Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
It’s one of the things that kind of sticks in my craw–hearing people say that flavored teas are just a way to dress up inferior quality teas and make them more palatable. We ONLY use quality teas here at 52teas. And occasionally, we do something that makes some of the tea purists a little crazy: we flavor an untouchable tea. Occasionally, like with this blend, we take a VERY high quality tea that most places wouldn’t DREAM of tampering with, and we tweak it, just a bit. This week we are offering another in our series of VIT (Very Important Teas) blends, a Gong Fu Ti Kwan Yin. After sampling it unaltered, I decided the already complex sweet/toasty/floral/slightly vegetal flavor of this amazing Ti Kwan Yin would most benefit from just a little tartness to contrast with the other flavors. So I added some organic cranberry flavor and real freeze-dried cranberries (just a few; I don’t want to be accused of short-changing the amazing tea on this one). The result: well, I guess ultimately it’s for you to judge, but I found it amazing.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Cranberry Ti Kwan Yin was a VIT release (a Very Important Tea!) from 52Teas. What a VIT release from 52Teas means to me is that I actually have to place an order – I guess you could say that as a subscriber, I’ve gotten a wee bit spoiled! I love subscribing to 52Teas Tea of the Week program, because I automatically get the tea of the week from 52Teas … I don’t have to worry about missing the weekly announcement and getting to the website too late, only to find out that the tea has sold out. No sold-out worries for me! But when 52Teas decides to release a VIT, then I have to scramble to the website and hope that I’m not too late.
Fortunately, I got in on this tea. I don’t know that I’ve ever come across a cranberry flavored Oolong tea before, so I was excited to try this. I mean, the sweet, toasty, creamy taste of a Ti Kwan Yin combined with the tart and tangy notes of cranberry sounds amazing!
And while I have to admit that I wasn’t crazy about it with my first couple of sips, I’m finding myself coming around to this tea and I’m liking it. I think that the tea definitely does benefit from some cooling time – this seems to taste better when it’s warm rather than piping hot … and it’s really delightful iced! When served hot, it has a slight … “off” taste that I can’t quite place. But after it’s had a chance to cool slightly, the cranberry flavors come through as well as the delicious notes of the Ti Kwan Yin, and the two meld together quite nicely.
The flavor of the cranberry is tart and maybe just a tad TOO tart for my taste and maybe that’s why I was getting that slightly off taste I mentioned before. As it cools, some of the sweeter notes of the Ti Kwan Yin come through and soften the tartness of the cranberry just a tad. The Ti Kwan Yin has a charcoal-y roasty-toasty taste to it, and I really like that together with the notes of the cranberry, as this seems to bring out some of the sweeter tones of the berry.
Overall, I find this to be a deliciously toasty, nutty, sweet, creamy cuppa with a lovely tart and tangy finish from the cranberry. This is a tea that definitely evokes the spirit of autumn/early winter for me, and makes me wish for a quick return of my favorite season!
A delightful tea – not my favorite VIT from 52Teas but one I’m definitely glad I managed to get my hands on before it sold out! And A quick visit to the available NOW page at 52Teas (aka Zoomdweebies) tells me that this tea is STILL in stock, so if this tea is of interest to you, you better hurry and get some for yourself!
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!