525 Tasting Notes

My first Whispering Pines tea!

My first whiff of the dried leaf strongly reminded me of dried cranberries and nori.

Then I thought I followed directions by putting 1/2 tsp in a cup of water. Later as I was thinking Brendan must like his tea weak, I realized the bag actually said tbsp. doh.
I will use less water on the resteep.

The scent of this tea is crusty whole wheat and rye bread. Crusty on the verge of burning even. I love my bread crust like that. Mmm bread. I also get the dark cocoa, but it’s more savory than sweet. Man I’m hungry.
I gulped this down pretty quick. Now I’m warm. :) let’s see if I can get more flavor out of these leaves with less water this time.

Mmm steep 2 is warm toasted bread sprinkled with dark cocoa. Lovely.
Excellent tea for the price. It will be perfect once winter rolls around.

Whispering Pines Tea Company

Glad you like this! Just a secret…this will be changing very soon. Be on the lookout for the new one :)

Mercuryhime

Changing?! :o can’t wait to try the new one!

Whispering Pines Tea Company

yep…it’s a huge favorite of mine, and now i love it even more :D

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Had a pitcher of this cold brewed. Not all that impressed actually, but I’m not sure if this has more to do with the actual tea or my not following directions. The key lime one was so tasty cold brewed though.
I just didn’t get much blueberry flavor from this. It was just vaguely fruity. Mildly pastry buttery thing going on. If I ever get this again, I’ll have to see if hot brewing makes it better.

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drank Cassis & Blueberry by Lupicia
525 tasting notes

Yum! Berries! I love love love cassis. Why aren’t more things in that flavor around here?
Thanks to Ashmanra, I get to experience this delicious cup of juicy sweet nectar. Love the supportive base that just allows the flavors to shine. Lupicia does such a great job with fruit flavors.
I need to get these cassis berries planted somewhere. And juneberries. That’s my plan.

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drank Rose Scented by Harney & Sons
525 tasting notes

Yum! Rose is delicious! This is a lightly scented tea with elegant presentation. I think I like teavivre’s more since I enjoy the tea base more but if I hadn’t had that first this would probably be my favorite black rose tea. I wish I could go on with more of the flavors I picked up but I enjoyed a cup of this after having Korean food for lunch so everything tasted a little like garlic. :)
In any case, this is a great rose tea. Thanks for sharing Ashmanra! I’ll definitely try this again before garlic overload.

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91

Soooo….I bought a bunch of these SBTs to try. What’s the weight per packet anyway? I’m wondering if it’s a better deal to buy regular looseleaf, but they wouldn’t come in all these amazing flavors.

So one of the first 52Teas I ever had was a Lemon Lime Cheesecake Honeybush. I still remember how amazingly delicious it was, but then again, it was when I was relatively new to the vast world of tea possibilities. Anyway, I figured that this would be a close approximation to that first tea I loved so I got a packet with my order.

I cold brewed this in a 2 quart pitcher so I followed directions halfway. :) This morning I had a glass and it was delicious. The tea is provides a solid background for the flavors to shine. The key lime is smooth and limey. There’s a light creamy tang that I believe is the cheesecake. It is missing that bit of sour from actual lime, but a drop of lime juice should fix that. Fortunately I happen to have some.
The tea is actually a bit strong for me, but Frank does claim that it has the resteeping power to make a whole gallon. I’ll be diluting the tea as I go until it tastes right.
I’m really enjoying this. I hope the other flavors I bought are as good. I’m especially looking forward to the almond milk one. I should stop by the liquor store for some dark rum. :D Too bad it’s closed on Sundays. :(

ashmanra

I always resteep my SBT and make a gallon right off the bat. I think it is great, not weak at all! It tastes so good, it means everyone drinks it twice as fast, so I don’t know if that cancels the savings…

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78
drank Pour Maman by Nina's Paris
525 tasting notes

Strawberries, vanilla, and rose? What could go wrong? :D
Apparently nothing, except for my steeping the tea until it’s astringent. Bleh.
I don’t get much rose, but I do get floral. Besides that, this is very tasty. Soft vanilla and fun fruitiness. A very and tasty accessible tea. :)

Which reminds me, a work friend asked me to help her stop relying on sweet drinks so I showed up in her office with a bunch of tea samples. Her eyes got all big when she saw the various packets and brew basket. “Omg, you’re serious about tea!” Umm… Yeah. :)
She really enjoyed the genmaicha we started with. That’s another very accessible tea.

Thanks for sharing this precious tea with me Ashmanra!

ashmanra

All Nina’s get just three minutes from me! This one is really good when it isn’t oversteeped. I hope you have enough to try it again! :)

Mercuryhime

Oh I do. No worries. I just got distracted is all. Next time will be perfect!

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72

Where vanilla? :(
I liked the corn flower blue fruit tea a lot more. This one lacks the sweet berry flavors. They are shy here. The roselle/hibiscus is strong. I don’t mind it chilled but not the best hot. Plus there’s no vanilla in the taste. I might take the cornflower blue and add vanilla bean to it.
Glad to have tried this though!
Thanks Teavivre.

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82

No reviews yet?! :o I guess teavivre didn’t really promote this one like they do their other teas. I had to request this sample specifically. :) I’m not really a fan of roselle/hibiscus, but I love black current. And I’m always down for more caffeine free teas. Plus hubby loves blueberry.
The dry leaf is absolutely mouthwatering. It’s like that concentrated fruit juice you’re supposed to dilute. The tea is not too tart. I did over water the tea so it might be that. Nonetheless, it was tasty. Definitely blueberry and black currant. I bet it would be nice iced.

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98

I love rose! We need more rose flavor everywhere!
This tea is lovely. The rose provides a syrupy sweetness that reminds me of baklava. The Dian hong is a deliciously grounding sweet potato. I bet a sweet potato pie with rose water and a dash of cardamom would be divine.
I love this tea. It’s so crisp and soothing.
Thank you, Teavivre, for the sample.

TeaBrat

yum on the pie idea. :))

Dinosara

Yummmm! I also agree, more rose flavor everywhere! :D

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86
drank Butterbeer by 52teas
525 tasting notes

Back when this tea first came out I was a bit disappointed in Frank’s interpretation of butterbeer. I had imagined it to be buttery creamy butterscotch with malty undertones and smooth foamy bubbles. And since Hermione had supposedly gotten a bit tipsy on it once, I thought there might be about 1% or 2% alcohol content. Obviously you can’t get foam and alcohol into tea, but still… root beer did not match my imagination.
Yet, this tea regularly gets great reviews so I curious to try it anyway. Fortunately, Ashmanra was generous enough to share, what I assume was, the remnants of her pouch of this tea.

Now that my sinuses have mostly recovered, I was able to appreciate this tea.
The scent is definitely buttery root beer. I do have fond childhood memories of root beer so it’s always a nice flavor for me. The brewed tea is a dark reddish brown with nicely balanced tea and root beer flavor. The licorice is shy here, which is fine by me. The chicory probably provides body though I don’t really taste it. It’s pleasant and cooling in a traditional Chinese yin/yang sense.
I don’t normally sweeten my tea, but this one sort of demands it. A teaspoon of sugar in the raw and a splash of cream brings this a little closer to my imagined ideal. It’s not butterscotch, but this is a pretty tasty interpretation. I can’t wait to drink this again. :)

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Bio

I came from a tea drinking family, but I never appreciated the different qualities and varieties of tea until older. All that time wasted! But I guess I needed to be mature enough to appreciate the tea experience. :)

My favorite teas are green oolongs and white tea. I also love greens, especially gyokuro. I have a huge appreciation for rooibos and honeybush as they are often that only thing I can drink in the evening. I am a relatively new convert to black teas. This is unfortunate for my wallet but extremely wonderful for my palate. :)

In any case, I have a love for both flavored and unflavored teas. They are different experiences for sure, but both enjoyable. I find that it often depends on my mood.

I am on a quest to find a tea that will win my husband over. I think I’m making some headway…

My profile pic features my two lovable puppies, Mr. Snuggles and Sr. Caliente.

Location

NYC / Westchester

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