21 Tasting Notes

88

I LOVE caramel. So of course, the first flavored matcha I buy would HAVE to be caramel, right? I bought this with the robust flavor, and I sprang for the royal grade as well; maybe next time I will order regular grade to compare?
First, shipping was lightning fast getting here, less than a week. I loved that I was able to enjoy my matcha quickly. Also, when I opened the package the smell of caramel immediately filled my dorm room, which was AWESOME! Like an instant febreze!
The matcha is smooth and creamy. Another reviewer said that the flavor does not smack you in the face, and I agree; it is more subtle. There were absolutely no grains on the bottom of the cup, amazing! Still getting the hang of whisking however, so it wasn’t too frothy, but this may be the error of my experience.
I am looking forward to trying it cold, with the water bottle technique, however my favorite method so far is with just a splash of soy milk and agave nectar if I want a super sweet treat. :) I will most likely buy this again, so yeah, I’d say if you are thinking about it, try it. :)
You can find it here: http://www.redleaftea.com/matcha-tea/caramel-matcha.html

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 0 min, 15 sec
Babble

I personally didn’t find much of a difference with the royal vs. regular. Glad you liked the caramel :)

KittyKat88

Yes; I am wondering if the difference is in the nutritional benefit? There has to be some difference lol. Are there somehow more “vitamins” in the royal I wonder? Just speculation.

Babble

I doubt there is much nutritional difference. I could be wrong. I think the higher grade just uses better quality leaves. You should shoot the guy at Red Leaf an e-mail and see what he says. They are pretty prompt at responding!

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73

Sooo glad to be drinking tea again…I went home for fall break and had to leave my lovely tea collection behind for four days….four days…..anyway that’s over now. :) So, after drinking some delicious jasmine green for my first cup back, I settled in to try one of my samples, namely this sea breeze.

My thoughts? Meh. Yes, this tea is ok…I’m not gagging or feeling anything unpleasant on my tongue. At the same time, I am not jumping for joy at this tea either, and I think I’m done with it for a bit. It seems almost like the flavors cancel each other out in a weird way…I taste cranberry, actually a tangy berry undertone more than anything, with the sencha overlaying the berry sometimes, sometimes the berry being more dominant.

I wouldn’t buy this, but I won’t condemn it either. :)

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 30 sec
Azzrian

Welcome back!

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84

I just made my second order to 52 teas, couldn’t resist his peanut butter cup cheesecake! This tea was from my first order, and though I’ve had it several times now, I’ve put off reviewing it.

I really want to take a moment to praise 52teas business model. Not only does his model of temporary teas allow him to experiment and keep his inventory low while having a high turnover,more importantly his free shipping policy keeps customers buying week after week. With other companies, I hold off on buying things because I don’t want to pay for the shipping. I know its a measly five dollars or so usually, but something irks me as a customer when I have to pay for shipping; I feel like I just wasted that money. So I end up waiting and only buying large orders every six months or so, to take advantage of the free shipping that way. BUT even though I buy a lot more in that one purchase, I guarantee that I spend more at free shipping stores than the other, because I buy more frequently. So, something to think about, other tea shops!

On to the tea itself. I like the tea; you get the creamy cheesecake notes, vanilla, and an undertone of pumpkin and black tea that mixes together perfectly. I don’t taste any caramel actually, but I don’t mind too much. I wish the pumpkin taste was stronger, that is my only complaint. But, this seems to be a recurring thing with all pumpkin teas; maybe it is a hard flavor to bring out. This tastes great with a little soy milk, it brings out the creaminess to the extreme!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
Babble

It is a pretty neat model. The only dislike I have about it is that a lot of the teas are once and done. Since 52teas has been around for a while, there’s a bunch of teas I missed early on. Although, Frank is known to reblend from time to time.

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76

Sooo….right now might not be the best time to write this, being that I just got back from a quite rowdy albeit small presidential debate party….drink if they mention middle class! (That alone will get you drunk.) lol. But, I have written some of my best work this way, literature wise, sooo….

This tea, drank before going out this evening, was courtesy of LiberTEAS, who sent me quite a generous sample package (this is the first of many samples). It is very malty, and for some reason while I was drinking it I was reminded of the color of old copper. NOT the taste of copper, but the color, dark, mysterious, deep. This is not my tea, but is a good tea, if that makes since. I am just not a big fan of Assam.

I would recommend this tea to any assam lover, as it is of good quality. Sweet and rich, it can hold its own with any coffee.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec
LiberTEAS

I’m glad you like the package! :)

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90

This is review of a generous sample David gave me on my first order! My first thought when drinking this tea is that it is incredibly smooth. There is absolutely none of the bitterness that usually pushes me off oolong tea; it is clear I will be buying some of this on my next order. I caught undercurrents like honey and just a hint of what might be banana and spice; after swishing it around in my mouth, I taste just a hint of maltiness. In summary all the flavors of this tea come through perfectly; I will be buying some of this tea, and I don’t drink much oolong.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 45 sec

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55

Eh….I’m going to be lenient with this tea, since I consider it a “medicine” tea and not a tea I drink for fun. This tea is good for a sore throat which I currently have…and when you have said sore throat its useless to drink your regular tea, you will just waste it since you cant taste anything.
So after getting back from my belly dance performance (After my dance I smiled, bowed, and went backstage, where I preceded to almost cough my lung out lol) my throat needed some TLC. This tastes ok….not really anything special, and the combination of flavors doesn’t really mesh that well, but drinkable.You can definatly taste that ginger and peppermint.

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 30 sec
LiberTEAS

Sorry to hear you aren’t feeling so well… if the tea didn’t taste good, I hope that it at least helped you feel better.

Terri HarpLady

I hope you’re feeling better today, KittyKat. The best cures I know for sore throat:
1. Suck on a clove of garlic – this won’t make you popular, but the garlic kills virals & bacterials. It also works for an infected tooth & helps the sinuses & lungs, as the fumes go there as well. You have to bite down on it once in awhile…
2. (more popular) Gargle salt water & do it often. Every hour is best.
3. Hot broth
4. Hot tea (of course!)
5. Rest
Not necessarily in that order! Feel better!

Bonnie

If your sore throat doesn’t get better, go to the doctor, it could be strep.

KittyKat88

Ive thought of going to the doctor, but I want to give it a few days. This is something that seems to be going around campus lol, two of my professors were absent and canceled class. Works for me, since I could use the rest!

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85
drank Coconut Cream Pie by 52teas
21 tasting notes

I am currently in my ISOM class…staring at the bored TA who is basically babysitting us lol since my professor is sick. Not much to do, but we have to be here all the same…

A sip of this tea, and I immediatly feel better. This tea gives off a strange smell, but in a good way. It is a coconut smell, but weirdly enough it gives off that sweet smell of a liquor drink; almost like an alcohol. It tastes good; you know how in a coconut cream pie there is the top light and fluffy part that is like coconut whipped cream, and the bottom part which is more dense and buttery? This tea tastes more like the top fluffy layer.

I like to grade my teas on weather I will buy again, and for this it is a definite yes!

Preparation
3 min, 0 sec

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80
drank Gooey Butter Cake by 52teas
21 tasting notes

So, at my school they serve these great buttery lemon poppy seed muffins.I know this is called Gooey Butter Cake, but to me this tastes more like one of those muffins, dipped thoroughly in black tea. There is a distinct flavor of creamy lemon and undertones of butter that are not present unless you allow this tea to cool. I agree with some of the other reviews, this is one of those teas that you NEED sugar in to taste the flavors. A little soy milk brought out the creaminess even more. Overall, I like this tea; it is a high quality black tea with a great, subtle flavor. Would I buy it again? Eh…52 teas has so many other great flavors, probably not. But neither will this languish in my tea cupboard without use or love, which I cannot say of some other teas.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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89
drank Malted ChocoMaté by 52teas
21 tasting notes

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91

After a long and stressful day with school and work, I sit down to my accounting homework over this tea. It really has been a stressful day, beginning with finding out I was double-charged for my teavana order, and that several of the items I ordered were not in stock and so I will not get them for a month. (Why did they not tell me this when I ordered? GRRR) …..teavana! Here to hoping it gets worked out soon and I get the $69.97 extra they took out of my account back VERY SOON…..

Ok, so back to this tea. LOVE this tea. I am slightly sad every time I drink this tea, because I know that I am getting low, and once its gone I cant get more. This is probably the best Jasmine I have ever had. I find that it can be hard to find Jasmine tea that is tart but not bitter, floral but not too sweet.

This is exactly what Jasmine should be, and it always brews up right. While I write this review I am drinking up the last of the cup, savoring the complex and deep but slightly floral notes of this tea as they run over my tongue. Great smell, great taste, great everything! Just wish I could get more! Actually I am looking for a replacement for this tea, since I will be out soon and need a great Jasmine green on hand. Any suggestions?
Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 15 sec
momo

Is the charge brand new? It could go away itself within a couple days but if not then I’d call them, and if they still don’t do anything then call your bank.

Bonnie

Too bad it’s gone.

KittyKat88

The original charge is old, but there is now another charge that is “pending” that is the same amount as the original. I sent an email out and hopefully they will get back to me soon.

momo

It should go away, keyword should, though if they didn’t come the same day that sounds more like a double charge than just weird bank stuff.

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Profile

Bio

Hi all! My name is Katherine Corbin and I am a college student studying English and Business at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. I love to read, knit, belly dance, sing crazy songs in the shower (or whatever my current location might be…) and get up to general nonsense.

I also love tea (as well as coffee, but be still your judgement on my nefarious infidelity to tea.) I really look forward to trying a lot of new teas as well as learning new things about steeping, types of teas, etc. OPEN TO TEA SWAPS! :) Check cupboard. Love all, hear from you soon? -Kat

Location

Muncie, Indiana

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