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This is one of S&V’s new fall releases. I ordered their fall sampler, which included a pouch of this tea, Apple Pie Chai, Pumpkin Spice, and the also-new Witch’s Brew.

As I might expect, I am not a big fan of this. It’s not bad per se, just too buttery and cloying for me. I find that I don’t tend to love overtly desserty blends anymore, at least not those with notes of butter or cake. Weird since I do love desserts ha ha, including the maple sandwich cookies that this tea reminds me of.

Into the rehoming box it goes!

I haven’t historically been a huge fan of Republic of Tea, but after enjoying their s’mores tea, I thought I would give this a shot. Plus, I can never resist fig-flavored anything…

Thankfully, it’s quite good! The bergamot is the strongest note but doesn’t overtake the other flavors and doesn’t taste too floral for me. I definitely taste the fig (yay!), and it reminds me of fig jam. I’m not sure about whiskey, there’s maybe a slight smoky woodiness going on in the background. The vanilla and caramel swirl together into a sort of crème caramel flavor with a custardy, slightly buttery character.

Overall, I’m happy with it. I thought it might be too many flavors going on, and admittedly I would just as soon omit the vanilla and caramel altogether and add more fig, but it doesn’t taste too muddled and I can still pick out the fig notes.

I wasn’t sure I would like this one since it has almond, but the combination sounded too interesting to pass up. It has chocolate, smoke, almond, and cinnamon.

It smelled very almondy in the pouch, but honestly all of the added flavors are quite mild in the cup. I mostly taste the lapsang, which is mellow since it’s blended with other teas. Then there’s a bit of almond/marzipan and a touch of chocolate, along with a very subtle sprinkling of cinnamon.

Overall, it’s perfectly pleasant, but I feel like it needs a little more oomph from at least one of the flavors, as it’s a bit too subtle to me. There’s a bit of a whiskey barrel character to it that could be interesting if it were a little more balanced.

More Dryad. This one is pleasant but overall a bit too light on flavor. I do enjoy the hazelnut and cream together, it reminds me a bit of chestnut cream in a fluffy French pastry. The cinnamon is nice enough. I just feel like it needs more of everything.

Another spiced tea from Dryad this morning.

This is supposed to be cranberry, orange, and cinnamon, but sadly I’m not getting much in the way of fruity notes. Even the cinnamon isn’t all that strong. It’s not bland per se, but definitely very restrained in the amount of added flavor. I get a little hint of dried cranberry, no orange at all, and then a dusting of cinnamon on top. It’s not unpleasant, but certainly not what I was hoping for – more of a mild cinnamon toast type tea.

Picked this one up on a whim. It’s a new release, and normally I wouldn’t be interested in such a chocolate-heavy tea, but I was intrigued by the herbal base of carob, roasted dandelion root, and cacao.

I’m glad I grabbed it, because it’s quite good! There’s definitely a distinct graham cracker flavor to it, which I love. A little bit of marshmallow too. Surprisingly, it doesn’t beat you over the head with the chocolatey notes. Not super rich, just a nice, lightly toasty herbal to cozy up with.

I do think I’ll use more bags next time, for this first cup I used two for 12 ounces of water. It could be a little stronger.

Need to get back to trying some samples. Been having some stomach troubles, which has seriously cut into my tea drinking for the past few weeks!

This is okay. It doesn’t really say pumpkin spice to me, mostly it’s a cinnamon black tea with a little bit of a creamy/buttery note to it. The base is fine, not bland but not too brisk. Overall something about the cinnamon reminds me of a scented candle, which isn’t my favorite. Still very drinkable though.

The second of two random fall fandom samples I picked up in my last Adagio order.

It’s funny, it didn’t even occur to me that this is quite close to Bone Daddy, which is a fandom blend that I really enjoy. Both have Spiced Apple Chai and Chestnut, but this has Maple Creme Oolong in place of the Hojicha. The dry scent is predominantly maple, but honestly I’m having a hard time finding it at all in the steeped cup. The spiced apple is definitely the strongest note, and then the chestnut is adding a toasty nuttiness, and there’s just a touch of smooth maple at the end of the sip.

It’s good – slightly lighter than Bone Daddy, I assume because there is a larger proportion of oolong here than the hojicha in that blend. I do wish I were getting more maple though, the dry scent tricked me! :P

P.S. – I wrote a note and it showed up in the dashboard, woohoo!

Sipdown! (9 | 131)

Really enjoyed this one, though I’m sure it was past its prime. I really wish Dammann would offer a 50g size, because I really can’t get through 100g of any single tea in a timely fashion. Even if it was very cost inefficient, I would still prefer a smaller amount.

Anyway… This tea reminded me of some kind of granola with fruit added. Toasty oat notes from the oolong, and then the blueberry here reminded me of the dried variety in Blueberry Morning cereal. The banana was in the background, but added a nice creaminess to the mix. It’s a nice tea, not sure I would order it again, but it looks like they don’t offer it anymore anyway.

Today’s hongcha selection!

I generally like Qimen, and this is no exception. It definitely has a heft to it not found in the other teas I’ve been drinking, but it also has smooth and sweet bread and honey notes. Such a nice mix of that rich and strong malty undertone with the softer notes to round off the edges a bit. Just a touch of syrupy dried fruit, like golden raisins or figs, along with a gentle, nectarous floral note near the end of the sip. The description mentions chocolate, which I am not noticing, but I don’t miss it with the lovely honey notes.

Definitely the heftiest, and most breakfasty of the hongcha I’ve tried so far, which makes sense for a Qimen. It’s interesting to try all of these different teas each day, and see where similarities and differences exist!

(Spring 2025 harvest)