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You know, I am NOT down on 52teas at ALL. Graveyard Mist is my #1 favorite tea. I adore Shamrock, Butterbeer, and Spiced Brandy Shou Mei, to name a few. I just ordered two packages of White Christmas. But here is another one which disappointed me, hopefully much to the delight of Steepster traders everywhere. ;-)

The first two cups I had, I didn’t get Red Velvet anything. In fact, I thought that the mate’ smelled a little unpleasant, and I like mate’s. Then I put the rest in a Thermos and came back to it later when I was a little more awake. This time I did get Red Velvet Cake in the aroma of the tea and even in the flavor, but it was just there. It wasn’t super duper creamy extra delicious or anything. It was just OK for me. And I have limited shelf space.

I bought this one because my 16-year-old son just loves Dr. Who. I thought it would be fun for us to drink it together when he comes to visit. So we’re sitting here watching Dr. Who, and I brewed it up. I have to say it doesn’t live up to its delicious scent. It has a smooth base, and if I really, really try, I can taste the caramel—especially after it has cooled down a bit. My son just thought it was OK. I think I really could have sold him if I’d brewed the Butterbeer instead.

I really like blueberry teas, and I really like Assam, so that’s where this one stands. I seem to have a relationship with the teas from Zoomdweebies/52 Teas where I either REALLY get it or I don’t. This is one of those where I don’t really get that cream cheese Danish blah blah blah but the blueberry is nice enough.

This tea is verra verra minty, yet smooooth. You have to reach to taste that vanilla, but it’s there. It flirts with being almost too minty but it never gets there. My partner is reminded of the Moroccan Mint we had at Dobra Tea in Madison, WI. That was some yummy stuff, sweetened with honey. I would keep this Shamrock Tea in my cupboard all the time if it were possible!

I had high expectations for this tea. I love blueberry teas. And blueberry crumble? YUM! However, for me, this tea failed to deliver. It had a pleasant scent when brewed. I sweetened it and drank it at my normal temperature but for the whole cup, all I got was a pleasant, slightly cinnamony tea. Not a note of blueberry at all, ever. No cake or crumble. Nothing to write home about.

I even left it in my closed Breville overnight by accident, and when I opened it up the next day, I didn’t get any blueberry OR cake smell at all. The only time I got a scent out of it is when I smelled the wet leaf, then I got the cake scent. Normally if I leave a tea sitting in the Breville I have to rinse and rinse to get the smell out. I didn’t have to do that in this case.

I don’t know what to say, except those who like this specific tea should keep an eye on my swap list. ;-)

Ohhh, yeah. This is amazing. It tastes exactly like an oatmeal raisin cookie. I have no suggestions for improvement. I told one of my friends that I had Oatmeal Raisin Cookie tea this morning and she said, “You are spoiled!” Indeed!

I thought this tea was delicious. It smelled amazing and was really fun to scoop into my teamaker, because of all the moist chunks of pineapple and cherry in the blend.

However, when I drank the tea, while it was wonderful, I didn’t get the pineapple flavor or the cherry flavor. Neither did my partner. We both agreed that we got a hint of maple and a strong taste of brown sugar. So while I definitely got the “crumble” part of the upside-down cake flavor, I didn’t get the actual fruity part. Either way, I enjoyed this tea and will perhaps experiment with time and temp to see if I can’t get that fruitiness to come out.

Thanks to Teajo Teas for the generous sample! When I first took a whiff of the Black Manas, I thought it smelled sweet, and it reminded me of the types of English Breakfast teas that I like.

I brewed it in the Breville and added my usual two Splenda that go into every tea I drink…it was delicious, but you know, it was pretty sweet to me. Strange for an unflavored black. I thought that I could drink a second cup and only put in ONE Splenda! And I did! That is HUGE for me.

This tea was so nice and smooth I think I could probably even like it without any sweetener at all. I enjoy it best nice and hot, but it was just fine after it cooled in the cup as well. This would be a good first black tea for someone to try and it would be a good everyday tea for an old-timer like me. ;-)

This is a second tasting note. My first was for the hot preparation. Now I’m taking another step in my iced tea exploration. This time, I didn’t use a SBT but brewed a loose-leaf tea I picked out of my cupboard!

So arctic raspberry is a real winner iced. I didn’t even have to sweeten it as much as I did for the SBTs. I was so proud of myself for making it all on my own and having it work out. I recommend this fresh tasting raspberry tea for any iced tea enthusiast.

This is my second try at an iced tea, and I’ve already had almost two pitchers of it. It is wonderful! I am still so amazed that I can like iced tea after so many years of hating it. And this one tastes more like tea than it does like bubblegum. The bubblegum flavor does come through at the end, but it’s faint, in my opinion. Nothing like the Neopolitan which I found to be much more aggressive. I drink from a 16-oz. cup and I add 2 Splenda to the cup before I add the tea. That helps bring out the sweet candy flavor but really, this tastes good without a huge WHAM of bubblegum anyway.