81 Tasting Notes

82

I brought last month’s sipsby box to work and forgot about it, and today I really needed SOMETHING and I didn’t want to get a soda (saving soda time for dinner!) and thus, I’m drinking this (also in the box is “pomegranate mojito” from zest tea? I dunno about that one).

the lil bag that this came in said to brew it for 4 minutes @ 212F and that seemed like…too much. I don’t know the temp of the water, but I turned on my kettle and kept working for a while before pouring over the leaves. I also only brewed for about 3 minutes and it is malty/bready perfection. I have hit/or misses with assam and I think it’s mostly due to the fact that I use too hot water and it gets so bitter. this is delicious though.

Tabby

I thought this one was really nice, too! And yeah, 4 minutes is definitely too long.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

77

ah, yes. I love finishing off A&D tins, it always feels like an accomplishment. especially for this one, because it seems like this has been hiding in the cupboard for at least five forevers, popping out only occasionally and then hiding again. this is not my favourite tea from A&D, it’s brisk and bready and easy to drink, but it’s also just kinda meh. I’m glad that I had this for five forevers, but I’m also glad that it is gone.

Percy-cat update: I finally took her to the vet a couple of weeks ago and she chonky! I think of her as a baby and this is a MISTAKE, bc I feel that she is tiny and I’ve had to put her on a diet…and have felt so bad because she MEOWS at me and looks at me with her big eyes and I end up giving her more food bc I’m weak. her meowing is a big deal, because she usually just….gurgles? chirps? she makes weird noises that I sometimes don’t think are cat noises, but when she’s hungry she meows and I say ‘wow, Percy, you are a cat!’ and then she tries to trip me. rude. I’m in the process of switching her food, so that maybe that helps.

tea-sipper

Glad to hear Percy-cat is adjusting her new home. :D

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

56
drank Honeycrisp Apple by DAVIDsTEA
81 tasting notes

from this month’s sipsby box. I didn’t know DT was a..uh…supplier? partner? with sipsby, so that’s cool. I’ve actually always wanted to try this, but I have a weird relationship with DT. mostly, I love their teaware and am iffy on a lot of their blends.

this was fine. I needed some kind of tea after finally going through this box BOX of MYSTERY MICROFICHE that I’ve had at my desk for like a year. my boss said I had to go through it because there’s another dept. in the library that is currently doing a microfiche project and it would be helpful if they had access to anything that might be missing. IT TOOK ME ALL DAY. ALL. DAY. I HATE MICROFICHE SO MUCH. I still have a small lil pile of them, but only bc there were students sitting near where they needed to go and I feel awkward being all hunched over trying to find where exactly these fiche need to go, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

the label says there’s green tea in here, but mostly what I have is apple bits, which is fine. I love apple. but it doesn’t really taste like much? all I’m getting is a sweet vaguely apple-y flavour. meh.

anyway. this is fine. microfiche is terrible and I never want to see any again.

Mastress Alita

Truth. I was put on a grant once trying to organize/tag tiny film negatives. I know those feels. #libraryproblems.

annie

that sounds awful!! we’re currently preparing for the possibility of moving everything in our basement (gov docs, microfiche, newspapers/magazines) to an off-site storage location. I work primarily with gov docs and like, so much stuff isn’t accounted for and so I’m going through the stacks, one damn thing at a time and seeing if it’s in our system. it’s annoying, but the microfiche project sounds worse!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90

/cries into this beautiful dianhong for 10,000 years while rewatching Chungking Express for the millionth time/

derk

Best by May 1

tea-sipper

Hope it’s good crying? I was crying last night. Supernatural.

annie

@derk :)

@tea-sipper, I cry while watching any of my favourite films…it’s a weird problem. the show Supernatural? is it still an ongoing thing?

tea-sipper

Yes, the show Supernatural. The last episode was #300 and it’s still going. The heart of the show keeps it going. :D

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90
drank Gingerbread Brulee by 52teas
81 tasting notes

12th tea of Christmas

my first whiff of this tea was all CLOVE and I whispered ‘yessssssss’ to no one. this is so tasty. to me, this is Christmas in a tea. ginger, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, there’s some nice custard-y flavours in there too. I’m going to have to try this with almond milk later. yessss.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

11th tea of Christmas

ahhh, I’m late with this bc I got distracted bc we do all our celebrating on Christmas Eve and I was so tired, plus I brought Percy-cat home and it was an Experience and maybe I didn’t really plan and I should have just isolated her in a room on her own instead of letting her free roam. ahahaha. lesson learned. she’s on her own now and I hope that she will eat!

ANYWAY, I was quite excited about this one because I love monkey bread…but um. not this blend. all I taste is the rooibos and…I’d prefer not to. I do taste the caramel and the cinnamon-y flavours, but to me the rooibos overpowers it. MAYBE it’s just because I’m not the biggest fan (or a fan at all) of red rooibos. I think I can probably pass this one to someone who would enjoy it more than me.

tea-sipper

Ah! This was another blend I loved from Frank which I wanted Anne to reblend! I will buy it from you, if you’d like.

tea-sipper

Also, I’m sure Percy-cat will eventually realize how awesome her new home is and how much care you will give her!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

drank Eggnog Yunan by 52teas
81 tasting notes

10th tea of Christmas

You know, I’ve never actually had eggnog before so I wasn’t really sure….I wasn’t sure about this tea, but it is delicious. I’m drinking it while listening to Nick Cave and finally ‘wrapping’ presents (I put everything in bags bc I’m lame and think wrapping paper is a waste, at least bags are reusable? yeah? maybe it’s actually just laziness. who knows.) and ugh, so nice. cinnamon-y. nutmeg-y. the yunnan base is /chef kiss/.

also, I’m adopting my sister’s cat that she was going to rehome to a farm in NM, where that poor cat would have been living OUTSIDE, when she had been living in a home for the past two years and was used to people providing for her. wtf. I thought that was so cruel. Percy (the cat, a girl cat that my nephew named after Percy the train) might be a fellow anxiety sufferer. she might also be stressed out due to living in a house with two loud children and two older (and one who is definitely meaner) cats, all while not having a lot of attention (other than my sister yelling at her). we’ll see how she does in a much quieter environment. I think she deserves a chance to live her best life. that, and personally, it’s been a really jarring change for me to live in a cat-less house. when I woke up yesterday, I immediately went to go check on my Spooky-cat, like I normally would and then realized that he’s not here anymore and started crying. Percy isn’t a replacement, and she will be a very different cat, but at least there will be a little creature running around and I hope that she will feel more calm and more loved.

derk

So kind of you. She’ll probably be be less anxious in a quiet home. Pets for Percy when she arrives :)

Mastress Alita

I used to know how to make several things in origami, but have never learned how to wrap a box… I am totally a bag person too. Have a closet full of them. The advent calendar I made my friend was just a gift bag filled with little packets of tea that it randomly “draws” one from each day, hahaha.

Mastress Alita

Kitty for Christmas!!! That’s so exciting. I really wish my apartment wasn’t one of those medieval “no pets!” types, I would love to have a cat…

derk

Does Idaho do Emotional Support Animals?

TreeGal

Cats are pretty freakin’ awesome except when they barf. You’re going to have one happy kitty, I bet! (If only you could explain to them where they could have been!)

Mastress Alita

@derk, they do, but I don’t know if I would qualify. I feel a bit weird having to essentially get a mental illness on my medical history just to override the fact that all the apartments around here are “no pets.” But since depression is “co-morbid” with chronic migraine due to the constant pain, my doctor may be willing to go that route. This apartment does allow birds and fish, and my cockatiel is now 20 years old now (!) so I haven’t felt the need to push for that yet since there is no way I could have a cat as long as she’s still kicking around. But I may decide to make that choice (even though I feel weird about it) once she is no longer around.

tea-sipper

OMG EGGNOG YUNNAN IS REBLENDED.

tea-sipper

Also, I just finally read your note after my early excitement for Eggnog Yunnan. I love that Nick Cave is your wrapping music of choice. Also, Percy will have the best new home. I know Percy won’t be the same as Spooky-cat but hopefully Percy might ease that loss a little. We had a homeless cat that is the most friendly cat who clearly had been dropped off by a previous owner. He finally was able to live in our house after the other cats passed and he is the best cat. So sometimes cats find the right home when they need to!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90

9th tea of Christmas

because I woke up very early yesterday morning and started crying, I decided to make this tea and not only does it straight up smell heavenly, it is comfort in a goddamn cup. it has a really beautiful brown sugar-y taste, it reminds me of a brittle that my grandma made (it was legendary, but I’m not really sure what kind of brittle it was).

tea-sipper

I’m sorry. :(

52Teas

I’m sorry you woke up sad – but I’m glad this tea brought you some comfort.

tea-sipper

Annie – I’m eagerly awaiting for your tasting notes on whatever the final two days of the advent are. I’m dying to know and you have been the only person I’m following that was posting them on the correct days. haha. Thanks for that. :D

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

90

8th tea of Christmas

hot damn, this one is delicious. this is another one that I drank yesterday morning, but forgot to write about. I love all of the marshmallow teas that Anne has done, well, all the ones I’ve tried anyway. I think it was last year that Marshmallow Assam came out and it was one of my favourites. the dry leaf just engulfs you in this nice comforting cloud of vanilla, I want this tea as a candle. there is also a really beautiful malty-ness in this tea as well. /cries/

Mastress Alita

Yo, fellow librarian tea addict!

tea-sipper

Oh man, another tea I want to try.

tea-sipper

Also, if you read the description for this tea, Anne says there will always be a vanilla/marshmallow tea in the permanent collection which I am thrilled about!

52Teas

This one is on the website right now. :)

annie

@Mastress Alita, I’m a library school drop out!! but I do love tea :)

annie

@tea-sipper, yessss please try it, it is delightful. and yes! I did see that and I’m excited bc I love all things vanilla/marshmallow.

Mastress Alita

Ah, well your profile bio here on Steepster says you work in a library.

annie

@Mastress Alita, I’m a cataloger in an academic library, I just lack a library degree (I do have a fine arts degree tho! hahaha)

Mastress Alita

I’m a cataloger in a public library (fifteen years this year!) I don’t have an MLIS, but I wouldn’t consider that as what defines a person as a librarian, IMO. (I have an Associates of Library Science with a Bachelors in General Studies; there weren’t any MLIS programs available in my state and out-of-state tuition and me didn’t exactly jive, heh).

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

75
drank Sticky Fig Oolong by 52teas
81 tasting notes

7th tea of Christmas

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this, I don’t know what sticky fig is….but I do know that I love fig. first thought was like, a sticky rice? but it’s definitely not that. there’s some cinnamon? some kind of spices, and a kind of…caramel-y fig? I’m into it.

52Teas

LOL – sticky fig = a slightly honeyed, cinnamon oolong tea into which I cut up some very sticky, dried figs.

tea-sipper

WHAT fig tea?! On to the wish list this goes. I think I might be the person in the description who mentioned Anne making fig teas?! Awesome. Also, it’s good to know this won’t be the last fig experiment that Anne also mentions in the description…

52Teas

Yep – @tea-sipper, I do believe it was you that had mentioned that I should do a fig tea. I had planned on doing fig teas at some point in the future, but it was your mention that prompted me to do it a little sooner than that. :)

annie

@Anne – hahahaha, I thought it was some weird dessert or something. that is the best description, thank you. and yes, more fig teas pleeeaase!

tea-sipper

Oh good, I’m glad we will have fig teas sooner then. :D

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

I used to make photographs and string myself in bookmaking. now I mostly knit and think about textiles and films. film makers. and bees?

this is a new account, maybe I’ll stop being so lurk-y.

IG: @asoftskeleton, though I don’t post a lot of tea. if you are interested in weird books I find at work (I work in a library) and photos of my very spoiled cat, that’s mostly what you’ll see.

Website

https://www.goodreads.com/aso...

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer