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drank No. 328 Yuzu Midori by Paper & Tea
1541 tasting notes

Good morning :)

A combination of dewy, silky matcha, grassy kukicha and subtle piney-citrusy yuzu peel. Roasted nut nose. Brisk, mineral and tingly mouthfeel. Hints of butter and vegetables. Sweet feeling in the throat. Paper & Tea says invigorating — that’s a good description. Yuzu is gone with the second steep and it’s somewhat drying. Edit: Yuzu came out after cooling. Future cups will probably consist of one 3-minute steep at a lower temp.

Simple and satisfying, this will be a good morning bracer during this week’s heatwave. Thanks, Martin :) Anything yuzu is welcome in my house!

personal crap below

You know, I want to bring up something I heard yesterday that left a feeling I can’t shake. I was picking up my bicycle from the mechanic downtown after having several parts replaced. A customer in front of me started berating the shop owner (sole employee who puts his blood, sweat and tears into this business) about a perceived lack of communication and how everybody has been trying to sleight him since Covid began. He kept escalating the situation in front of the owner’s young son. Then this came out of the customer’s mouth: “You know it’s really difficult as a consumer (true emphasis here) to know where to put my money these days.” I thought, damn, his identity is wrapped up in consuming. I mean, I know everybody has been stressed, tensions are high. But the impression is sticking around. And then to hear the CFO of Bed Bath & Beyond jumped to his death in NYC the other day from 18 stories…

I can’t put into words what this makes me feel. I wish you all inner peace. Have some tea. Reflect on who you are and what you want to bring to this world in your relatively short time here.

Flavors: Brisk, Butter, Drying, Grassy, Mineral, Pine, Roasted Nuts, Silky, Vegetables, Yuzu

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 3 g 8 OZ / 250 ML
gmathis

Very, very well said, friend! Amen.

mrmopar

Absolutely, inner peace leads to outer peace.

Martin Bednář

Well said by the others. It is indeed hard times we are going through nowadays, but we shouldn’t lose hope it can get better.

ashmanra

So sad. I am sorry you had to witness that, but thank you for sharing it so we can all try to be more aware of tending our own peace and hopefully letting it spill over on others.

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92

A sipdown! (M: 1, Y: 29) Prompt: A finicky tea
Well, yes, technically I still have something. But decided to put all the P&T teas to TTB, which will be a few weeks till arrives to me, but anyway… Maybe it is because I don’t drink them that often as I have hoped and green teas tend not to age well.

And this tea is certainly finicky. It needs proper temperature, 70°C is absolute maximum, it’s better to go even a bit lower, like I did today. Maybe 60°C? Yes, then it steeps longer.

But today it was so yuzu. Citrusy, somehow between grapefruits and lemons, but with pine twist, and lovely grassy flavour of green tea.

I would like more of this tea, but 50 grams is too much for me.

Preparation
140 °F / 60 °C 2 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 300 ML

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92

I have tried this again (first attempt wasn’t good) with a shake of the bag beforehand. I also used a bit of colder water, I haven’t measured it but I think it was closer to recommended 70°. It is indeed temperature sensitive tea, which makes sense as there is matcha and kukicha. I prepared it in western style, however with a strainer for herbals or oolongs, as matcha just went through.

Also, it needs indeed short steeping. I did around 1 minute, maybe 75 seconds; and it was just right. Do not expect yuzu going strong, it is… but in aroma of the dry tea. Brewed, it isn’t much strong, however it’s fine level for me. It was somehow citrusy, a little bitter, a little pine-y, so I assume it is yuzu profile. I never had it (only once as a Berliner weisse beer), never on its own.
The base tea plays major role here. It is smooth, grassy, tea with little bit of vegetal and buttery notes. Very rich and bold taste. Perfect for, a kind of hot, morning. A caffeine booster.

Used one very heaped teaspoon.

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 1 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 300 ML
Courtney

Sounds unique and tasty. :)

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88
drank No. 516 Woori by Paper & Tea
303 tasting notes

Since I had a wonderful Korean red tea (in a teabag even!) some years ago, after a very nice meal in a Korean restaurant (before the kimchi etc were “hot” here!), I´m always eager to try Korean teas. So, when I ordered from P&T and saw they offered a Korean tea, I just needed to include a pouch in my order.

From P&T´s website :
Kim Ki-duk’s vivid depiction of the eternal cycle of seasons, ‘Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring’, could well have inspired this outstanding Korean black tea rarity. Plucked and processed entirely by hand in the stunning setting of the Hadong Mountains, this one-of-a-kind specialty yields an incredible five steeps – each as rich and full-bodied as the first. In order to achieve such aromatic longevity, the leaves undergo a prolonged, double oxidation kick-started by fresh, early-morning dew. A vigorous roasting rounds off its complex flavor with booming notes of hearty malt. Subtle whiffs of wild greens and vanilla and its soft cocoa finish make this black tea a delicacy to be savored time and time again.

Bizarre but true : while they do specify the 5 infusions – indicated in text above – on the pouch, online they only recommend 2 infusions of 2 minutes each. I followed the information on the pouch and I believe this tea can indeed be steeped five times each and every time resulting in a nice cup…of a very elegant tea. But the smoky umami flavours they also mention on the pouch seem a bit far fetched to me.
Dry, the loose leaves have delicate aroma´s where the malty heart dominates but is far from overwhelming. The “earthy” notes of cacao come through, in a subtle way though. Once steeped, the tea is lighter than expected, the malty backbone has made place for a wider spectrum of tastes, where the more bitter notes (from the cocoa) are well balanced with sweeter notes, but I wouldn´t associate these with caramel as it stays very light and subtle.
This being said, for me it´s a very nice afternoon tea; as I like my morning tea quite strong, I prefer other black teas. I might try the 2 steep method indicated online to see if the tea then shows its strong character.

Flavors: Cocoa, Malt, Smoke, Tea

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 1 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML
gmathis

Ooh..this sounds very nice!

Ilse Wouters

@gmathis : on the pouch it says this is the ideal tea “for fine cuisine”. Not sure how to interprete this (I wouldn´t think of cooking with it) ;-) but to enjoy it little by little is really nice indeed!

gmathis

One little preposition makes a difference, doesn’t it? I think I would have said with fine cuisine! ;)

Leafhopper

Yes, Korean teas are nice, though hard to find. If TeaBento still exists, you should check out their Jiri Horse, which is another smooth, chocolatey Korean tea.

Ilse Wouters

@gmathis : indeed!
@Leafhopper : do you know whether there is a sort of “standard” Korean tea? I had a wonderful red tea, but since then I discovered great black and even a green tea (not especially my favourite type of tea, but I just loved that one), so I might be just lucky. A friend of mine with Korean link (her ex was Korean and they met in Japan) couldn´t help me either, so I think I will need to plan a visit myself (and do loads of shopping there ;-) ).

Leafhopper

I’m not too familiar with Korean teas. I know What-Cha carried some pricy Korean greens a while ago, as did Teavana back in the day. I’ve seen Korean black tea called Balhyocha, which has malt and chocolate notes. I believe Camellia Sinensis carries one at the moment. I’ve never heard of Korean red tea, though in Chinese culture, black tea is sometimes called red to distinguish it from heicha. It could also be a ginseng tisane.

Ilse Wouters

@Leafhopper : You seem far more familiar or knowledgeable at least with/about Korean teas than me, and thanks for the info. The red tea I spoke about was real tea (no tisane), and the Korean waitress in the restaurant told me it was “traditional Korean red tea”, w/o being able to give me more information about it. A shame really, because restaurants shouldn´t only be able to boast about the food they serve, I think. Anyway, maybe because I don´t see a lot of Korean teas around, the ones I have tried are always really good quality, so they stand out. It´s so interesting to learn more about the fascinating world of teas :-D

Leafhopper

Did it kind of taste like licorice? If so, it might have been one of those ginseng teas. :)

I agree, most of the Korean teas I’ve tried have been really good, and I’m always trying to find more!

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81

As an Earl Grey tea fan, I was also curious to try this “interpretation”.
Again, in nose it´s a wonderful blend, where bergamot´s citrusy notes blend in perfectly with the white tea, in a softer version of P&T´s Golden Earl. And also again, when steeped, the tea leaves still show the bergamot, but the tea inself not so much, which is a shame! The white tea base seems very good quality, visually a treat, and the 2 infusions give a similar result, which is positive.
I don´t know, but I had expected more from this blend. Maybe I should drink the tea and sniff the tin with every sip ;-) ?

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Floral, Tea

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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93

This oolong blend formerly labelled as Chang-E Forever sounded very tempting, and boy, it really is a very nice oolong : although the aroma´s seem quite grassy-herbal to me (which is definitely a bad way to start to convince me ;-) ), once steeped it´s an elegant, floral tea. I cannot really encounter the apricot and citrus notes, as P&T indicates in its tasting notes :
“A gentle oolong (formerly Chang-e Forever) that melts with citrus and apricot notes of osmanthus petals for a floral bouquet with a touch of sweetness. It’s our tribute to Chang-e, the Chinese moon goddess, who according to legend lives on the moon among golden, sweet blossoms.”

2 infusions of 90s each allow you to enjoy it fully.

Flavors: Floral, Grass, Tea

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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90

Golden Earl is P&T´s most “classical” Earl Grey blend, one that is not only very fragrant but also visually very nice (tea leaves almost too beautiful to steep!). P&T indicates that this blend can be infused 3 times and although I really enjoyed the first en 2nd infusion, I believe that the 3rd is not good enough. The aroma´s are strong, with the citrusy notes coming through in a natural way. Even after the second infusion, the tea leaves maintain the typical bergamot fragrance, which I can appreciate.
I bought this tea in a tin, and I must give an extra good mark to P&T for the excellent tin design so tins can be safely stacked; the branding is another very strong point of theirs.

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrusy, Tea

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML

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90

As my advent calendar is (bio) infusion based, which is not at all what I normally drink – and even less what I usually enjoy drinking – I have been picking from my cupboard to drink the rest of the day. I´m slowly finishing this EG tea, and an updated tasting note is due.
As Martin suggested 2 years ago, I´ve been crushing the juniper berries in a mini mortar before steeping, and this really makes a difference : the juniper comes also through in the final taste, even in the 2nd brew. Nice. I might even buy more of this blend, although I need to finish a lot more teas (they currently don´t all fit in the dedicated cupboard!) before I do so.

Flavors: Bergamot, Floral

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML
Martin Bednář

Glad to see that it helped :)

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90

I was so intrigued by others commenting P&T that I not only wanted to taste some samples (like in an advent calendar), I took advantage of a special offer and ordered 8 different teas! This was one of the ones I really wanted to try, as I´m an Earl Grey fan, and the addition of juniper sounds great.
I like the packaging and I love the aromas when opening the tea package! I´m not so sure about how it changes when brewed…or should I say that the aroma´s promise more than what I finally taste in mouth? I hoped to have a deeper and longer juniper effect, I guess. The tea leaves can be infused twice, with a similar result, so that´s nice.

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrusy, Tea

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 250 ML
Martin Bednář

I suggest trying to find the berries and crush them. It makes such a huge difference in taste.

Ilse Wouters

that´s a very good idea, thanks!

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ADVENT DAY 22, drank 23.

Finally, and luckily, only one day without hot beverages. It seems that everything is pretty much okay, but… sadly I forgot I have steeping tea and I have it overbrewed a bit.

Yes… more than 5 minutes instead suggested 3. Dang. Because this tea deserves more love.

Luckily, it doesn’t turn bitter. Just too strong and tannic. Malt somehow hidden beneath. Sadly, I could not notice baked bread notes as Roswell Strange notices… because my wrong steeping. Dang… I am sure I would love them.

But it was (very) bold tea with lovely flavours, even they were muted. Great breakfast tea for sure. I guess I will order it next time. However not sure if the tea bags — no fuzz and lovely too, moreso great for exchange, or I should go loose-leaf?

I won’t rate as prepared very wrong. But even though it was very good.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 10 OZ / 300 ML
Evol Ving Ness

Loose leaf is always the better choice (unless it is a gift for someone who can’t manage loose leaf).

Martin Bednář

I know it is. But I am also tea bag (outer wrapper) collector. And those tea bags would be great for exchange with others.

Evol Ving Ness

Ah, yes. Now I understand more clearly.

Martin Bednář

Sorry for not being clear. Troubles of not native speakers!

Evol Ving Ness

No, no, your English is (mostly) fine. I just didn’t understand your reasoning for the tea bag preference.

Martin Bednář

If you see anything weird, don’t be afraid to write it down. Or in PM.

Evol Ving Ness

Ok, will do.

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ADVENT DAY 22 (kind of diary entry only)

If I could, I will drink this tea. But I can’t. Hopefully tomorrow.

No caffeine, no hot drinks… because I had so strong nosebleed yesterday and today morning, I have decided to visit ENT specialist. She decided to “fix it” with some kind of device and yes, since then no nosebleeds. But boy that was hurting so much! And it was bleeding afterwards. I have a swab in nose all day… soon I will took it out. And then I have here a salve which should help with veins recovery and overall calming it down.

I hope it won’t be necessary anytime soon. Because it was nasty!

Leafhopper

That sounds like a not-so-great experience. I hope you feel better soon!

amandastory516

That sounds terrible! Hope your nosebleeds don’t return.

Courtney

I hope you’re on the mend now and soon able to enjoy all the teas!

Evol Ving Ness

Aww, sorry that you are suffering, Martin.

CJBaker

Hope things are better quickly!

ashmanra

That sounds terribly uncomfortable! Hope you are feeling better now!

Martin Bednář

Thank you everyone. Yesterday, all day my nose was hurting and having swab in all day wasn’t pleasant. Since then one little nosebleed from second hole, but I was able to stop it quickly. Since then no nosebleeds and… I can enjoy hot drinks again.

The salve is indeed helping and although it is not very pleasant as it is wax base and I have to let it melt; it helps and that matters.

Evol Ving Ness

Hurray! And the best part, of course, is that you are on the mend and are able to go back to drinking tea!

Martin Bednář

I am on the mend? Nope, pre-holidays cleaning up all day. Setting up the tree. Preparation for tomorrow fancy dinner. So not being on the mend. But yes, I am trying to relax a bit more than usual.

Michelle

Hope you are feeling better soon!

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94

It must be spring. Why? I craved green tea. I looked to my green tea box and I found only a few small pouches. And I was craving receiving new teas. Because it makes me happy somehow. Tea mail! It has arrived yesterday and even I took a bit of Yuzu Midori (yes, I know, I shall share some with you derk, as I know you love yuzu, and I will).

Anyway I was more attentive today to this tea, which is actually tea I already had so I know how I should prepare this tea nd how it is suppossed to taste like. But I have a plenty to enjoy… 50 grams – 1 heaped teaspoon I have used today.

It is very similar to the December experience — sweet, quite full of umami this time, sugar peas, smooth and a little broth like. Brews acid green, but it made me smile today as after-work tea. It has got nice caffeine boost as I have been sleepy before and I am not anymore.

I can’t wait to try gongfu it as well.

Flavors: Broth, Peas, Smooth, Sweet, Umami

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 300 ML
Leafhopper

Sounds good! Is this from 2022? I always crave fresh spring green tea, even though I then sometimes let it sit in my tea museum for years.

derk

Fresh greens are the best :) And that Yuzu Midori sounds awesome.

Martin Bednář

Sadly they did not say from which harvest it is. But based on best before date (and usual 2 years shelf life), it seems it is actually fresh one! I will add a sample to your box Leafhopper, so you could try it as well.

derk I agree, though it has been ages since a I had tea fresh as this one. I am still sipping down the samples from White Antlers. But it|s fine. I was a little disappointed about Yuzu Midori, but it may be only wrong steeping parameters.

Leafhopper

Glad to hear the green tea is probably from this year, and thanks for offering to send a sample!

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94

ADVENT DAY 21
Although Roswell Strange had it twice in her Advent, it is my first time.

It is a green, so a colder water should be used. I was waiting for my stovetop kettle to have proper temperature, but I took it a rather earlier than usual about 80°C and then I just saw it should be brewed with 70°C. I think I got the temperature just right by lucky accident.

I did two steeps as suggested.
The leaf quality is exceptional for a sachet and so does taste. It is highly enjoyable green bean taste, lightly nutty and long mouthfeel. Extremely comforting. No astringency. Floral and awesome aroma.

I want more.

First steep 2 minutes, second steep 3 minutes. Unknown temperature, just I heard first bubbles in the kettle.

Flavors: Floral, Green Beans, Nutty

Preparation
2 min, 30 sec 10 OZ / 300 ML

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74

ADVENT DAY 20

A sleepy tea? Well, I had to postpone drinking it for the evening. Because I wanted anything, but sleeping when I came home.

So, it is almost 8 pm, I already drank this tea (prepared at 7 pm) and soon, it’s time to bed. Don’t think I am like a little kid, but waking up at 5 am isn’t that much fun…

So, yeah… apple tree flowers are in the aroma and then somehow basic herbal. Maybe the mix is so wide, that it doesn’t smell anyhow particular.

In taste, it’s mostly chamomile and linden flowers. The latter causes also honey-ish taste, very pleasant. Short rough aftertaste of hops.

Overall, enjoyable and I already feel a bit drowsy, though I am not sure if it is tea effect :)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 30 sec 10 OZ / 300 ML
Evol Ving Ness

Hahaha, I am often ready for bed at 7, especially when my neighbours, bless their hearts, wake me up at 3 or 5. So I get it.

Crowkettle

The times in my life where I had 5am shifts/schedules I was lucky to make it to 7pm, let alone 8pm. I still want to whine at the memory (also not a little kid lol).

mrmopar

I remember the day of getting up at 1:30 in the morning to get ready for work. I don’t miss those days.

Martin Bednář

I don’t mind waking that early actually (I work from 7 am, but getting to train station, getting ready at home) and I usually arrive to my office around 6.40 am. It’s time for breakfast and then the work. I leave the office around 2.40 pm and in a hour I am sitting with hot cup of tea. It is good work-life balance for me.

mrmopar — that is awful time. But sometimes, we can do nothing but trying to survive it. I used to do night shift I thought I will never do and now I think it wasn’t that bad. Just another experience.

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75

ADVENT DAY 16
It’s sad to see another repe… wait, this is not tea I have tried before? I took the other, tea bag with same design and… indeed it is a different tea! YAY!

I have to say that today mint tea is greatly welcomed. We had an awesome, but very fatty lunch paid by the company. We had roasted duck leg, with two types of dumplings, gravy and red sauerkraut. But that’s not all. We had soup before. It was beef broth with vegetables, noodles and liver pastina. Again, not all. We had also a piece of honey cake and non-alcoholic punch as a drink.

So, pretty much I was stuffed and I haven’t been hungry even in time I have arrived home. That was 4 hours after the lunch! Yes, we have heavy lunches here and light dinners, not like vice versa in the English-speaking countries.

So yeah, spearmint tea. Settles down my stomach well, and it was minty. Obviously. It has got nice mouthfeel and sometimes it was even a bit citrusy and sometimes honey-ish.

Delightful, however a bit boring tea. I mean, what can go wrong with simple spearmint tea? Probably just using old and musty herbs.

Flavors: Citrusy, Honey, Spearmint

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 10 OZ / 300 ML
Evol Ving Ness

Thank you for describing your lunch. It sounds delicious. What kinds of dumplings? (i live food details.). And yes, it sounds very heavy but well worth it.

In North America, many if not most, companies have cut back on Christmas lunches and staff parties. My department, for example, asked staff to partially pay for a buffet lunch at Christmas (while progressively adding tasks and new responsibilities that staff was not paid for.). So it makes me happy to hear about your holiday lunch.

Heavy lunches and light dinners are the way to go.

Evol Ving Ness

Also, mint tea after duck and the rest sounds like a good solution.

ashmanra

I think all the health books recommend that everyone eat breakfast, have a hearty lunch, and a light supper. Many if us woukd probably have fewer gastric issues if we had done so!

Dumplings and gravy? Yes, please. YES YES. I love gravy. I could just drink gravy. So definitely, I would welcome a cup of mint tea after that!

It sounds like a delightful gathering!

Courtney

Do you always have heavy lunches rather than dinners? Whenever I have a heavy lunch, I feel like I could have a nap mid-afternoon — which I’m sure wouldn’t be appreciated by my employer! XD

Cameron B.

I felt the same when in Germany, they often have a large lunch and then dinner is a smaller meal.

Evol Ving Ness

Martin, do you have long lunch breaks to allow for heavy lunches and maybe a nap? Do they in Germany?

Evol Ving Ness

When I lived in places with big lunches and habitual afternoon naps, it was initially difficult to get used to, but then I loved it.

Martin Bednář

Evol Ving Ness: I love your curiosity! They were bread dumplings (search for houskové knedlíky) and potato dumplings (search for bramborové knedlíky). I am sure you will find recipes for them because it is something that Czechs miss the most while being abroad.

We had this lunch as we have to order it day before. We always have to order lunch (one from 4 meals, then there are some healthy one and one “grill”). So, if you don’t want it, you don’t get it. So, it was part of “normal lunch”.

It was indeed deligtful ashmanra, however work effeciency has lowered a lot after this lunch.

Courtney: Yes, usually we have here heavy lunches and light dinners. Sometimes it is indeed hard without the nap. So, you have to plan the work accordingly. After lunch some easier tasks, but hard ones in the mornings.

Cameron: I feel it is central Europe thing :) We have heavier lunches usually.

Evol Ving Ness: No, no long lunch breaks. As usual, we have 30 minutes for it. Depends on the job you can rest a bit or not. But no naps, no longer breaks.

Evol Ving Ness

Thanks, Martin! They look good. We also have a lot of dumplings, like these, for meals with soup or gravy. My mother many different kinds, some like your bread dumplings with bread and/or bacon.

I am especially curious about food because I love to eat. Thank you for indulging me. :)

Evol Ving Ness

Too bad about the short lunch breaks. Boooo.

Martin Bednář

You are welcome :)

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74

ADVENT DAY 14

I have to agree with Roswell Strange, it has got mojito vibe. But first, when I smelled the sachet, I got chamomile.

But brewed, it went well. Green tea with mint. Hints of citrus, quite delightful.

As Roswell wrote, it is indeed nicely balanced and mint was fresh in this tea — so no muddy taste. However, somehow quite boring? I mean that I have tried several lemon green teas and this has got added mint, which is nicely refreshing, but not adding much else. I haven’t got Julep itself yet, but I saw it should be with bourbon and sadly (or luckily?) no bourbon notes in.

Flavors: Chamomile, Citrus, Mint

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 4 min, 0 sec 10 OZ / 300 ML

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89

Adventaggedon Day 13: Tea 5/8

So I liked this tea a lot. It was so smooth but full bodied with really nuanced notes of fig preserve, leather, pipe tobacco, malt, and just a little bit of smoke. It tasted very nuanced and elegant despite maintaining a simplicity and directness to the flavour. Definitely the type of tea I could very easily see stocked up in my own stash!

Martin Bednář

I am glad to find (at least some) same descripotors. This tea is indeed lovely.

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66

ADVENT DAY 13

I have arrived home, awfully tired, picked up some Christmas gifts and some work stuff I have to do at home, because I had no mod to do it in the office. I have some neglected stuff there and I have to fix it ASAP. Oh dear. Tomrrow my probation period ends. It flies.
And I am supposed to have caffeine-free tea? And again some Ayurvedish? It can be good.

Error! It was good. I calmed down a wee bit. Tea relaxes. Soothes wild mind.

Enjoyable cup with lemongrass/gingery notes. Smooth and not fiery. I guess I have Ayurveda teas connected with Yogi teas. Gently citrusy. Mellow… but just not my cup of tea.

Off to work!

Flavors: Citrusy, Ginger, Lemongrass, Smooth

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 10 OZ / 300 ML

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Adventaggedon Day 20: Tea 3/8

It was nice to revisit this tea today even though I got a lot of green tea again today and maybe would have preferred some other tea types in the mix. I liked the strawberry and basil flavour of this blend the first time around though and I kind of liked it even more today because I got my wish from the initial tasting. The basil came off much, much stronger today!

Martin Bednář

Lucky you, so far I wasn’t happy with basil content in.

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Adventaggedon Day 12: Tea 1/6

Holy shit y’all! We’ve officially hit the halfway mark of advent season!

I actually only had six teas today since my Kusmi advent was a little scoop and not an actual tea. Honestly, the little break was nice because tomorrow I’ll be adding in my 52Teas 12 Days of Tea countdown to the mix… for a total of eight teas!

This is what I started the day with! I wasn’t super thrilled to see the green tea base but the combination of strawberry and basil made me more than excited enough to make up for it! Overall the tea brewed up pretty soft and delicate with a nice greener leaning sweet strawberry note and a hint of the more herbaceous basil in the finish. It definitely didn’t taste like fresh basil, but the taste was still noticeably there.

Now, I am a fiend when it comes to the combination of fruit and herbs in tea I am usually very into it and I almost always want MORE of the herbs. That was kind of the case here because I would have been happy with like triple the amount of basil. I think the more light and playful hints of both strawberry and basil were ultimately appropriate though! For a blend inspired by fairies the gentle and ethereal qualities of the tea seemed well matched.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHlB3jZBHEw&ab_channel=TheDailyDose

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70

ADVENT DAY 12

I had this tea at 9 am. Now, it’s half past 2 pm and still haven’t wrote a tasting note, because, simply, I don’t know what to write!

It was so simply green tea, rather on seaweed spectrum. Naturally, it was grassy as well, but so simple and unoffensive nor offensive… it is just nothing to write home about.

Flavors: Grass, Seaweed

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 10 OZ / 300 ML
Skysamurai

hehe. I love seaweed flavor. So I’m guessing this one was most likely a Japanese green then. I love this note though. This. Tea. Just. Is. haha

Evol Ving Ness

Hehehe, so something like this in the tea world. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4EH0RtVlgE

Martin Bednář

I don’t mind Japanese green seaweed-ness, but it was too simple?
Indeed Evol :)

Evol Ving Ness

I was just teasing you, Martin. :)

Martin Bednář

Some teas aren’t bad per se, but sometimes I expect just more :)

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Adventaggedon Day 11: Tea 5/7

Started my morning with a teacup of this tea, some biscotti, and a few chapters from a book – it was a nice and calm start to the weekend which is good because I could definitely use a little rest.

This is one of my favourite teas from Paper & Tea yet. I felt like their tasting notes from the overwrap were pretty damn spot on! Aromatic notes of freshly zested oranges, boozier syrupy Grand Marnier, buttery biscuits, vanilla, and just a hint of cocoa. More of the orange than anything else – but just lots of harmonious flavours all in all!

I paired it with a chocolate orange biscotti that I bought while I was last grocery shopping. I just figured that statistically it seemed pretty likely that I would be getting at least one chocolate/orange tea in one of the advents because that seems to be a flavour combination that always pops up each year. So I had it locked and loaded ready to be paired. More specifically dunked! It was delicious!

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Adventaggedon Day 22: Tea 7/8

Cold Brew!

I wanted to do something different with this tea than how I steeped it the first time and it seemed like it was just begging to be cold brewed. Uh, well. It was not. The cold brew was pretty unpleasant compared to what my hot steeped experience was. The initial mint and hint of citrus is pleasant but quickly the licorice root takes over and the finish is so coating and cloying.

Big no thank you to this tea as a cold brew.

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Adventaggedon Day 10: Tea 5/7

I know this is supposed to be inspired by a Julep but I took my first sips this afternoon and instantly I was getting a little bit more of a mojito vibe. I guess juleps and mojitos both utilize mint so it’s not too weird to see some similarities but there was a lemony citrus note that almost read lime like and that just pushed the mojito comparison over the edge. So, inspired by that I cut myself a little lime wedge to rim the mug with and garnish and just added a small squeeze of lime to the mug.

It was light to medium bodied with a brightness to the top of the sip from the mixed citrus that complimented the refreshing notes of mint. Not overly complex but just consistent and well balanced. There’s been better Paper & Tea blends included in the advent so far, but there have also been worse ones. So this is kind of somewhere in the middle.

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