1429 Tasting Notes

70

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge February 2022: A black tea

Maybe I’ve grown up a bit and overcome my distaste of prunes, or maybe I’m vibing with AU teas now, but these last couple cups were not hard to drink at all (dare I say I found them enjoyable today?). Even at my most “anti-prune”, I enjoy the blend’s balance of cloves to fruit flavour ratio. Today I’m picking up more of the citrus (as a floral accent).

The assam base is pleasant and takes well to milk (imho), although its natural profile does emphasize the candied dried fruit thing (raisins, prunes).

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Cloves, Dried Fruit, Floral, Lemon Zest, Malt, Orange, Plum, Prune, Raisins, Stonefruit

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 30 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

91

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge February 2022: A Taiwanese tea – 2021 Spring Harvest

Another bittersweet sipdown. I feel I may have drank this one up too casually and too quickly, but it’s so good. Just a lovely concoction of tropical fruits and floral sweets.

Steep Count: 4

Flavors: Coconut, Floral, Ginger, Honeysuckle, Mineral, Nectar, Pineapple, Sweet, Warm Grass, Tropical Fruit, Vegetal

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 30 sec
gmathis

That speaks very well of it … the quicker it disappears, the better it has to be! (Unless, of course, it’s quickly down the drain, in the trash, or knocked over by the cat ;)

Crowkettle

Cats are unsung heroes that help us say goodbye to things that we believe we aren’t ready to let go of. I currently lack a cat in my life but piles of precariously stacked books sometimes results in the same thing :P

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88
drank Foggy Coconut by 52teas
1429 tasting notes

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge February 2022: A tea you could happily drink every day

I’m so sad; I thought I’d have more time with this tea. I may have half-jokingly accused others of drinking this when I wasn’t around but I realistically I just drank it. A lot. All the time. (Next time I’m buying two large bags)

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Coconut, Creamy, Malt, Smooth, Vanilla

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec
Mastress Alita

Hahaha, I used this tea for this prompt as well. :-)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank Anastasia by Kusmi Tea
1429 tasting notes

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge February 2022: A Tea Flavoured Like a Favourite Muffin – Lemon Crumb

While I won’t be running to refill this tea it was no hardship to drink it up (my mom was also a big fan so it was consumed with enthusiasm). It’s a simple earl grey with a citrus twist. It’s a near-perfect mimicry of the taste of a real lemon slice and a dash of honey (good citrus here). The orange is a floral blossom variety, instead of a juicy flavour; the lime is muffled. The black tea base is bright but kind of boring.

A perfect casual drinker, that takes well to milk and pairs nicely with a citrus-like raspberry crumble cookie (or muffin type in question). Good times.

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Citrus Zest, Floral, Fruity, Honey, Lemon, Malt, Orange Blossom, Tannic

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

67

Fandom Blend Sipdown: 3/6

This one’s not bad! The nose is cinnamon but the Tiger Eye (caramel-esque) is pleasant generic sweetness; it’s not a convincing caramel cream flavour but it’s passable, especially if you think of it as an English Breakfast relative. The almond tea is once again a non-starter here and the chocolate is absolute artificial blah. I’m not sure if that’s due to age, Adiago’s flavouring, or a combination of both.

Taken with oat milk.

Flavors: Artificial, Caramel, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cream, Malt

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

58

Fandom Blend Sipdown: 2/6

This one is still spicy spry and pungent for its age – the coconut isn’t even that soapy (I don’t remember it ever being not soapy)! I don’t mind the flavour idea either (a caramel almond cream masala chai… yess – although probably too sweet for a dragon). Unfortunately, the tea bases and chocolate are thin and everything else is sort of busy, confusing and weirdly cloying. Out of all the spices, cloves seem to handle age the best, followed by ginger. I don’t get almond from it at all and the cream and caramel flavouring taste artificial. It’s still drinkable but “meh” as far as chai blends go.

Taken with milk.

Flavors: Artificial, Candy, Caramel, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Coconut, Cream, Ginger, Spices, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge February 2022: A Grapefruit Tea

I’m a huge fan of the Butiki blend with the same name; this one uses a green tea blend for a base instead of a Kenyan CTC, but I otherwise find it comparable to memory. I like it a lot and am frankly surprised to see such a “me” tea neglected at the back of the cupboard (I didn’t know I had it. It would’ve been consumed long before now if I’d had even an inkling of its existence).

First off, this blend smells amazing: juicy, bright grapefruit embraced by a cloud of caramelized burnt sugar and vanilla that leans in a vaguely creamy direction. Yum. To taste, I found the tea largely delivered on that aroma, with a few steeping inconsistencies here and there.

My main complaint is that I wish it used a black tea base (I personally love my grapefruit with malt sugar notes). The green blend is alright though. It’s not too invasive or bold – allowing the grapefruit to breathe and stay light on its feet.

Flavors: Acidic, Burnt Sugar, Caramelized Sugar, Citrus, Fruity, Grapefruit, Smooth, Vanilla, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

66

I did some superficial cleaning and de-cluttering today and discovered long forgotten fandom blends hidden beneath the display cabinet. Six of them. Oh, lord. If I can finish all of them before the end of the month I’ll consider it part of Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge January 2022: A Tea Paired with a Favourite Hobby. Consider this sipdown: 1/6!

Although this is from 2014, I still think is pretty flavourful. It’s an elusive “chocolate chai cream” contraption and I do still get that. The predominant flavour is clove spice (cloves will never die), followed by cardamon, cinnamon, and ginger. There’s a backdrop of thin (artificial) chocolate (think stale Hershey’s Kiss that’s lived under the fridge for a decade. It’s in a wrapper so it’s edible, right? Or maybe not..), and a vague vanilla cream. The rooibos and black tea base blend isn’t super discernible at this point.

It’s not amazing but it’s serviceable, especially when taken with some kind of milk. So long, Mycroft (I’m left with a cute tin though! hurrah).

Flavors: Artificial, Cacao, Candy, Cardamom, Chocolate, Cinnamon, Clove, Cream, Ginger, Spices, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec
tea-sipper

hah, your hobby tea was also a Sherlock tea. :D I also have four of the cute Sherlock tins, and they are also probably from 2014. Did you get part of the Sherlock tin set from MissB like I did? haha. (Just seeing your tasting note now!)

Crowkettle

I think I bought these myself, along with some Doctor Who and Game of Thrones ones (memory is hazy). I do know that my favourite ones are long gone and that these last six are “the leftovers” (Mycroft wasn’t bad though)!

tea-sipper

haha, worth a wonder if they were from MissB anyway. I liked the Mycroft blend too.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

62

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge January 2022: An Earl Grey

Something is super funky about this tea’s aroma. The lavender gives it a musty floral odor, the honey is sweet, and something(s) is (are) acidic sour: a fine recipe for bog compost. I’d left this tea untouched for a couple years but this challenge seemed like a good opportunity to both finally try it and drink it up. Maybe I was too quick to judge it?

To taste, it’s not half so bad as the smell led me to believe but it’s still decidedly not “cake,” despite the blend including honey, maple, sugar.. It’s a passable Earl Grey with lavender (but not a cream of earl grey like you’d expect). I’m happy to see it leave my cupboard though; the musty acidic tang carries over a tad.

Flavors: Acidic, Bergamot, Floral, Honey, Lavender, Malt, Maple, Musty, Sour, Sugar

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Courtney

Bog compost XD

Crowkettle

Pretty sure this blend was slowly turning itself to peat. Pretty, lavender peat. :P

Courtney

Haha, I love it!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88
drank Dream On by 52teas
1429 tasting notes

I saw Kittenna’s note and realized I’d never logged this – despite ordering extra after loving the subscription sample. I finished my last packet of this off around the start of the New Year but it deserves more love.

This blend reminds me of some of my chamomile favourites: Citrus Dream from good old Butiki, and Moondrop Dreams from Bird & Blend (see a theme?). It’s that soft pillow of floral sleepy times (lavender, chamomile) mixed with an indulgent citrusy creamsicle (this had strawberry, I believe, whereas Butiki used goji and B&B uses typical citrus fruits). It’s charming; I consider this kind of blend essential but I sadly go through it way too quickly.

I hope this gets reblended at some point because it’s fantastic.

Flavors: Chamomile, Citrusy, Creamy, Floral, Fruity, Lavender, Strawberry, Vanilla

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 2 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I started my Steepster loose leaf adventure back in 2012. I can’t say I’m completely new anymore, but I still view oolong as a magical, extraterrestrial creature that unfurls in water.

My favourites are teas like Milk Oolong, Silver Needle,and Japanese Sencha/Gyokuro, or fruity and floral flavoured ones. However, I generally enjoy ALL the teas, including a good old cup of Earl Grey or Breakfast blend.

FAVOURITE INGREDIENTS/NOTES:

DESSERT FLAVOURS
Vanilla, Maple, Caramel, Butterscotch, Cream, Toffee, Nougat, Marzipan, Butter

FRUIT & BERRIES
Citrus Fruits, Passionfruit, Banana, Pineapple, Melons, Blackberry, Raspberry, Currants, Elderberry, Persimmon, Rhubarb..

SPICES
Ginger, Turmeric, Clove-forward chai, Cardamom

AROMATIC & HERBACEOUS NOTES
Sandalwood, Frankincense, Juniper, Eucalyptus, Mints

FLORALS
Lavender, Jasmine, Rose, Lilac, Violet, etc.

VEGGIE/GRAIN NOTES
Spinach, Grass, Hay, Cucumber, Rice, Sweet Potato

Less Preferred Flavours/Ingredients:
Stevia, Apple, Cocoa Nib, Almond, Licorice, Cinnamon-forward blends, Chinese Sencha

Subjective Rating System:
I don’t give a lot of low ratings out, since a) I tend to grab tea I know will appeal to me, and b) I don’t have a lot of strong dislikes.

90-100: Favourites. The Desert Island Teas.
80-89: Loved teas. Possibly staple-worthy.
70-79: Good teas, but I’m less likely to repurchase. Minor quibbles.
60-69: Ok teas. Likely a few preference and/or quality issues.
50-59: Cup of meh. Will do in a pinch.
11-49: Varying levels of undrinkable tea.
1-10: Nightmare tea from the chaos realms. This tea is the embodiment of the primordial swamp, an unholy abomination. It’s very gross and I’m almost positive it doesn’t exist.

Location

BC, Canada

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer