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November Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a tea from Africa

This is not a sipdown and it will be a long time before it is a sipdown because I will buy the replacement before I run out, just as I have done for a while now.

This is a lovely breakfast tea but also is wonderful with any meal or snack I have paired it with. It is simply good tea. I drink it plain but since it is supposed to get extra chocolate-y with milk I may give that a try someday.

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November Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a large leaf tea

Delicious and nutty, we have purchased this many times and hope to do so again. We power through it every time we order it. It is SO GOOD with food whether meal or sweet snack or cheese and crackers. It resteeps well and as usual, we combine the steeps. This is a favorite of Ashman’s.

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Delicious tea with strong mango scent but when steeped you definitely taste the oolong.

Ashman asked me if the name Ripe Mango implies that one might eat an unripe mango or flavor something like an unripe one, and I had to admit that I have never purchased a mango and don’t know if I have eaten one. Perhaps there has been mango in fruit salad somewhere sometime but my older children have said they don’t like mango so I ha en’t bothered to purchase one. But I think the word Ripe in the name is just to emphasize that this is the mature fruit and therefore sweet and smooth.

Delicious, and a someday repurchase. Ashman liked it a lot.

November Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a sample from an order

This is actually from an order that Superanna placed as a gift for me, and she also gave me the free samples that came with the order.

Ashman loves Darjeeling and there are a few that I really enjoy as well. This is my first time having one from Dammann Freres. Since it was a sachet I was not expecting super high quality but I was pleasantly surprised.

Once steeped, the sachet was absolutely full to bursting with the saturated leaves, so I resteeped and combined the two for a nice little afternoon break with a salted caramel biscotti.

It was a great combination. The tea is not sharp and overly brisk like one or two Darjeelings I have tried. It was smooth and sweet. It was rather delicate so personally I would never consider adding milk or sugar to this. I drink almost all tea plain but this one would be diminished by additions in my opinion. I could be wrong and YMMV!

November Sipdown Challenge Prompt – an unflavored green tea

I was fascinated by this one because River and Stone grinds their matcha in house and to order apparently. I have never heard of this before! This is another gift from Youngest – many thanks!

The smell of the dry matcha powder is so creamy. I whisked it in the traditional manner, using the suggestions I have picked up from Harney and elsewhere. Measure your matcha powder into the chawan, add a tiny bit of cold water and make a paste, then add your hot water and whisk.

I got a very nice froth and enjoyed the tea with some chocolate – my usual modus operandi with after lunch matcha. Then I decided I wanted some more only without any sweets distracting me from the taste and made another bowl. I don’t usually have much caffeine as coffee is never imbibed here and soda is a rarity so perhaps I shouldn’t have. Doesn’t matter, I am half asleep on the sofa now. I guess in the battle between caffeine and L-theonine, the L-theonine won.

Some matcha is only enjoyable in a sweetened latte. This isn’t one of those. It is a smooth and drinkable ceremonial grade matcha.

I can only remember having one other GABA oolong so I placed this tea second in the line up of my new teas to try. Many thanks to Youngest for this tea!*

Ashman is sick and having trouble sleeping so I am hoping it will also be a good “relaxation kick” for him to drift off to sleep.

I made it western style and have made three steeps so far.

This tea has great body and a silky smooth mouthfeel with cream and grain notes at the forefront. Any roasty flavor is very light. The cooked grain flavor gives way to very lightly roasted grain in the lingering aftertaste. Any floral notes are light and may be imagination based on expectation. There is a natural sweetness that lingers as well.

This is a great, super drinkable tea that makes a great companion for a blustery day spent inside reading.

Yesterday I got a great big box o’ tea and other goodies from Youngest – many thanks!
Breakfast was late this morning due to a dental appointment and in the sudden cold snap we are having, a nice smokey tea sounded like the perfect thing to go with homemade biscuits for our late (9:30 am) breakfast.

The scent of this reminds me of Lapsang Souchong Krokodil from Dammann Freres.
It has a nice strong smoke aroma and the tea has good presence. One of my complaints about some Lapsang teas is that the base can be thin and watery. This one is satisfying, and I will enjoy having it as my cold-or-gray-day fortifying cuppa.

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I bought this mainly for Ashman. He loves strawberry flavor in tea.
Lupicia’s strawberry flavor is so good. The vanilla keeps the tea from being one- dimensional. You do get some fine matcha sediment on later cups if you make this by the pot but it isn’t bitter. I am using a Stump pot which has a pretty fine filter, too, but it really isn’t a problem unless you don’t like it visually.

Delicious, and would repurchase someday.