Coconut Cheesecake Honeybush

Another tea from the GCTTB :).

Neither nor cheesecake flavours were prominent. I mostly just tasted honeybush with a faint sweetish flavouring. Not sure if it’s the sample I got or what. Either way, my sample will get used up quickly. Always nice to try new teas.

I have the reblend version of this tea from maybe a year or so ago? I can’t recall exactly now. I bought it on the strength of some of 52 Teas other honeybush blends, which I was enjoying at the time. I think I was also on a bit of a coconut jag. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. No additions.

To taste, I’m a little underwhelmed. The main flavour is coconut, and it’s quite natural and fresh tasting – I have no issue with this. I’m not getting any cheesecake, though, either in terms of cream cheese or biscuit base. What I can taste, quite strongly, is honeybush. It’s sweet and juicy, which would suit an “orange fruit” tropical tea perfectly but just strikes me as really odd here. I was looking for tangy and biscuitty and coconutty. I may try some milk next time, to see whether than tones the honeybush down a little. At the moment, though, I’m not all that overwhelmed by this one. It’s pleasant enough, but it doesn’t live up to the promise of its name.

I tried and tried, because coconut suggestively told me to keep at it, but I just don’t get honeybush. I like rooibos, and rooibos-honeybush mixes.. I don’t know. I’m going to peg this down as a “me” problem. I’ll experiment with some plain unflavoured honeybush when I get the chance, to see what exactly it is I don’t like about it. Right now I have no clue.

So, this is my first honeybush tea. Also, this is from the new 52teas (I didn’t discover the company until the Kickstarter).

It was recommended on the package to brew the tea at 195 degrees, for 6 to ten minutes. I brewed it at a slightly lower temperature, but for a much longer period (more because of circumstance than on purpose).

So, it reminds me of a rooibos tea. At first sip, I’m not really noticing the extra flavor. It has the sort of honey-ish flavor I usually associate with rooibos, and it’s got a deep red color (seriously, I would think it was rooibos, if I didn’t know the name.

I wonder if adding milk and sugar would bring out the coconut cheesecake flavors. As I keep drinking, I do detect an undercurrent of coconut, and the tanginess I associate with cheesecake, if not a full cheesecake flavor.

This is very pleasant. I don’t know if I’d like it better with milk and sugar, but if I remember, I think next time I’ll try it. Just to see if the milk and sugar bring out the flavors more.

So, i’m taste testing this one now. It’s quite good, even if I do say so myself. I get a creamy, sweet coconut note with just enough of that slick-y coconut texture that I like when it comes to coconut teas. And the cheesecake notes are tangy, sweet, and creamy. I get a hint of buttery crust that is enhanced with the natural nutty tones of the honeybush.

PS: I’m using a different honeybush for the honeybush blends than Frank was using. I know that there were some complaints about his honeybush … I really like the supplier that I found for honeybush. It’s organic and it has a really good flavor. Honeybush still isn’t my favorite thing out there – I certainly prefer camellia sinensis, but it’s a nice caffeine free option.

Coconut. I taste. Honeybush. I DEFINITELY taste. Cheesecake? No. None at all. D:
Honeybush is an even harder flavor to hide than chamomile. Who would have thought! This one is okay. One of the better flavored honeybushes I’ve had. But not something I’d want to drink again. Honeybush isn’t for me. But I just got a bunch of them from someone and feel bad not at least trying them. :P
So this one is okay.

I received this in the sample pack a while back. I have been making rooibos/honeybush lattes for the past week or so. In the package the smell was scary. I don’t know how else to describe it. I wavered between an 8oz cup to try and a full on 16oz mug. I ended up going for the mug. The interesting smells I was getting from the package did not carry over to the flavor of the tea. It is tasty. Sweet, definately coconut. I am not sure I am getting much creamy/cheese cake flavor, but I still really enjoy this one. I have one more mug’s worth to enjoy tomorrow. I should really just stick to 52teas rooibos/honeybush. I get much more enjoyment out of these than the black.

SSTTB: Pick #7

Last tea of the night.

Steeped up I thought this was pretty decent; I definitely didn’t pick up on any unwanted pepper notes in the Honeybush so that meant this blend and I were already starting on good terms. I did get a bit of soap taste presumably from the coconut which sometimes tends to contribute that flavour if older but it faded away pretty quickly under the other flavours.

The coconut was strong; kinda confectionery like instead of tropical which makes sense given the cheesecake pairing. I think my preference for coconut flavour is confectionery unless paired with pineapple, and then I like tropical. The cheesecake was very very subtle; just a faint little “tang” in the background. I also got honey notes from something in this, and something else “dessert-y” I can’t put a finger on. I’m sure it’ll come to me at some inconvenient point in time, like mid-shift ringing people in at till. I’ll just spontaneously shout something like “Malt!”, and people’ll look at me funny.

So this was good; I wouldn’t order a pouch or anything but it was definitely an enjoyable cup and I’m happy I had the chance to try it. And now I think it’s bed time…

I tried this from the Herbal TTB and was very pleased. I loved the scent when I opened the bag. I tried it several ways: plain, stevia, vanilla stevia. When I tried it plain, I sensed the metallic notes that others mentioned. The one with stevia improved all the flavors. Bringing up the coconut and creamy flavors. The cup where I used Vanilla Stevia really brought up the flavors including the little bite that cheesecake should have. Now… I realize that if I have to add stuff to it, the tea is not quite as good as it should be. But…. I really like this tea. It continues to have a bit of a metallic taste which would be annoying if I had to drink a lot of this. However, I’m enjoying my cup.

Herbal Traveling Tea Box

This one smelled pretty good, so I was tempted into trying it even though I have not really ever met a honeybush I liked. Well… that trend continues. BLECH. I drank half of this and then tried to pawn it off on my fiance… he took one drink told me it tasted like spearmint (???) and handed it back. I personally thought it tasted like sticks… which is what I think honeybush tastes like, and it had a coconut finish. Definitely will be leaving future honeybush teas alone.