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Maybe it’s the grey in the name, but this is one I tend to reach for when the sky is overcast. The whole blend has a mellow, gentle sort of quality to it. As I was scooping the tea from the pouch, I saw at least one generous piece of vanilla and something that I thought was fruit, but since there isn’t any fruit here, it must have been a piece of burnt sugar candy. Everything about this blend is mellow: the black tea, the bergamot, the vanilla. It’s like a cotton candy fluffy earl cloud. But not TOO sweet. Two great steeps.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – November 2025 Tea #3 - A tea that is good “on the go”
Yet another sample from Cameron B!  Thanks so much! The  first steep, I got a bit distracted, so the water was too cool and the flavor was too light.  Of course, the second steep I got distracted and steeped for longer than I would have liked, but luckily the flavor wasn’t too overdone.  The brew was quite dark.  Flavors of gardenia, but also chocolate.  Very sweet, but overall this is how I like black teas to taste.  The first steep I was a bit confused to the point where I thought it might be also a mix of sheng.  But it’s an entirely different experience on the second steep.  Four solid steeps, except for that weaker first one that wasn’t really to my taste.  The fourth is a little starchy, but still strong enough.  A full basket of leaves!  To think I once stuffed poor tea leaves into those small tablespoon size metal infusers…
Steep #1 // 7 gram coin for a full mug // 28 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 6 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 4 minute steep
Steep #4 // just boiled // 6 minute steep

additional notes: I’ve always been a fan of this one, no matter which tea shop I currently have it stocked from. (This one from Mastress Alita long ago! Thank you!) This one is now sipped down though. I would definitely always keep this old favorite around. I will be having this with some homemade apple pie later, made with apples from the tree in the yard. I don’t know what the type of apple IS, but it’s the best type of apple. :)
2025 Sipdown total: 76
2025 unique tea sipdowns: 59

Much thanks to Cameron B for this sample!  Somehow I have never tried this tea, though it should be very much my jam.  It tastes pretty good to me… a nice balance of the flavors that should be there.  I wish the fruit flavor was more jammy (ha) than tart.  Though this isn’t TOO tart.  But I don’t think a black forest cake should have any hint of hibiscus sort of tart at all.  Yet when I look at the ingredient list, it doesn’t even have hibiscus, so I must be tasting “cherry”. But I mostly like this blend!  It has a nice lingering cocoa/creme.  I also  like the tiny black tea leaf they use for this blend — it really emulates a black forest cake I think.  I’m sure other bases could have worked better for this, but other black teas also could have been much worse.  The second steep was also rich and flavorful.
Steep #1 //  1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 21 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – November 2025 Tea #2 - A sample from an order

I was okay finishing this sample from a long ago order, as I only found it a Just Okay blend.  I miss ordering from B&B!   If only they had my favorites all at once, I might be able to justify shipping, but finding Easter Egg Nests and Pumpkin available at the same time is probably never going to happen…

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – November 2025 Tea #1 - Nov. 1 – Drink a holiday tea from 2024 (you know you have one!)

Okay, so I’m not sure if I have any holiday teas from last year BUT I know I have a bajillion other holiday teas, and since I’m trying to finish this one simply due to the stevia in it, I will count this tea for the prompt.  I could live without the stevia in this blend (the cocoa shells should certainly be enough here!) but this is tolerable enough today.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – October 2025 Tea #6 - A flavored oolong

A classic in my collection!  I have always had love for this blend. Orange and caramel, yum. Unique and not quite gone yet!

additional notes: This is just even more fantastic today, especially for being such an old blend. I do seem to taste like a squashy quality here. I expected the second steep to be overbrewed as I walked away for a bit, but it was perfect. Maybe it’s the magic of a cloudy day right before Halloween that makes it this delicious. Raising the rating from 82.

From Cameron B!  THANKS SO MUCH On the first sip: “oh wow, I love this tea.”  To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much, as not many people are clambering for tea from Malawi.  My experience with the few Malawi teas I have had have been unmemorable.  But when I poured the water over the leaves, and the brew got quite deep very quickly, I knew it would be closer to my cup of tea than I thought.  The leaves are all different shapes and sizes somehow, though all the same color.  The scent of the dry leaf is very rich and unique.  Maybe hints of deep red fruit.  It distinguishes itself to red plum later on as the cup cools. The flavor, so so good — like a richer, bolder Premium Taiwanese Assam, with hints of honey, rich bread, and also a bit of the fruit that was hinted at in the scent of the leaves.  But it’s also very unique.  I am ALL FOR a richer PTA though!   Lingering flavors like I had just sipped a cup of coffee.  Note to self: that first steep was probably brewed perfectly.  The second and third steeps DID seem like a different tea, were both the same, and a little too harsh and astringent while not being quite as deep of a cup as the first steep.  So, a couple points from the rating for not being a great resteeper… But that first steep!  Golden!  Sadly, I immediately ran to Harney’s site, and it already looks like they don’t offer it anymore.  Of course. :/  This tin, will indeed, be a “treasure” to this particular tea drinker! 
Steep #1 //  1 1/2 teaspsoons for a full mug // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 4-5 minute steep

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – October 2025 Tea #5 - A fall spice tea

This’ll do for this prompt.  I am almost finished with my VINTAGE recipe blend.  I will be sad when it’s gone, as it was much better than their new blend without caramel cubes, though I have plenty of that remaining.  I know, I know… I have said it before about these dang missing caramel cubes…  Maybe if I say it enough Bird & Blend will make them come back.