Today is the 5th Day of the 12 Teas of Christmas promotion. 52Teas has done an amazing job so far and I can’t wait to see what the 5th day has in store for us. So scratch off those labels and lets see what today’s tea is. . . .
The 5th Day of Christmas is. . . . . .Banana Pudding Black Tea.
Now this makes me happy. I am one of those that adores banana in my tea. It sounds odd and some people give me a funny look when I saw I love banana teas, but try one and you’ll see what I mean. Especially 52Teas banana flavored tea. I’ve been hoarding their Banana Peach green tea since their Kickstarter Campaign. It’s that good!
If memory serves me right, this is a reblend. But from the dry leaf aroma, I feel like this tea is a bit more pudding like the the original. You can smell the creamy pudding notes . My tea kettle can’t prep my water fast enough.
Finally the tea is ready to go and I take my first sip. Lovely silky pudding notes mingle brilliantly with a banana lush flavor. The black tea is graciously adding in a bready note so this is really translating into more of a Bready Banana Pudding. I see flakes of coconut in the dry leaf and I can taste a slight coconut sweetness.
All in all, this tea is amazing. I can’t figure out how 52Teas created a pudding tea but all I have to say is Please Make More! We need more creations like this one.
Edit: This is another tea that I found myself devouring all day and ending up finishing the pouch off. Each serving yielded several huge cuppas of this marvelous brew. Infusion after infusion, delivered on taste. That is one reason I love supporting and enjoying 52Teas. You know that you are getting both an amazing blend and a quality cuppa.
If you are curious. . .here is the official tea description. Please note-I wrote my review before looking at the description.
Banana Pudding Black Tea!
Tea Description: I was happy to have the opportunity to reblend this – mostly because I love banana teas and I’ll take up just about any excuse to make a banana tea. I find it a little funny, I’m not a big fan of bananas – I mean – I like them alright but if I’m in a produce market shopping for fruit, bananas are not usually the first fruit in my cart. But I love banana flavored stuff – banana ice cream and ice pops, banana bread, banana desserts, banana pancakes … you get the idea. And that adoration for banana flavored stuff extends into banana teas – and perhaps especially banana teas! Banana and tea just really does it for me.
So, here it is, the reblend of Banana Pudding Black Tea. The original description says:
You want to hear about pudding. Did you know that pudding was created using techniques for making Haggis and blood sausage? Eww. That’s not very appetizing… Changing gears… Bananas are very yummy, what’s more, they are yellow and shaped funny. Our Banana pudding flavored tea also has coconut, which some people dislike in pudding because pudding is supposed to be smooth and creamy and who wants shavings of coconut in there? But hey, it’s better in the tea. And I’m feeling a little loopy tonight and rushing to get this posted since it’s already late, but I think you’re all really going to enjoy this blend–mentions of Haggis and coconut aside.
I stuck pretty close to the recipe on this one because as I mentioned in my review of the original blend, I was pretty satisfied with it. One obvious difference is that the black tea base will be somewhat different because I’m using different teas. And I’m really happy with the result of this blend – after a short cool time, I find the flavor to be very banana-y with nice coconut notes. As the tea cools a little more, the creamy pudding-like notes emerge – so definitely give this tea time to cool a little and your patience will be rewarded!
organic ingredients: black teas, freeze-dried bananas, coconut and natural flavors.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Flavored Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea will be made available on the 52Teas website on December 28th!
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
On the 3rd Day of Christmas 52Teas Sent to Me (Spoilers!!)
If you are following along with me in drinking and revealing the 12 Teas of Christmas, grab the 3rd Day of Christmas pouch and lets see what tea we have in store for us.
The 3rd Day of Christmas is . . . . . . .
Snickerdoodle Reimagined
For me, this is a flavor that is really hard to nail. I’m quite picky with my Snickerdoodle cookies and that same level of snobbiness exists when you talk about teas that are supposed to be like anything Snickerdoodle related. Either the spices are too strong or too weak.
But not in this blend. . .
This Snickerdoodle blend is the perfect marriage between those cinnamon spices and a baked good vanilla warmth through each and every sip. I couldn’t put my cup down. I found myself re steeping the leaves several times over to get that soul soothing warmth again and again. This tea is that delicious.
What I loved most was how you could tell that was some serious thought into this tea. The black tea gave you that breaded baked good tone while the cinnamon and vanilla flavors really sold you on the Snickerdoodle flavor.
Again, I have to report that I completely took this pouch down in no time at all. With the weather turning ridiculously cold, icy, and snowy on us, this tea really spoke to me and gave me all the love I needed, infusion after infusion, pot after pot. I can’t tell you have many times I resteeped the leaves.
Another fabulous tea from this 12 Teas of Christmas! I can’t tell you how impressed I am with this year’s offering three teas in. I’m excited to see what tomorrow brings!
Here is the official description of this tea. Please note that I write my review before seeing the description.
Happy 3rd Day of our Christmas Tea Countdown, everyone!
I was really happy that this tea did so well in the poll. While it was a reblend – it was one that I took a great deal of liberTEA with when I recreated it – and so I was happy to know that people enjoyed my reinterpretation of this classic favorite!
Snickerdoodle – Reimagined Black Tea!
Tea Description: I was just going to go with my previously composed tea description for this tea, but my recipe changed slightly from my first reblend. My original description went like this:
This tea was reblended to fulfill one of the “You Choose the Reblend” rewards purchased on our start-up Kickstarter. The backer had mentioned to me that she wished that the original blend had more of a cookie-like flavor and when I agreed with her, she asked if I could maybe reblend it but add some cookie-ness to the tea, I said I’d give it a try.
I used my go-to black tea base of Chinese and Indian teas and added pieces of cinnamon and minced vanilla bean and all-natural flavors. The result is a yummy tea with prevalent notes of cinnamon and vanilla and a delicious cookie flavor. You’ve gotta try it!
Since I was looking to enhance the cookie note even further from my first attempt at this blend, I added some organic Vietnamese black tea to the blend (this rounded out the flavor of the base just a little more) and changed the recipe slightly to bring out the cookie flavor. By offering a smoother, more rounded tea base, the cookie notes seemed to pop a little more! The result is more yum with every sip!
All Organic Ingredients: Black Teas, Cinnamon, Vanilla Bean and Natural Flavors.
After I reblended this tea last year, I called it “Snickerdoodle – Reimagined” because I took some creative license with the recrafting of this tea. Instead of going with the simple, straightforward combination of vanilla and cinnamon that the original tea was, I wanted to give the tea a freshly baked cookie taste because when I think Snickerdoodle, I think cookie. I heard from a few tea drinkers that they weren’t really getting a whole lot of cookie-ness to my first reblend of this tea so when it was a high vote getter in the poll, I saw that as an opportunity to work on that cookie flavor.
And while I did taste some cookie flavor in the previous reblend – I taste more now – so here’s hoping that you guys taste it too!
To that end, it is important to give this tea a little bit of cooling time. Really, this is important of all the teas I create. The flavorings that are used begin to emerge when the temperature of the tea drops a little. That’s not to say that the tea needs to be chilled – but let the temperature cool to a drinkable temperature. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes (or even 15 minutes) before you start sipping. This will encourage those flavors to come forward.
The black tea has a really nice, well-rounded flavor. It’s invigorating and bold but not aggressive. I’m not getting bitterness. I’m not getting a lot of astringency either. Just a strong yet smooth black tea flavor. The cinnamon isn’t overpowering (cinnamon has a tendency to get that way!) There’s a nice vanilla note that softens the cinnamon note. The cinnamon and vanilla are the two most prominent flavors in this cup but I am also getting a background of cookie.
To brew: Don’t overleaf this one (I find that with too much leaf, the tea becomes astringent.) A slightly rounded teaspoon of tea to 12 ounces of boiling water – and let it steep for 2 1/2 minutes. Strain and let cool for 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Good without sweetener but a teensy bit of sugar will enhance the overall ‘cookie’ taste.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Black Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description
This tea – as well as the others from the 12 Teas of Christmas box – will be available on the website on December 28th!
Learn even more about this tea company here!
On the 1st Day of Christmas my 52Teas delivered to me. . . .
If you are a fan of 52Teas, you are probably aware of their amazing Christmas promotion. For the last few years, 52Teas has offered a 12 Teas of Christmas set. Included in each set are 12 different teas to enjoy while getting into the holiday spirit. Now what is unique about this is that the flavors are a mystery. Each label has a foil sticker that you scratch off to find out what the tea is. Such a fun, inventive and unique way to enjoy the holidays.
And the presentation couldn’t have been better! The teas were lovingly addressed to me and in a fun gift box, with a note on when to start drinking the teas. So very festive indeed!
So for the next 12 days, I’ll be reviewing the 12 Teas of Christmas. Without further ado. . . .The 1st Day of Christmas tea is. . . {insert drumroll}
Partidgeberry in a Pear Tea
This is a green tea with huge chunks of berries and what I can only assume are huge pear chunks. You really can’t get more festive looking than this tea. Simply gorgeous looking. Brewed up and allowed to steep per the package instructions. (The official description is below)
After drinking this tea and finishing off the package, I can honestly say I can’t imagine a better way to kick off this fun promotion. The green tea was rich and buttery while the pear gave the tea this unique sweetness and the berries complimented the brew with a tang. Very well done and well balanced. This is for sure a tea that can easily go wrong but it really works well.
Like I said, I drank this tea down and am still impressed by how many infusions I was able to get out of each serving. I know typically you are lucky to get 2-3 infusions out of each tea but this tea I was able to infuse 5 times. Sure the flavor wasn’t as strong but those notes were still there being as festive and merry as possible.
If all of the teas are like this one, we are in for an awesome holiday treat!
Tea Description: This was one of my favorite Christmas teas from Frank’s era, and to be honest, I’m not sure if I loved it so much for the tea (although the tea is really delightful!) or the name because – seriously – so clever! Right?
So what is a partridgeberry? Well, my research on Wikipedia tells me a partridgeberry can be a creeping herbaceous shrub native to North America (scientific name: mitchella repens) or it can be a lingonberry (scientific name: vaccinium vitis-idaea). Since I have neither mitchella repens nor vaccinium vitis-idaea at my easy disposal, I decided to choose the easiest/most accessible of these two to include in this blend: the lingonberry.
Prior to blending this tea, my experience with the lingonberry was limited to trips to IKEA and seeing lingonberry jam on the shelves (and at one point, I purchased some of that jam to make a sauce for meatballs. No, I didn’t get the meatballs from IKEA.) I also purchased some lingonberry glogg last year. That was pretty tasty.
Official description of this tea below. Click here for the Mad Tea Musings.
Frank’s description of this tea went like this:
Yes, okay, I am a very silly man. I just couldn’t resist.
Back when I was planning to create all new blends for the 12 teas of Christmas sampler, I was trying to figure out how to go along with the 12 Days of Christmas song. I figured out this one and some sort of Turtle® chocolate treat blend. Three French Hens might have been some kind of French vanilla, but four calling birds completely stumped me.
Well, anyway, here’s our buttery-sweet Chinese sencha blended with wild-harvested Partidgeberry (Mitchella repens), dried pears and natural pear flavors. Silly or not, it is delicious if you like pears.
Yes, I love pears! And I’m much more familiar with pears than I am partridgeberries. And this is technically not supposed to be a partridgeberry tea but a pear tea.
I started with organic Chinese Sencha (just like the original recipe!) and added dried pears and instead of using wild-harvested Partridgeberry, I used internet-purchased lingonberries. And they look pretty in this blend, like little red crystals amidst the long spears of green tea and the chunks of pear. It looks very Christmas-y, this tea.
organic ingredients: green tea, pears and natural flavors
ingredients: lingonberries
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Flavored Green Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Description:
This tea will be available in very limited quantities beginning December 28th at 52Teas!