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Random office find of unknown age, packaged in an open-to-the elements paper envelope.

Green tea fannings. That was gross. Dumped.

Had at Pete’s Henny Penny with pancakes, bacon and eggs for dinner.

Plain was fine. Adding a bit of half & half and honey drowned the spices so that it tasted mostly of “tea”. As an American diner chai tea had with breakfast-for-dinner with my loved one during a winter’s night windstorm, I have no complaints.

I got a BIG bag of this from a friend who got it in San Francisco’s Japantown. The amount of tea intimidated me, so I offloaded most of it to ashmanra and distributed half the remainder to other tea drinkers.

It’s exactly as Cameron B describes ( https://steepster.com/CameronB/posts/435684 ) and really pleasant to drink. Tonight’s sipdown was brewed in the big glass pot for 3 of us in the house. I paired it with a small white chocolate peanut butter cup. The tea is also rich and nutty but the slight astringency of the tea absolutely complemented the richness of my dessert. I like the charcoal taste here — the tea is roasted skillfully and has a nice, smooth roasted flavor.

This has a richer flavor brewed in a small clay pot and can be steeped again. It does equally well with the recommend 90C as with 100C.

Now I wish I had kept more of this houjicha for myself :$

Random office find. Guh. I love peppermint! Especially this clean, sweet and strong kind. No mustiness or scratchy throat here.

Freebie with my last order – thank you!

Smooth and sweet with rich, warm tones that are light and sparkling. With such a strong fragrance, I can overlook the lack of depth in the mouthfeel. It is a very easy drinker. I feel a soothing mix of cassia and cypress in the throat but without the sharpness of the former. Resteep is good.

52teas 12 Teas of Christmas Day 10

“Is it something floral?”

You’ll never guess this one.

“Orangina. laughs No. Let me get my device. I see you. I see you sneakin’ around.

(We have a few neighborhood sistercats that moved into the house the way neighborhood cats do after my cat Sophia passed away in September. The fast and feisty grey one I call Little Piggy or Junebug is playing in Kiki’s bedroom.)

Starfruit. No. laughs, plays some slot machine game on her phone Cantaloupe? sips Honeydew. She’s a troublemaker, that one. Like a monkey. Gotta get into everything. smacks lips I’ll never get it, huh? I’m not even close."

What do you taste in the aftertaste?

“Kinda like a hard candy like a lilikoi or something. Like that fruit berry with a little seed in it that we used to get in Chinatown. And kinda like jello. An orange, orangey, an orange color.” sips

You’re not too far off.

“Um, what are those candies you get at the Chinese, uh- "

-Oh, lychee.

“Kinda like that, that lychee. It’s good, I like it. It kinda has a little astringency like hibiscus does but not as extreme. More of a smooth astringent, a creamy astringent. It tastes just like a candy. I could drink it hot or iced. I like it. Not grapefruit. Cuz grapefruit’s kind of astringent isn’t it? I give it a 9, I give it a 9 out of 10.”

It’s called Crisp Cranberry Soda Green Rooibos.

“Oh, that’s soda.”

Can you taste the lemon-lime, like 7-Up?

“Yeah I guess so but it tastes more like the… not the loquat… whatever that candy is. Cranberry — I guess it’s astringent like the cranberry. I guess it is that dusty dirty thing like the rooibos but it’s not upfront. Maybe it blends the rest of the flavors. It fills in the spots between. I like it, I do. I think it’s good. It’s discriminating.” cackles

You mean- (I’m buzzed from some ancho chile liqueur I cracked open this evening and am thus slow to form words :D )

“-Yeah. For the finer tastebuds of life. chuckles, pause of several minutes For the discriminating palate.” cackles

- - - -

I really like this tea. Like I said earlier — short for words. Bummed there’s not enough for 3 servings in this bag :P

52teas 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 7

“Buttered popcorn!! Did I get it?!”

So close!

I walked away for a few minutes and she already drank the entire mug so…

“It tastes real red. Oh it’s red. Kinda smells like jello.” Wh-wh-whaaat? “Yeah, fruity. I don’t know if it’s got a special flavor but I really like it! I could have it hot or cold, iced tea even! I love it! Is this an herbal or has it got black tea in it? It’s creamy like, kinda like Ambrosia Salad, like jello with whipped cream on it.”

Your nose was so close! It’s caramel popcorn flavored or something.

“I GOT IT?! So that’s the vanilla-y flavor is the caramel and the butter flavor is the popcorn and caramel. But why is it so fruity to me?”

Probably from the black tea.

“I’d say it’s a 10+. I love it. I. Love. It. It’s like drinking your carbs. How could it be bad? I loooove it. taps the mug with the remote, turns mug upside down Look — GONE.”

- - - -

I didn’t think Kiki would like this one, let alone love it. Color me surprised :)

Definitely smells like caramel popcorn to me. Toffee crunch. I could tell blind. Steeped up, it’s a rich tea, malty and woody but I can’t taste those notes distinctly. The buttery toffee popcorn flavor swirls throughout. Smooth and a little slick but doesn’t leave my mouth oily. Given the flavors and base tea, I thought this would’ve felt more warming if that makes sense, but it has a cool earthy dampness in a good way (suppose that’s the salt even though I don’t taste it; reads wet rocks and soil to me). I really enjoy how mild yet pervasive the flavoring is in this tea.

52teas 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 6

sniffs steam "Ahhh that’s good. sips It’s almost like that peach, peach kind, the pink tea (Celestial Seasonings’ Country Peach Passion). It’s really gasps hot. snickers and puts mug down

Very fruity. And hot. laughs I guess that’s hot tea for ya. It’s got a little vanilla in there maybe and some.. fruit… and it’s that pee-pee color again. I don’t mind the pee-pee — this cup of pee-pee. laughs The best pee-pee I ever had! laughs maniacally

It tastes like something, right? She makes these teas to taste like something. Like a cinnamon roll, right, like a tropical cinnamon roll. Or is it caramel apple. laughs I’m confused now and I don’t wanna say that cuz I don’t want it to stick. sniffs Pineapple, isn’t it?!?!? It’s pineapple isn’t it!?!?!? Pineapple upside-down cake, isn’t it? It’s pineapple upside-down caaAAaAAke!!! burps It’s pineapple. I got it. I definitely do. It’s pineapple! Ha! Haha! Ha. HA! Is it ambrosia salad?"

It’s called Pineapple Whip. Made in the likeness of Dole Whip, but I’m not certain what that is.

“Oh my god, I get it! They probably sell Dole Whip in Hawaii. I like it. It’s good. And I bet it would make a good iced tea, too. I’d say, uh, I give it a 9 because of its versatility. Pineapple Whip, eh? Everybody likes a whip sometime ;) "

- - - -

I had no idea what a Dole Whip was prior to this tea, but drinking this blind, I couldn’t help but think pineapple-coconut-marshmallow fluff, or piña colada without the rum. It was so smooth with vibrant, joyful pineapple and soft creaminess. Awesome tea!

52teas 12 Teas of Christmas 2023 – Day 5

“It (dry leaf) smells kinda like banana candy! sniffs steam Very hot.” puts mug down

Yeah, we’ll let it sit for 5, 10 minutes.

I talked to Kiki about last night’s tea – Candy Cane Marshmallow Treat Genmaicha – and natural and artificial flavors. She said she feels bad for leaving “bad reviews”. She’s concerned about 52teas taking them too deeply to heart. She said she expects to taste the tea leaf more. I said most of the time with flavored teas, it’s about creating a concept of taste and not so much about the leaf itself, that the leaf plays a role in rounding out the flavor. She said she’ll try to approach this evening’s tea with that in mind, despite me not telling her the name of the tea until later.

“Okay! sniffs and cocks her head Banana pudding! Banana cream pie! sips Banana cream pie – that’s what it is, isn’t it?”

Haha, no.

chuckles “Don’t tell me no!”

“Creme brulee, it’s creme brulee! Pudding! No? It’s smooth, creamy, like one of those banana peanuts. Boy look at my cup already (she’s adding gel dye to cookies and now it’s all over her mug). It’s kinda like a hot toddy and it’s kinda got a little spice to it, may- maybe… cinnamon. Oh man, look at my fingers… (they’re covered in green dye). Kinda like a brandy. So what would that make it? Butterscotchy… no. Kinda like vanilla. Maybe it’s – wait. Maybe it’s coconut. It could be coconut cream pie? It’s hard to say now. But it’s not too bad, I kinda like it!

sniffs mug Oh, jasmine, maybe jasmine or plumeria. sips A tropical island flavor. It’s nice, it’s very nice. I like it, i like it not as well as the first one but better than the last two, and I would give this a rating of… 7! big burps Wooof. burps Lay it on me. Did I hit anything? Like vanilla? Did I say vanilla?"

It’s called, um —

" — Tahitian Night. Is that what it’s called? Warm Breeze!" chuckles It’s called Put Your Suit On, We’re Going to the Islands. Oh boy. Okay, tell me what a big dope I am, go ahead."

It’s called Pomegranate Pear Black Tea.

“Hahaha, not even close, my interpretation. But it’s fruity and that’s why I kept going to the banana or coconut cream pie and coconuts and warm breeze and island sound and steel drums.”

It has real pomegranate arils in it and real pear.

“How about that. I didn’t get one of them. But it has kinda that astringent taste that pomegranates do now that you say that.”

- - - -

Another one that’s nice and smooth. It has strong yet soft aroma. The cinnamon is complementary to the juiciness and is warming, never biting or sweet. The sweetness of this tea is probably in the flavoring, which here, smells like bubblegum and banana candy. In taste, that flavoring is like a baked pear but maybe also a juicy green pear. The pomegranate probably helps pull the juicy quality out of the pear. Tastes a lot like Christmas punch. Good base black tea for this blend. Unfortunately this tea’s only really good for one steep, because I want more!

- - - -

“So did this lady make all of these teas?” Yeah. “That’s cool. She gets to do a lot of fun experimentation!”