Daylon R Thomas Send Message

I added some honey this time. The taste is mostly the same. The honey smoothens over the harsher and drier elements. There’s something about this that makes me think of the incense at church, so despite having a pagan bent, I figured it might be an appropriate tea for Easter.

There’s way more ingredients than I can add. It’s also got poppy, mugwort, blackberry leaf, gotu kola, decaf green tea, and blue butterfly pea flower. I’ve always wanted to try Egyptian Blue Lotus because of its history and connections to both Greek and Egyptian mythology, though flavor is hard to describe. I’m glad this one is blended.

The tea brewed is insanely blue. The taste is floral and herbal, getting more from the blackberry leaf more than anything else. I kinda taste jasmine, but it’s muddled. Definitely get some green peas. Helped me sleep plainly, yet no knock outs or hallucination thankfully. I know the effects are mild anyway. I wonder how it would be if I put it in some beer…Anyway, not decided on it. I might add sugar and or cream and have some fun with it.

Another weird combo. I almost got the Agni Chai, which is more Ayuverdic in nature by combining Pu-Erh into a lavender turmeric chai (though in my head cannon, it’s a Avatar the Last Air Bender reference), but the elderberry, white oak, and marshmallow leaf got me interested. I really don’t have to much to write on this one, but it lasts a little bit longer than the other teas. The elderberry becomes much more prominent as I steep it. The other elements are harder to taste. It’s generally malty. The marshmellow adds a little bit of a flavor to round it off, and the oak might give off a bit of a sagey feel, but they are not prominent. A bit of oak milk creamer add more dimension and layered off the ingredients.

I don’t have a strong opinion on it yet other than interesting and generally likeable. I also had a good clear headed feeling after it before work, so it’s solid. Byzantium is lighter and more complex, so I like it more, but this is up my alley. I’ll play around with it as I get more acquainted.

Easy favorite. I wanted to get this one with Ursa, which was a cocoa bean laoshan blend with some dried berries, but I wanted this one because I love dramatic history of luxurious places. Byzantium gets often ignored by history classes despite continuing Rome’s legacy and served as a major influence over Christianity, trade, and the futures of Eastern Europe. The makers of the tea definitely have an idea of that vibe with the picks of flowers. It would have been cool to have purple with the yellow flowers to really hammer Byzantine aesthetic, but the tea looks exactly like the picture you see above.

I’ve done this tumbler style, and western, and western is the way to go. The flavors are smooth and incredible, but gets mistaken as a generically good black tea in a tumbler. Western style draws out and balances out the nuances. The teas picked are on the more chocolaty/milky side for black teas. I think there’s some Laoshan in this too, but I think the blend has changed from years to years. There’s some god buds, but not too many. The clover is especially prominent, and the immortelle has a bit of a taste between chamomile and chrysanthemum. My mom wondered if it was an Earl Grey when she drank it blind. The aftertaste is a little bit different and more subtle, yet there’s enough sweetness to make the tea a little bit more distinct. Malt, graham cracker and honey are good descriptors too, yet the clover is distinct enough for me.

It heavily weakens after steep two. Graham cracker and black tea with light malt are the main players. Tannin and vague florals are all that remains after a while.

I’m pretty happy with this one. If it were more flexible in a tumbler, it would be an easy breakfast and work tea. Since I have to pay attention, I’ll have to wake up earlier, or reserve it for lunch or the weekends. It’ll do the job of getting me up well, though I’m missing some of the other teas I’ve sipped down for breakfast.

I’ve wanted to try this company for the past few years, and they finally had a stock that I wanted to order as a combo. Artemis Tea and Botanicals lives up to their name and all of the teas I tried out are heavily herbal. There’s a clear homeopathy bent to the company, but they prioritise the ingredients, and very few of their teas are actually flavored. Their artwork and packaging are gorgeous as well.

I had my sights on Ursa originally, and then this one. It’s spring time, and despite today marking a nearing of Christ’s resurrection, I figured I get this tea to honor the hellenic roots in the holiday, and the universal passage from winter into spring.

The tea really captures that weird transition from frost, permafrost, to dew, rain, dirt, and finally, blooms in the trees and in the grass. I would not recommend this tea for flavor since it’s extremely earthy and herby, but it does something interesting. The smell has a mix of earth, lilac and jasmine in the scent, and the taste is much the same. It starts off as earth, then hardens into mineral, then cools off like birch into a floral body of lilac, jasmine, and then a lightly green and creamy malt. I kinda get stonefruit mid sipped, but it’s something like a burnt apricot or peach for a split second. The mineral, salt, birch, and flowers are more dominant. I wonder if the birch note is actually the acacia.

The tea didn’t last beyond the second steep. It was muted after even five minutes losing some power. It oddly relieved a huge headache I had, and my muscles weren’t as tight, so the power of herbs or wishful thinking was effective.

I think this tea is super interesting, but I’m not sure if I’d recommend it. If I go for a blend, I usually look for something atypical anyway and it meets the mark. I am also not a huge fan of the taste, but I am a huge fan of how the taste encapsulates its namesake as a goddess returning from the underworld in the spring. The flowers are also absolutely gorgeous brewed and unbrewed. I was very happy with the package and service too, and the other blends will be just as fun to write about.

Sipdown. Considering how often I down this, I upped the rating. I’m actually regretting my decision not saving for another serving of this tea. Again, the pu-erh combo with currant, vanilla, and pomegranate is amazing. I used way too much tea this time finishing it off, added oatmilk cream, again, and it tasted like cookies. Now to finish all my other blacks. Hopefully, the new ones I’m getting are comparable to this one.

Derk, this is going to be yours and a certain someone’s. I finally tried all of them, and they’re not to my preference. However, they’re impressive. I’ll review the remaining teas of the sample, then my overall thoughts.

Dark Peach-this is great if you like bourbon. Very smokey and smooth like all of them, woodsy, and a little bit peachy, but it’s more bourbon and scotch like in profile than peach. Easy to gong fu, and oat milk cream brings up the fruity notes, but it’s predominantly a little bit smoky and woodsy.

Whiskey Cloud 9-similar to the one above, and whiskey forward with the same kind of notes. Cream emphasized it well, too, but not as complex as Dark Peach. Certainly more refined than other Whiskey blends I’ve had, but you pretty much know what you are getting, with a little bit of bitterness that’s actually pleasant.

King-surprisingly the least astringent, smokey, and woodsy, and the best tea to gong fu. Still woodsy, but more cedary with less smoke, and a little bit more natural cocoa like other hong cha. There’s a whiff of smoke still, but it’s an accent for a more complex and highly caffeinated tea. Definitely smoother than Dark Peach too, and I liked it more than the May Black. The oatmilk cream turned it into an amazing breakfast black. I would not mind having this around a little bit more, but the caffeine level is a bit much for me. I want to guzzle my tea with little consequence please.

Anyway, so the teas were all smoky, bold, and woodsy. I liked King and Cocoa Smoke the most, and I’m still curious about the Yuzu Cloud tea. They are solid gong fu, but I found myself enjoying these more western with a bit of cream. If you are into hearty black teas with complexity, these are amazing and have more complex versions of notes you’d get in a Keemum, Lapsang, or Scottish Breakfast tea. I personally will not be able to drink these down and will likely have to swap them, yet I don’t regret trying them out. I was very pleased with the quality of tea and service.

Very sad sipdown. Shared this with my girlfriend, and it was smooth, floral, juicy, and naturally sweet and with the right type of dryness at the same time. It was so sweet it reminded me of a strawberry pez candy. I’m really going to miss this one. Definitely a reorder. Unfortunately, on the the jars are sold for sample sizes and I already have one. They are very useful little things for transporting other loose leaf, though.

Short note: I tumblered it after taking the Sagittarius out, and there was still left over ginger, orange, and vanilla flavors left bleeding into this one. It was by no means bad, and blended smoothly into the the teas melon green profile. Second cup, and I’m getting more honeydew melon and umami with some sweet greens and florals. I’m really glad I gave this one another chance because I had a feeling the 2022 season was better than the one I had when I first tried this tea. I also don’t have any of the Jade and Lishan to compare it to, so I’m less inclined to snub it.