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Sipdown! (141/395)

I am so happy to finally be drinking my last cup of this tea, as I’ve had this well over 4 years at this point (!!!) I’ve been saving it for when it could be properly appreciated, since I screwed up my cup so royally the last time. It got to the point where I was scared to brew it, for fear of making the same mistake again and ruining the entirety of the sample I was sent. This time I was prepared. I read my old tasting note about what I did wrong the last time, read VariaTEA’s suggestions on how she drinks this, and read several other notes from other people who had enjoyed this particular tea. I used less water as last time I remarked that the tea was underleafed. I stuck to a 2-minute steep time, below my usual 3-4 minutes and FAR below the 30 minutes I left it last time. I am resolved not to add milk.

The waiting and preparation have definitely paid off! This is delicious! I can only imagine how incredible it would be fresh. As it was steeping, I could smell the apricot strongly, and the peach came through too after a minute or so. My mam remarked that it smelled like jam, and I agree. Plain, the peach and apricot flavours came through in the initial sip, but were quickly replaced by a surprising bitter note. Not astringency from the black tea, though there is a hint of that too, but something actually bitter which took me by surprise. I added a spoon of sugar as I enjoyed it best this way the last time, and wow! The peach and apricot flavours really pop! Now it tastes incredibly jammy, too. I love peach flavour, and I’m not usually keen on apricots, but together here they are d e l i c i o u s ! The bitter note is much less prominent with sugar added, and even less so as the cup begins to cool. I’m going to chalk it up to age or cross-contamination, as nobody else seems to have mentioned this. The vanilla really adds an extra something, a sweet creaminess which goes beautifully with the other flavours. The apple is lost behind the peach, apricot and vanilla, but I’m totally fine with that. As predicted, my previous rating of 43 is being left for dust this time around, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I definitely see a Nina’s order in my future.

This is such a delicate tea! I don’t mean that it’s weak, or that the flavours are hard to find, but it’s just delicate, you know? It feels pretty. The apple and rose flavours go very well together, and I am a fan of rose tea so it’s no surprise that I like this one. The apple isn’t as strong, but it’s definitely there. As others have mentioned it’s not a sweet red apple flavour, but a more fresh, crisp green apple note. I added a little bit of sugar and the fruitiness popped a little more. My only qualm with this tea is that the base is a little bit strong for the flavour pairing. It’s malty, bold and astringent (only a little bit), and it makes me want to add milk though I didn’t because I don’t think it would go with the rose and apple flavours. I can’t help wishing that a more delicate black tea base had been utilised for this blend; something a little bit floral or honey-like, perhaps. This Ceylon has just a little bit too much punch. I haven’t drank this since I was first sent the sample, and at that time I drank most of my black teas, flavoured or not, with a splash of milk. I remember enjoying it this way, but can’t say if the flavours still came through or not. This could quite possibly make its way into a future order, providing it still exists.

Thank you VariaTEA for sending me this! Sipdown 140/395.

Sipdown 139/395

I am always wary about drinking this, because I got it in a swap with Hapatite at the same time as DAVIDsTEA’s Tropicalia, and I can never remember which one of those makes me want to throw up. It’s Tropicalia! This one is fine. Both sound similar, but this is for sure the winner of the pair. There are a lot of tropical fruits listed as flavours in this blend, along with hazelnut and walnut, but all I can really taste is pineapple and walnut. There’s a whole walnut in my scoop, so that could be why it’s so prominent a flavour. It’s surprisingly sweet, with a very nutty body and a hint of sour pineapple at the end of the sip. I’m pleased the pineapple isn’t more prominent as I’m not a fan of it in tea. As the liquor cools down a lot of the flavour is lost, and it is becoming a lot more sour. I better finish it quickly before it gets undrinkable.

Full disclosure, I totally forgot to rinse this. I finished off my sample now mainly because I still had Ruby Pie in my head and wanted to compare the two. I definitely prefer this one, and I do think the hibiscus in RP is what made it taste weird to me. I don’t get much ‘cheesecake’ from this, or ‘pie’ from Ruby Pie either for that matter. Apparently I liked this more with a splash of cream, so maybe I’ll try that in my next steep. As it was, the suncha overpowers the flavours in this blend, though the strawberry is definitely more prominent here than in RP. Even though the base is a little overpowering, and definitely an unusual combination, I do like the base which was my main issue in RP; I just can’t get behind the base for that one.

Sipdown 138/395

Welp, I am kicking myself for ruining my last cup of this tea. I clearly wasn’t thinking straight when I made it, because I poured a whole cup of unboiled kettle water over the leaf, set my timer, and only realised after two minutes when the leaves weren’t unfurling properly, the water was still clear and no scent was coming from the cup. Sigh. I panicked, dumped the water, and poured a fresh cup but alas, by that time the damage had been done. The baked Ali Shan is a really nice base, and I enjoyed the cup still because of that, but almost all of the banana, walnut and butterscotch flavours had been rinsed out and washed away. The walnut was the only one that I could pick up for most of the cup, and only then if I thought about it, and probably half because of the mouthfeel, but towards the end of the cup as it cooled I noticed the banana peeking through a little more. Note to self: CHECK YOU BOILED THE KETTLE!

Sipdown 137/395

Sipdown 136/395

Upping my rating from 56 because this is waaaay better than the last time I had it. It’ll never be a favourite though, which I’m sort of pleased about since it and Butiki are GONE FOREVER T_T

The scent is still AMAZING, all fresh hot strawberry jam, but it doesn’t fully translate to the flavour. There is more strawberry this time around though, somehow; it’s not just rhubarb. I did have the little bunny cracker in my cup this time, but it didn’t really add much to the tea itself. There’s still that niggling sour note at the front of the sip, and I’m pretty sure it’s meant to be there and give an authentic rhubarb vibe, but I don’t like it very much. I’m also still not keen on the base, though I forgot to look up what it was before I wrote this note. It’s very thick and has a sort of heavy mouthfeel that feels out of place with the fruity flavours. It’s just not my favourite.

Sipdown 135/395. Thanks Janelle for the sample.

I would suggest taking this note with a pinch of salt, as it’s at this point a very old tea in my collection and also a very small sample (I’d already drank this a couple of times when it was new and left enough for half a cup) that I underleafed something criminal, forgetting for like the 10th time this week to use less water. It’s okay, and I remember thinking that even when drinking it new and with an appropriate amount of leaf. The chocolate is present in the smell, but not the taste, and the apple is juicy but mild. If I concentrate there’s a slight chocolate note in the aftertaste. The base looks fairly green, with not much black, but it’s not astringent at all. In fact, the base tea is barely noticeable. It’s a simple tea, and I won’t miss it but I am glad to have had the opportunity to try it.

Thank you Sil for this one.

This reminds me of Adagio’s ‘The Woman’ fandom blend by Cara McGee, minus the lapsang. I’m sure it has the same blends in there. I see a loads of fruit flavours along with chocolate listed in the ingredients, but all I taste is cherry, honeybush, and vanilla. The cherry comes at the front of the sip and is pretty juicy, then is overtaken by the honeybush and a lingering vanilla wisp at the end of the sip. It’s nice, but it’s making me want to break out my Sherlock blends.

Oh man, I forgot how tasty this tea is. It’s a couple of years old at this point, but still ridiculously good. The dry leaf doesn’t smell like anything special, but as soon as the water hits it it turns instantly into rich dark chocolate. This actually carries through unbelievably into the flavour, and I swear this tastes way more of chocolate than any tea I’ve had with chocolate flavour added to it. The vanilla bean isn’t a pronounced note on its own, but I imagine adds more of a decadent sweet note to the already complex tea. I’m glad, as someone who doesn’t love vanilla, that it doesn’t overpower the tea. There’s a slight bitterness and mouthfeel that you might associate with good quality dark chocolate, but no astringency, which is something I’m pretty sensitive to usually. This was somewhat of a gateway into straight blacks for me, and it’s a tea I would purchase in a heartbeat (now I’ve said that I bet it’s not available any more). Thank you so much Sil for allowing me to try this wonderful tea!

I think this is my last tea from my swap with Mina. Thanks for everything!

I wonder what makes this ‘double’? I expected a strong rooibos based on the name, but really it’s no stronger than any other rooibos. The woody, almost floral at times, notes are perhaps stronger than I’ve experienced in other rooibos blends, but the tea itself isn’t stronger. I drank it with milk as I rarely drink plain rooibos any more, and it was a pleasant enough cup to sip on while not really thinking about it.

Sipdown 134/395