1438 Tasting Notes
I’ve been consistently impressed with each cup of this I’ve had. The chocolate flavour comes through and genuinely tastes like chocolate (not thin chocolate flavour). The rooibos base is very smooth and doesn’t taste medicinal or overtake the cup. The chocolate and rooibos are well balanced and complementary.
This tea is one of those you can drink without really noticing it’s disappearing. I’d say the scent and taste is mostly caramel/dark-burnt sugar. There are perhaps subtle hints of pumpkin, if I concentrate, but it could be my imagination. I wouldn’t say this is special, but it’s a nice enough cup. Thanks for sharing Cameron!
Preparation
2024 sipdown no. 60
The mango is really lovely in this — like a mango syrup (made of real, ripe mango). The peppercorns provide a very true pink peppercorn flavour. There seems to be subtle hints of peach, but I think that’s a trick of the imagination with the mango. The base is really lovely with no astringency. An interesting tea. Thank you Cameron!
2024 sipdown no. 59
Without additions: Those Hatch chiles POP. This is super tasty — very dark chocolate with hints of cinnamon and a smash of spiciness at the end of the sip that really stays with you.
With additions: The instructions recommended making this with cream and honey. I improvised with the creamiest milk I had and maple. I used about 3/4 mug of hot water and 1/4 mug of soy milk. It was super tasty, but the milk and maple definitely took over and the spiciness was almost nonexistent. If the spiciness had come through, this one would have been that much more amazing.
I may have to improvise with Cavalla and Trader Joe’s Hatch Chiles (from Kelmishka!) until this company ships to Canada XD. Thank you Cameron for sharing another great tea!
2024 sipdown no. 57
I’m going to chalk this down to user error. There was some fruitiness (not specifically blackcurrant) and some pepperiness, but they came across oddly muddled and just didn’t taste good. Nonetheless, happy to have tried and thank you Cameron for sharing!
2024 sipdown no. 56
The base tea is really lovely and hasn’t even a hint of astringency with a 4 minute steep. The bilberry leaves are not my favourite, unfortunately. Though, I didn’t love the ones from Georgian Tea 1847 either, so it’s a me thing — not the tea. :)
Preparation
2024 sipdown no. 55 | This also works for September 22 – Fall Equinox: drink a tea for the new season. :)
This tea is strongly scented (S&V still beats it out though), and the scent comes across really clear in taste. There’s some cookie-ness, cinnamon, and hints of brown sugar. This is a tasty tea that doesn’t come across cloyingly, and it resteeps fairly well. For some reason, I found myself thinking of Brioche while drinking this — it seems to be at that level of quality.
Thanks for the opportunity to try another great tea Cameron!
Which S&V tea does it remind you of? I haven’t had very many of theirs and there are several that look worthy of trying.
I have a lot more if you would like it, ha ha!
ashmanra whoops — just how strongly scented this one is reminds me of all S&V teas (and how they must be aired out prior to being put into a cupboard) :P
Ah, okay! I understand!
2024 sipdown no. 54
This is a really lovely EG. The yuzu is mostly apparent in a slight peppery scent once steeped, though I didn’t find a lot of it in taste. The bergamot is mellow and doesn’t have an edge, which is nice. The base is smooth and overall this tea steeps up very well.
Thank you Cameron!
