Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Green Tea, Popped Rice, Shredded Coconut, and Natural flavors
This tea is no longer available but learn more about available blends here.
Taster’s Review:
So today I was finally able to set myself done and try this tea. With having coconut and genmaicha going on with the blend, I thought for sure I would devour this tea. So much so that I ordered an additional taster size for it.
I asked a co-worker is she wanted to try the tea with me and she eagerly grabbed her mug and we set to steeping.
The dry leaf mixture had a lovely and bright coconut fresh smell. I wouldn’t say sun tan lotion like but there is a resemblance. The coconut smelled amazing and I wanted to bottle up the smell into a candle.
We steeped the tea per the package instructions and waited impatiently for the timer to let us know the tea was ready. We allowed the tea to cool for a minute and took our first sip.
She loved the tea. She said it was just smooth roasted coconut love. She was all smiles while drinking it and she barely sat the cup down.
When I took my first sip, I didn’t get a whole lot of flavor so I allowed the tea to cool even more. After a few more minutes, I took another sip. As much as I wanted to love this tea, it just isn’t one that I am loving hot. I’m getting a nice toasted flavor but I don’t know if I like it mixed with the coconut and then on top of all of that, with a hot temperature. I’m wondering if this is a tea that needs to be either cold brewed or iced to really get that tropical feel out of it.
Don’t get me wrong the tea is fine and I have no issue with finishing my cup. I just can’t say that I want more of it. This might just be a tea that I need to experiment with.
Off to make some iced tea!
Gin & Tonic from Tea Shirt
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Tea Shirt
Tea Description:
Flavoured white tea
Ingredients: White tea, white apple pieces (apple pieces, citric acid), lemon peel, rose flower petals, natural flavouring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I just recently discovered Tea Shirt on Twitter a few weeks ago. I was instantly intrigued by the name and ended up placing an order. Yesterday the box arrived and I was eager to dive right in. I ordered a variety of different samples but I have to admit this one is the reason I placed the order in the first place. I’ve tried different Gin & Tonic blends but not a white tea version. The others were herbals.
I eagerly steeped the tea and loved the fresh lemon aroma that I was getting from the steeping leaves. The dry leaves were a gorgeous bright vibrant looking blend with pops of rose buds, white tea, and apple pieces. Such a lovely blend. So far, I’ve got some pretty high expectations out of this tea!
So after one sip I’ve decided that I should nickname this tea “Sweet Tart” tea. Because that is what it tastes like to me!
This tea is an absolutely vibrant fun tea with notes of a citrus lemon background, floral hints, with a sweetness and tang that yes does resemble gin & tonic slightly but to me it really sings and says, “Hey, I taste like candy!”. This tea is full of flavor and just keeps giving sip and after.
What I love the most is the acidic notes that give you the tang that reminds me of the tonic water from a gin & tonic. The lemon flavor hits you next. Such a great combo. You could also say this tea reminds me of clear sodas like 7Up or Sprite. Such a fun tea!
Anyway you look at it, this tea is vibrant, singing with brilliant flavors. I’m absolutely in love with this tea and am hitting the kettle again for my third infusion!
Glazed Donut by 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
A VIT! Very Important Tea
I originally blended this tea as part of the Breakfast Inspired Sampler Add-On for the start-up Kickstarter campaign, but I do have a few packages of this tea remaining.
This tea was crafted with a very special tea base (a Thyolo OP1 from the Satemwa estate in Malawi). It’s a fair-trade and rainforest alliance tea – and it’s seriously good stuff!
I used this tea as the base for flavors to create a Glazed Donut like experiencece – and all I can say about this is YUM! So good!
Ingredients: single estate black tea, organic calendula petals, organic all-natural flavors.
This tea is no longer available, but check out 52Teas other black teas!
Taster’s Review:
A Glazed Donut Tea. This is one of those tea blends that had me at the first word. Glazed. Seriously. As long as it didn’t have rooibos in it, I’m in! And was lucky and received a taster pouch of this and then screwed up an order recently with 52Teas and exchanged a blend for a larger pouch of this. I am so glad I did.
This tea is the perfect way to curve your sweet tooth. I’ve drank it cold brewed, hot brewed, and as iced cubed tea, all tasting amazingly sweet and delicious!
For Hot: I brewed this tea up with fresh boiled water and allowed the tea to steep for about 4 minutes. There are definite sugary notes that I could pick up, almost vanilla like. I took my first sip and was in heaven! This doesn’t exactly taste like a glazed donut but what it does taste like is the glazing that is used for donuts! Warning, this is a very sweet tea, but it isn’t overwhelming crazy like what you would get at a restaurant. Very similar to the same sweet note you would get from eating a donut. The black tea base is very hidden and I really didn’t pick up any real hints of there being a black tea in it. Quite a nice tasty treat for after dinner when you are craving that sweet treat.
For Cold Brewed: I cold brewed this tea in my new Mason Jar Cold Brewer and let it sit overnight. In the morning I was greeted with a lovely tea that just made me smile. Again, first sip in and you get that glazed taste with notes of vanilla. The black tea is there but very subtle, more prominent than when I brewed this tea hot, but still very gentle.
For Ice Cubed Tea: I’ve started to make tea and pour it into my silicone molds for a really cool ice tea cube that I just plunk out of the mold in the morning and toss in some water. During the day the iced tea cube will melt, and I’m left with lovely tasting iced tea. Here is how I make them. I just brew up hot tea but use about twice as much tea as I normally do and then I pour the tea into a silicone ice cube mold. In the morning I have a glorious hunk of tea that I pour cold water over to enjoy iced tea all day long. Thru the day I just add more water and the ice tea cube just slowly melts turning my ice water to ice tea.
So how did this tea fair with this method? Wonderfully! Probably my favorite way to make the tea actually. You can actually taste the marvelous black tea base and note hints of what tastes like a donut where and there with that some glazed sweetness still there but toned down a notch. I’ve been drinking this tea all day and loving it.
Overall, this tea is just plain delicious and one of the reasons why I love 52Teas so much. Even tho this blend is sold out, I highly recommend you check out the others that are on the site now. I’m excited to dive into the rest of my order to see what lovelies await me!
Snow Dragon from Imperial Tea Garden
Tea Type: White Tea
Where To Buy: Imperial Tea Garden
Product Description:
Tasters Review: Snow Dragon white tea is a fine example of what an exquisitely
hand crafted what tea should be. Each dragon is twisted by
hand from select downy covered leaf buds. Hints of jammy
pugnency are released as the tiny snow dragons roar back to life.
Repeated steeping can be yielded from this premium white tea.
Careful inspection of the infused tea leaves reveals why this is
such a highly respected white tea by connoisseurs.
Tasters Review:
This tea looks sooooo neat from the time I took it out of the package until the very end of the cup!! The leaves are tightly spiraled and slightly fuzzy! Post infusion the leaves are much different in every way – color, texture, size, you name it! The Spirals unwind and the slightly fuzzy feel of the leaves turn more rubbery – at least that’s the way they look!
Sure this tea is neat to look at and even has a cool name BUT it tastes great, too!
It’s a very powerful white tea – taste-wise…maybe somewhere between a green and a white.
In the middle of the sip I can relate to the jam-like mention in the description!
This is a FUN tea! Ideal for a chat between friends or at the end of the day while unwinding…either way it will NOT disappoint!
