Cease & Desist!

(52teas (Anne) 2022: 55)

Finishing off January with 55 unique 52teas drank in total – not bad! I haven’t had this one in quite a while; I couldn’t even remember how it tasted. Luckily, it seems not to have lost all flavour and I can taste a really nice toasty rice + light cinnamon blend. However, it’s kind of astringent, but that’s pretty likely to be either oversteeping/overleafing/water too hot, or usage of filter that isn’t as fine. Yes, this particular cup of tea had many factors going against it (I was a little careless), so it’s some sort of miracle that it’s even drinkable. Looking forward to future cups!

Sipdown so thought I’d do a quick note.

Lots of toasty rice flavor. I don’t know what rum tastes like so I can’t comment on that. :P It doesn’t have the horchata taste to me, however, it was a good genmaicha with very light cinnamon notes. I think it lacked the creamy part of the horchata flavor but it was a nice roasty-toasty rice flavor. I followed instructions per the package.

This is the Featured Reblend for August – and even though it may have appeared to be sold out for a good part of the day yesterday, there is – in fact – a few pouches of this one left.

This was one of the biggest vote-getters in this year’s 12 Teas of Christmas poll, and I decided that rather than add it to the holiday box, that I’d instead reblend it right now – why? Why not?

This is as good as I remember it being – smooth rum background with a creamy, lightly cinnamon-y, rice note. When I first start sipping on this one (hot) – the flavors don’t exactly pop right away. I taste notes of rum, notes of cinnamon and a hint of cream. But as I continue to sip, the flavors develop – and as the tea gets to a comfortable temperature, the flavor really pops at that point. That is to say – you need to let it cool a bit to fully enjoy the Rum & Horchata flavors.

Nice – I’m glad to have this in my cupboard again!

Sipdown!

This has a great toasty, sweet rice flavour. Some spices hidden in there (cinnamon?), honey, and the sweet vegetal green tea.

Sipdown (203)!

Iced, because why not?

I really like the forbidden beverage for which this was originally named after – in fact there’s currently a bottle of it in my fridge. So, I thought that this was a great idea, and I definitely saw it working well with the Genmaicha base.

In practice? I don’t think this completely nails it although some of the elements are definitely there. There’s an overall sweetness that a normal Genmaicha wouldn’t have and so that works for the blend. As well, there’s definitely a presence of cinnamon too. I notice it the most near the end of the sip; at the start the roastyness is the most prominent flavour. I definitely think there could be more of a defined rum notes though to really sell this, and while I assume the “rice” is meant to come from the Genmaicha itself, I feel like that doesn’t fully do the trick, though I’m not sure what exactly would. That said, I thought this was pretty pleasant overall even if it didn’t totally live up to my expectations.

I love flavored gens and I love horchata, so the combo is a winner in my book! The rice and cinnamon together is really great. I was eating cinnamon french toast this morning while sipping on a cup and the cinnamon in the toast overpowered my ability to taste it in the tea, unfortunately. I’m now finishing the cup cold and while a slight green bite comes through in the aftertaste, it is still a tasty cup. I would imagine that adding a little cream would bring out the creaminess found in horchata, but that is only speculation since my cup is now empty.

I have never had horchata or rumchata and tbh I am not really sure what it is but what I am sure of is I am a fan of this tea. Creamy and vanilla with a little nut and a lot of toasted rice. Rum creeps in slightly in the aftertaste and everything about this is just good. Yum!