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This one is really growing on me. I keep coming back to it from the TTB because it’s just mellow and soothing, particularly as a latte. Its mild milk chocolatey goodness and the roasted notes from the hojicha really hit the spot for a dessert/chocolate craving. While not a strong flavor, it is a consistently pleasing one that apparently I’m getting hooked on.

Really enjoyed this one from the TTB. I’m very entertained by how the dry leaf looks like small brown pea pods, so it’s off to a strong start before brewing even begins. Going by the instructions, the first steep comes out a little weak, but subsequent steeps are deliciously malty and sweet potato-y. It gave me throwback vibes to a yabao snickerdoodle I had from Verdant years ago, though looking at the steepster page now it doesn’t look like I ever made a note and the notes others have left don’t quite line up with that sense memory. So maybe it’s more of a general impression than a specific flavor profile? I’ll have to dig around and see if I have any left to do a comparison.

So I’m really torn about this one from the TTB. The first time I tried it, I really didn’t like it. Like, I had to force myself to finish it (I was too tired to go pour it out and too thirsty to just not drink anything). The juniper tastes very pine-y, and something about the mint and honey flavoring just combines to make the whole thing feel more like someone made a tea inspired by household cleaner than anything natural. BUT. Then I made it again today and added actual honey to it (basic grocery store honey because I was afraid of wasting good honey). And that made all the difference. The juniper-pine flavor mellowed into something actually pleasant, the mint became soothing, and overall it became at least drinkable and inoffensive. If you really like juniper and/or pine, you’d probably enjoy this tea (but add honey to it!).

Was feeling indulgent today after a late summer swim, so this was a particularly appealing choice as I keep making my way through the TTB. The flavors are a bit muted without any fixins, but a touch of sugar really brings them out. I’m getting toffee and caramel, not so much fudge, but it’s a mellow and enjoyable dessert cuppa. I added oat milk to a long second steep, and the creamy element was a nice complement to the flavors too. I really appreciate that this uses a white tea base for this flavor profile rather than a black tea, as so often happens. It supports and complements the flavors without overpowering them, and I don’t have the same stomach issues with white teas that I often have with black teas so I can drink this without worry. Win!

Reposted from Random Steepings; thanks to Shae for identifying the correct tea listing!

There’s a bag of snow chrysanthemum in the TTB. It says Mountain Herbs but I’m not sure what company that is, unfortunately. Still, I was intrigued. I brewed it up and found it herbaceous, a little sweet, and with a distinct anise note. It’s like chamomile’s edgier sibling. Interesting, but just not my speed.

Honestly, this is far from my favorite thing that I’ve tried out of the TTB. Not the worst, just… not as good as it should be.

For starters, it’s annoying that there’s not a lot of practical information about what type of oolong this is or how to brew it. Based on the available info, it seems to be a high elevation mountain tea from Nantou County, Taiwan. No brewing instructions/recommendations are provided by the company. The leaves are tightly rolled, very dark green, and smell sweet and floral rather than roasted. So I took an educated guess and brewed it like an alishan oolong. Unfortunately, in 3 hot steeps and a final attempt to make iced tea with the leaves before tossing them, the best I could do is identify that 195f is the best steeping temperature for this tea to avoid any bitterness. But it never quite delivered on the promise of either its pleasant smell or what a high mountain Taiwanese oolong should generally taste like. It was just sort of… generic. I can smell and taste other things today, so it’s thankfully not an early covid symptom, it’s just the tea – or else I never landed on the perfect steeping parameters to bring out the best in the leaf which is why it’s important to provide brewing suggestions!

This TTB is my first chance to try out Dessert by Deb teas, and so far I’m finding that I either really like them or I… don’t. But the ones I like, I like (and I have a few more enticing ones that Cameron B. sent me that I’ll be tasting after I send the TTB on, thank you!). This blend falls into the category of DBD teas that I really like.

When I brewed it up, the lime peels in the blend turned a bright kiwi green, which was visually really fun! The tea itself was a little cloudy from the matcha, but cleared up once the matcha settled. It smells exactly on point to the description, and the taste is almost exactly there too. There’s sweet-but-not-cloying lime and a touch of creaminess, though I suppose it could be creamier for the “pie” aspect. After trying it, I paired it with Cuban food – a salad with a lemony dressing and platanos with mojo – and that pairing worked really well. I brewed up a second steep with the leaves (about 8 minutes at 180f) and added oat milk. That gave it the creaminess I was looking for a little more of in the first steep and made for a really nice dessert drink. In fairness, it might be my own fault that it wasn’t so creamy – I ignored the directions to brew at 200f because it’s a green tea and I didn’t want to burn it, so I brewed at 175f instead. It’s entirely possible that if brewed at the recommended temperature, the creamy/pie notes would be stronger. Next time!

I was a bit skeptical of this one from the TTB. The name and description were appealing, but when I opened the package, it was all stuck together in a clump. But, it’s summer and there’s a gum in the ingredients list, so I figured that the weather had caused this clumping effect at some point. Squeezing and shaking the package de-clumped it fairly effectively, so I decided to try brewing it up anyway. And you know what? Credit where credit is due. The flavor here is on point! I added some oat milk and ended up with something that tastes very much like a mocha latte. Even my tea-averse partner commented on how the mocha smell wafted through the whole apartment. This turned out to be a really pleasant surprise, both hot and when it got cold. Others have mentioned stevia, but I’m not tasting any and there’s none listed in the ingredients of this formulation (thankfully), which makes me wonder if this is a particularly old bag.

There’s a bag of snow chrysanthemum in the TTB. It says Mountain Herbs but I’m not sure what company that is, unfortunately. Still, I was intrigued. I brewed it up and found it herbaceous, a little sweet, and with a distinct anise note. It’s like chamomile’s edgier sibling. Interesting, but just not my speed.

Reposted to https://steepster.com/teas/mountainherbscn-etsy/96438-kunlun-mountain-snow-chrysanthemum-flower; thanks to Shae for identifying the correct tea listing!

I tried this oolong out of the TTB after Wolf Tea’s Alishan Oolong and they were so different! This one was definitely more robust, with dominant cinnamon notes and a much darker brew. It didn’t hit the spot for mid-August, but I can see this being very comforting in colder weather.