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Yeah, that’s right, I’m drinking some Buttercream. Mmmmmmmm. But I need to sleep and not be making trips to the bathroom all night, so I think I’ll leave the rest of my cup until the morning.

PS: Super huge thanks to all three of you that so generously sent me Buttercream, so I should have enough of this tea to last me a while!

Another sample from KittyLovesTea, thanks! And, another sipdown! :D

I admittedly am often not a fan of citrusy teas. I adore citrus fruits, but generally dislike fake citrus flavouring, and peel. And I’m not super keen on lemon myrtle, or lemongrass (in tea). So, I’m pretty picky when it comes to this sort of thing, although ever-curious.

Unfortunately, I think this is a big miss in the citrus department for me. Something smells funky and off, to begin with, and then I taste what is coming off to me as, say, a lemon-flavoured cough drop (I loathe cough drops). And yes, I realize it’s called “lemon drop cooler”, but I’m getting medicinal flavours that I’m really not caring for, and that’s what’s bothering me (and honeybush doesn’t usually come off as medicinal for me).

I imagine in part, this sample is a touch old and that may be contributing to funky flavours, but I’m willing to bet that I wouldn’t enjoy this even if it was freshly blended (and allowed to sit for a few weeks). My rating would probably be in the 33 or so range, but I’ll give this tea the benefit of the doubt, chalk some of its problems up to age, and therefore refrain from rating. I do see that this tea is generally highly rated, so I’m curious as to what it originally tasted like, but I suspect I will never find that out! Sigh :P

Anyhow, thanks for the sample, KittyLovesTea! I still appreciate it even if I didn’t like it!

Thanks Azzrian for a sample of this one, which I have apparently yet to try!

The dry leaf smells quite interesting – very rich, malty and sweet. It looked to me like this could be a CTC tea/blend, so I was very cautious with the steep time, although didn’t drop down my measurement of leaf. Brewed up, the tea smells much the same. It’s one of those intriguing ones where I’m definitely wondering why on earth I didn’t try this sooner!

Onto the tea! Well, there’s a bit of astringency/bitterness, so I am glad I was super cautious with the infusion! Behind that, however, is a familiar, delicious malty flavour that I’m having trouble placing. It does not taste like cookie; I see that Dylan mentions something about hazelnut, and I can definitely agree with that. There’s also some other flavour in there (like coconutty? But not.) that again is familiar yet unplaceable.

I have a feeling that this tea would be spectacular brewed stronger with a bit of milk and sugar… and luckily I have a couple cups’ worth left to try just this!

Overall, an intriguing and tasty tea that clearly requires a bit of caution with regards to infusion parameters, but I think it’s one I’d consider picking up when I eventually make a full-scale Lupicia order (a very distant eventually, says all the tea on my floor…)

Thanks to KittyLovesTea – I get to try a bit of this one out! Thanks! (Also, sipdown, woooo!! It counts no matter how big the sample was to begin with, right??)

The dry tea had very little aroma, but as soon as the water hit the leaf, quite a powerful punch of somewhat chemically apple/caramel hit my nose. So…. flavour likely not lacking, but I wasn’t sure about the chemically aroma. Luckily, it tamed a bit as it cooled, although it still smells a bit chemically. Flavourwise, it is much the same. I taste green apple and caramel, but the flavours are definitely a bit synthetic.

Not bad; I don’t think I’d purchase a pouch of this but for a honeybush it is a unique flavour and would be a nice inclusion to a caffeine-free evening rotation.

Thanks again, KittyLovesTea, for sharing your small sample of this one with me! :D

Another tea I’ve probably had too long, though it’s still tasty. Cinnamon sugar toast!

Oh no! So close to a sipdown, here! :( Had a delicious cup of this at the boyfriend’s place tonight (and brought the ducky infuser with my leaves home so I can get my second infusion!)

Bleh, this one didn’t work for me today either. I either messed up the ratio, or don’t really like this tea. Boo. Have plenty to try again later…

I have terrible news to share… I didn’t finish off my 2011 (I KNOW :( ) batch of this… and it is just not very good anymore. I’ll give it a shot here at home, but it smells old, and didn’t taste great when I brewed it up today at my boyfriend’s place. I left my pouch of the 2012 Spring Harvest with my mom, and it was definitely still good (I drank a few cups), so yeah, I’m pretty sad. Gonna have to drink down my greens from Verdant and Butiki in a more timely manner :( :(

I swear I nearly died of anticipation while steeping this one. It just smells SO GOOD. With a taste to match. I think I like this even better than I did the first time. Delicious lemon, amazing creaminess. I can’t wait to try out the Lime Chiffon (although I haven’t yet ordered any…)

Haha, got the same impression of this one this time as previous – that it reminded me of the spicing in Indian rice pudding (kheer?). Really not gingerbread to me at all, but tasty just the same.