Honeybush teas are not in the same league with Rooibos teas. Honeybush is sweeter and milder and IMO Better than Rooibos teas. With honeybush you do not get that woodsy after taste that is so dominant with Rooibos teas. I know what you are thinking: Why is she going about the difference between Rooibos and Honeybush teas? Because not everyone has experienced the wonderfulness of Honeybush. And because most people lump the two together as close cousins. I am here to tell you that they are distant cousins who rarely talk! This tea is my all time favorite caffeine free tea. The Honeybush is mild and pleasant to your taste buds and then you  taste the strawberries! Oh my, it is like eating strawberries ripened on the vine with a hint of an aftertaste of crust. Now, you can have your pie and drink it too!

If you like strawberries, you owe it to yourself to pay 52 Teas a visit. 52 Teas in case you don’t know is a tea tasters sensation. Frank blends up a new blend each week. These newbie teas are in liminted quantities. Some of his more popular teas make it into his permanent collection. Strawberry Honeybush Tea is one tea that is on the permanent list and for good reason…it is so darn good that you have to reorder frequently! Luckily shipping to the USA is free. 

You can purchase the Strawberry Pie Honeybush directly from the 52teas website.

The dry smell is just like ice cream. How can this be? Let me assure you that this is the most delicious tea. I don’t know how Frank does it; he just seems to have a way with honeybush that leaves me coming back for more.

All three flavor profiles are present. The strawberry is represented by dried strawberry bits that impart the juiciness of a fresh picked ripe strawberry. The vanilla bean gives this blend the creamy aspect of ice cream. The chocolate was the most surprising to me, it is subtle, and a delicate cocoa that rounds out this threesome perfectly. Since my honeybush order arrived, I have had a hard time choosing other teas. I drink some kind of honeybush from 52 Teas most every night. Honeybush is sweeter and less woodsy in taste than rooibos and it is naturally caffeine free. Enjoy.

You can purchase the Neapolitan Honeybush directly from the 52teas website.

Even though the instructions say to use boiling water I’ve heard that maté can get scalded and become bitter like green teas, so I kept the steeping temperature at 90ºC. The tea smelled so incredibly chocolatey when I opened the package, like one of those rich chocolate shakes you can sometimes still get at diners. I could see that cocoa nibs mixed in with the mate leaves aswell which is a good sign – I always like it when a company uses real ingredients instead of ‘flavouring’.

The first thing I can taste when I sip the tea is the mate; it has the roasted, nutty, and slightly vegetale flavour that is unique to that particular plant. But underneath there’s a creamy, malty flavour with a hint of sweetness that makes me think of Ovaltine a bit. The chocolate is there too but maybe not as a stong as I wished I was – although that might just mean that I need to steep it longer. The taste lingers subtly and pleasently in the mouth, not letting itself be dismissed.

This is a wonderful, unique blend that I really enjoyed drinking. Congrats to Frank for creating another winner.

You can purchase the Malted ChocoMate directly from the 52teas website.

I received this tea from a friend and had only HEARD about it prior.  Because I LOVE the fact Frank from 52 Teas ‘thinks outside the box…or in this case, the bag”…I like to try as many blends of his that I can.  The rarer and more crazy – the better!  It’s the perfect example of TEA MAKES A GOOD STORY!  And…I’m just crazy enough to TRY it!

When I was scrolling thru the reviews on Steepster I noticed everyone seemed to like it.  Then it happened…2 low, low, low reviews. It didn’t scare me! So…I YELLED…”Bring it on!!!”…and so I did.

I LOVE Frank’s write-ups and product descriptions!  One thing that made me laugh while reading the their description about this tea was the butter flavoring!  I was like…”OH MY GOSH…I’m going to drink butter?” I really didn’t stumble on the thought for too long as I was really excited about trying the blend.

It smelled like Cinnamon Raisin Toast.  Mission Accomplish, there, I guess.  I was unable to smell the butter BUT…I don’t slap on much butter on my toast anyhow…so…maybe this will be tailor-made for me!?

YUP! I could taste the black tea, the toast, the cinnamon, and the raisin. It was hard to taste the butter but just as it started to travel down my esophagus I could taste a hint of it…but just a hint!

The more I drink this – the more I can taste the toast as an after taste.  Normally I don’t like funky aftertastes but this works…especially in the morning when you are hungry for toast or a bagel or something and don’t have access to it!

This is a neat little creation that 52 Teas has available and I appreciate the fact that it’s different and unusual. It’s surprisingly good and I’m glad I could still taste the black tea.  Too many times when doing a flavored black tea…the black tea taste is often lost.  Not in this tea…it’s still, thankfully, present.

You can purchase the Buttered Cinnamon Raisin Toast Flavored Black Tea directly from the 52teas website.

The dry leaves are quite large and long sencha leaves. The scent of the dry leaves is a bit tart and quite blueberry like. Once brewed the aroma is more mellow, berry and almost a little floral with a light tartness. The liquor is quite darker than I imagined. It’s almost as if a blue/purple food coloring was added lightly to the green tea. I haven’t brewed a sencha before, so I’m not sure if this is the leaves or something to do with the flavoring. I’m loving the smell of this! I have no words to describe elderberry with, but the flavor reminds me a bit of the brightness of fresh, ripe blueberries. The elderberries really compliment the flavor of the sencha. The sencha is very strong, but the flavors blend, the mesh so well, it is a wonderful dance on my tongue. I’m really enjoying this. I did brew it on the higher end of the temperature range, 180F, for 2:30 minutes. I think I will try this at 170F and 160F to see how it compares. I think the length of the steep is just right, as I’m not tasting any astringency.

You can purchase the Elderberry directly from the 52teas website.

Starting my day with a taste of India, closing my eyes, allowing myself to be taken away to northern India with this charming, malty, CTC Assam from 52teas.

It’s called RadioactiviTEA and rightly so because it provides just enough of a jolt to get me going without the crash that I get from coffee. Steeped for five minutes with a fresh pot of boiling water (from cold) , and a couple of Stevia leaves to sweeten it. It’s a smooth and comforting tea with that zing that makes it just right for breakfast or to pick you up from a late afternoon lull.

The aroma is strong and inviting, the aftertaste is mellow and satisfying. This blend has never gone bitter (even when I’ve forgotten it was brewing, yes, my mind wanders some mornings), and it’s always had my coffee loving friends asking for more. You can add a touch of cream to it if you prefer but, to get the most health benefits from it, just a bit of Stevia will do. This isn’t a tea that I would suggest putting honey in, it’s malty enough on it’s own.

Sit back, clear the sleep from your eyes, and savour this amber brew.

You can purchase 52teas RadioactiviTEA directly from their website.