5686 Tasting Notes
Latte Sipdown (291)
This was always alright as a plain tea and while coffee teas always go awry for me as lattes, I wanted to give this a try. It’s actually pretty good. I always worried about the rooibos base because that seems to be what causes issues, but as a plain tea the rooibos wasn’t problematic and same goes for the latte. This is a lot of mocha flavor but with vanilla notes as well. The sweetness of the maple comes through nicely without being overly maple. I think as a latte this actually captures tiramisu well and I regret not making it this way from the start. It’s a great goodbye though and I’ll be upping the rating from 61 slightly.
Second tea of the battle of the caramel teas. Check out my review of the other tea, Caramel by TeaG here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416011
This one and the other are actually quite similar. This one, however, has a bit more of the black tea base coming through. I don’t love Bird and Blend’s base, though its not bad so it doesn’t ruin the tea. What it does do is take away slightly from the caramel notes at times. Other times it heightens the caramel. Honestly it was a close call but with the base peaking through, it can get a touch astringent sometimes and that’s why this one lost.
Today’s battle is between this tea and Butter Brew by Bird and Blend. Essentially a battle of the caramel teas and if I am being honest, these two are both delicious and super similar so its a hard call. They both have a dark caramel sweetness. This one has a little less base coming through than Butter Brew which gives it a slight edge, thus winning the battle. Check out the review for Butter Brew here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416012
Thank you for sharing this with me Sil! I know you love it so I am grateful you were willing to part with some.
I made this because I thought it may be something I wanted to add to the TTB. I’m not sure now. It’s actually got a really nice and smooth mocha/coffee flavor. That said, it can be light and that leaves a flat rooibos note. I think I may make it as a latte though and go from there.
Made this as a latte and something about this tea screams Della Terra to me. I guess its the sprinkles and the gimmick and mostly it just seems like a tea that Della Terra would have made. It almost reminds me of my beloved Eight Candles, with a bit more nuttiness. It makes a nice enough latte though isn’t a favorite. Points for its namesake though.
This is the second tea in today’s tournament style sipdown challenge pairing. It went head to head with another single-estate Palais des Thes tea, Genmaicha Yama. Check out the note for that here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/415972
Normally black teas trump green teas for me. That said, I do enjoy genmaicha quite a bit so I didn’t think this would be such an easy defeat for this black tea. Drinking it now, I am surprised that my preference is actually for the genmaicha.
While this may be a black tea, its not the type of black tea I usually go for. I like smooth, malty, bready, dessert-like black teas and this is not that. Instead, this is more brisk and a touch astringent. It’s got the floral quality of a darjeeling (I looked it up and it is a darjeeling) that might be nice for many but to me always reads drying. So this was a miss for me and thus Genmaicha Yama is moving on!
Check out a picture of the teas here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMA1JvPgOwi/?igshid=17oukytf2p49j
Thank you Mastress Alita for the fun way to encourage us to sipdown teas! I learned of the tournament style sipdown challenge when Roswell Strange asked me to help her pick 16 teas and I thought it sounded like so much fun that I decided to join as well. Thankfully, Roswell was kind enough to return the favour and picked 16 teas for me to work on. Today’s clash is between two teas from the single-estate teas box by Palais des Thes that my sister bought me for Hannukah. I paired this tea with Grand Himalaya since those were the two straight(ish) teas, Ros had picked.
As far as genmaichas go, this one is pretty good. It leans more heavily into the popped rice, at least in this cup and that could have been because a lot of the rice made it into the filter. It’s smooth and buttery and not bitter or grassy at all. Honestly really comforting – popcorn tea for sure.
To see how it stacks up to Grand Himalaya, check out the note here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/415973
Check out a picture of the teas here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMA1JvPgOwi/?igshid=17oukytf2p49j
Sipdown (294)
I actually brewed this tea to drink last night. Then I got into a serious conversation with my sister. Then I showered. Then I did my nighttime routine and after all was said and done, it was 2 am and I was going to sleep. So I never ended up drinking this which meant I woke up to a full mug of neglected tea.
So this got finished when I woke up today and honestly it was great. Awesome cinnamon crumble deliciousness atop thick and syrupy strawberry filling. It was perfect and a good example of how good this tea can be when done right. Alas, its not consistent enough for my liking since sometimes it nails strawberry pie and other times it is peppery honeybush. Glad it went out on a good note this time.
Iced Matcha Sipdown (295)
It’s a nice, sunny day and it’s warmed up quite a bit where I live. We decided to go for a walk and when I got back, an iced tea sounded good. These lemonatcha matchas seem like they should be iced so I pulled this one.
This one is sweet but a little chalky. It’s got a fake peach flavor and not much of the lemonade element. Overall, this one is a bit of a let down. Though I’m super happy to have tried it since it was certainly one I would think I would like. Thank you Roswell Strange for the chance to try before I bought!
