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drank Blueberry Peach Crisp by Cuppa Geek
2891 tasting notes

Another flyby; ashmanra’s review pretty much captures this: peach and piecrust. I think this is my first experience with green rooibos and I like it. CuppaGeek does flavored, desserty things quite well.

Courtney

This one sounds tasty. I love when tea companies can capture pasty/baked goods well!

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drank Lavender Earl Grey by Cuppa Geek
6444 tasting notes

CuppaGeek Advent Calendar – Day 3

I was very much not excited to see this as today’s Cuppa Geek blend. It’s not flavours I enjoy on their own so combined just didn’t appeal to me at all. Interestingly enough, I drank it while FaceTiming with a friend and learned that Lavender Earl Grey is actually her favorite so that was a fun discovery. Plus, now I know where to send all my Lavender Earl Grey twas I come across. As for the tea, I didn’t really like it as expected and don’t recall much beyond that.

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Cuppa Geek Advent Day 3

I made my husband smell the packet for this one and it wasn’t cruel like last time when I had already drunk all the delicious tea. This time we were sharing. He said it smelled like candy, and then he said maybe it was maple syrup or maple candy. I think it was the caramel that made him think of maple syrup because once that suggestion was put in my head, I smelled it, too.

My packet said to make it at 185F so I did, but now I see that the website says 212F, which makes more sense for black tea but I can tell you that 185F worked cuz it was DA BOMB. The tiny marshmallows melted away in the steeping basket and I combined the steeps for the sake of strength, although we both had a small amount of unadulterated first steep.

My husband doesn’t like to describe tea because he says he isn’t good at it, so he usually makes jokes like, “it is hot and has tea-like qualities.” With this one, he kept saying, “It’s soooo smooth. It goes down so easily.”

What surprised me is that he usually hates chocolate in tea because he says chocolate flavoring smells like mildew to him and is a scent that really lingers. He really hates the smell of Harney’s Florence and Chocolate Mint. But the chocolate in this did not bother him at all.

This is one I would deffo re-order and I would LOVE to try it as a latte as well. It isn’t on the site right now, but maybe soon…

derk

Is https://cuppageekteas.com/shop loading for others? I haven’t been able to access it for several days.

Dustin

That link worked for me. Clear your cache? Try a different browser? Blood sacrifice to the internet gremlins?

Martin Bednář

Loading is bit longer than I would expect, but it works for me derk :)

ashmanra

It is working for me! I tried to order this but it isn’t in the shop right now.

White Antlers

derk Do you have third party cookie blocking installed? If so, that might be your issue with this site.

derk

Whatever was wrong righted itself without my intervention.

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drank Berries N'Cream by Cuppa Geek
1557 tasting notes

Advent Day 3, From the Depths of the Grab Bag.

“Jello again. Strawberry. It’s got some floral like a rose or linden and fruity like strawberry.

Smells fruity, floral and vanilla, a little hibiscus, maybe some chamomile, rosehips. It’s got that sourness from the rosehips kinda.

It definitely rosehips. Maybe it’s grape-like. Yeah, that’s about it. Did I hit anything that was in the tea?

I’d recommend it if you like, uh, I don’t know. No. It’s fine. 6/10."

Cameron B.

LOL, these are my favorite advent notes! XD

derk

Plenty more to come ;)

Cameron B.

I love them! It’s so funny but also super interesting to hear a fresh perspective.

gmathis

Housemate needs to sign on as a regular Steepie!

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drank Sweet Pumpkin Chai by Cuppa Geek
1557 tasting notes

Advent Day 2, From the Depths of the Grab Bag.

Housemate, in the recliner with my old girl on her lap.

“{Dry leaf] smells Christmasy. Maybe, uh, cinnamon, star anise, a little juniper. Kinda like that Celestial tiger blend.

[Hot tea] smells like pie. Tastes kinda like apple spice pie. It doesn’t have deep tannins. It’s more smooth. Maybe it has a little orange in it. That’s about it. It’s good. Would I drink it again? Yeah, I’d drink it again. It’s good, pleasant tea. It quenches your thirst.

So what is it? [me: Sweet Pumpkin Chai] Did I say pie? Well there you have it. So far I flunked this one. I can taste pumpkin now. 7/10."

Cameron B.

Pie is close! Half points! ;)

gmathis

Please tell Housemate that I am loving the secondhand reviews!

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Cuppageek Advent random pick day #2!

I did actually do a random pick today and didn’t cheat and try to see the name first. Yesterday was Frosted Cranberry – yummy, yummy, berries and sweetness, need to order.

Though this is another fruity blend, it was very different. Instead of fresh fruit, this tastes like a baked fruit cobbler. I think the cinnamon is what makes it taste that way to me. It was really good with my brekkie and once again I did three steeps.

Tastewise, I would call this Peach Blueberry, because it is peach forward to me. It isn’t a heavy peach black though, and the green rooibos shines through. I really feel like there is a baked cobbler taste here!

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66
drank Ugly Sweater Chai by Cuppa Geek
6444 tasting notes

CuppaGeek Advent Calendar – Day 2

This one had potential with its chocolate chips and orange slices. Both those flavors come through, along with clove, which I like. However, there is a hibiscus note that hits you in the back of the throat that is out of place and makes me kind of sad.

Cameron B.

Nooooooooo hibiscus, you rascal! >:|

Leafhopper

Yeah, why would they put hibiscus in this? BTW, I like the name.

Mastress Alita

I love the name of this tea! (And I also love hibiscus, so I’d probably like this)

VariaTEA

I have come to the conclusion that hibiscus works well in some teas and is necessary in others. But in this tea, it was out of place and sort of messes with the flavor profile Nichole was aiming for (imo). Also makes it hard to make it a latte, which a spiced chai is usually best as a latte.

tea-sipper

Ugly hibiscus chai! (sorry Mastress Alita)

Mastress Alita

I totally rock that ugly hibiscus! :-P

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68
drank Frosted Cranberry by Cuppa Geek
15006 tasting notes

Day 2 Advent
I wasn’t a fan of this when it was hot. There was a bitter edge to it that made me make a face. That being said, after it had cooled a bit, i was better with it. the bitter edge flattened out and it became a tea that i’d drink. However i’m not really getting cranberry from this and as a result it’s nothing special to me. Not a BAD tea, but just middle of the road.

Still glad to try it and am loving this advent! Also…at least it only took me two days to realise the stickers are scratchable hahahaha

ashmanra

Sil SAME! Ha ha! I know it said to scratch off the stickers, but I sort of scratched and didn’t see anything happening so I thought we were just supposed to pull it off. So that’s what I did. Today it would NOT come off so I gave scratching a better try and realized she really did mean to scratch it off!

gmathis

(oops) I peeled, not scratched.

Sil

i didn’t even realise shed said scratch…you just have to try and catch the right spot or it doesn’t scratch.

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drank Frosted Cranberry by Cuppa Geek
3225 tasting notes

I am counting this as my favorite muffin flavor tea for the scavenger hunt, because I don’t really like muffins but I do like scones, and my favorite one was a cranberry white chocolate one we have made a few times.

And…it is also a sipdown. Went very well with our blueberry waffles. Not sharp or tart. Today the black base seemed a little lighter and the cranberry is always berryish to me. Very nice, and while I am sad to see my Cuppageek Teas go, I am determined to drink them before they lose their luster so I can really enjoy them.

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drank Frosted Cranberry by Cuppa Geek
3225 tasting notes

Ever since gmathis said this was more “Berries and Cream” to her, I have wanted to try it. The name Frosted Cranberry didn’t appeal to me much because I drank a LOT of cranberry juice years ago for health reasons and not for pleasure. I just found it too tart, so I was afraid this tea would just be tart and hibiscus-y.

When my advent from Cuppageek came, I pawed through all the packets and noticed that a few letters of the name peek out from some of the stickers, so I could tell what this one was.
Yes, friends, I cheated on the first day of advent and instead of randomly pulling out a packet I chose this one because I just couldn’t wait to try it.

I LOVE IT! I used my Kamjove and made the first steep and poured off a tiny bit to taste full strength, then made a second steep right on top of what was left in the Kamjove so the two combined.

This is sooo good, so sweet and smooth. It does have the ever so slightest hint of briskness at times so you know your are drinking TEA and not a bunch of flavorings. The cream flavor is reminiscent of Parker’s Blend (not the Evening version) but where PB has the betgamot going on this has fruit and berry! Oh so good. I made my husband smell the empty packet which was cruel since we were out. He liked.

It was so good that this afternoon I made a third steep and it was STILL good. Yes, it was muted, but still flavorful and well worth my time to make and drink.

I used boiling water at 3 minutes if anyone is interested in how I made my three steeps.

Must have more.

Courtney

Berries and cream, yum!

Lexie Aleah

You know it must be good when your making someone else smell an empty packet of tea haha. I’ve definitely done this before!

derk

You funny lady, you.

VariaTEA

Looking forward to trying this one now!

Martin Bednář

You cheater! Haha. I am glad that you liked it as I did. I also checked the Kamjove and now aI think I need one of those pots. Hopefully one day!

gmathis

I love the “rules don’t apply” approach to this advent batch. Glad you like it as much as I do.

Sil

haha this was my tea today too randomly!!

ashmanra

Martin: I use the heck out of my Kamjove! I love it! I hope you can get one.

Gmathis: Even before 2020 I pretty much threw rules out the window! I am a tea renegade.

Mastress Alita

There are rules? I bought two matcha advents that I immediately ripped open back in… October? November? just to get all the samplers for my smoothies. I always do badly at the “must drink this tea this day” thing anyway… (I don’t know how y’all do fifteen of these things a day when I have trouble finding the time to do one)…

Martin Bednář

ashmanra: I can imagine why… it’s perfect tea pot for one!
*Mastress Alita: * Rules? That’s so 2019!

gmathis

I don’t know how y’all do fifteen of these things a day and accomplish anything other than trips back and forth to the water closet ;) (Sorry, couldn’t resist!)

Martin Bednář

Just stumbled across this song: https://www.jamendo.com/track/1733595/rules-don-t-apply-remastered/lyrics

RULES DON’T APPLY; isn’t that right this year?

White Antlers

Ok-here’s a great 80s song that tells us ’the rules do not apply…"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0XjezfWXu8

ashmanra

White Antlers: Me like! Reminded me a little of New Gold Dream by Simple Minds for some reason. My husband asked what I was listening to, said it sounded very 80’s. I told him it IS 80’s! Spot on. He liked it, too.

White Antlers

ashmanra Jerry Harrison was originally with Talking Heads. As far as I recall, that track is from his only solo album.

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drank Strawberry Sangria by Cuppa Geek
1557 tasting notes

Advent Day 1, From the Depths of the Grab Bag.

I bought the advent grab bag for my housemate because she liked the Cuppageek teas that ashmanra sent me. I brew for my housemate either caffeinated or herbal tea every evening. All of my upcoming Cuppageek reviews will be straight from her mouth unedited :) She has no idea of the ingredients in the teas and I will be telling her the name of the tea and ingredients after she finishes her mug. I have a very willing blind taste tester. This excites me.

“The packet smells like raspberry and orange. The brewed aroma smells like strawberry jello, like when you’re making it, it’s still warm. The strawberry tastes like the peach does in Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion, kind of fake but I kind of like it! You can almost taste the white pith of the strawberry. It’s got a little minty something on the tongue. I enjoyed it. Burrrrp. Burrrrp. Burp.

7.5/10 because you know there are some peppermints that I really like, like that one you made last night. That was like an A, maybe like a 95. I like the peppermint more than this one and I still like linden flowers more."

ashmanra

What a neat idea! Tell housemate we wilk be looking forward to her tasting notes!

derk

She’s a crazy old coot. Daily tasting notes might be varying levels of kooky and there will probably be many more burps involved.

Martin Bednář

This tasting note made me smile :)

White Antlers

Nothing wrong with being a crazy old coot! (BTW-that word is a derviation of ‘cote’-an Old English/Low German word for any diving water fowl…)

gmathis

Fresh perspective is always good!

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70
drank Orange Creamsicle by Cuppa Geek
15006 tasting notes

advent day 23
I’ve had this one before so it was a nice treat. I still think the honeybush overpowers and makes this a less desirable blend.

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70
drank Orange Creamsicle by Cuppa Geek
15006 tasting notes

rest of this is over to variaTEA to try. Lower temp seemed to help a ltitle but there’s still too much honeybush in this for me to be down with it. takes away from the orange creamsicle flavouring. I’d try this in a straight black i think.

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70
drank Orange Creamsicle by Cuppa Geek
15006 tasting notes

I’d like the honeybush out of this please. LOL. I think i need to try steeping this at a much lower temperature next time and see how the flavouring works out. Right now, there’s too much honesybush coming through for me to get behind this one. I’ll stick with the version from Necessiteas! But will report back at lower temps later :)

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70
drank Orange Creamsicle by Cuppa Geek
15006 tasting notes

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70
drank Orange Creamsicle by Cuppa Geek
15006 tasting notes

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70
drank Orange Creamsicle by Cuppa Geek
15006 tasting notes

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78
drank Fall Delight by Cuppa Geek
15006 tasting notes

Advent Calendar Day 1 (for me)

A little excited today because i have TWO advents, but only one of them is tea. Husband drew this one out of the calendar today for my tea advent and it was a pretty tasty tea. I fully expected apples in this tea based on the name but instead if was a fruity, pumpkin spiced blend. Thoroughly enjoyed as a first day tea!

(Other advent today is a jam advent from “Bonne Maman” Todays jam was pear and mirabelle plum). Nugget was a fan.

Cameron B.

YAAAS someone else is doing Bonne Maman! (high fives)

Sil

hahahaha yay!!! It seemed totally ridiculous but i’m so happy now. Every morning we get a new tiny jam…plus i’m sure kiddo will love the jars after we clean them!

Cameron B.

Toast and matcha is my new advent breakfast. XD

Roswell Strange

I saw someone else on IG today post about Bonne Maman too – now I need to remember to try and find who it was, so that I can share it with you both. I’ve never done an advent before other than tea/chocolate, but y’all have me super curious about this jam advent!

tea-sipper

YES for Sil also going the jam advent! haha

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74
drank Summer in a Cup by Cuppa Geek
6444 tasting notes

CuppaGeek Advent Calendar – Day 1

This is the tea I grabbed out. Actually, its the one my sister grabbed. I insisted her and my brother-in-law open the advents with me. They were not nearly as excited as I was but here we are haha.

This was an interesting one to have today given how much snow I woke up to. I realized now the picture I took could have been infinitely better if I put it in the snow but not possible now. Oh well.

Anyways, the tea itself is good. It’s got great fruit flavor. It’s honestly a bit fruit loops like for me. At least what I remember of fruit loops since its been forever since I had them. This tea also boasts peach and strawberry ingredients and I can see how this tea leans into those flavors a bit. Though no fruit flavor is overly distinct. I also like that marshmallows add a fluffiness here that pairs with the fruit notes well.

Cameron B.

Mmmm Fruit Loops… :P

Sil

haha i got a different tea (likely) so this should be fun!

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90

Advent Calendar Day 1

So excited to FINALLY dig into this! I was happy to find that today’s tea was not only a new blend for me but a new company I hadn’t even heard of! Also excited that it’s a banana tea. Weirdly enough, I’m not the biggest fan of fresh bananas, but I love banana bread and banana-flavored tea blends. And this particular one is excellent: a nice blend of banana and caramel with the black tea adding some depth and the honeybush bringing some sweetness. A great start to a fun month of sampling new things! A big thank you to Shae for organizing this year and to Amanda for the cute calendar and extra Lush goodies she included. :)

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
VariaTEA

So I have a different tea for today. It seems like there is no designated tea per day, at least I don’t think.

gmathis

Mine didn’t come numbered…the proper procedure appears to be “pick one and be surprised!” I’m with you … I despise banana texture, but the flavor itself is OK.

Mastress Alita

I think I’m the only person with a strong aversion to both banana texture and flavor… heck, even the scent of the stuff triggers my gag reflex. It’s the only food I have that kind of an aversion! So even “artificial banana flavorings” I can’t handle.

AJRimmer

Mine aren’t numbered either so I wasn’t sure what to do. I guess I’ll just pick one!

amandastory516

Glad you liked the first day’s offering!

Shae

Amanda’s such a great swap partner! I don’t know if you have swapped with each other before, but you two seemed like the perfect match when I was putting my list together.

This blend sounds really good. I’ve been seeing a lot of notes for CuppaGeek’s teas and am feeling very tempted to place an order. Plus, I’m adding more and more teas to my wishlist after reading everyone’s advent tasting notes. There are too many to try!

Inkling

It was so thoughtful of you to pair us up, Shae! I sent a calendar to Amanda last year, but don’t think I’ve ever received from her before. And Amanda, I’m loving it so far. Thanks again! :)

amandastory516

Shae- Aw, shucks. Thank you.
Inkling- Glad to hear that! You’re very welcome.

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drank Spiced Hot Toddy by Cuppa Geek
2891 tasting notes

Wanted a second steep; needed somebody to clout my head with a blunt object to get me awake and out the door, so I dumped a teaspoon of pantry-staple generic Assam into the toddy leaves and stewed it a bit. The orange peels are a little bitter now, but they are doing a good job of clouting. This is still mighty tasty. Still recommended.

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drank Spiced Hot Toddy by Cuppa Geek
2891 tasting notes

Confounded bifocals…label on the Advent packet was too small for me to read. I’ll let somebody with 20/20 vision add the ingredients to the tea description.

However, whatever is in it (hunks of fruit; I think I saw a strand or two of lemongrass?) is absolutely delicious. Tastes like a rum and raisin fruitcake. The good kind—not the dried out and petrified mass market variety that people throw on the pay-it-forward snack table at work. Very well blended!

gmathis

Aha! Just got a newsletter update cataloging all the Cuppa Geek Advent teas. (In larger font!) No wonder I liked it! Tea description now updated.

ashmanra

Ha ha! I tried to read the ingredients to my daughter and said, “Hold on a minute while I take off my glasses and hold the package against my eye!” I was glad of the ingredient and flavors list, too!

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Cold Brew!

In my head I didn’t remember this tea being all that great but I actually found myself quite pleasantly surprised by this brew. The rooibos base was very smooth with a gentle woody minerality and ever so slight hazelnut-like finish. It provided a nice canvas for what was otherwise a pure play strawberry flavour. Bright and just slightly tart with a crispness to the ripe notes. Very, very natural. By which, I should clarify, it lacked the “polish” that flavouring would typically provide but in a charming, endearing sorta way. Was it like a sangria? No, not at all. However, I just found myself marvelling at the simplicity and specificity of this particular type of strawberry flavour.

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