Lauren | A Quarter to Tea Send Message

This is a definite morning EG, not a mid-afternoon cup. The base is incredibly robust and malty with mild astringency (and takes a shorter steep better than a longer one). They bergamot is crisp, vibrant and citrusy.

I could definitely seeing this taking milk and sweetener well!

Overall it’s a tasty cup that covers every thing an EG should be with a side of ‘POW’ to the face.

Um….this one tastes better than it smells, I think. But I’m honestly not big on frankincense smell, so that has a lot to do with it.

The cup tastes like a high quality chamomile, with lots of strong honey and apple notes, and a delicate floral quality. Behind that though, there’s a more robust herbaceous quality, which is ever so slightly earthy.

Sweet and jammy raspberries? Check. Creamy vanilla-like pastry? Check.

We’ve got take off!

the base is clean, with a lingering fruity aftertaste and indulgent in a midday relaxation sort of way.

I was fortunate enough to unwittingly combine the last bits of my cup with the White Rabbit candy I was eating, and it bordered on positively sinful and really amped up the creaminess exponentially. I love accidentally finding tea pairings. Yum.

Oh! Ohhhhhh!

It tastes like banana instant pudding. The kind that they serve in cafeterias with the nilla wafers. That stuff.

This really is candy-like (don’t read quite as far as Runts banana flavor, though) banana with a touch of vanilla and coconut. Pretty much spot on flavoring.

Like most the 52Teas black bases, err on the side of caution with temperature, because it gets bitter and astringent fast.

I need to latte this up with some toffee-flavored sweetener sometime. For science.

Another backlog from last night, and a first tasting note apparently. No pressure.

I grabbed this one because of the Valerian root. I don’t know if it’s a complete placebo effect, but it actually seems to help my brain wind down when nothing else will do the trick. The problem with it, is that it kind of tastes and smells like feet. Not so good for consumption in tea form, right?

There’s enough other stuff going on in this blend that unless I’m really looking for it, I can totally overlook the presence of valerian. It’s mostly a cup of peppermint and fennel, with a touch of lemon balm that rounds it out. It’s far less offensive and medicinal than Yogi naturals or any of those. And there’s no licorice cloying sweetness coating my tongue.

But more than that, I slept well. So a win in my book.

Backlogging from last night because I was too tired and lazy to dig the laptop back out.

Husband describes this as tasting exactly like Mallow-creme Pumpkin tea. I can kind of see it. It’s very strong in the honeyed sugar notes. I seem to be on the side of other reviewers in thinking it’s more like angel cake of sorts. It needs a long steeping time 10+ minutes in order to taste like anything other than melted marshmallow water, though.

I have noticed it’s not really a consistant cup. Every once in a while I’ll wind up with too much hibiscus in the dry leaf and it can overwhelm the more subtle desserty flavors. I don’t understand why they wouldn’t use beetroot for the coloring instead.

Super sweet, super desserty. I like it well enough, but will probably only keep on hand for the boy.

I’ve had this several times now, and just haven’t figured out what to say.

The biggest reason being that it’s not a peach tea. Or apricot. Or stone fruit at all.

I was definitely deceived by the name, and it’s pretty clear I wasn’t alone in this. Perhaps a name change would do it some favors?

This is more like a floral white tea, with strong (and dominating) cinnamon and some suggestions of other spices.

I’ll probably try mixing this with a peach white at some point to see if I get something peach cobbler-y from it, at least.

Note to self: If you forget this is steeping and it goes 5+ minutes, it’s still drinkable. It just becomes potently herby citrus, and not necessarily in a bad way.

Phew on the forgiving cup front.

Oh rooibos.

If every blend tasted like you, I’d actually like you.

This is creme brulee in a cup. It’s sweet with caramelized sugar notes and hints of vanilla and a creaminess to match. No sweetener needed either!

There is still a subtle rooibos woodsiness and aftertaste that is easily overlookable (which is strange for me to say, given my dislike for the flavor of red rooibos), but overall all the flavors meld and make a wonderful cup.

This is kind of like a savory chocolate mint tea. Kind of.

It’s a hard experience to describe. It’s herbaceous with an almost soft quality from the chamomile, and the mint adds a vibrancy that is pretty standard of mint. Fennel seems to round out the flavors, while adding a bit of mouth tingle that I get from eating fennel bulbs. The LB adds a pretty substantial amount of cocoa and malt notes, while the oolong insures that it feels cool to the pallate. Like I said. Hard to describe.

In any case, it’s grown on me a lot over the last while and has become my de facto nighttime cup (though I’m drinking it mid afternoon right now while I finish up some projects that are driving me mad).

This tea totally embodies the hug in a cup sentiment that I give tea.