As I’ve stated before, 52Teas is one of my favorite companies. They offer a brand new original flavor each week.  I must admit that I find myself heading over to the 52Teas website on Monday just to find out what interesting concoction they’ve come up with… and I usually find myself BUYING whatever they’ve come up with too.

Fortunately, I’ve not come across anything from them that was a disappointment.

This particular tea is one that I put off buying for a long time… mostly because I was afraid it would be a disappointment.  I mean… take a look at the ingredients – tea, bananas, pineapple, cacao nibs, strawberries, cherries, vanilla beans and flavors.  That’s a lot of stuff to pack into a 2 ounce pouch!

I worried that with all these ingredients in one tea, the flavors would become muddied.  There was no way that I would be able to brew this and walk away with a cup of banana split.

But… just like with all of the teas that I’ve tried from 52 Teas… I’m pleasantly surprised.  This DOES taste like a banana split… or, more accurately, like a banana split that has been liquefied and then combined with a cup of strong black tea.

Let’s start with the black tea base – while it is not extraordinarily prominent in this blend because of all the other flavors that are in there, it IS there and I can taste it.  It has a pleasantly bold, full-bodied taste to it, not overwhelming, but, not too subtle either.  Smooth.  Rich.  Nice!

As for the flavors – first, I can taste the banana.  Sweet and delicious.  The pineapple is one of the more subtle tastes in here, and it has a slightly candied taste to it.  The vanilla offers a very smooth, creamy sweetness to the background of this tea.  I almost want to associate it with part of the tea base, because it seems to have assumed that same role – it’s in the background, it’s there, but, it’s not overpowering what else is going on in the cup.

The strawberry and chocolate add a very nice flavor to this cup.  As a chocoholic, I wouldn’t have minded the chocolate to be a bit stronger in this tea, but, I also realize that there was a fine line that needed to be observed … while more chocolate does in fact equal more chocolate and more chocolate is always better than less chocolate… in this cup, more chocolate just might have tipped the scales and made a muddy mess out of the whole thing.  So, even though the chocolate is not as heavy in this blend as I – personally – would want it to be (or how it would be if this were a ‘make your own banana split’ bar at the buffet) the amount of chocolate WORKS here.  (And… just a little note for all you other chocoholics out there, as you near the bottom of the cup, there is a bit more chocolate flavor!)

I can even taste the cherry on top of this tea!  All the flavors… they really are THERE!

52 Teas describes this blend as

HOLY SMOKES! Now THIS is a tea! We pulled out all of the stops on this one folks, and created something really amazing and unique. Good luck finding a tea like this anywhere else.

We blended our premium black teas with dried bananas, dried pineapple, organic cacao nibs, vanilla beans, freeze dried strawberries and freeze dried cherries. The result?

DELICIOUS! With the first sip you get the sweetness of the bananas, strawberries and pineapple, then the chocolate and vanilla and faint hint of cherry follow as a soothing aftertaste. We thought maybe there were too many flavors in it, that everything would become muted and muddied, or, we thought, it might turn out so that one flavor dominated the rest so that it was pointless to have so many flavors, but honestly, this blend could not have turned out more perfect. It is every bit of the banana split experience in a tea.

This limited edition blend is going to go FAST, so get yours today before it sells out. You will not be disappointed.

Alas, as this was a limited edition blend – it is no longer available.  But, they have been known to reblend teas on occasion… so keep an eye out, maybe they’ll blend this one again!

This tea is tasty hot, but I like it better iced, because I discovered that more of the chocolate notes seem to come out when the tea is chilled.  Nice!   Sugar should be added with caution, because it is sweet on its own and too much sugar will ruin it… but it is very lovely with a splash of milk and this brings out the ice-creamy taste to it.

52 Teas does it again!