52teas is pretty well known for Frank’s creative undertaking of making a small hand blended batch of tea for limited release every week. That’s a new tea every week for 52 weeks a year. And he’s been doing it for three years now. He’s coming up with some spectacular teas!

The loose leaves are decidedly BOP with small broken pieces the only size seen. You can guess whether the tea with be strong or not. Nice sized cacao nib chunks are strewn throughout the blend. Fresh cut pepper mint can also be seen if you’re looking closely enough. The liquor is one of the darkest copper-red I’ve seen.

The dry leaf aroma is remarkably reminiscent of a nice Andes Mint. The brewed aroma is more astringent with unsubtle notes of dark chocolate bitterness.

On the palate the Chocolate Mint Black Tea starts out smooth but quickly dries the palate. There’s little left to the imagination, but I didn’t seem to mind. The dark chocolate bitterness from the cacao nibs comes through well and pairs just about right with the mint.

Chocolate Mint Black Tea

This tea is pretty strong. Astringent almost to a fault it dries the palate quickly and doesn’t let go. You end up drinking more and more to stay hydrated, but it never works. Somehow, you never really mind that much.

Fans of  dark chocolate, andes mints and CTC Black Teas may enjoy this tea.

Art of Tea was nice enough to send me a handful of samples of some teas they sell. Among them was this Cinnamon Fig tea which I was pretty excited for.

The loose leaves are dark brown and black with notably large cinnamon bits mixed in. The bits are fairly abundant as well. Once the leaves have steeped they’re notably more brownish and appear more choppy.

The aroma is instantly intoxicating. The cinnamon comes through perfectly balanced with the fig. The scents remain balanced but do grow stronger once brewed. Look for hints of raisin if you try this one. They’re very subtle!

The flavors provide a unique taste. Converting the huddled masses to figs won’t happen overnight, that’s for sure. The astringent texture oddly subdues if brewed longer.  But so does the cinnamon.

Cinnamon Fig Black Tea

Fans of  52teas’ Cinnamon Fig Rooibos will enjoy this tea greatly.

Every so often a real classic is created. Earl Grey has been one for a long time. Once that classic is generally standardized deviating from the recipe is rarely done. While some have experimented with Earl Grey over the sixteen or so decades of its existence, it’s this particular take which has me pining for more.

With an easygoing black tea and lots of very large coconut shavings you know what you’re getting when you steep this tea. The dry aroma is almost completely of bergamot with faint hints of coconut sweetness.

Once brewed this tea produces a deep auburn liquor. The aroma is more subdued which helps the coconut come through a but more. Light hints of caramel pop out as well. This tea has a bit of pucker but relativeley low astringency considering.

I recommend this blend for any fan of Earl Grey teas.

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The loose material which makes up this tea is primarily of green rooibos. When you peek closer though you’ll note lots of thin red slivers of strawberry. Very tins, but abundant. The aroma is quite heavily of strawberry.

The concoction brews a nice amber liquor with a strong but sweet strawberry aroma. The aroma is actually more pungent once brewed than prior to it.

The flavor is predominently strawberry, but not as sweet as the brewed aroma hints at. Adding some honey or sweetener is a good option to look to if you desire a sweeter brew.

There’s not much tail or finish on this tea. There’s virtually no astringency and there’s no drying of the mouth. So while the aroma is as apetizing as can be, the flavor and texture seem to be lacking a bit.

I recommend this tea for fans of strawberry flavored stuff as well as those who enjoy fruit teas and tasty caffeine free treats. You might want to add some sweetener of some kind, be it honey, agave nectar or sugar/substitute.

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The loose material for this tea is pretty basic. You have an Indian black tea, with occasion safflower and some pomegranate arils thrown in. The aroma is notably sweet.

One brewed, the liquor turns to a slightly dark amber hue. The aroma from the spent leaves and liquor are brisker and less sweet than that of the dry leaves.

The flavor is much less astringent than I expected. While there is a slight dryness that persists on the outer edges of the tongue there’s a lingering sweetness through the tail. Unexpectedly there’s no real tartness such as you would get with an actual pomegranate, but I think it would have destroyed this tea.

As is, I think this tea is wonderful. I would recommend it to fans of fruit teas and of lighter Indian or Sri Lankan black teas.

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