I usually imagine earl grey tea with a little bit of a bite, the kind of proper tea that staunch old ladies sip from fine china teacups in British dramas.
Once my mother sent me to an old-timey etiquette class led by a strict old woman. The tea we drank from teacups had a bite, black and tart, and a squeeze of lemon on top made my mouth pucker.
It was more palatable by the second cup with milk and sugar cubes but I always associate a bit of bite with that first cup of earl grey.
Earl Blue from 52teas would have been a better first cup for my childhood self. The darjeeling base minimizes astringency, making for a smoother, gentler cup of tea. Whole blueberries are sprinkled throughout the loose leaf and add a rich, berry sweetness.
There’s still bright citrus in the palette of flavor, but it’s easy and creamy, making for a drinkable cup even without milk and sugar. Citrus and blueberry are a well-balanced combination, not too sweet or sour, with enough traditional bergamot to earn the title of earl grey.
Earl Blue from 52teas is the perfect blend to drink out of a porcelain teacup when I’m feeling more playful than proper.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Darjeeling
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea is no longer available but click below for the teas that are.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Banana Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
From the 52Teas site: I’ve never had a banana Marshmallow Treat – I don’t even know if such a thing exists. A quick google search yielded no results that appeared like banana marshmallow treat squares but I’ll admit that I really didn’t look very earnestly for it, mostly because I would think that the banana would be too slick and slippery and wouldn’t stick to the marshmallow which binds the crispy rice cereal together. I would think that banana would really mess up the chemistry that goes into the crafting of a marshmallow treat.
Then again, since I’ve never actually had one (and thus, I’ve never tried making one) I don’t know for certain. Perhaps it could be made with freeze-dried bananas (like the ones that I put in this tea blend) without much trouble.
Anyway, that lengthy introduction is my way of saying that this tea wasn’t inspired by something I’ve actually tried but something I’d love to try should I ever be so fortunate to find such a confection. What inspired me is my appreciation for fresh, sliced bananas atop my crispy rice cereal. One day while eating a bowl of cereal, I thought, wouldn’t a banana flavored crispy rice treat be awesome? At some point very soon after that, my thoughts turned to tea (as they often do) and I decided that I MUST create a Banana Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha.
And so I did! I started with my organic matcha infused genmaicha and added marshmallow root and freeze dried bananas. It’s a cuppa yum!
Taster size is approximately 15g.
organic ingredients: green teas, toasted rice, freeze-dried bananas, marshmallow root and natural flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
52Teas has done it again! I mean where else can you find a banana marshmallow treat genmaicha based tea? This blend is exactly why I love 52Teas so much. Fresh fun flavors that you honestly can not get anywhere else.
Unique blended with green tea, toasted rice, banana bits, marshmallow root and other flavors, this tea smells like banana pudding right out of the pouch. I instantly started drooling. I couldn’t wait to brew this tea up and enjoy this treat!
Brewed up by the recommendations on the pouch, I found myself staring at the infuser, willing the tea to steep faster. Finally, the brew was ready and I allowed the tea to sit for a few moments to cool.
A lovely pale yellow liquor sat in front of me, smelling of toasted goodness and bananas. My first sip was this gorgeous toasted genmaicha flavor. The banana flavor was subtle and not as smack in your face as I thought it would be.
Second infusion and still the toasted genmaicha seemed to be the dominating flavor. The banana notes were there and seemed to be a bit stronger, just not as dominating as I would have hoped. So I went for a third infusion. VIOLA! There it was. A brilliant banana flavor that tasted fresh with hints of a toasted marshmallow. Exactly what I was looking for. The perfect combo of a fruity toasted flavor.
After taking a look at my infuser, I realized I probably hadn’t shaken up the bag properly when scooping out the tea. Totally my bad. Regardless, I’ve been incredibly happy since the first sip of this tea. I mean c’mon. . .Banana Marshmallow Treat? So uniquely original! Gotta love that!
Kudos 52Teas for another amazingly unique blend. I would tell everyone to rush out and get this blend before it is sold out, but I’m emailing 52Teas now to see if my wallet can handle gobbling up the remaining inventory!
Chocolate Covered Banana Honeybush from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
I was inspired to do this blend because one of my all-time favorite 52Teas blends from way, way back was Chelsea’s Chocolate Banana Rooibos. And as much as I loved that blend, there was always a part of me that lamented the fact that it was a red rooibos base and not long after Amethyst acquired 52Teas, I decided that I needed to “reinvent” that blend into either a Honeybush blend or a green rooibos blend. Ultimately, I decided I needed to first try Honeybush – but I do plan on trying a green rooibos blend eventually too.
Mmm! The naturally nutty-sweet flavor of the honeybush works nicely with the flavors of chocolate and banana. The overall flavor reminds me a bit of the frozen chocolate covered bananas that you might get at an amusement park – the kind that are sprinkled with chopped nuts before the chocolate has a chance to set. I get sweet, fruity notes of banana, the creamy, rich flavor of chocolate and a hint of nutty flavor from the honeybush.
Tasty!
organic ingredients: honeybush, freeze-dried bananas, cacao nibs, cacao shells, mini vegan chocolate chips and natural flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Chocolate Covered Banana Honeybush. . . As much as I love my banana flavored teas, chocolate banana teas I seem to be more hesitant with. I am just not a huge chocolate fan, but I do find that I love the honeybush that 52Teas using as their base, so I had to try it. My first impression of the dry leaf was rich dark chocolate notes with a bright and vibrant banana flavor. Still hesitant, I prepped the tea up and took my first sip.
A rich decadent baked good flavor greeted me. A nutty almost cookie note with a lush dark chocolate hint here and there. Add in the fresh banana flavor, you have a tea that really pops. This is one of those decadent teas that are rich, simple, yet full in flavor. And I’m greedily gulping mine down. I can’t get enough. Since I only have a taster size of this tea, I think I’ll save the rest to try a cold brew. I can see how this could be an amazing treat on as an iced tea on a warm summer day.
This is one of those decadent banana teas that screams dessert tea. One that I hope to be enjoying for some time now. This tea is still available from 52Teas so I highly recommend checking it out! Chocolate Covered Banana Honeybush will be a tea I will be dreaming out!
Carrot Cake Cheesecake Honeybush from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Honeybush
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
In honor of my significant other’s birthday, I’ve created a dessert-y tea to celebrate two of his favorite desserts: carrot cake & cheesecake. I decided to use a honeybush base for this because I thought that the natural nutty flavor of the honeybush would work well with these flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
One of the reasons I love 52Teas so much is the unique flavors they have. I mean who else would create a honeybush based carrot cheesecake. . .and thank goodness they did!
This is a brilliant tea blend with all the cinnamon, carrot cake, and cheesecake goodness you can hope for and more. The dry tea blend smells wonderful and it is one of those aromas you want to bottle up into a candle. That aroma would be amazing closer to the fall season.
I am not always a huge fan of honeybush based blends. Sometimes I feel like they tend to be a bit more like my arch enemy, red rooibos, but sometimes they are done just right. This is one of those blends that is done right.
Prepped per the instructions on the package, this tea comes out perfect each and every time. I have drank so much of this tea that I have gone thru a few tasters and am currently on a larger size pouch of the tea. I’ve tried the blend hot, iced, and cold brewed. Here is what I thought of this tea:
Hot: This tea sings cinnamon with a sweet creaminess mixed in. There is a subtle nuttiness that you get here and there but what you really get is this gorgeous cinnamon flavor. Not too overwhelming. Just very soothing, especially as a late evening cuppa. Simple soul warming cinnamon. Perfect to curb those late night cravings.
Iced: Probably my least favorite method. Again, the cinnamon was there are prominent but there weren’t any other flavors really popping thru either. Everything just seemed a bit muddled. I was sad and was hoping for more of a pop of a dessert flavor.
Cold Brew: This is the ticket to this tea. Cold brew this tea and you will be greeted with a lush creamy sweet yet tangy cinnamon slightly cake like tea. Do I have you drooling yet? I was surprised by how well this turned out. I didn’t get the cheesecake flavor but I loved and adored the flavors that were coming thru. Really well done and I made a huge pitcher of this tea and it was gone in no time flat. Both my hubby and myself thought this was the best of the three experiments.
Even tho I never picked up on the cheesecake notes from any of the three methods, I still am immensely happy with the flavors I did get. Can’t wait to enjoy more cold brew of this tea blend when I get home tonight!
Pineapple Angel Food Cake White Tea from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
All Organic ingredients: White Peony, Pineapple Pieces, Vanilla Bean and Natural Flavors
This particular blend is sold out. Learn what white teas are available here.
Taster’s Review:
Sipdown! Gotta love a sipdown. Sipdowns make me happy and sad. Happy that I’ve enjoyed a tea to the point that I’ve finished it. Sad because if that tea is from 52Teas it means that more than likely that tea is one you can’t get again.
I believe I reviewed this tea on my blog CuppaGeek, but I don’t believe I did here. So I thought with the summer finally upon us, this would be a great tea to try both hot and iced for these upcoming summer months, allowing me to sipdown a tea from my always growing tea stash.
With a tea named Pineapple Angel Food Cake White Tea, there are high expectations of a lush white tea with icing notes and that tropical pineapple feel. A hard goal to hit when it comes to tea, but one that 52Teas did amazingly well!
First I tried the tea hot. Prepped with water at 165F and allowed to steep for about 5 minutes and then allowed to cool for about 3. I took a sip and the flavors exploded. They captured the title of this tea perfectly. Lush notes of a decadent angel food cake with a vanilla icing and pineapple topping. The white tea provides a silky like feel that gives a unique dessert taste. The flavors are subtle but not so much that you can’t pick them out. They mingle together very well and make me sad that I have sipped this tea down. This is a tea that I should have bought a bigger pouch of.
Then after loving the tea as hot, I tried the tea as iced. I have to say this tea sings as a hot tea but as an iced tea it is pretty tasty as well. You still get all of those same notes but the pineapple flavors seem to be a bit sharper. The cake and vanilla notes were my favorite part when I tried the tea hot. Still, absolutely delicious and I have already drank two tall tumblers full and I’m going for a third.
Another wonderful offering from 52Teas. They really do dessert teas justice!