1390 Tasting Notes
Sipdown of an herbal tisane for ashmanra’s sipdown challenge. This was a sample with my order back in May. It’s still not up on the website, but is currently still available on the rewards page, labeled “sneak peek.”
I’ve been enjoying this as an oat milk latte. Creamy, cinnamony, vanilla, sweet. Pretty good pastry vibes, especially for an Adagio blend. This flavor profile is right up my alley. It would probably be good with a dash of maple syrup too, but I didn’t think of that earlier!
Sipdown. I didn’t take good notes while drinking this, but it isn’t my favorite 52teas blend. Rum is the dominant flavor here, and I do enjoy the taste of rum, but somehow it didn’t seem quite right. Maybe a stronger base, or the addition of some vanilla, chocolate, and/or cinnamon flavor, would have given the blend a bit more balance. Not terrible by any means, there are just other 52teas blends I enjoy more.
Sipdown of a fruity tea for ashmanra’s sipdown challenge. This came from a TTB a while back, so thank you to whoever put it in there! I didn’t take a proper note as I was drinking it, but I remember this being interesting-in-a-good-way. The goji berry and chrysanthemum were definitely prominent flavors, making it both sweet and earthy. Not in the “this tastes like dirt” way that pu’erh sometimes does; more like “combination of savory and floral.” Very curious to try Paru’s other blends.
Sipdown. I’m trying to get caught up on tasting notes tonight – I’ve literally got a little stack of empty pouches that I wanted to note before tossing.
This one came from a past Tea Thoughts countdown box., though I’m not sure which one at this point. It’s been very hot lately, so I used the whole pouch for a cold brew. In retrospect, probably not the optimal brewing method for this particular tea. Straight from the fridge, it tastes rather thin. After warming up at room temperature for a bit, the flavor opens up and it’s a malty, jammy situation. But that feels weird to me as an iced tea, and now I’ve used up all of it on the cold brew and can’t test-drive it hot. Lesson learned – don’t use up all the leaf for a steeping method that might backfire!
… it did help with the heat, though
I accidentally made a duplicate entry of this as “Strawberry Cupcake” and now I can’t delete it. Does anyone still have admin access to delete duplicates and, if so, could you please delete it?
This is a sipdown of my oldest green tea for ashmanra’s sipdown challenge (or at least a very old green, I probably have some bits of Butiki still hoarded). This blend is 8 years old! I’m just glad that it didn’t spoil or mold. It’s not as good as it was years ago, but still a pretty enjoyable cuppa! Broadly speaking, the flavoring held up better than the base. The base has gotten a bit of an edge that I don’t remember being there before. The creamy vanilla and sweet strawberry are still good though! It’s “crunchy freeze-dried strawberry” more than it is candylike or fresh and juicy. I added a bit of honey, which smoothed out the edge on the base, made a tasty cuppa, and gave this blend a proper sendoff. Since I was drinking slowly, the tea cooled before I reached the bottom of the mug. I topped it off with seltzer and got a good tea soda out of it!
Day 6 of the Tea Thoughts summer countdown box. I enjoyed the other Amba tea earlier in the box, so it was nice to see another. This one is so pretty! It reminds me of the Star Trek Crystalline Entity for some reason, in a good way. I followed the recommendation and cold brewed at room temperature in a martini glass for… maybe three hours or so?
Unsurprisingly, it’s beautiful floating in the glass, with a pale gold-colored brew. 10/10 for aesthetics. Flavor is good too! Delicate notes of honey, peaches, and something floral – orchid maybe, or jasmine, or calla lily? Something in that general area. This would be a great option for a special event where you’re trying to do something a little fancy or elevated as an alcohol alternative.
Day 5 of the Tea Thoughts summer countdown. I had a rough migraine this morning, so I was excited to see a mint tea (and from a new-to-me company, too!). Alas, that excitement was premature.
Since this is the first time I’ve had a tea from this particular company with their exact proprietary technique of binding tea into discs, I’m not going to give it a recommendation or rating. (Though I’m also not totally clear on how or why binding the disc with cellulose is meaningfully distinct from a traditional compressed tea, except that you’re now making cellulose part of the tea.) I did not like this tea, but I’m allowing for the possibility of user error somehow. My biggest objection is just that it tastes like I’m drinking peppermint oil (presumably that’s the “natural peppermint flavoring” in the ingredients). Perhaps that wouldn’t be as noticeable if I had done a short steep, but in this cup it’s extremely noticeable and unpleasant. The leaves themselves look a little odd in the steeper once they’ve unfurled. The best description I can find is that they look mushy somehow. I thought it might be related to the probiotics, but DavidsTea’s probiotic blend doesn’t look mushy in the steeper. My best guess is that its from the cellulose binding. Would not drink this tea again, but would be open to trying others from this company to see if I like those better.
Day 4 of the Tea Thoughts summer countdown. I think at this point I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a selection from Octavia in a Tea Thoughts box. Genuinely not a complaint, I often enjoy them! Just something I noticed.
The tea itself very much hit the spot yesterday. The weather was very reminiscent of Taiwan’s so I was feeling wistful when I opened this. I didn’t really get “floral” from it so much as “light and creamy.” In a taste test, I would have guessed milk oolong. I made this gong fu style, with some steeps being a “correct” length and others being way too long (like 20 minutes on the last steep). It never got bitter or tannic or otherwise bad-tasting, which is nice. Gotta love a tea that’s easy to brew and hard to mess up.
Day 3 of the Tea Thoughts summer countdown box. I wasn’t particularly enamored of the last tea rod in a TT countdown box, so I went into this with low expectations. But actually it was quite enjoyable! Visually, it’s just fun because the leaves floof out and are entertaining to bob up and down in the water. Taste-wise, this might be one of my favorite earl greys. I’m not a huge fan of the genre because I don’t particularly like bergamot. But here the bergamot is present without being too strong or overwhelming. The base tea is hearty without being particularly tannic. A touch of honey complements the flavors here. Overall, this is a pretty smooth and pleasant drink that I got two steeps out of.
