Choice Organics

A fine mint tea from my October sipsby box. The mint mostly overpowers any other flavor, honestly; it just feels like a peppermint that’s a bit more subdued than pure peppermint. Thankfully, I like peppermint, so I was happy to drink it.

As I have mentioned, it was close to sipdown and today… it’s gone.
Another tea bought during my Germany trip and brought to the office as well.

And today I have finished it and it will be somehow missed.
Okay, to be honest, it is not exceptional tea. Just very good one considering tea bag quality. Robust, bold tea with floral notes, I probably never had a bitter cup of it. Weak dried fruit notes, especially noticeable when steeping short. A note: US website suggests 3-5 minutes, while German (including the box I had) suggests only 2-3 minutes. Interesting, huh?

Good daily drinking tea, however not so good as El Puente Darjeeling. Something I was lacking here. Maybe the flavour wasn’t so round, as I try to recall the differences.

I bought this tea on my trip to Germany and then brought it to the office and drinking it since. So, during 3 months I finished it — that means it’s a sipdown. I also have Darjeeling which I will finish this week as well (I suppose).

German website says it contains tea from Rwanda and Assam.

The flavour profile, prepared usually with boiling water and steeped for approx. 3 minutes, sometimes more as mornings at work means reading emails which came overnight, was still the same.

Bold, black tea, with bread flavours, sometimes with some stronger astringency and bitterness. Luckily, I have oversteeped it just once — and it turned out very bitter. There are also some notes of stonefruits as Cameron noticed and I am very happy to share similar thoughts.

Well, in the conclusion, as it is a tea bag (!) it is not bad. Actually I liked it for such simple, but not bitter flavour, and it delivered easy daily drinking tea. Nothing amazing, but for morning at the office, to wake up, I don’t need classy tea.

Sipdown! (41 | 257)

Last one from my September Sips by!

Really, a plain rooibos? Sigh… Needless to say, I was not thrilled to see this in my box this month.

It’s not bad, it’s actually quite pleasant. Smooth, woody, almost a tiny bit creamy? Not medicinal in the slightest, and there are some nice deep caramelized notes and a hint of honey.

It’s fine to have a couple of cups, but not something I would ever crave or buy.

Sipdown! (28 | 244)

Another single serving swap sample!

English Breakfast isn’t really my thing, but this seems decent for a teabag. I think I’m mostly tasting Ceylon? It does have that metallic taste to it, but there’s also a little bit of stonefruit tartness popping its head out. I taste a little bit of bread and perhaps oats, not sure if that’s from Assam or something else. The company doesn’t disclose what types of black tea are in here, but I would guess mostly Ceylon with a bit of Assam.

Anyway, it’s pleasant but just not my type of tea. Enjoying the rest of the cuppa with oat milk as sometimes breakfasty teas can upset my empty stomach in the morning…

Vaguely honeybush, tart from white hibiscus but it doesn’t mix well with the grapefruit oil and honeybush. Little bit of ginger pokes through. Don’t notice the licorice root at all. I see where the idea was going but there’s nothing juicy about this to make me think grapefruit.

If the best I can say about Grapefruit Honeybush is that the wrapper is a gorgeous color, then frankly, this tea sucks. The remaining bags are being ambient brewed to get rid of it. If that turns out as poorly as the hot cup, at least it’ll serve a purpose as a soil acidifier for my tea plants.

1/26/22
Another sipsby sipdown. This one is one I was sad to see go. It’s a great Earl Grey tea, better than most I’ve tried in bag form, but still not as good as Stash Double Bergamot or Twinings. I liked it a lot and would be interested to try other teas from this brand.