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Sipdown! (5 | 15)

This was actually from my swap with Kawaii433, but it was such a generously sized “sample” that I’m counting it as a full sipdown.

I will say, this one is quite good for an Adagio tea. I guess I must have a higher tolerance for subpar oolong than I do for black tea…

The oolong itself has a comforting autumn leaf flavor, and it reminds me more of a roasted green tea than it does an oxidized oolong. The peach flavoring is restrained but still has a nice sweet presence.

Overall, yummier than expected. Kawaii also sent the grapefruit version, so I’ll be working on that one next!

Sipdown! (4 | 14)

This one was mighty tasty! But I don’t feel too bad sipping it down, since I have other candy cane teas in my cupboard. Plus I’m planning to order some of the plain marshmallow treat genmaicha once the vanilla marshmallow black tea is in stock!

I’ll have to remember this combination for the holiday season though, I would love to try a real candy cane marshmallow treat! I’m thinking dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with crushed candy canes… ❤

365 Days of Tea Challenge – Day 38

I picked up a sample of this with my last Harney & Sons order, because even though I don’t generally like lavender, I’m still looking for an Earl Grey with cream/vanilla that lives up to my expectations.

Happily, the lavender isn’t all that noticeable next to the bergamot. I can tell it’s there, but it’s not offensive to me. The cream flavor is nice. However, I really wish there was vanilla as well…

It also somehow comes out tasting a bit like coconut in some sips.

So not the Earl Grey cream of my dreams, but still tasty!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtmNqpzl2Ws/

Sample Sipdown! (17 | 86)

I had a single serve sample of this one from a past David’s order.

It’s not bad. I do enjoy the combination of apple and citrus with a hint of mint, and caffeine-free is always nice. But it does sort of taste like it has citric acid in it, which makes it remind me of vitamic C chewables.

Not the worst association, but it does taste a little artificial.

Sipdown! (3 | 13)

This is a perfectly pleasant melon oolong. It does remind me somewhat of watermelon Jolly Ranchers, but not necessarily in a bad way. The oolong is nondescript, but smooth and nice enough.

Too bad for this tea, it could never hope to compete with my beloved Melon Oolong. Ah well, they can’t all be Lupicia teas. ;)

365 Days of Tea Challenge – Day 37

It’s been a while since I’ve had a Japanese green tea, even though they happen to be some of my favorites. I’m not sure why that is, really… But today, we rectify!

I have a 20g packet of this from my Yunomi subscription. Full disclosure – it’s a few months past the “best by” date… But it was completely sealed, so I’m giving it a go anyway. I followed the steeping parameters on the packet for the first 3 steeps, and then went with a further 4th steep because it still had such good flavor.

My leaf was a bit broken, so I was worried about this being bitter. But it definitely was not!

This is a very tasty, well-balanced sencha. It has a nice combination of both sweet and savory vegetal notes, along with a refreshing light citrus note. The most amazing thing about this one, though, is the tasty sakura note. It actually tastes like a very lightly sakura-scented sencha, even though there is no scenting here. I love sakura sencha, so I found this quite delightful!

The vegetal notes were a nice combination of sweet and creamy pea and edamame, along with more savory spinach and a touch of umami seaweed. The savory side was a bit stronger in the second infusion, and there was also a hint of very pleasant bitterness. The fourth (extra) steep was light and sweet, a lovely way to finish the session.

Yummy in my tummy… I’ll have to steep my favorite sakura sencha this way one of these days.

5g – 200ml – 175°F – 60/10/30/60s

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtjgZ0BlmLZ/

Swap Sample Sipdown! (16 | 85)

This was one of many oolong samples that the lovely Kawaii433 saw fit to share with me!

So full disclosure, li shan and ali shan oolong are not my favorites. They have a tendency to be quite floral, which is not an attribute that I love in tea.

This one was quite floral as well. The rinse was creamy and delicious with light peach notes, and it probably should have occurred to me to start with shorter steeps because of that. But it didn’t, so I started my first steep at 25s. Next time, I think I’ll start at 15s (at most) for gaoshan.

So the first several steeps were very strong on the floral notes. There were also some sweet peach, grass, pea, and spinach notes in the background. I didn’t find the overall flavor to change a lot during this time, which surprised me. But this may have been a side effect of my poor brewing parameters.

I did really start to enjoy this tea in the last few steeps though, where the flowers faded a bit and I could appreciate the soft grass, vegetal, and fruit notes more.

I will say, every single steep of this tea had an amazing sweet aftertaste that lingered forever. I’m not sure if that was what is referred to as hui gan, or not? Either way, I could definitely appreciate that this is a very good quality tea, even if it isn’t my personal “cup of tea”. ;)

Swap Sample Sipdown! (14 | 83)

I’m finishing off the second dragon ball from tea-sipper grandpa-style.

I used one orb in a 16-ounce glass and 185° water. I’m on my fourth refill now and it’s still flavorful. The ball has completely disintegrated at this point, which is nice because it didn’t sink properly while it was still formed.

I definitely like this one much better this way! It has a nice sweet and malty flavor that is very close to a light black tea. Then there’s the lovely honeyed raisin notes, along with the usual hay, grain, and oats. Surprisingly, there’s no hint of bitterness even with these long steep times.

I wasn’t sure whether this would be well-suited to this treatment, since this is my first time steeping this way. But it’s definitely a perfect match! Low maintenance and yummy, I’ll have to remember this for the future, and order a suitable brewing vessel for it.

Sipdown! (2 | 12)

I did enjoy this one, although I feel like I probably should’ve broken up the freeze-dried raspberries into smaller pieces. I had some cups with a lot of tart raspberry flavor and some (like this one) with almost none. So I’ll try to remember that next time…

So this cup is rather raspberry-less. However, it is sort of reminding me of a pecan shortbread cookie. So still quite tasty!

Swap Sample Sipdown! (13 | 82)

From Kawaii433!

Jasmine again! But this time on a jin xuan oolong base, which sounds amazing…

To be honest, I’m surprised to not quite love this as much as the dragon pearls I had a few days ago. Even though this is a jin xuan base, I feel like somehow it tastes less creamy. Maybe it’s just because the peach flavor is missing?

Anyway, it’s still good! The texture is silky smooth from the oolong, and the jasmine is nice and sweet and fresh-tasting. I’m not sure I get that much flavor from the base per se, perhaps a bit of peach and some additional floral presence. Oddly enough, there’s something combining in a way that makes me think of banana near the beginning of the sip… Definitely not a bad thing, just strange!

Anyway, this is yummy and relaxing. But I do prefer Mandala’s dragon pearls.