New Tasting Notes
2025 Steepster Advent Swap: Day 12
I was a bit distracted while drinking this one, so I won’t rate it! I like the idea of a “big four” blend, but my overall impression was that nothing really stood out flavor-wise. It was smooth and went down easy, which is sometimes all you need!
Flavors: Smooth
Simpson & Vail Advent 2025 – Day #12
Oh now here is one I have wanted to try! I love a good raspberry tea and this one is quite delicious. I also don’t think it’s labeled as another blend that S&V sells. This is strictly a National Park blend. However, S&V also has some other great raspberry teas. The raspberry takes over here, and I really can’t taste much of the sage which is a shame. Maybe it melds together really well… It tastes very much like one of my favorite raspberry teas from Maya Tea. This just has a lighter base. Was very good paired with the other tea I had today, Mate Java Espresso by Tealyra, which I’m glad to see they are still selling. I also had some cocoa infused pancakes with fresh raspberries and whipped cream today, so it was a very chocolate and raspberry themed day. :)
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep
Simpson & Vail Advent 2025 – Day #11
oh no. oh no no no. The turmeric was just not going to work for me. I don’t know why they included this in the advent as well as the herbal chai. I actually thought this was their ‘turmeric chai’ blend, but this is a whole nother beast. I found this out because THIS blend also has hibiscus, the other one doesn’t. yikes. This seems like it would have very specific fans… just a cup full of earthiness taking over. Earthy turmeric and tang. Somehow the second steep was even STRONGER. Turmeric, tang, and also lots of ginger. Hopefully it’s at least healthy?
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep
Flavors: Earthy, Ginger, Tangy, Turmeric
Herbal and Decaf TTB Summer 2025
The name of this tea conjures a very unique idea of ginger and hot peppers to me, or maybe I just spend too much time with my husband who likes his hot sauce so spicy I can sometimes taste it in the air from across the table and he has impressed the chefs and wait staff at multiple Indian restaurants.
Alternatively, I might have expected hed hot to refer to a strong cinnamon and ginger tea
This tea is not nearly as spicy as I expected. It is a good tea, but I think it is possibly poorly named as the name is evocative and misleading in my opinion. The flavor stars hibiscus and ginger with apple in a supporting role. It’s pretty tasty and I would certainly drink it again!
Flavors: Apple, Ginger, Hibiscus
I’ve had some good teas from Okayti; I hope this first flush Darjeeling will be another one. I steeped 3 g of leaf in 150 ml of 195F water for 2, 3, 5, and 7 minutes.
The dry aroma is of florals, herbs, wood, and faint muscatel. The first steep has notes of orange, muscatel, florals, herbs, and grass. This is quite a green first flush with a silky texture. The next steep adds more herbs, grass, orange blossom, and wood. In the third steep, the muscatel is more prominent, but I also get some slight astringency. The final steep is herbaceous, grassy, woody, and vegetal.
This is a pleasant first flush Darjeeling that’s on the greener side, despite having some fun fruity accents. I probably could have used 4 g, but didn’t want to have only 1 g left over.
Flavors: Floral, Grass, Green, Herbaceous, Muscatel, Orange, Orange Blossom, Silky, Vegetal, Wood
Preparation
This was not my originally intended afternoon tea. A new can of matcha from Yunomi with a ‘new’ FB marketplace chawan was my intention. But suddenly I saw the last bit I had of this peeking out of the package, and I knew it was time. Being born in the 80s, I felt a nice jive with this one. Grammarly, wants me to make jive into vibe but I’m not doing it…
The aroma of the dry leaf seems to have faded, but the intense 1800s house of the wet leaf is still there. And quite pungent. This is the type of tea that you need a snack with. It’s a bit heavy in the tummy. WOW, that smells so old! I know that sounds terrible, but anytime I open the gaiwan, I’m immediately hit with old decaying wood, mushrooms, some dark cherry wood, a bit of grandma’s basement…. I just had a sad realization that I don’t have a grandparent’s basement to recheck that smell anymore…
More tea. I made a video. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dbqTScIZKs0
knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2025 – Day 11
Theme: An underappreciated song
Song: Gaudete by The Mediaeval Baebes
Wasn’t too excited by the thought of two flavors I don’t always enjoy in tea (almond and coconut) together. However, similar to the Snowflake from Murchie’s that I recently tried, they seem better together. This is described as tasting like wedding cake, and I can see that, though the flavoring was quite mild to my tastebuds. It did have a butteriness that called to mind cake or buttercream. Very mellow overall, but a pleasant cup.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=INAdvWqPsIo&si=0EW8agUdT48QdBVJ
Flavors: Almond, Buttery, Cake, Frosting, Soft, Sweet
Preparation
2025 Bird & Blend Advent: Day 12
This is a dangerous one — the flavor profile (lemon and ginger) screams “calming nighttime cuppa” but the yerba mate says otherwise!
The lemongrass is taking center stage here, but in a very pleasant way. A smidge of ginger comes through on the back of the sip, but I’m not sure I can pick out the yerba mate — I rarely drink it and am not super familiar with it!
I could see this being a welcome change for someone who doesn’t want the harshness of coffee or strong tea in the morning but still wants a gentle kick. Not bad!
Flavors: Ginger, Lemon, Lemongrass
Day 12 of the Dammann Freres Advent 2025.
Dune D’Epices is a green tea flavoured with gingerbread and orange, and another one I liked a lot more than I expected to. The gingerbread and orange combo is strong and clear, and strikes a good balance between spicy and sweet. The gingerbread is wholly reminiscent of gingerbread men, and the orange is bright, zesty, and juicy. This would be a great Christmas morning tea, it encapsulates these cozy, festive flavours so well.
Day 12 of the Mariage Freres Advent 2025.
Paris-Provence is a white tea flavoured with lavender, rose, and spearmint. The lavender fortunately is not as prominent as I feared (I’m not a fan of lavender generally), instead appearing primarily as a scent, but also as a soft, sweet background note that I can actually get behind. This means that the creamy powderiness of the white tea base is able to shine, accented with a subtle burst of sweet, crisp spearmint and just a hint of rose. Delicate and beautiful!
Day 11 of the Dammann Freres Advent 2025.
Trois Fruits Noirs is a black tea with blackcurrant, blackberry, and blueberry flavouring. There’s loads of bright, juicy blueberry in the initial sip, which I love. The blackcurrant and blackberry then emerge and linger well into the aftertaste; it’s so fruity that at this point the black tea base is all but forgotten. A really lovely, genuinely fruity blend that I’m glad to have tried.
Day 11 of the Mariage Freres Advent 2025.
American Breakfast is a black tea with flavours of caramel and chocolate. To be honest, when hot I get more of a syrup/pancake vibe from this one, although I can taste chocolate once it starts to properly cool. Either way, it’s delicious. There’s caramel too, but it’s much more of a background flavour than it is in Wedding Imperial, for example. I really enjoyed this one today; so cozy and sweet on a cold, dull morning.
Kaylee Advent Day 9!
Though I love rooibos, I haven’t historically enjoyed Harney’s for some reason (I rated this 60 when I had it 7 years ago). This time around, I appreciate it more. There are some mild spices, and the rooibos combines well with them. It’s definitely improved with milk and sugar. I do get a pumpkin pie-ish vibe from this!
Tea Thoughts Winter Countdown 2025 – Day 10
This is a roasted dan cong, no specific brand. Day 9 was a sticker and Day 11 is a pu’erh that goes straight into the rehoming box. The leaves of this tea are so long and wiry that I had trouble getting them out of the bag. Since I had to go into the office yesterday, I just put them directly in my travel mug and grandpa brewed throughout my very long meeting. It worked reasonably well – nice and toasty brew for a cold wintry day. I was too distracted for proper notes, though, so next time I’ll try to pay better attention to this one.
Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer – Day 11
Yay, a 52teas banana blend! I love the banana flavor she uses, and it doesn’t disappoint here. I’m not really getting a distinct peach note. I see some folks mentioned this being good as a cold brew, so I might try that with the leaf I have left.
Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer – Day 10
Did I maybe brew this wrong? I’m getting creaminess and a bit of an underlying floral note, but not picking up on any spices at all. This is the kind of creamy where I’m pretty sure they added flavoring to amp it up. Maybe I didn’t get a good tea-to-additions ratio in my steeper? It’s a very easy drinker, I think I’m just confused by not getting any spiciness here.
AC Perch 2025 Advent Day 11: Green Yunnan
The recommended steep time was 4 minutes, but we steeped this at 2 minutes (after the catastrophe from yesterday). This steeps a very pale green, almost clear. The scent is pleasantly vegetal. The taste is very smooth and light-bodied. It has a floral, almost jasmine quality at the front of the sip and ends on a nicely bitter-vegetal note.
Lex gave this a B.
Preparation
AC Perch 2025 Advent Day 10: Temple Tea
This called for a 4-7 minute steep time. I steeped this for 4 minutes and it was a mistake. The bitterness was overwhelming and little of the fruit taste could be enjoyed. Truly a shame, because the dry leaf scent was fruity and we’ve enjoyed this in the past.
Preparation
Had such a cozy little mug of this tea earlier in the week. The hojicha was more of a medium roast with a lot of smooth but woodier element to it, and a bit of a brassy minerality to go with notes of toasted grains and just a hint of coffee. Definitely giving “autumnal” vibes with warming spices. Particularly notes of cinnamon and ginger. I don’t think this is actually an ingredient in the blend, but I was definitely tasting a lot of mace as well. If that perfect orange-red hue of autumn leaves changing colour was a tea, I think it would definitely be this one!
