Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong Tea & Yerba Mate Blend
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Sometimes necessity really is the mother of invention. We didn’t quite have enough of either roasted mate or Fujian oolong left to make a full batch of a new blend, so I decided maybe we should blend them together, and the toasty Fujian oolong is a great compliment to the roasted mate! Even better, we paired it with organic caramel, cheesecake and pecan flavors with real pecans. This is a yummy treat you’re not going to want to miss out on.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
This morning, I was in dire need of some caffeine. It may come as a complete shock to you – but I’m guessing it won’t! – but I am addicted to caffeine. And occasionally, I’ll go a little longer than I should without a cup of caffeinated tea and I’ll feel the withdrawal headache come on. This was the case this morning when I woke up: caffeine headache! Ack!
When I get a caffeine headache, I generally turn to one of three types of “tea” to help rid me of the headache quickly. I either whisk up a bowl of Matcha or I brew up a cup of Yerba Mate or Guayusa. Usually, I reach for Matcha, but I don’t like to drink Matcha on an empty stomach and since I haven’t yet eaten anything and I can’t even think about food until I rid myself of this nagging pain in my skull, I decided to go with either Yerba Mate or Guayusa.
Fortunately, I remembered that I had some Yerba Mate to try in the form of this Caramel Pecan Cheesecake Oolong/Mate blend from 52Teas! So I grabbed the pouch and measured out 1 1/2 bamboo scoops into the basket of my Kati Tumbler as the kettle was heating 12 ounces of water to 185°F.
My go-to temperature for an Oolong is 180°F and for Yerba Mate it’s 195°F. Since this blend contains both, I decided to heat the kettle to somewhere in the middle.
I steeped the tea for 3 minutes and waited about 3 minutes to let the tea cool. Mmm!
OK, let me just say that I really did have my doubts when I first read the description of this tea. Seriously? A blend of Oolong and Mate? It sounded very strange and I wasn’t sure how I’d like it. But this WORKS! The nutty notes of the Oolong work together fabulously with the roasted flavor of the Mate. This profile offers the perfect backdrop for the pecan flavor which is the star of this show.
Deliciously nutty, I love how the top notes of warm, roasty-toasty nutty flavors marry with the mid-notes of sweet, decadent caramel. By mid-sip, I start to pick up on the creamy notes of cheesecake with just a touch of tangy cream cheese flavor.
This tea is so much better than I ever anticipated it being and guess what? No more headache either! This tea gets two thumbs up for being a deliciously rocked-out combination of tea bases that I would have never imagined together before now. And if I had an extra thumb, I’d give the tea another thumbs up for helping me with my caffeine fix! Unfortunately, I don’t have another thumb, so I’ll just say: Bravo, 52Teas!
Passion Fruit Cheesecake Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Passion fruit and cheesecake? Does it get more decadent than that? Well, yes, actually it does, when we combine the organic flavors of passion fruit and cheesecake with our premium organic Iyerpadi black tea to make an iced tea from heaven!
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
I made a half-gallon pitcher full of this Passion Fruit Cheesecake Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas last night, and now (less than 24 hours later and I’ve only been drinking this for about 3 of those 24 hours!) the pitcher is nearly empty. I think I have one glass of this tea left in the fridge!
In other words: this stuff is so tasty that I don’t want to stop drinking it!
The black tea base is a very harmonious flavor with the added flavors of passion fruit and cheesecake. The natural fruity notes of the Iyerpadi single estate black tea marries well with these flavors, allowing the flavors to come alive in my glass of iced tea while still managing to maintain its own presence there. It tastes brisk and refreshing. It’s strong without being aggressive or overwhelming. It’s not astringent or bitter. Just really, really lovely.
The passion fruit is a very well-defined flavor here. The cheesecake is less pronounced but it adds a really lusciously smooth and creamy taste to the sip. The tangy note of the cheesecake is there too, it’s a subtle little note that hits about mid-sip. A slight contrast from the sweet and creamy that is quite welcome and keeps the tea from becoming cloying.
Every once in a while, I also pick up on light buttery/pastry type of notes. This buttery/pastry flavor seem to mostly be hidden within the ubiquitous cheesecake note, not really standing on it’s own so much as being part of the collective ‘cheesecake’ but every once in a while, I taste a little more of that flavor, as if it is trying to stand up and shout: “Hello, I’m here too!”
So I guess if I were to offer any sort of criticism at all about this tea, that would be it. I might like just a tad more of that buttery/pastry flavor here. But as I mentioned at the start, I’ve nearly polished off an entire half-gallon of this magical liquid in fewer than four hours.
I think I’m going to be needing more of this.
Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qui Hao from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Mount Wuyi, in Fujian China is primarily known for oolongs, but this rare black tea is harvested only a short time each year. It is naturally low in tannins, giving it an exquisitely smooth finish which, combined with its natural chocolate notes, earned it the nickname “Black Silk”. We’ve upped the ante by adding some organic chocolate and marshmallow flavors, cacao nibs and marshmallow root.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
When I read my SororiTea Sister Nichole’s review of this Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qui Hao from 52Teas, I was eager to try the tea out for myself! If you’re a frequent reader of our little blog here, you may have picked up on the fact that I’m a little bit of a chocolate freak! So this tea is right up my alley!
Mmm! The Qui Hao black tea is a delightful choice for the base of this tea. It is a rich, satisfying, well-rounded tea and it compliments the flavor of the chocolate notes. There is a creaminess from the marshmallow but it seems a little subtle. But that’s alright, because for me, this tea is about the chocolate.
The combination of the rich, malty Qui Hao and the chocolate flavors creates a dark chocolate type of flavor and the hint of marshmallow enhances the overall sweetness of it. I don’t usually add milk to my teas these days, but after sipping on this for a while, I decided I’d see how it tasted with a splash of milk.
I have to say that I think that this is even better with the addition of dairy. It brings the marshmallow notes forward a little bit without obscuring the chocolate notes. It adds just a hint of the milk chocolate flavors that I think that this particular tea needed because I wasn’t really getting “chocolate milk” until I added the dairy. The milk just brought it all together very nicely.
Overall, a really pleasing chocolate tea. If you’re a chocoholic tea lover – you should definitely give this one a try!
One Night in Rio Black Tea Blend from Camellia Sinensis
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
Tea Description:
This tea is so hard to resist! The coconut is prominent, but not overpowering. You can still taste the malty black tea at the base. Sweet, juicy pineapple first, creamy coconut second, and a lingering note that tastes oddly like cookies. A new flavoured favourite of ours.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
One Night in Rio Black Tea Blend from Camellia Sinensis had my mouth watering from the moment I opened the pouch! The combined aroma of pineapple and coconut was strong and oh-so-delightful! And what I think I appreciated most about it was that this was an authentic fragrance – it smelled like REAL pineapple and coconut.
I brewed the tea in my Breville One-Touch, using 500 ml of water and the entire contents of the sampler pouch that was in this month’s Amoda Tea box. I set the parameters for boiling (212°F) and 2 1/2 minutes. As I stood there – eagerly awaiting – I noticed that the fragrance of coconut and pineapple had filled my kitchen.
And now that same fragrance is wafting from my teacup. I waited another few minutes – leading me to realize that the hardest part when it comes to drinking tea is waiting for the tea to be ready to drink! But finally – my first sip! YUM!
I find myself in slight disagreement with the above description from Amoda Tea – I am tasting the black tea as the prominent flavor profile of this cup. The coconut is a close second with the pineapple lingering in the background until the finish, when the pineapple flavor pops.
I like how all three sets of flavors are present throughout the sip, though. I’m not waiting for one of the flavors to shine through. From the very start, I taste notes of black tea, coconut and pineapple.
The black tea, although it is the strongest flavor for me, is not an overly strong or aggressive tasting tea. It’s a mellow, medium-bodied black tea: sweet with notes of malt and I taste hints of flower. It’s a pleasant black tea base. Not one I’d choose as a breakfast tea (at least, not in this presentation) but it would make a really nice afternoon or dessert tea.
The coconut flavor starts out strong in this cup and continues to develop. By the time I reached mid-cup, I could really taste and feel the soft, creamy texture of the coconut. It never really becomes a ‘slick’ coconut texture though – I know that some of the fans of coconut teas want that slickery texture from the coconut. This doesn’t really have that but it does have a genuine coconut flavor that I really enjoyed.
The pineapple is a more subdued flavor, as I mentioned previously, and while the pineapple isn’t the star of the show, it does add a bright, uplifting note to the cup that invigorates the palate.
A really enjoyable blend – a big thanks to Amoda Tea for including this tea in the box this month!
Date Nut Bread Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Organic honeybush is the perfect compliment to this melding of delicious and aromatic organic flavors, including date, orange, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and pecan. This might seem like a strange thing to flavor an iced tea like, but just wait til you try it!
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
I just ate some Spicy Sriracha Cosmos and let me tell you, my mouth is on fire! Acha-cha! Spicy!
So, I needed something cold and refreshing and easy to drink (read: gulp!) to help cool my palate. Since I brewed this Date Nut Bread Iced Honeybush Tea from Southern Boy Teas last night so it could chill in the fridge overnight, I figured it was the perfect thing to help me cool down my mouth.
And not only did it do just that, but I was happy to say that the flavors came through LOUD and CLEAR even though my palate might have been somewhat impaired after eating those spicy nuggets of fluffy goodness. (It’s the very good kind of burn!) After a tall glass of the tea, my mouth was feeling back to normal, but I wanted to wait a while before I finished the review so that my palate was back to a functioning level.
So now that my taste buds are refreshed and ready to taste things again – I’m really amazed at how much this actually tastes like date nut bread! I taste the dates – this is a strong flavor. The nutty flavor comes from a hint of pecan flavoring as well as the natural nutty flavor from the honeybush. I taste notes of a cake-y/bread-y type flavor, as well as notes of brown sugar and butter and just a dash of cinnamon.
There is a bright note to this that didn’t taste immediately like “orange” to me until I got to the aftertaste. The aftertaste has a sunny orange flavor. I like that while I can taste the orange and cinnamon here, these flavors were added carefully and offer more of a gentle note rather than overpower the tea.
It’s a surprisingly refreshing iced tea. Not flavors that I would normally think of when I think “Iced Tea” but it works and works very nicely!