Prestogeorge Bananas Foster Black Tea

I'm a little surprised that I haven't reviewed this yet.  Banana flavored tea is rare but an interesting and delicious combination.  The sweetness of the banana makes a nice juxtaposition to the more clean and bright flavors of (usually) ceylon tea.



Outsides:  Prestogeorge's Bananas Foster contains black tea and banana as well as other flavors which I can't name because this is apparently not on their website.  I can tell you that this stuff smells STRONGLY of banana, in an awesome way.  I brewed about a teaspoon and a half of this stuff in 8 oz of boiled water for about 5 minutes.  Now, it's a dark orange gold color like a lot of ceylons, but I immediately added cream and sugar.  It smells very similar to banana cream pie.

Insides:  Oh goodness, this is not just any flavored tea but a desert in a cup!  The tea is good and if you like strong tea, then it's perfectly fine to drink on it's own.  However, the flavors really sparkle with cream and sugar.  The banana flavor is enhanced by a little hint of molasses flavor while balancing out well with the tea.  The tea is a medium-quality tea with an ok body for black tea but a bit too much astringency, but still much better than the black tea I've gotten from Adagio.  I still love this and encourage everyone to find a tea like this and try it out.

Overall:  I love it.  It's unique, well flavored and an absolute crowd pleaser.  <3

My Rating:  Buy it (if you're even in Pittsburgh)!  Has my Seal of Approval.  

Prestogeorge is my local tea retailer although they technically specialize in coffee.  They have a wide variety of tea and ship a few of them, but at a bit of a steep price.

TasTEA Time! EnjoyingTea.com's Black Tea Banana

What:  A free sample of black tea and banana

Where:  I don't know where the company is located but the Ceylon is from Sri Lanka

Why Should I Care:  The reason I am reviewing this is because I got a free sample or more accurately, a free sample which i had to pay shipping for.  Four dollars in shipping.  I'm not particularly happy about that especially since the other site I ordered form only cost 1 dollar shipping with a 2 dollar credit for next purchase but it happened and I have to say, they didn't jip me as much as I thought they would.  I got enough tea from them to last me about 4 teapots full (and I have a pretty big teapot), they gave me a 15% off coupon and a nice little reference card for brewing different kinds of tea that includes temperatures, times and a couple tips.

Packaging:  I can't really say much about this since it was a free sample.  It came in a thick envelope with bubble wrap?  The tea itself is loose leaf and came in a nice thick bag but...it was free-ish.

Non-taste Senses:  It's lighter than most of the ceylon tea I've brewed and it has a mild scent with a hint of banana.

Taste:  The tea itself is rather mild.  It still has that Ceylon tea clarity but there isn't really any bitterness.  There's also a nice balance between the tea flavors and the banana flavor.  I wish there was a little more of the banana flavor but it's still pretty strong and it doesn't overpower the tea.  This would make a nice iced tea.

Overall:  I don't know if I'd order this particular tea again but it's not because I don't think it's good.  I've never seen banana flavored tea before, even in fruity ice tea flavors, but I also don't think I personally have the urge to have it.  However, it's a couple weeks until Christmas and the 15% couple would be great for any tea lover (including yourself).  Plus you get some decent tea.

My Rating:  Try it!  Here's the free sample page.  Here's the rest of the website (with a Lychee Jasmine Green Tea that I'm making eyes at).

Edit:  I've decided to bump up the rating to a Buy it! for at least the sample.  Banana black tea is something I've only seen at one other tea site and that one isn't a free sample, it's really good quality tea and for 4 bucks, you get enough to brew about 6 big pots of tea.  Plus, it really goes great with vanilla cookies and cakes or just as a nice iced tea.  I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I actually did (cold and with shortbread cookies), but I actually am impressed.