Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
This one I suspect is going to go really fast. This is an awesome blend of genmaicha, cashews and macadamias, with organic cashew, macadamia and honey flavors. Just the smell of this tea is enough to cause instant drooling.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
One of the first things I like to do with any tea when I first “approach” it is to smell it. I like to check out the dry leaf to see what it looks like and more importantly, what it tastes like. This one smells so nutty! It smells a bit like I had just opened a can of honey roasted mixed nuts … and a tin of Genmaicha!
The dry leaf looks pretty much the way it smells too: chunks of cashews and macadamia nuts, green tea leaves, tan toasted rice grains and popped bits of sorghum seed.
I brewed this tea in my Breville One-Touch tea maker, measuring out 2 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket and adding 500ml of water. I set the timer for 2 minutes and the temperature for 170°F. Then I walked away for a few minutes and let the tea maker do it’s thing. I came back to a kitchen that smelled of delicious, roasted nuts and honey.
The brewed tea smells less of Genmaicha and more like cashews and macadamia nuts. I still smell hints of the toasted rice from the Genmaicha, but they’re quite faint.
The taste is an interesting combination of all the components of this tea. I taste the Genmaicha – the sweet green tea and the warm, toasty flavor of the rice – and I taste the nuts and the honey. It all comes together in a very seamless way. It’s hard to say where the flavors start and end … they all seem very melded into one flavor that is Genmacashew!
As I started sipping this tea, I noticed that the honey notes were softer than the other flavors. Not surprising, because honey isn’t usually a very aggressive flavor. But now that I’m about mid-way through the cup, I’m picking up more of the honey. It’s a strong, persistent flavor throughout the sip.
The nut flavors taste more like a medley of nuts. Like I reached into the mixed nut can and grabbed a handful and popped it into my mouth. It doesn’t necessarily taste like macadamia or cashew … but it tastes like both of them, if that makes sense. And I also get a nutty flavor from the toasted rice that melds with the both of them.
The green tea is probably the softest flavor of the components, but it isn’t hidden behind the flavors. I taste that sweet, “green” taste that’s lightly grassy, buttery and I even taste very subtle notes of flower in the distance.
Overall, this is a really enjoyable cup of tea. After I drank a cup hot, I resteeped it and let that cool and enjoyed a cup of this chilled. It’s good both hot or cold!
Caramel Apple Flavored Honeybush Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Learn more about this iced tea here.
Learn how to subscribe to SBT’s tea of the week here.
Taster’s Review:
Before I tasted this iced tea, I found myself wondering if honeybush was the right base for the flavors. But then I thought about those yummy caramel apples that always catch my eye when I pass the bakery in my grocery store. Those great big apples covered with caramel and then rolled in chopped nuts. The naturally nutty flavor of the honeybush just might work with the caramel and apple flavors!
To brew this, I used the hot brew method and steeped the teabag in a quart of 195°F water for 9 minutes for the first quart. For the second quart, I used the same temperature but steeped the bag for 11 minutes. Because this is a honeybush blend, I don’t have to worry about bitterness. The tannins in honeybush is low so it doesn’t get bitter when it’s brewed for an extended period. I do find though, that a lower temperature means that I don’t experience that “sour wood” sort of flavor that I used to taste with rooibos and honeybush that I would brew at boiling temperatures. A slight decrease in temperature made a vast improvement on the flavor of the tisane.
And this is a tasty iced tea. I’m tasting more honeybush than I am apple or caramel, and that’s alright. The top notes are a honeyed sweetness with a warm nutty flavor. Then I start to pick up on the caramel notes and the apple comes in just beneath the caramel notes. The sweet-tart apple notes linger in the aftertaste.
I don’t know if it’s my favorite iced tea from Southern Boy Teas, but I’m enjoying it and it is certainly a welcome flavor for the season!
Pumpkin Chai Blend from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
This week’s tea is a new blend of Indian, Ceylon and Chinese whole leaf teas with ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, black peppercorns, cloves, and organic pumpkin flavors. If this doesn’t get you in the mood for fall, nothing will.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I know that 52Teas was planning on working on a new black tea base to use with their black tea blends – I wonder if this is the blend? It’s a little difficult to judge a black tea blend when it’s in a chai because the spices tend to be the star of the show, so it will be difficult to give you a clear idea of what I think of this “new blend,” but I’ll do my best!
This is actually a really tasty cup. The black tea base is strong, smooth and robust. There is some astringency to it, but I’m not finding it to be overly astringent. It’s got a rich, full flavor.
But as I said in the first paragraph, the spices tend to be the star of the show when it comes to a chai and that’s certainly true here. I like the way the spices come through here – it’s spicy and warm. There’s a good balance of spice flavors: I taste all the components. I guess if I could change anything about the spices that have been used in this blend, I’d want just a tad more pepper. Maybe instead of using “whole peppercorns” – crack them so that more of the peppery aspect comes through. But, I like that there isn’t too much cinnamon or ginger. I like that I can taste the cardamom and cloves. Overall, I’m enjoying the way the spices present themselves in this blend.
And I like that I’m tasting pumpkin too! The pumpkin tastes sweet and has a certain savory element to it too, and I like the way the pumpkin and spices taste together.
This is good served straight but even better when served with a dollop of honey to bring out the flavor of the spices. If you want to go for a serious yum factor: go latte – the creaminess of the dairy adds something to the pumpkin to make it more pumpkin pie-ish.
Kiwi Cheesecake Flavored Oolong Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Here’s a special treat–Fujian oolong blended with real freeze-dried kiwi, marigold petals and organic kiwi- and cheesecake flavors. A little tart, a little tangy, a little sweet, and all delicious!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I can’t say that I’ve ever had a kiwi cheesecake. I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a kiwi cheesecake except for the photo on the label. But I love kiwi (and it’s a fruit flavor that is not often used in a tea!) and I love cheesecake … and I love Oolong so I felt fairly confident that I’d enjoy the tea created for the week of August 25.
The aroma that filled the kitchen when I opened the pouch was a sweet, fruity scent. I could smell the kiwi and I could smell the sweet, creamy notes. To brew this, I didn’t grab my gaiwan as I normally would with an Oolong because I figured I didn’t really need it with a flavored Oolong. Instead, I used my Kati tumbler. I measured out 1 bamboo scoop of tea into the basket and heated the water to 180°F. I debated with myself on whether or not I should do a rinse, ultimately, I decided to go ahead and try rinsing the tea for 15 seconds and then discarded the liquid. Then I steeped the tea for 3 minutes.
The brewed tea has a much softer scent than the dry leaf. I barely smell the kiwi and I worried for a moment that maybe the rinse rinsed the flavor right off the leaves! Fortunately, it didn’t! I may not be able to pick up on a strong kiwi fragrance but I can definitely taste the kiwi.
I can also taste the cheesecake! There is a creaminess to it which is probably not just because of the flavor but because of the natural creamy notes of the Oolong tea. I get a light, tangy cream cheese flavor. The only thing I find myself missing here is a note of pastry or graham cracker crust. There is a light buttery tone but I attribute that to the Oolong and not so much to the flavor of the pastry. I find myself searching – in vain – for the crust of the cheesecake. Normally, when I am trying one of 52Teas’ cheesecake blends, I can pick up on that crust taste. This one, I’m not.
Perhaps it’s because I did the rinse. Next time I brew this, I think I’ll try it without the rinse and find out if that improves the overall cheesecake-y-ness of this tea.
But really, the flavors of creamy, sweet, tangy cheesecake and sweet-tart kiwi are both represented very well here, and I like that while I do taste these flavors, the flavor of the Oolong is not lost. It’s a sweet and smooth Oolong. I am picking up on light floral notes from the Oolong and I like the way these delicate flowery tones play in the cup. The Oolong seems to add depth to the kiwi notes and it was the right choice for the base for this blend.
This is a really unusual but very enjoyable cup of tea.
Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Southern Boy Teas
Tea Description:
Premium Organic green tea with organic flavors. Each 14g teabag will make one 2-quart pitcher of DELICIOUS iced tea. Re-steep the teabag and you can get a full gallon out of each one.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Wow!
The first thing that blew me away with this blend is the smell! The aroma of the dry sachet – it smells like a marshmallow treat! And the brewed tea smells like that too. The brewed tea smells a bit more like genmaicha than the dry sachet did, the dry sachet smells like a fresh batch of marshmallow treats. Mmm!
This is seriously good iced tea. If you liked the original Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha from 52Teas, you’re going to like this iced tea version from Southern Boy Teas. It’s sweet and tastes like the name suggests. It tastes like a marshmallow treat with a little bit of green tea flavor in there too.
Genmaicha is not usually a tea that I usually think of when I think “iced tea” because the toasted rice has a very warm flavor and it’s been something that I think tastes better when served hot. But, this really works well as an iced tea. It does have that delicious roasty-toasty flavor of the Genmaicha, along with the light, fresh green tea taste of the green tea. The rice of the genmaicha gives this just the right amount of warmth to give this marshmallow treat a “homemade” sort of taste (and homemade marshmallow treats taste better than those commercially packaged treats!)
To brew this, I heated a quart of water to 170°F and let the sachet steep for a 1 1/2 minutes. Then I strained the tea into my iced tea pitcher and resteeped the sachet in the second quart of water, adding 30 seconds onto the steep time. (Then I stashed the sachet in an airtight container and put it in the fridge so that I could steep it again for another pitcher of tea.)
Really, really good. I’m glad that this tea is now offered on the website (it was originally created as a “thank you” for the Kickstarter supporters) because I’m going to want more of this!