Kiwi Cheesecake Oolong

Open the pouch, smells like…banana? Although having skimmed the other notes on this one, it looks like this is a fairly common reaction. I’m also going to say that I didn’t know kiwi cheesecake was that much of a thing…I’ve certainly never come across one, and I’m wondering how a fairly wet fruit would pair with cream cheese…Not well, my brain tells me. I’m probably wrong, though.

I gave 1 tsp of leaf 3 minutes in water cooled to 175 degrees. Once brewed, it still takes like banana. I don’t have any real complaint about this, because I like banana tea. Given that it’s supposed to be kiwi, though, it’s a little odd. There’s a definite cheesecake-like creaminess alongside the banana, which reminds me a little of Red Leaf’s Cheesecake Matcha in terms of flavour. The oolong base works well – probably better than I thought it would if I’m honest. It’s smooth and only very slightly mineral, mostly absent from the overall flavour profile. Pretty good, all told, as long as you remember it’s banana cheesecake and not kiwi. Not sure what happened here, but it tastes excellent!

GCTTB V1

Holy mother of nope!

Jillian added this one in the box specifically for me; and I’m sad to report that when I tried my cold brew today I gagged, so hard. I was definitely expecting some sourness/tartness from the kiwi and then that kind of creamy and tangy cheesecake note but this definitely came off very strongly, and right off the bat, as a “spoiled milk” kind of sourness. Dairy products that had gone bad, essentially. Very much an unpleasant flavour, and I’m sad to report very much a long lasting, lingering flavour. I definitely had to go ransack the staffroom fridge to find something to wash the taste out of my mouth with.

Ended up tossing the cold brew out; I was very sad and disappointed.

Farewell banana oolong delight! I will sort of miss you because I don’t think I’ve ever had a banana oolong before and I did enjoy it.

Sipdown!

Have been really wanted to try this one for a while now! 52Teas is soo hit or miss with me, though more misses than hits. :(
Loved their Maple Cheesecake oolong that they had at one point. And the cheesecake in that was spot on, as well as the maple flavor!
Sooo I had some faith in this one.
Didn’t really live up to expectations, but I’m not surprised. But I mean, it’s not nearly as bad as other teas from this company I’ve had in the past.
I taste some kiwi and creaminess-so that was kinda spot on-but neither of those were the main notes I tasted. There was a really strong banana flavor in it too. Wish kinda tasted odd with the sour kiwi taste. xD So yeah, it’s a really weird banana/kiwi creamy tea to me I guess. xD
Not a bad purchase. I really hate how tiny they made the packages and like it;s such a rip off, but since it’s 50% off and a “closing” sale in a way, I figured why not!
Got a few teas and it was all around cheap! :D

This was my full order, for like 12 bucks in all.

https://instagram.com/p/3GKousKHDy/?taken-by=ostdalost

So so far it’s not that bad considering I like one tea so far. I am excited to try the others. Hopefully sometime this week!
But yeah, drank two full mugs of this tea yesterday. Need to get back into more drinking…and eating. Stupid health issues and depression :( Anyway, the goal for today at least is to drink lots of teas!

I agree with tea-sipper that this reminds me more of banana. But kiwis are also a similar sickly sweetness. As I sip more, it transforms into more of a kiwi flavour. Also coming through is… yup, I oversteeped the oolong. But I tend to treat teas poorly when they’re flavoured, since the flavouring comes out more with hotter/longer steeps. That tang might also be the cheesecake. I think I am getting a bit of graham cracker coming through as well.

Kiwi is a good choice for oolong.

I know I’ve eaten plenty of these green fruits in my time, so why oh why does this one taste like banana to me?! I thought maybe 52teas had a banana cheesecake oolong that they mislabeled, but I can’t even find any clue to an existence of a 52Teas banana cheesecake oolong anywhere. Though it doesn’t seem like an actual thing anyway. Banana seems like the last thing I’d pair with cheesecake. Anyway, this doesn’t seem like 52Teas usual banana flavor, so maybe it’s the flavor of the oolong itself. This oolong is supposed to be Fujian but to me that means roasted oolong. This looks like the green oolong with hints of pink I’ve only seen with a Gui Fei. I didn’t see any kiwi pieces in the blend and I certainly didn’t taste any of the kiwi tartness… just banana. With boiling water, the third steep was still very sweet and not overbrewed at all. The blend is tasty and all three steeps are relatively the same flavor wise (though the third steep might be the best) but to me, it isn’t what is promised, so I’m rating this one a bit lower.
Steep #1 // 1 tsp // 20 min after boiling // 45 seconds
Steep #2 // 18 min a.b. // 2 min steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 2 min

Edited to add: OH I like that the color of my 68 rating matches the color of the kiwi. :D

Heavy on the kiwi, light on the cheesecake but the flavor payoff is worth it. This is tasty! I was in the crowd of having no idea this combo was a thing, but now I’m curious to try it. I really like flavored oolongs and this tea didn’t disappoint.

Not My Cup Of Tea #5

So the last week or so has been insane and the TTB has been sitting in the corner of my kitchen being ignored and therefore mistreated and now I’m on an epic mission to drink the rest of the teas that interest me in the next 2-3 days so I can get it back out and on the road.

This was a brand new, unopened bag in the box which filled me with a little bit of excitement… new tea!! Opening the bag, I was immediately greeted by an amazing scent of kiwi and a touch of cake which made me even more excited!! Sipping this tea I’m actually pretty impressed, the kiwi, biscuit and creaminess are all present and since I grew up eating kiwi and am partial to the taste this reminded me a little bit of eating kiwi pavlova!! Yum!!

Thanks TeaNTees for the sample!

I wanted this to knock my socks off. Two of my favorite food groups are kiwi and cheesecake (yes, they’re food groups to me :P). I thought that combining them would be the most epic thing ever and now I want to make an actual kiwi cheesecake because that would be awesome.
Anyway, the tea.. Not what I expected. The dry leaf smelled great and I brewed it according to the package instructions.. Take a sip.. and.. this tastes like.. banana bread? Literally, if you were to blend up banana bread into a liquid, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. sigh
Is the tea good, in general? Yes.
Is it what I expected/wanted? No. :(

I’m actually pretty surprised at the number of people who didn’t know that kiwi cheesecake was a thing – it’s actually semi-common here.

The smell of the tea is absolutely mouth-watering and I could spend all day sniffing it, lol. An oolong base was a good choice for this tea as it give the tea just the right amount of sweetness. I can taste the kiwi, though it tastes more like the dried kiwi I’ve occasionally eaten as a snack than the fresh fruit. The creamy cheesecake note is there but it could stand to be a bit stronger. Still it’s a really nice flavoured oolong, and I’m not sure why it’s as slow to sell as it seems to be because this blend is TASTY.