2117 Tasting Notes
Sipdown! (12 | 142)
Milk tea sipdown! I added a bit of a Vahdam first-flush Darjeeling as well, because I didn’t quite have enough of this left.
I was surprised by how much I could taste the Darjeeling, to be honest! Given that I only added a little bit. There were clear floral/muscat sort of notes going on, and I honestly liked the all-Assam milk tea from a few days ago better.
I’ll have to try out the second-flush Darjeeling from my advent leftovers and see how I feel about it…
I also had some fun this evening making some simple syrups out of raw sugar, brown sugar, and honey! So those will be fun to experiment with. Maybe I’ll pick up some dark brown sugar this weekend and try that out as well…
Preparation
Sipdown! (11 | 141)
Fun with milk tea!
I know, a green oolong as a milk tea is a bit weird. At least, I think it’s weird. But I was thinking about how lovely a honeydew milk tea would be, and I don’t have any melon black teas. I also didn’t realize it was going to be a sipdown until I opened the tin and saw that there was only a tablespoon left! Don’t worry, I still have two unopened packages – for me, each separate (full-size) package counts as a sipdown.
But actually, this came out really yummy! I’m amazed that not only is the honeydew flavor delicious, but I can actually taste the oolong, even with so much milk added! It tastes like a slightly milder honeydew milkshake, with the oolong base contributing its lovely silky texture and nectarous, mineral, slightly floral flavor notes.
I’m glad I tried it, because it’s really hitting the spot! \o/
Flavors: Creamy, Floral, Honeydew, Melon, Mineral, Nectar, Smooth, Sweet, Thick
Preparation
I tried this one today! The oolong flavor is really strong, not at all hidden by the flavoring. With White Melon, it was more like licking a slice of honeydew! I liked it, but it really is more a fruit beverage than a tea in taste.
I love melon-flavored things, so this is one of my faves! And the texture of the oolong is perfect with it! ❤
It resteeped well! And to clarify, it was the white melon that had little tea flavor to me. This one was tea, loud and clear!
Ooh, melon milk tea is what I always order. However, I have precious little of this and don’t want to use it up too quickly. Sounds good, though!
Sipdown! (10 | 140)
Sad, sad sipdown! T.T
I did not expect to love this one so much, not being a chocolate tea fan. But it tastes just like chocolate-covered strawberries! The chocolate is dark and cocoa-y, not fake-tasting like chocolate flavoring can be. And the strawberry has a nice tartness and tastes fairly realistic. There’s also a light nuttiness, as if there were chopped roasted nuts sprinkled on the chocolate. I don’t get pancake at all, but who cares?
So, so good. And so, so sold out… Oh well, here’s hoping it’ll reappear at some point!
Flavors: Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Nuts, Roasted Nuts, Strawberry, Sweet, Tart
Preparation
If you like this chocolate tea (since normally you don’t), I would probably really really love this blend. :D
Hmm, this one is just not for me.
I like coconut, but I don’t love it. I added this flavor to my last order because it’s 3 Leaf’s bestseller, and it’s their best-rated flavor here on Steepster.
But, to me, the coconut flavoring is too strong here. It’s far stronger than the other flavors I’ve tried, and it really comes off as a suntan lotion sort of coconut in my opinion. I can barely taste the matcha underneath it, and still having that matcha taste as a foundation is one of my favorite things about 3 Leaf’s other flavors.
So into the rehoming box it goes!
Flavors: Artificial, Coconut, Creamy, Sweet
Preparation
Another milk tea! I’m obsessed…
This one caught my eye, as it was in my focus box with my oldest teas. Technically it’s not one of my oldest, but I couldn’t figure out when I ordered it, so I figured I would get it over and done with, hah.
Anyway, it makes a delicious milk tea! It’s like a creamier pumpkin pie. I can taste the cinnamon, clove, and allspice, but they’re mellowed out nicely by the milk. And I definitely get pumpkin as well. My husband loves pumpkin pie, and was highly impressed when he took a sip, ha ha! The black tea also adds a nice malty foundation under all of the spices.
This one will definitely need to be a repeat, as I’m trying to sip it down anyway!
Flavors: Allspice, Cinnamon, Clove, Malt, Pumpkin, Spices, Sweet
Preparation
Sipdown! (9 | 139)
Another swap tea from my friend @thismorningstea on Instagram!
As far as oolongs go, those with a high oxidation and low-to-medium roast are generally my favorites. Pannikin’s website doesn’t seem to have any information on this one, but from the dark color and somewhat mild roasty flavor I assume it falls into that category. Tieguanyin seems to vary a bit as far as roast goes.
Anyway! This has a lovely smooth and thick mouthfeel with a mellow toasty flavor. It’s very autumnal, reminding me of crisp fallen leaves and roasted nuts. There’s also a sparkling mineral note to it, and hints of dried fruit. But I do still taste a slight underlying leafy “greenness” as well. In the first cup, I was tasting a lot of citrus, specifically grapefruit, which I assumed was flavor contamination from the grapefruit black tea that this traveled alongside. But I’m not getting that flavor in this last cup, so that’s interesting!
Anyway, it’s a fairly simple tea, but cozy and satisfying for an evening on the couch. Thanks, tea friend!
Flavors: Autumn Leaf Pile, Dried Fruit, Green, Mineral, Roasted, Roasted Nuts, Smooth, Sweet, Thick
Preparation
Sipdown! (8 | 138)
Yay, this was the last of my Adagio holiday teas!
I think this might be my favorite of the bunch, though. The lapsang adds a bit more flavor, whereas the rest of these have had exceedingly bland black bases. And it does rather make sense for a roasted chestnut tea, having a nice light savory smokiness and also a hint of nutty flavor.
Not bad! Not something I would order, but it’s an improvement over the other five.
Now I’ll have to pull out my Simpson & Vail holiday sampler to sip down next…
Flavors: Chestnut, Nuts, Roasted Nuts, Savory, Smoke, Smoked, Smooth
Preparation
Tasty, tasty milk tea time!
Lately I’ve been making and drinking an inordinate amount of (iced) milk tea. I bought twice as much milk as usual at the store because of it, ha ha. Now I know how VariaTEA feels with all of those lattes… ;)
I was feeling a peach-flavored milk tea tonight, so I took a look through my options for peach black tea. I was drawn to Momo Jasmin from Lupicia, but I remember that one being rather expensive, so I pulled out this tea instead. It has a lovely strong peach and apricot aroma so should do nicely.
It came out rather lovely! There’s a strong peachy apricot flavor, but I can still taste the black tea underneath, and it holds up to milk well. And of course, peaches with milk is a natural combination.
Scrumptious! Would recommend.
Flavors: Apricot, Malt, Peach, Sweet, Wood
Preparation
I don’t really make lattes much, but for these I always make them cold so I don’t foam the milk or anything. I steep about 4 tsp of tea in 4 ounces of water and then pour it over ice into a glass and top with milk. With the extra water from the ice melting, it’s probably about half water, half milk?
Sipdown! (7 | 137)
Finishing this mini tin off as an iced latte.
Ummm… no. To me, it’s worse this way than it is plain. It’s coming off very medicinal with the combination of berry and the nettle. It’s like a berry cough drop or something.
Oh well, I suppose I should be glad that this one didn’t work out for me, given how expensive B&B’s matcha is!
Flavors: Artificial, Berry, Herbaceous, Medicinal
Preparation
Sipdown! (6 | 136)
Yay, I’m almost done with these Adagio holiday teas!
This is another one that’s fairly bland. It’s a light woody black base with a hint of coconut. And coconut isn’t even mentioned in the ingredients, so that’s odd…
Anyway, bye-bye bland tea!
Flavors: Artificial, Coconut, Smooth, Sweet, Wood