Tea Time

So my maple bacon black tea arrived this week, and I was so excited to try it! First of all, it came loose, giving me an excuse to use that teaball spoon I’ve had sitting in a drawer for the past 3 years. I loves me some kitchen gadgets, but don’t always use them as often as my husband considers to be “justification for ownership.” FYI husband, I used the tea spoon AND those cute 4 ounce ramekins this winter, so see? I totally deserve that ebelskiver pan.

Anyway, when I opened the tea pouch, the first thing I did was take a big whiff. Hm. Smells like black tea. Maybe a little maple syrup, but mostly just…gross. Okay, no problem, smells and tastes don’t always match. Next, I poured some tea into my hand to investigate. There were definitely some bacon bits in there, but I couldn’t smell them at all. I have to say, I give 52 Teas props for not just throwing some liquid smoke in the mix to get the effect. That’s my biggest beef with “bacon flavored” novelties; they’re usually just regular food/candy with some smoke attached.

Okay, well on to the taste test. I put a teaspoon of tea in my tea spoon. How many times are you allowed to say tea in one sentence? (Ooh, check out that huge bacon nug in the spoon!) Anyway, I steeped it for 5 minutes as recommended and added one packet of Splenda, because I supposedly don’t do sugar these days. I thought honey might help boost the maple flavor, but I didn’t want to taint the results. On my first sip, I thought perhaps I tasted a little maple, but it was faint. I kept drinking and a few sips in I thought perhaps I was just imagining any flavors beyond black tea…the power of suggestion.

I’m a cream-in-my-tea type, so about halfway through the cup I added a little. And that was the end of that. No bacon, no maple, but it reminded me of good English breakfast tea. So I enjoyed the rest of the cup and will be very happy to drink the rest of the tea as well. The black tea itself seems to be of very high quality, so I can still recommend 52 Teas without reserve, regardless of any novelty flavors. I would much prefer the flavors be too subtle than see a whole bag of tea ruined by artificial smoke and mirrors.