3224 Tasting Notes

drank Christmas Wreath by Lupicia
3224 tasting notes

Sipdown!

Better than most of the spiced black tea Christmas blends, this one has cardamom and some apple and cranberry flavors. There is still more clove than I would wish, but it is nevertheless good and better than the black tea plus orange plus clove plus cinnamon tea that is ubiquitous.

Very nice for cold weather, so I am glad we are finishing it just as spring is coming along.

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March Sipdown Prompt – your tea with the longest name

Sipdown!

I have had four steeps and put the leaves in a pitcher in the fridge for a cold steep. There was such a small piece but once it got truly saturated, wow, did it ever swell. There was a lot more leaf than I thought.

The dry leaf looked very dark and smelled of old cardboard and mustiness. Not too much farmyard aroma here.

Because it was so tightly packed, I did do a rinse to start opening it up, but even with that the first steep was rather light at 60 seconds. Second steep at 90 seconds was medium orange/red, and the third and fourth steeps were instantly a deep, rich color.

No manure, no fish, pure mushroom. I am looking forward to a couple of days enjoying the cold steep from these same leaves. Cold puerh is so refreshing to me. No sweetener is ever added to cold puerh here.

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March Sipdown Prompt – an evening tea

This is the final tea from a surprise gift from Martin! We have been avoiding caffeine after 3 pm each day, so Martin sent a selection of caffeine free blends a few months ago for us to enjoy.

This one is called Basil and Lemon but it tastes like lemon and lemongrass. Any basil is pretty muted right now. There are no ingredients listed so I don’t know for sure if there is lemongrass or lemon balm or what giving it the lemon flavor. It does not have the oily “Lemon Pledge” affect that Ashman dislikes so much from lemongrass. I find it light and easy to drink tonight, very enjoyable as I settle in for one last chapter of my book. I am drinking it plain but I think it would be excellent with honey if you like to sweeten your tisanes.

Thank you, Martin, for letting us experience all those different teas that we would not have been able to try otherwise!

Edited to add: moved to appropriate listing

ashmanra

Martin – I loved the review but can’t delete the old listing. I changed the name and listed it as a duplicate. Maybe a moderator can delete it now since I have removed my note.

gmathis

I liked this one!

ashmanra

I meant I moved the review to the correct place! Just now saw my typo.

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March Sipdown Prompt – International Day of Happiness: drink a tea that makes you happy!

I need a happy tea today, as frustrations over a very necessary construction project were getting to me and putting me in a bad mood as we are having difficulty making decisions on how to best do things.

When you love drinking tea, a lot of teas make you feel happy. I decided to choose by scrolling through my cupboard rather than picking randomly or choosing from the sipdown list. As I scrolled through, I saw tea after tea that made me go, “That’s a good one, and this one is really good…” but when I got to this tea my heart leapt so I knew it was the one.

I first had this flavor as a Dammann Freres jelly that Superanna gave me, and as soon as I tasted the jelly I knew I wanted the tea. It was scrumptiously floral as a jelly so I knew I would love the tea.

Night before last the March winds blew cold weather back to us (cold for here) and yesterday was chillier than we have been having lately, but today is supposed to hit really nice spring temps again with sunny skies, so I am starting my day with a cup of tea that tastes of nearly every lovely flower of spring and summer that you can think of.

The green oolong base carries the flavors well, and even though the floral aspect is aromatic and powerful, you can still taste the oolong very well. It is a very well blended tea and is my first ray of sunshine for today.

I think I will go stare at the project with another cup in hand and see if inspiration hits. I am looking forward to this project being done so I can sit with a future cup of admire the finished project with satisfaction. (I hope.)

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drank Mother’s Day by Fortnum & Mason
3224 tasting notes

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If I am not mistaken, the Fortnum seasonal teas are the same blend released under a new name. I am adding Mother’s Joy to my cupboard today which lists the same ingredients and is this year’s Mothering Sunday blend.

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drank Merci Mille Fois by Lupicia
3224 tasting notes

I adore this tea.

Lots of family showed up yesterday to surprise me for my birthday. This is one of the teas Superanna brought me for my birthday. She usually drinks green or white teas, but she and everyone else loved loved loved this black tea. So do I. This is a shelf staple in my opinion. It even resteeps well so you can steep twice in a row and mix the two for a nice big pot of tea that is more economical. Or you can just steep a teaspoon for yourself for brekkie and resteep and combine the two for a good breakfast portion without breaking the bank.

It is so fruity and good! I taste mainly the white peach and strawberry but there is raspberry here, too. Raspberry can sometimes overwhelm other flavors but it doesn’t here. Most of the time I forget there is raspberry in this.

surefire

Happy Birthday! :)

Sofia Vaz

Happy (late) birthday! As we often say in Portugal, may there be at least as many more <3

gmathis

Love the surprise!

ashmanra

Thank you, everyone!

Sofia Vaz – I LOVE the saying from Portugal! <3

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drank Momo Oolong Super Grade by Lupicia
3224 tasting notes

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, although we did have a few spells of clouds. Mostly it was warm and lightly breezy. Ashman and I had a little pre-lunch rest in the backyard beach chairs and lo and behold, we were descended upon by grandkids and kids! They had decided to surprise by coming for my birthday and brought food and all sorts of goodies.

This tea was one of Superanna’s birthday gifts to me and this was my first time trying it. The other two teas that she gave me at the same time (I had received one other tea earlier) were two beloved favorites that I had run out of but this one is new to me.

I have found another Lupicia favorite. The oolong base is pure silky green oolong, not at all roasty or toasty like Dong Ding or Da Hong Pao, but on the green side and so, so smooth. The white peach flavor, which is light rather than KAPOW, blends almost seamlessly with the gentle fruit notes of the tea so that they are perfectly intertwined. I am in love.

Edit to add: my package was fully in Japanese because it was purchased in Tokyo. I could tell the amount and time but not temp and made it at 190F instead of the recommended 212F which I just saw on the Lupicia Hawaii site. Didn’t matter. It was fabulous. It is also on sale right now and I am so tempted….

Thank you, Superanna!

Leafhopper

What a nice surprise! :)

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drank Honeybush Hazelnut by Adagio Teas
3224 tasting notes

Evening cuppa enjoyed outside with Ashman. This was in the free Communitea sampler included in my Adagio order.

There were two caffeine free samples left but the other had red rooibos so I opted for this.
The aroma is quite strong. The blend is mixed chopped browns and reds.

I have never had plain honeybush on its own but I have enjoyed a number of blends made with it. This has thin body but lots of hazelnut flavor. I enjoyed it. I think it could be quite decadent made as a latte.

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Sipdown

A decent oolong, but somewhat unremarkable if you are seeking lots of layers and nuance. Toasty and reminds me of Dong Ding. Wonderful with breakfast. I would definitely buy it again if I wanted something with a toasty profile.

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drank 40 Winks by Adagio Teas
3224 tasting notes

I think it was last night that we split this sample from the Communitea sample that came with my Adagio order, but it may have been the night before that. Yesterday was so busy that I have lost track.

I made a valerian tea for Ashman years ago when he was having issues with insomnia, but it had lots of licorice root and other herbs that somewhat masked the smell and taste. When I handed him this tea, he paused and then said, “This tea has a…..smell. A really strong….smell.”

“No, sir,” I told him. “This tea has a stank. There is nothing else to call it but a stank.”

In spite of the stank, it went down okay. It did have a kit of chamomile flavor that made it through the stank. As to whether it helped me sleep, I am not sure. I feel that my sleep was pretty much normal, although I have had some vivid dreams lately as it creeps toward time to get up.

I would not buy this for the taste or aroma, but if it really helped me sleep when I needed to, I would drink it.

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Bio

I am a music teacher, tutor, and former homeschool mom (25 years!) who started drinking loose leaf tea about fourteen years ago! My daughters and I have tea every day, and we are frequently joined by my students or friends for “tea time.” Now my hubby joins us, too. His tastes have evolved from Tetley with milk and sugar to mostly unadorned greens and oolongs.

We have learned so much history, geography, and culture in this journey.

My avatar is a mole in a teacup! Long story…

Location

North Carolina

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