Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
I don’t know about you, but that just makes my mouth water just reading the name of this tea. This tea has premium black teas, freeze-dried apples and bananas, marigold petals and organic flavors. I think this one is going to be a big hit, so don’t miss out.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
So this is the second or third tea that I’ve had since 52Teas changed the size of their tea. They used to offer their unique blends in 2 ounce sizes unless it was a white tea or a specialty tea base, and in those cases, it was closer to 1 to 1 1/2 ounce. Now the teas are sold in 1/2 ounce pouches, and I’ve got to tell you that I like it a lot better this way.
As I’ve said on more than one occasion, I’m a “taster.” I like to taste new-to-me teas. (She who tastes the most tea wins!) And I fall in love with a lot of teas, but if I’m going to limit myself to just those teas, then I don’t taste as many new-to-me teas and to be honest, I enjoy falling in love more than I enjoy staying in love. I’m a romantic like that. So, smaller sizes for teas enables me to fall in love with more teas with less commitment. That’s my kind of tea relationship. It’s kind of like having a harem, only with tea. Does that make me a tea slut? A tea-izer?
Anyway, that was probably more than you wanted to know about my relationships with tea. Let’s get on with this review, shall we?
Pumpkin Apple Banana Bread flavored Black Tea. Not your average tea blend. Then again, that’s what I’ve come to love about 52Teas – they often color outside the lines and create blends that are intriguingly different. Something that piques my interest because it’s just so wacky and unusual.
So my interest was definitely piqued with this blend. My first sip or two, though, was a little less than spectacular. To be honest, it tasted like plain black tea. I worried that maybe I was coming down with something and my taste buds are out of whack. So I waited for a few minutes to give the tea time to cool, hoping that the flavors would pop.
Yep! This is a tea that benefits greatly with some cooling time so that the flavors have time to develop. Those first few sips, when this tea was still piping hot, I found the flavors to be somewhat muddied. But after about five minutes cool time, the flavors started to come into focus! Bam!
And Yay! My taste buds appear to be in working order.
There is a lot going on in this cup: there’s a lot of different flavors to experience. The sip starts out with a hint of apple-y sweetness. A moment later, I taste notes of banana. By mid-sip, I pick up on notes of pumpkin. This is a true medley of these three flavors.
I don’t taste a lot of “bread” or the cake-y quick bread flavor that I’d taste if I were biting into a piece of banana bread. This is more about the fruits and pumpkin than it is about the “bread.” But I do taste hints of a cinnamon-y type note that accents the pumpkin (and the apple and banana, for that matter!) quite nicely. And as I continue to sip, I start to taste flavors that might be “bread-like” or at least “buttery” that make my palate believe that maybe, just maybe the cake-y/bread-y flavors are actually there.
And I’m also enjoying the black tea base. The description doesn’t tell me what types of black teas 52Teas is using now (I know that they were thinking of changing their base at one point), but I like the smoothness of this base. It’s a flavorful tea and I’m not getting any astringency or bitterness from it. Nice!
To brew this tea, I used my Breville One-Touch. I measured out 2 bamboo scoops of tea into the basket and added 500ml of water to the jug and set the parameters as follows: 205°F for 2 1/2 minutes. Allow the tea to cool at least 5 minutes before you start sipping – your taste buds will thank you for it!
Overall, a tasty blend. I’d like a little more of that cakey-bready-buttery flavor that I’ve enjoyed with other “bread/cake” type of blends from 52Teas, but I do like that I’m tasting the pumpkin, apple and banana flavors clearly.
