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Backlog

I made this as an iced tea after a morning hike yesterday. It held up quite well! I cannot find this one on Monarch Tea House’s site anymore, which is a bummer. I really enjoyed the strong candy floss flavors – dare I say, raspberries—of the tea. It was a cooling tea after 4 miles of an extremely hilly hike!

Backlog

I made this during work on Thursday and meant to add some taster notes on Friday, but the day off became somewhat an event. We had a Statcare visit in the early hours of the day and then attempted to make the best of the remainder of the day off.

Anyway, this was a middle of the road DHP. I’ve honestly sipped better DHP with a little more roasted notes than I had with this session. Plus, it only lasted 4ish steeps. The 5th brew was weak and uneventful.

Flavor = 6.5
Longevity = 4

Backlog and Sip Down

I brewed this mid-shift on Friday since it was one of those days that I needed a lot of caffeine. I nearly forgotten that I’m currently working on a project reviewing all the matcha teas in my collection via YouTube, but I was in the zone to get my fix. Ha-ha.

I noted on the back of the packet, “Cinnamon/ginger spice yet creamy.” I made it as a latte, so the milk probably gave it the creamy note. I did enjoy it overall and made sure to write my rating of “75/100.”

Backlog and Sip Down

I drank through the remainder of the packet in two sittings on Saturday! I spent 90% of the day drinking tea and gaming with a virtual tea friend. I had the remaining bits of this tea (2 cups – 4tsps or so) during that time. I noted on the back of the packet, “Great seasonal tea. Really gets me in the mood for Fall.” From memory, I recall verbalizing that this reminded me of sweet potato fries with cinnamon butter.

PS. Despite reviewing this already, that was a small sample from the Advent calendar. This was a random unopened packet that was in the sip down pile. I don’t recall purchasing a full bag, but I guess I did! If this pops up again this Fall, I’ll get two bags!

Backlog and Sip Down

I’ll keep this brief on the account it was a few days ago since I’ve sipped this one down. I will note that it was highly floral and as noted on my IG post, “A cup which poets would write of.” My mind was in the great deal of stress over the past week, on the account work was tremendously difficult—with staffing, etc.—and I wasn’t in the best mindset to put much thought into anything, except for long naps. Ha-ha.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C7hXE3WumTA/?img_index=1

Backlog and Sip Down

I made this as an iced tea on Sunday after completing yardwork. It was a sample given to me by the owner of Ohio Tea Co last year, which fell on their “failed peach teas for their shop” list. I noted, “Fake milk oolong should not be a base for peach teas. Too bitter and overly thick on the mouthfeel.”

Backlog and Sip Down

I had this toward the end of the shift on Monday due to having struggles with sleeping. It’ll take ages to get to sleep and then I will be in bed longer than I’d prefer.

Anyway, I tossed the remainder of the (Advent) tin into the brewing device. I forgotten about it for a little over or around the hour mark when I first decided to make tea… It’s rooibos heavy, but I like rooibos, so I didn’t mind. There were light clove and citrus notes which were pleasant, but the rooibos took the mainstage in the cup. Maybe if I had sipped this sooner, the spices would have been more predominate. No fault in the tea, though, I let it sip too long before getting back to it.

Backlog and Sip Down

I drank this on Saturday before hosting food and party games with friends. I needed a jolt of caffeine to allow me to stay up past my (weekend) bedtime…Typically, I go to bed between 00:30 or 01:00 during the week since my shift ends at 00:00, but for the weekend, I prefer the 22:30-23:00 bedtime and 06:00 rise from sleep. I know what you’re thinking at this point, Wow, thank you for including us in your sleep schedule. Ha-ha.

Okay, here we go…

I recorded a video for the YT channel and will have it posted tomorrow (Wednesday) at some point. However, I prefer dropping my thoughts on Steepster early since this is the OG place for tea reviewing. I brewed this tea hot with and without oat milk.

With oat milk: Pineapple and bitterness.
With oat milk: Sweet pineapple and creamy coconut.

Preferred brewing method is with the oat milk and hot. I attempted a sip of the iced version I made later in the evening, but the milk was stronger than the tea itself. Hot really seems to extract the flavors of the matcha waaaay more.

Backlog and Sip Down

Ya Shi Xiang from Hong Tea China (?)

I cannot remember for the life of me where I acquired this sample! Ha-ha. I know it was in the sip down box which I made prior to moving to our house, but I never marked the vendor on the packet. It may have been from the same farmer/vendor since the packaging is similar…Not 100% certain. Anyway, I brewed this on Friday during work. Of course, with a long shift, tea was needed. I half focused on the session, but I relied on jotting tasting notes as I worked.

As all Dancong teas go, this reminded me of an IPA (mildly bitter citrus notes) and the mouthfeel was thin. The tea lasted for 5 steeps and faded fast after the 5th brewing. On the 6th brew I noted, “Now we’re back to drinking hot water.”

I didn’t save my letter for the monthly club this was in. I remember it being a part of the smoked tea series, but this must’ve been a club offering or listed as something else on the W2T website. All I can tell is that it’s a lightly smoked sheng.

I wouldn’t place this at the top of the list for my favorite sheng offerings from Paul. It’s fairly light (hint of smoke) and the flavor is mostly lacking. No qi charges from the session, which means more tea ahead!