Hot Buttered Banana Bread

It is minus 2 degrees outside and this tea is perfect – so comforting with the walnut, banana and butter flavors.

The first time I had this, I thought it was a little more thin and metallic than I’d prefer. I tasted green banana, but really no butter or bread. I’m drinking this for the second time, and again I taste a lot of green banana, but the base tea isn’t really combining in a smooth and tasty way. And I’d prefer a more caramelized banana flavor. Still no butter or bread, unfortunately. I definitely prefer other 52teas banana teas.

Backlogged Advent Note
52 Teas 12 Teas of Christmas Advent: Day 6
This one had a delicious banana flavor. more to be added later likely after the holidays.

The 6th Tea of Christmas – this time around, I made a few adjustments to the recipe out of necessity – because when I ordered the essence to create this tea, it would seem that I placed the order for pecan essence rather than walnut. So, this tea has been flavored with pecan essence (still nut free!) rather than walnut. To be honest – I think I like it better with the pecan. But maybe that’s because that’s what is right in front of me. I’m sure that had I managed to order the right stuff, I would be sitting here typing that the tea tastes delicious the way it is & it would not have crossed my mind for pecan to even come into the conversation.

Perhaps I will need to reblend this again sometime in the next year or so – with walnut flavoring. We’ll see.

Anyway, I love this tea. I’ve missed it – the last time I blended this – I think it was for the Kickstarter contributor rewards – so it’s been a while. I love the buttery notes, I love the nuttiness, I love the smooth flavor of the black teas & of course, I love the banana.

YUM!

52Teas 12 Teas of Christmas: Day 6!

In one of my recent reviews, I mentioned my distaste for bananas. What I did not mention is that every few months, I convince myself my tastes have changed, buy a bunch of bananas, and try to force myself to eat them. The end result is usually me retching after eating one or two bites—I just cannot handle the texture! I might use the rest of the bunch in smoothies, but inevitably I end up with a whole bunch of very mushy bananas… and they usually wind up in the freezer.

Last night I raided my freezer banana stash and made banana bread, which I enjoyed hot and slathered with vegan butter. So I was quite tickled when I saw today’s blend from 52Teas!

And, wow! I’m definitely getting full-bodied baked breadiness beneath the (wholly inoffensive!) banana flavor, crowned with a note of butter. I don’t think a banana-flavored tea is ever going to be my favorite, but I actually quite enjoyed this one.

I really liked this one, but I steeped it in just hot water, which I think impeded its realisation of its full potential. Had I not read the label, I’d have had no idea this was meant to be hot buttered banana bread; rather, it reminded me of Irish cream coffee sample packet I used to get from my local supermarket. I would have liked to have chai’d it up in the banana “milk” I use for my cereal. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to try it that way one day.

I received some of this in Ost’s sale and was pleased to see it was Anne’s blend and not Frank’s. Thanks so much for the sale, Ost! It’s one I’ve always wanted to try (Anne’s version OR Frank’s). I used a teaspoon and a half. This portion looked like mostly black tea with a tiny piece of banana. The cup looked pretty dark and there was quite a bite to the black tea. Sadly, I think the flavor was mostly gone by now. I didn’t want to only use a teaspoon if the package suggested 1 1/2 and I also didn’t want to steep over two minutes on the first steep as it might scare away any existing flavor. I tastes hints of banana. Not much buttery or bready about it. The flavor of the black tea seems like mostly assam. But to be fair, this blend is again, somehow three years old already. Yeah, trying older stash teas is risky, but I’d rather try them than miss out on them.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons // 15 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 4 minutes after boiling // 4 minute steep

So I came across this one pretty much by accident when I was clearing my room in preparation for my move today. I thought I’d bought some, but I couldn’t ever find it when I went looking for it. Turns out it must have fallen out at some point and got a bit lost – but still, we’re now reunited and it’s all good.

That includes the tea. It’s perhaps doesn’t taste quite as much of banana as I thought it would, but very few banana teas do (I think I must like my banana really strong!) It does have a bread-like thickness with a touch of sweet maltiness, though, and a silky almost-creaminess that’s kind-of buttery. The spicing is probably the best thing, though. It’s absolutely spot-on; not too strong or overpowering, not too subtle. It’s mostly cinnamon, I think, with just a touch of ginger providing a warming heat after a few sips. Delicious!

Loving this one this morning with a splash of milk!

Just to be clear, this is the “Anne” version.

Twelve Days of Tea 2021 – Day Six

Sorcery! This tea tastes exactly like its namesake. Freshly made hot banana bread with melting butter and a hint of nuttiness (and I can smell this buttery banana goodness too, Yay!!). In previous sessions I could taste the black tea base more, which reminded me it was still tea. Today’s sipdown is on another magical level though. How did this happen? Maybe the 10-15 min wait before drinking smoothed it out more.

Delicious stuff anyways.

It’s 5 am here and I’m up super early because I have a big long to do list to get finished before I have to be in at work at 7 am… To get through the next couple of 18 hour days I’m going to need bucket loads of caffeine!! Which is perfect because I’m still on my mission to sip down all of my one offs and samples in preparation for our move in a week… Wow, a week… How did that happen so quickly???

I’m a greedy overleafer and since this is a sample bag that came with a recent order my cup is a little under leafed than I would usually brew And so I was a little concerned as to whether my taste buds would pick up the intended flavors. Not to worry! Hot, the tea has a faint banana taste however, like most of 52 tea’s creations, the flavors definitely become more pronounced as the tea cools… Luke warm, the buttery, bready, banana flavors really pop! A Little more subtle on the flavor side than most of 52 tea’s blends but it’s still a great way to fulfill a craving without any of the calories!!