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Sipdown! (61)

This one just doesn’t work for me.

To be fair, I don’t always love lapsang in blends. And that’s the case with this one. I can imagine smoke and caramel working well together, but it just doesn’t happen for me here. And I think it’s because the caramel flavor here is somewhat buttery? And that note doesn’t really meld well with the smoke, so it ends up just tasting like artificial butterscotch layered on top of the base. The base is also fairly bland aside from the smoke, and has a bit of astringency to it.

A resounding meh. But it does smell nice!

Sipdown! (60)

I think I may lower the rating for this a bit, because I really never felt like drinking it and it was a bit of struggle to finish the 20g packet.

It’s not that it’s bad per se, but the chocolate side of it is somewhat artificial-tasting. But as I’m sure you all know, I have a hard time with chocolate teas in general. I do think the level of almond here is really perfect – I’ve found that I no longer enjoy strong marzipan/almond extract flavor in tea, but here it’s such a lovely rich and sweet supporting note to the chocolate. And it almost comes out tasting like chocolate-covered maraschino cherries!

Bye, tea! Sorry I didn’t love you!

Sipdown! (59)

Another yummy Teavivre tea! I admit, I don’t have much experience with Keemun teas… My impression of them is that they’re stronger and smokier than the Yunnan and Fujian teas I generally drink, and I often hear them described as “winey”.

The first time I steeped this tea, I used my usual 200 degree water. This time, I noticed that the packet recommends 185 degrees, so I did that instead. I think I actually preferred the first cup…

This tea is actually quite light and bready. There are some lovely honeyed notes that make me think of toast slathered (or maybe lathered? Just kidding, Kelly) with cinnamon honey. It’s very smooth and some fresh florals pop up at the end of the sip, along with perhaps a hint of stonefruit. A wisp of mineral smoke appears in the aftertaste.

In the other cup, the floral was a bit more muted and I remember tasting more fruit, and darker fruit like berries. So if I ever have this tea again, I’ll stick to my hotter water temperature! :)

Sipdown! (58)

Really I overleafed this last pot because I had a bit too much left, but not enough for two pots… There must have also been extra stevia at the bottom of the bag, because this came out really sweet.

No matter! I’m okay with sweet sometimes, and here the hibiscus tartness helps to counteract it. Plus it tastes more like soda this way, hah! I am definitely getting cherry this time, so it really it more like cherry cola. I’m not sure if it’s the kola nut or the spices that make this taste like cola, or both!

I’m not a fruit tisane person, but I would consider buying a bit of this to have on hand. But this is a limited blend, so I doubt they’ll have any left the next time I get around to ordering.

Sipdown! (57)

The last tea from my December subscription! Hooray for keeping up! \o/

This was a tasty one. A nice dark and syrupy blueberry combined with nutty pastry-esque notes from the honeybush base. To me, it’s closer to a blueberry pie since cobbler (as I think of it) is a bit more cakey. And just a hint of cinnamon adds a nice warmth and extra sweetness.

Sipdown! (56)

This one was never quite a linzer cookie for me.

Don’t get me wrong, it is cookie-ish. To me, it tastes like a light oatmeal cookie with sweet brown sugar and warming cinnamon. I guess I just don’t get much of the jam part. There is a hint of tart red fruits and an acidic aftertaste in my throat, but it’s not really jam-ish and it mostly just comes off as a tart apple? It must be the combination of apple pieces and hibiscus.

Anyway, this is tasty! I love oatmeal cookies so I don’t really mind that it doesn’t quite taste like the name to me.

This is one of the teas from the Bird & Blend January subscription box. It seems rather relaxation/wellness-themed, with a lemon ginger herbal, a turmeric herbal, and this tea which has an assortment of herbal ingredients mixed in with the white base.

Anyway, this is pleasant enough. It mostly tastes like a softly lemony chamomile with linden. I’m reminded of lemongrass as well, though there isn’t any here. As for the white tea, not really tasting it? Perhaps a hint of hay, which tends to blend in with the chamomile and linden. The lemon is almost a bit lemon drop-ish, which makes me smile.

It’s mellow and relaxing, as implied by the name. Not something I would ever order, but fine for sipping on during an evening movie with the pugs!

Another Deb tea! I’m so excited for the subscription… (mini dance)

This one is basically the same as her Mint Chip Cookie, but on a black base instead of a rooibos one. And just like that blend, it’s a bit underwhelming to me.

I do enjoy the mint, and the combination of peppermint and spearmint is a nice idea because the freshness of the spearmint really peps it up and tempers the herbal note of the peppermint. But because it’s not all spearmint, it doesn’t taste like chewing gum.

I’m never a fan of actual chocolate in tea, because the murkiness and oily surface is very unappetizing to me. I’m also not getting a ton of chocolate flavor given that this has both chocolate and cacao nibs in it. There is definitely some, but I want moar! There’s a little hint of creaminess from the vanilla, which I appreciate. I don’t get coconut.

I saw a recommendation from VariaTEA somewhere to try Mint Chip Cookie as an iced latte for a mint chip ice cream sort of feel, so maybe I’ll have to try that with this tea. I’ve been basically having a latte every day since getting a new milk frother… XD

New flavored matcha! Yay!

I prepared this one straight and hot this morning, with a teaspoon of matcha for 8 ounces of warm water.

For me, the coconut flavor is too strong for this preparation. The matcha is fine, quite grassy with just a touch of bitterness. But the coconut flavor is like WHAM in your face! It’s a very creamy and rich coconut, and it lingers on my tongue for what seems like forever.

I added a glug of oat milk to the second half of the bowl, and like it much more. Can’t wait to try this one as a hot or cold latte! Which, to be fair, is how I would normally prepare a flavored matcha – I just wanted to try all of these plain first.

I just realized I finished off the two swap samples from Courtney that I had opened, so it’s time for a new one! This was chosen at random.

The vanilla flavor is nice here, as it comes from vanilla beans. I like the amount as well, though that likely won’t be consistent between cups. Vanilla bean has such a lovely creamy note to it that I really enjoy.

However, the base here is quite underwhelming to me. It tastes like a generic Ceylon with some Assam astringency to it. There aren’t really any notable features to it, which is a shame – it mostly tastes “tea-ish” to me. The astringency is also building up a bit as I continue to sip…

So with a nice vanilla flavor but a meh base, this one is a bit middle-of-the-road for me.