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Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
As popular as our White Chocolate Raspberry Shou Mei was, I expect this one might even be more popular. Our premium shou mei white tea blended with white chocolate chips, lemon myrtle and organic white chocolate and lemon flavors. This is a gorgeous blend of sweet and tart that suits the hay-like shou mei beautifully.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! I must admit that I wasn’t as much a fan of the White Chocolate Raspberry Shou Mei from a couple of months ago as I thought I would be. I thought I’d love that blend and it was just alright for me. My daughter – with whom I’m going into business – loved it. I expected her to because that’s probably her favorite flavor combination, or at least one of them.
But this White Chocolate Lemon Shou Mei Tea from 52Teas – I’m loving this! Similar to the White Chocolate Raspberry, this is primarily a lemon tea. That is to say, I taste more lemon than I do white chocolate. But I taste enough white chocolate to satisfy me, and I like the way the sweet, creamy notes of the white chocolate soften the tangy notes of the lemon and highlight the creaminess of the Shou Mei base.
And the Shou Mei isn’t hidden behind the flavors either. I taste the light, slightly earthy, slightly hay-like flavor of the Shou Mei. This tea has some really wonderful layers of flavor.
This tea is best if you let it cool slightly. After pouring the piping hot tea into your cup, let it set for just a few minutes. This seems to let the flavors come forth and now that I’m nearly finished with the cup I notice even more lemony notes as well as a stronger white chocolate presence.
A really good tea. One of the better white teas that I’ve tried from 52Teas!
If you’ve been keeping up with our kickstarter campaign, then you know that we recently reached our goal! Yay! We still have roughly 19 days until the campaign comes to a close – so please contribute what you can to help our business succeed. We have some really awesome incentives for those that pledge to the campaign! Please check it out!
Pineapple Upside-down Cake Iced Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Our premium buttery sweet organic Chinese fannings green tea blended with organic yellow cake, pineapple, brown sugar, and a hint of maraschino cherry flavors. This is ridiculously delicious. Don’t miss your chance to grab one.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Really nice! This Pineapple Upside-down Cake Iced Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas is a really tasty treat!
I love that I can taste all the flavors: I taste a buttery cake, I taste sweet pineapple, brown sugar and just a touch of maraschino cherry. And I taste the smooth green tea. It’s light, fresh and buttery, and those buttery notes meld really nicely with the buttery notes of the cake.
You’d think that with so many different flavors going on that you wouldn’t be able to discern one flavor from another. And I have to admit that at first, I couldn’t. My first glass – I was tasting kind of a muddled mess of flavors that were sweet and there was certainly a refreshingly tasty element to it but it was difficult to say – “oh, I taste the pineapple” or “I taste the buttery cake-like flavors” or “I can taste the green tea!”
But now that I’ve finished that first glass and am working on the second one, the flavors have come forward and have distinguished themselves on my palate.
I like that this is sweet but not so sweet that I’m overwhelmed by the sweet notes. It’s sweet and maybe even a tad ‘dessert-y’ but it’s still refreshing enough to guzzle down when you need to quench that thirst.
Quite yummy!
Brownie Batter Honeybush from 52Teas
Please check out my Kickstarter Campaign to Take Over 52Teas!
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
A certain someone who shall remain nameless *ahem, LiberTEAs* keeps telling me that our chocolate blends need MORE chocolate. More chocolate, she insists, more, more, more. So, I decided to see just how chocolatey a blend I can make: and here it is. This is our premium organic, caffeine-free honeybush blended with organic cacao nibs AND chocolate chips and organic flavors of brownie batter and extra chocolate. =) Do I need to say more?
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
So I was quite pleased with myself when I read the above description because it’s nice to see that people listen to me when I say that more chocolate = better. Sometimes I think I say these things just to hear my fingers tap on the keyboard.
But no. Frank from 52Teas heard me. And so he created this Brownie Batter Honeybush tea.
To brew this, I used my Breville One Touch, adding the whole 1/2 ounce to the basket (I usually like a little extra leaf when it comes to honeybush tisanes). Then I poured 500ml of freshly filtered water into the jug of my tea maker. I set the temperature for 195°F and the timer for 10 minutes. Since honeybush doesn’t have the tannin content that Camellia Sinensis does, it won’t get bitter like tea when steeped an extended length of time. And by lowering the temperature to just below boiling, I find that it eliminates that funky ‘sour wood’ taste that is often noted in both rooibos and honeybush.
My first two sips were a little muddied because the cup was still quite hot. After allowing it to cool to a drinkable temperature, the flavors really come forward.
The flavor is really chocolate-y. The honeybush flavors come through too, and the nutty flavor of the honeybush really ties in well with the idea of brownie batter. I find that the flavors develop as I continue to sip – now that I’m nearly finished with this huge mug of tea, I’m experiencing more chocolate with each sip than I did at the start.
Very yummy. If you’re a chocolate fan, you’ll like this one. The chocoholic in me is quite satisfied with this drink!
Shamrock Iced Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Shamrock = Peppermint, spearmint and a HINT of vanilla Premium Organic green tea with organic flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn about SBT’s subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!
I’ve had this Shamrock Iced Green Tea from Southern Boy Teas for a little while now, but I held off trying it until it was closer to St. Patrick’s Day for a couple of reasons: 1) when I originally planned to write a review of it, I saw it was out of stock and I thought I’d wait to see if they restock it, which they did; and 2) I thought it would be cool to wait until St. Patrick’s Day.
This is a chilled glass of YUM. The green tea is light and buttery. The minty notes are crisp. The vanilla is smooth and creamy. Together, the three components create a tea that tastes fresh and sweet and delicious.
To brew this, I heated 1 quart of water to 170°F and steeped the tea bag for 1 1/2 minutes. Then I heat a second quart of water and resteeped the tea bag for 2 minutes. I combined both of these quarts into my favorite 1/2 gallon iced tea pitcher and then I put the tea bag into a airtight container and put both in the fridge. (I can resteep the bag for another 1/2 gallon of tea later!)
This is a really refreshing iced tea. I really love the green teas that Southern Boy Teas is coming out with – and I’m looking forward to the Banana Peach one … I hope that will come out soon!!!
Cherry Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha from 52Teas
Please check out my Kickstarter Campaign to Take Over 52Teas!
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Following the popularity of our other marshmallow treat genmaicha blends, we’ve created a special one for Valentine’s Day, with real freeze-dried cherries, marshmallow root and organic marshmallow and maraschino cherry flavors. This is a treat for your sweet tooth.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
After tasting a couple of cherry flavored teas lately that tasted more of cough syrup than tea, I cringed just a little (just a little!) when I read the announcement for the tea of the week of February 9th. But I was hopeful that this Cherry Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha from 52Teas wouldn’t go the same route as some of the other cherry teas I’ve tasted consumed in the past weeks. I hoped that this would taste as wonderful as it sounded, because the idea of having a cherry flavored marshmallow treat sounds delightful!
In fact, it sounds so delightful that before I brewed the tea, I asked my youngest daughter if she might be interested in trying the tea with me. She apparently thought it sounded yummy too, because she said yes. So, I brewed the whole 1/2 ounce package in my Breville One-Touch, using 1000ml of water. I set the temperature for 175°F and the timer for 2 1/2 minutes. These smaller 1/2 ounce pouches are just the right size for a teapot to share with a friend (or daughter!)
After allowing the tea to cool for a few minutes, I took my first sip. Mmm! I’m happy to say that while I taste cherry, I don’t taste cough syrup. This cherry flavor seems to have just the right balance between sweet and tart cherry flavors, because I’m getting a little bit of sweet and a little bit of tart. The tart tickles my taste buds in the aftertaste.
The genmaicha has a light, slightly grassy taste and adds a nice, toasty flavor and the rice notes add a rice cereal kind of flavor. The marshmallow adds a little bit of fluffy, creamy taste but I find myself wanting just a tad more marshmallow in this.
Overall, this is really tasty. My daughter enjoyed it too. I still favor the “Original” Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha – which I’ll be reblending when I take over 52Teas! Please take a moment to stop over at my campaign and support my efforts to save this small business while creating fantastic teas!