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“As my last steeped cuppa for the evening, I chose one of my favorites! I ordered a sufficient supply of these recently so I don’t feel the need to hoard them anymore – plus Lori was kind enough to...” Read full tasting note
“This tastes best piping hot!” Read full tasting note
“Steep Information: Amount: 3 tsp Water: 500ml filtered water at 212° Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (Herbal, Strong) Steep Time: 5 minutes Served: Hot Tasting Notes: Dry Leaf Smell:...” Read full tasting note
“This was sent to me unexpectedly by Jillian. Thanks! The dry tea smells deliciously chocolatey; I’m not getting much banana. A chocolate rooibos sounds just fantastic though, so that’s hardly a...” Read full tasting note
You’re probably wondering just who the heck Chelsea is. Well, if you’ve ever ordered tea from us and gotten the wrong tea or your tea has been late, it was Chelsea’s fault. Chelsea is my little bubble-headed assistant with attitude. She knows I would only say that out of a deep and abiding loathe… I mean, love.
Honestly, Chelsea is my right-hand girl and I couldn’t operate 52teas or Zoomdweebie’s without her. When she complained (did I mention she is quite whiney?) that we had created Frank’s Apple Cider Rooibos in my honor and Sheri’s Blend for my wife, but no tea bearing her namesake, I said, “Yeah, so?”
After a few more months of whining, I decided that maybe I should spare my ears and let her have her own blend, and this is what she said she wanted: A chocolate covered banana rooibos.
Well, it’s just like Chelsea, a bit sweet and fruity all at once.
So here it is, our Chelsea’s Chocolate Banana Rooibos with caffeine-free African Rooibos, milk chocolate chips, organic cacao nibs and freeze dried bananas. If you guys don’t buy it up and make me reblend it and make it a permanent fixture, I’ll probably have to listen to Chelsea whine about it, so please buy it up.
At 52teas.com, you will find unique, hand-blended artisan loose leaf teas: a new limited edition creation every week of the year. We pride ourselves on offering truly unique, one-of-a-kind tea blends that you won’t find anywhere else.
As my last steeped cuppa for the evening, I chose one of my favorites! I ordered a sufficient supply of these recently so I don’t feel the need to hoard them anymore – plus Lori was kind enough to send me some as well – THANKS Lori!
Delicious chocolate and banana – not much more to say than that! This rooibos blend reminds me of Disneyland, when I lived in California, I used to visit Disneyland pretty regularly, and each time I’d visit, I’d indulge in a frozen chocolate covered banana on Main Street!
YUMMY!
Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Water: 500ml filtered water at 212°
Tool: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker BTM800XL (Herbal, Strong)
Steep Time: 5 minutes
Served: Hot
Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: rooibos woody, chocolate, banana
Steeped Tea Smell: sweet chocolate, hints of banana, hints of woody rooibos
Flavor: banana, rooibos
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet woody
Liquor: dark orange-brown
MilitiaJim hates banana that isn’t a plain real fresh banana. It didn’t find this offensive.
I on the other hand love it as a sweet dessert treat late night tea!
Post-Steep Additives: a bit of German rock sugar, really makes it a nice treat!
images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/05/52teas-loose-leaf-rooibos-tea-chelseas.html
Okay, even though I dislike rooibos, I have to try this one. Such high accolades from you means it has to be good!! :)
lol-i guess i am a picky one!
It has a strong rooibos undertone, so if you really don’t like rooibos it is probably not for you – on the other hand it isn’t rooibossy. (disclaimer: i like rooibos!)
LOL! I love rooibossy — it’s the perfect term :D
This was sent to me unexpectedly by Jillian. Thanks!
The dry tea smells deliciously chocolatey; I’m not getting much banana. A chocolate rooibos sounds just fantastic though, so that’s hardly a problem!
The tea is quite strong, because I used 2 tsp since I figured this was an old blend. Initially, I do taste a wave of chocolatey-banana flavour. Kind of a banana chip sort of taste, to me. This fades into a light sort of cocoa-y flavour, and then the rooibos takes over, which I don’t like. I think this would be much better with a honeybush base, but oh well. I don’t think it will be all that difficult for me to finish, although I have acquired a huge number of rooibos/honeybush blends lately, which is somewhat unexpected (but not really). Oh well!
Thanks for the sample, Jillian :)
Some skim milk in this tea seems to bring out the flavout a bit more, particularly the banana. Still I’m rather ambivalent about this tea so I think I’ll probably end up either putting it up for adoption or sending it away as a freebee in one of my swaps.
OK, Chelsea has just become my new BFF. Opened the package, and the smell of chocolate and banana jumped out at me. It’s always tough when the first whiff of something is so fantastic, it sets the bar high and often the taste just doesn’t match up. I needn’t have worried about this one, I almost burned myself trying to gulp this down, instead of savouring every sip… The mellowness of the rooibos is perfect with this!
This is going to be saved as a special treat, and I may very well hide it from the rest of the family.
Does it have actual chocolate and banana bits in it?
Yep, in addition to the rooibos, there are milk chocolate chips, cacao nibs and freeze dried bananas in there.
Cool, it always makes me happy when tea companies add real ingredients to their teas instead of just the ambiguous ‘flavourings’.
Agreed….
Sounds awesome.
oooh, sounds yummy!
I got my second pouch of this last night and immediately brewed a cup….mmmm. I upped my rating of it now that I’ve played around with it and found how I like it. So far my favorite way to drink this is blended with Teavana’s Coconut Ginger Zingibar. I used 3 heaping tsp. of Chelsea’s and 2 of the Coconut to 12 oz. water and added some milk and agave and yummers!!! This is my favorite bedtime/dessert tea blend yet :)
Wow, this one tastes just like the Neapolitan Honeybush to me! Uncanny. This doesn’t wind up being a bad thing, as I liked the Neapolitan.
I have been using this one lately to experiment with tea lattes, but I wouldn’t call the experiment successful yet because it’s still not as good as one I’d get at a shop. So, tell me what I am doing wrong:
-Steep 1 cup (8oz) of water with tea. Add agave nectar to taste while doing this, plus 1 tsp vanilla extract (or almond, or whatever)
-Heat 1/2 cup (4oz) of soy milk (or whatever milk you prefer) – I do 1 min 20 seconds in the microwave.
-Use frothing wand to make plenty of foam.
-Pour steamed milk over tea, scoop on rest of the foam.
-Sprinkle cinnamon.
It LOOKS great but tastes too thin, so I guess I need to either steep a lot more tea or use less water. I tried steeping it extra long this time to no avail.
Here is a photo:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4558670&l=b7d7567f43&id=535762108
That looks awesome! Want.
I wish it tasted just a little better. It’s too weak. I hope I don’t need vanilla syrup to get the right effect. Def gonna try cutting down the water in the tea.
Just added a frother to my amazon wishlist.
@Lisbet: I would recommend adding extra leaf. I generally do when I make a latte because the milk does somewhat mute flavors sometimes. Also, with rooibos and/or honeybush blends, I always add a little extra leaf…
Kristin- they’re cheap and they really work well!
LiberTEAS- thanks! I think the next one I make I’ll try with black tea chai just to see the effect, but I generally drink rooibos and honeybush.
This really is like a low cal dessert in a cup w/a sinful banana flavor and no need to add sugar…It was perfect for my mid-afternoon treat…Come to think of it , this would be great w/chocolate milk….
love choc nana combos in general. idk with rooibos but sounds interesting…
Actually, UNLESS I overdo it with sweetener (I add just a little bit to this to enhance the flavors, but, not enough to render it too sweet), the rooibos flavor is not strong with this, which is one of the reasons why I like it so well. I’m not a big fan of rooibos. That’s one of the big reasons why it surprises me that I love this blend so much, because it IS a rooibos blend.
We actually toyed with doing this one as a black tea or a honeybush even, but we came to decide that the rooibos really set the right tone for this blend (which is something of a rarity for me—I too am more fond of blending with honeybush and bases other than rooibos). So glad you are enjoying it.
Did you get my other PM about your package?!
@TeaEqualsBliss, yes I did… I’ve just been away from the computer for a few hours so I’m catching up a bit.
@Frank, you did exceptionally well with this blend… not to say that your other blends aren’t very good as well, I don’t think I’ve encountered one yet that I haven’t enjoyed. But THIS one is the best.