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Sipdown! (54)

Yay, one Vahdam advent tin down! These have been getting a little neglected with all the other categories of sipdown teas I have. Old teas, subscription teas, swap teas… I had three of these mini tins that I selected at random sitting on the counter, and this was one of them. I’ve been making London Fogs fairly often since I got a new milk frother, so this one went quite quickly!

I cuddled up with a giant latte on the couch tonight, which was lovely. I steeped a tablespoon of tea in 8 ounces of hot water and then added another 8 ounces of warm frothed milk with a bit of vanilla syrup added in. So scrumptious! I used dairy milk this time, but I’m sure almond or oat would be just as tasty.

Happy to have one mini tin finished off! Maybe I’ll try to get one cup of Vahdam leftovers in per day. Ugh, the thought of all of those turmeric tisanes… XD

Sipdown! (53)

The last Sips by tea! And I’ve cancelled my subscription in favor of Dessert by Deb, so it really is the last one…

This was delightful (I’ve been watching too much Tea with Jann, LOL!). Smooth and soft yet very flavorful with notes of oats, hay, and dried apricot with a nice vegetal undertone.

I need to make sure I pick up some lovely silver needle whenever I order from Teavivre again… I really do enjoy straight white teas!

Sipdown! (52)

Another tea from my endless pile of Teavivre samples!

This one falls a bit flat after having their Golden Tips version a few days ago… Don’t get be wrong, it’s a nice enough Yunnan tea. There are notes of soft baked bread and a bit of sweet potato on top of an earthy, mineral base. I find gentle hints of smoke as well, and a touch of caraway. The end of the sip is a bit more interesting, with some light fruity notes that remind me of plum and dried cherry. A hint of molasses or brown sugar there as well.

It was a pleasant cuppa to start my day! I’ve been trying to get up earlier (7:00) to get more “me” time out of my day, as I always feel like the evening slips away from me. It certainly helps to have a nice Teavivre black tea to start off with! :)

Happy National Popcorn Day!

I meant to have this a few hours ago, but then I got distracted by a coloring app… Oops. I blame whoever suggested it on Instagram.

I should really drink this tea more often. I love genmaicha and I have two big bags of it for some reason. And this is such a yummy example of it, with a mellow and sweet bancha base. In a lot of genmaicha that I’ve tried, the base tea is overly grassy and just not great tea. But in this version, I love the base as well as the rice. It has a bit of a dry grass note, but also a lovely nuttiness to it. And then there’s that delicious toasted rice adding a sweet and rich grainy flavor…

Nom! :)

Sipdown! (51)

I forgot to write a note for this earlier! I finished off my last serving of this delicious matcha by making a chocolate banana iced matcha latte!

I prepared the matcha with about 6 ounces of water, and then frothed 6 ounces of milk using the cold froth setting on my new milk frother (thanks VariaTEA!). I drizzled some dark chocolate sauce into a glass and added a few ice cubes, then poured in the matcha and then the milk. Of course, I had to add another dark chocolate drizzle to the top of the latte.

It was scrumptious! I love chocolate and banana together, and was so happy that I could still taste the matcha underneath all of the decadence. It was a great way to finish off this packet! And I got my new 3 Leaf Tea matcha order today too! \o/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKPmkn0giK4/

Sipdown! (50)

I really like the concept of this one, I just feel like it comes out tasting a bit bland?

I can definitely taste the buckwheat, which goes very well with the oxidized, slightly roasty oolong. There’s a bit of woody yet creamy vanilla that’s light but pleasant. But I’m not really getting the clementine at all in this cup, and I really feel like this tea needs more clementine in general.

Or at least it needs more of something. More vanilla would be delicious too! Thanks Courtney for the swap sample! :D

Sipdown! (49)

This was from an old Sips by box and has just been lingering for a little bit. Maybe because I always feel a bit pressured to steep straight oolongs gongfu style. Well too bad, oolong, it’s Western style for you! XD

This makes for a very pleasant evening tea. I’ve enjoyed dong ding in the past because I found it a bit more vegetal and less floral than high mountain varieties. This tea has a nice silky smooth texture and very light leafy vegetal flavor. I do taste some of the peach and light floral notes that I find in Li Shan and Ali Shan, and a fair bit of creaminess.

Green oolong is never my favorite, as it tends to veer too floral. But that doesn’t mean I’m not enjoying this cuppa! It’s just not something I would feel the need to keep in my cupboard.

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I sent samples of this to several people, so I only had a couple of servings to finish off. Not that I mind, I love sharing tea and I can easily buy more if I love it!

This has a lovely orange aroma and flavor. It’s amazing to me that the dried orange segments contribute so much flavor to the blend! So there’s a wonderful authentic orange note, along with some rich creaminess from the vanilla pieces. As for the ginger, I’m not getting much other than a light tingly sensation at the end of the sip.

Also, even though there’s maple and brown sugar here, it’s not very sweet at all, which is nice. The orange and vanilla already give it a sweet edge, so more sweetness isn’t really needed. The rooibos is also extremely mild.

I like it! I will say, I’m not really getting much ginger or shortbread here. Maybe a honeybush base would have made it a bit more cookie-ish, but I expect a shortbread to be quite buttery. But as a creamy orange rooibos tisane, it’s very pleasant! I can’t wait to try the other orange teas I have from Deb!

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My goodness, these jasmine teas from Teavivre…

I always forget how scrumptious a good jasmine tea is. I don’t even like florals, but I somehow love jasmine. Here, it’s so sweet and creamy and delicious! The tea has a beautiful silky smooth texture, like a lighter version of an oolong. It’s always difficult for me to pick apart the green tea and the jasmine, but I am getting a very subtle vegetal note as well as a bit of a minerality and a touch of fuzzy apricot from the base tea.

Teavivre offers several grades of jasmine pearls, this being the cheapest one. Really, their assortment of jasmine teas is quite overwhelming… I think I have two more of their jasmine samples left to try, but I can’t imagine them possibly being vastly better than this one. There’s just not much room for improvement! :D

Sipdown! (46)

This was from an old Sips by box. November maybe?

It’s actually fairly decent given it’s an inexpensive teabag. The oxidized oolong has a comforting and slightly toasty autumn leaf flavor profile. The peach is candylike, but most peach flavoring is (in my opinion). And it’s not like peach rings, it reminds me more of the gummy alligators that were in the DAVIDsTEA matcha advent calendar, with more tartness and depth to the flavor.

Quite pleasant in its simplicity. I wouldn’t rush out and buy it or anything, but I could see this being a nice one to keep around for traveling, or other times when having individually-wrapped teabags is convenient.