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I followed AU’s instructions for making this into an iced tea but added some sparkling water instead of still. The first sip was INTENSE. It took a second for me to register what I was tasting: aromatic bitters, like gentian. I was playing around with cocktail-making toward the beginning of the pandemic and ordered a few craft bitters, and this tea reminds me of an orange variety I particularly liked. I’m getting bitter, pithy orange peel flavors along with a smidge of anise and other herbs I can’t quite identify.

I don’t drink too much alcohol anymore, but I love adding a few drops of bitters to sparkling water — you can really taste the bitters’ flavor when you let them become the star of a drink. This iced tea is reminding me of that concoction! It’s giving mocktail vibes and I’m OK with that.

Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | May 2023 | A flavored black tea

I reorganized my tea stash yesterday and realized that things are… getting out of hand, especially after the TTB came through. It doesn’t help that my sipdown pace has really slowed over the past few months. I did set aside a bunch of packets that are sipdown-ready, so hopefully that will help!

Anyway, it’s a cool, grey, rainy day and chocolate-hazelnut sounded like a winning combination. This blend smells so amazing, but the mouthfeel is disappointingly thin. I am enjoying it more than when I first rated/reviewed it, so I’ll bump my rating up a smidge, but in general I’m fine saying a permanent goodbye to Passage.

2023 sipdown count: 33

Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | May 2023 | National Coconut Cream Pie Day: Drink a tea with coconut!

These 52Teas smoothie blends are so tasty! I brewed this one strong and am drinking it iced— I’d prefer to cold-brew it, but I decided to make it on a whim for today’s sipdown prompt. I’m getting mostly creamy coconut-banana notes with just a smidge of pineapple. It actually does remind me of one of my go-to summer smoothie blends!

2023 sipdown count: 32

Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | May 2023 | A limited edition or seasonal tea

I was going to use this one for the “tea with a three-word name” prompt, but I realized that the Steepster listing includes “Honeybush” in the name, thus making it a four-word name. So instead I’m using it for “A limited edition or seasonal tea,” because this was a 52Teas tea of the week back in September.

I thought I’d reviewed this one before, but apparently not! The banana flavor actually reads more as green/slightly underripe banana than the overripe banana one would use for a baked good, but the warming spices and oatiness balance it out and add some heft. Allspice and nutmeg come through most strongly to me, along with a bit of earthy muddiness from the oats.

In real life, underripe bananas make me gag. Yet the flavor here isn’t bothering me too much.

All in all, this one does what it says on the label! :D

2023 sipdown count: 31

Drinking this tea is like eating a perfectly ripe and juicy white peach from the farmers market… but without the sticky dribbles down your chin or the slightly squirmy texture of peach fuzz (just me?)!

I enjoyed this hot last night and then cold brewed the spent leaves because I am always trying to get the most out of my tea. I’m drinking the cold brew right now, and it’s so crisp and juicy and smooth. The peach has taken on a smidge of gummy candy peach ring flavor, but only slightly.

So tasty.

Omggg. Something I probably wouldn’t have purchased on my own but absolutely LOVED from the TTB. I am a total sucker for pretty much all citrus, so it’s a pleasure to experience a new-to-me flavor (yuzu). It’s sweet and creamy, yet also just a bit pithy and zesty? With a lovely gentle grassy kukicha base. I really should’ve taken better notes while sipping this tea yesterday, but it was a ridiculously hectic work + school day. :( Regardless, I’ll be keeping at least some of this from the TTB.

I love toasty hojicha and I love maple and I love an earthy, almost woody cinnamon, so this should be a win! But unfortunately it’s just too sweet for my taste, probably because it has maple crystals AND apple AND brown sugar. The latter almost drowns out the cinnamon — I get a bit of cinnamon mid-sip, but almost straight cloying sugar by the end.

Points for accuracy in naming, though, because it’s very evocative of cinnamon raisin bread. Not so much on the bread pudding, alas.

What a comfy-cozy and unique cuppa! It’s got a lovely deep toasted rice flavor, alongside a surprising bit of natural sweetness. My partner says it reminds him of a rice krispie square, and I can see it! But like, a very elevated, deeply caramelly rice krispie square… with notes of roasted chestnuts.

Really, really tasty.

Another TTB sample! Brewed this up nice and strong and made it into a latte with some oat milk. Maybe too much oat milk! I should’ve tried it on its own, because the oat milk was a bit overpowering. It was yummy, don’t get me wrong, but I couldn’t really pick out many of the tea’s flavors.

(As a side note, I remember someone on here commented on one of my posts a while back saying oat milk is the most powerful of all the milks and I think of that comment often! XD)

A fun one from the TTB. It smells like grape Jolly Ranchers! Grape is a divisive flavor… I know avowed grape lovers and avowed grape haters. I’m in the middle, leaning toward “love it.”

Anyway, the bag recommends steeping this for 30 seconds with boiling water, which… seems odd? Regardless, I tried it, and it was fine. But then I tried again this morning with cooler water (175˚F) for a slightly longer steep (around a minute), and, whoa, yum! Sweet, smooth, buttery, grape candy deliciousness, with just a hint of bitterness toward the end (but in a good way). I appreciate that the artificial grape flavor is pretty muted; it mostly comes through in the scent.

Enjoying this one quite a lot on this rainy morning.