with what I was thinking. Regardless, I’ve enjoyed the teas that I’ve tried from Treehouse Teas for the most part. Just a few I haven’t cared for. This tea blend would have been one that would have totally caught my eye so I am glad that I was able to try it, just not sure this would be one I would need to try again.
Sipdown #37!
Peaceful Pineapple from Treehouse Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Treehouse Teas
Tea Description:
Peaceful Pineapple Organic Green Loose Leaf Tea
Relax, unwind and find your inner peace. Organic Blue Mallow Flowers, Organic Chinese Green Tea, Natural Mango Flavor, Organic Marigold Petals, Natural Papaya Flavor, and Natural Pineapple Flavor.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Peaceful Pineapple. That name kind of struck me as a bit odd only because when I think of pineapple, I think of parities and fruit trays. Not relaxing and unwinding. But hey, I’m nothing but one to take in all experiences. So if this tea will help me unwind, I’m good with it!
This green flavored tea was quite lovely to look at. I enjoyed the pop of purple amongst the green tea leaves. I steeped this up with the green tea setting on my Breville and was excited to try a pineapple flavored tea. In the past these have been hit or miss with me. A lot more times than not, the pineapple flavor either doesn’t come across as being true pineapple-more of a tropical papaya flavor.
First sip and I’m a bit confused by the tea. All I am really getting is a green tea flavor and a confusing one at that. I’m not really getting the mango, papaya, or pineapple flavors. More of just this more or less bland green tea. No real flavor is singing to me or even one flavor I can discern from another. I’m wondering if there is too much going on or if I need to try cold brewing this pineapple tea to make the flavors pop. As it sits, the flavors just aren’t there for me so I’m going to dump this cuppa out and try experimenting with this tea a bit more down the road. I was hoping I would have a nice tropical flavor to drink this afternoon. Looks like I need to keep looking or need to keep experimenting!