3986 Tasting Notes

88

Breaking this one out for another Mastress Alita sipdown challenge themed day! Today is National Marzipan Day! I’m not a fan of marzipan-flavored teas, so I figured I would go with an almond tea instead.

This tastes just like it says – like a sweet and buttery almond cookie. I’m imagining a thin and crisp cookie, maybe with a slice of almond perched on top, like those Chinese almond cookies. There’s a creaminess here as well, it almost tastes as though I’ve added milk to my cup.

Still a scrumptious little dessert tea! It’s not quite on the same level as their Apple Cinnamon French Toast black tea, but yummy nonetheless.

Flavors: Almond, Butter, Cookie, Creamy, Milk, Smooth, Sweet, Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Courtney

I remember loving this one!

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85

Sipdown! (37)

Technically I have another package of this tea, but it still counts because I said so! ;)

This is a lovely sencha. I was getting a lot of sakura notes this time around, which was so relaxing… Ahh…

A nice combination of mellow vegetal spinach, floral, and light umami notes. My second steep got a little bitter, I was using a new (and cute!) little jade-colored teapot and I must not have drained it enough after the first steep.

I’m happy and thankful that I still have more of this gentle sencha to enjoy at a later date! ❤

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ7eYSuAOgO/

Flavors: Bitter, Floral, Sakura, Seaweed, Smooth, Spinach, Umami, Vegetal

Preparation
160 °F / 71 °C 1 min, 0 sec 5 g 7 OZ / 200 ML
Leafhopper

I love the names of these Obubu senchas!

Cameron B.

I know! This one and Gushing Brook are definitely the best!

tea-sipper

Does anyone catch comments during a freeze? Not sure if I just shouldn’t bother commenting during a freeze. Anyway, Cameron’s note leads me to ask: do others count each individual packaging of a tea as a sipdown? Or only if you finish ALL the packagings of one type of tea?

Mastress Alita

Tea-sipper: I don’t catch comments during a freeze. I have to wait until it is un-frozen to go back through my (by then, very, very long notifications list. Which is usually upwards of 200 notices to go through by the time they’ve been getting around to fixing these “freezes” (but I do go back through them…)

It seems to me most people count individual packages. I, however, do not. I only count a sipdown once a tea completely leaves my inventory.

tea-sipper

Ah ok, thanks for seeing my questions after the freeze then. :D Personally, I count each package as a sipdown, but I can see the extra accomplishment in a tea completely leaving the “cupboard” or spreadsheet.

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58

This is from my January Sips by box.

As yummy as the name sounds, I was really not excited for this one. I often have a difficult time with chocolate flavoring in tea, as it always tastes so waxy and artificial to me. But here we go…

Yeah, not a fan… The chocolate flavoring has an almost boozy quality to it, as well as tasting like cheap Easter chocolates. I’m not sure I can taste the cacao nibs or the coriander here, unfortunately. A pity, coriander sounded like such an interesting addition!

Flavors: Alcohol, Artificial, Chocolate, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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90

Sipdown! (36)

My old friend, we meet again… This was one of the first black teas that I remember really loving when I started seriously drinking tea several years back. Teavivre was the first place I remember exploring straight black teas, with help from the lovely boychik, Stephanie, and others. At one point I had a full tin of this tea, but I must have finished it. So it’s so fun to be able to revisit this tea now!

This is the quintessential sweet potato-y golden Yunnan tea. It’s malty, bready, and savory with a thick and satisfying texture that makes me feel as though I’ve just eaten a meal. Über smooth with nary a hint of bitterness or astringency, and an undercurrent of dark burnt brown sugar. Such lovely little apricot notes poke their heads out at the end!

Feeling so thankful as I sip on this to have such fond memories of old tea friends and new ones alike! The tea community in general is so welcoming and kind and wonderful, and I’m just happy to be a part of it. ❤

Flavors: Apricot, Bread, Brown Sugar, Burnt Sugar, Malt, Smooth, Stonefruit, Sweet Potatoes

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 4 min, 0 sec 5 g 16 OZ / 473 ML
Courtney

I picked up a sample of this in my order. So excited to try it!

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80

Matcha Monday!

I’m almost out of flavored matcha to sip down, so I figured I would break into the straight matcha this morning! I bought this one at Ippodo in Kyoto in November of 2019. So it’s a bit older, and I won’t judge it too harshly…

It has a beautiful vibrant dark green color and bright green foam. The taste is very powerful, with an emphasis on sharp grassiness and deep green seaweed-like umami notes. Up front is a strong and slightly bitter greens/grass note, which then transitions to an umami-filled marine flavor, followed by a gentle sweetness and nuttiness and, in the aftertaste, a light floral note and clear fruitiness that reminds me of green grapes or starfruit. Maybe a bit of green apple as well?

Definitely still has plenty of flavor left! Whether this is the original flavor, who knows? I enjoyed my cup and was very impressed by how long the matcha remained suspended, even though I was distracted by a work call and pugs.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ6V21eg4W8/

Flavors: Bitter, Floral, Freshly Cut Grass, Grain, Grass, Green, Green Apple, Lettuce, Marine, Nuts, Seaweed, Sweet, Umami, White Grapes

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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72
drank Apple Spice Cake by Pinky Up
3986 tasting notes

Sipdown! (35)

This was from my Sips by January box. I used the whole packet (about a tablespoon) for my 12-ounce mug because I find fruit tisanes to be quite weak if not overleafed… So easy sipdown, yay!

It’s quite sweet, though that’s probably partially due to my overleafing. The flavor is mostly sweet and tart apple. There’s a lovely warming cinnamon note as well. It’s nice to have a fruit tisane without hibiscus in it, not that I hate hibiscus, but it’s a nice change to not have it here.

It’s a very simple flavor for sure, just apple and cinnamon, and the apple leaves an acidic aftertaste in my throat that I could do without. And the sweetness is a bit too much for me. I’m not really getting anything cakey here, which is a shame. But it’s definitely pleasant (albeit sweet) cuppa to sip on before bed!

Flavors: Apple, Cinnamon, Sugar, Sweet, Tart

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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80

So after finishing one of my oldest teas the other day, this one got moved into the box in its place. It’s almost a whole tin, and as any of you who have Kusmi tins know, they’re big – like 125 grams or something. And that’s a rather daunting amount to sip down, so I figured I’d try cold brewing it to make it go faster. I used about 20g for a liter of water and let it steep for several hours, until the color looked dark enough. It’s essentially a Moroccan mint tea, so I added a spoonful of honey too. I think normally it’s made with sugar, but I like the combination of mint and honey!

It’s quite tasty! The spearmint is very gum-like, but makes for a very refreshing cold tea. The gunpowder base is quite mild steeped this way, but still creates a nice earthy base for the mint. And the amount of honey sweetness is perfect!

Very pleased with how this came out, I can definitely see myself finishing off the tin this way! :3

Flavors: Earth, Mint, Spearmint, Sweet

Preparation
Iced 20 g 34 OZ / 1000 ML

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75

This is one of a few opened Deb packets that I moved into my small packets section on the countertop. I have so many of her teas and I never drink them! So I figured I would fix that by moving some where I could easily see them.

I have mixed feelings about this one… I really like the flavors going on, it’s perfectly cinnamon bun with a hint of apple. I can just imagine the glorious apple cinnamon-filled spirals, fresh out of the oven… Yum.

But it’s also a bit too sweet for me. Almost all of Deb’s teas have maple crystals or brown sugar or both, but this one just has a little too much IMO. Maybe that’s because it helps to sell the idea of caramel?

Anyway, it’s delicious and I’ll have no trouble finishing off my 25g packet, but it’s not one I would reorder.

Flavors: Apple, Brown Sugar, Butter, Cinnamon, Pastries, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
Silent Kettle

I absolutely love sweet, lol! :3 I am glad you enjoyed this one and it sounds like it captured the essence of a pastry. I am going to get a large bag of this one I think since I wanted to make it as a latte in the mornings! Your review pushed me to make that purchase once her shop re-opens ha-ha.

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82

This is from the December subscription box! It’s one of the teas I was most excited to try, because I love kukicha and citrus teas.

It’s quite good. The kukicha has a lovely gentle creamy vegetal flavor with a touch of roasted grain. The grapefruit is the strongest citrus note for me, followed by lime, lemon, and sweet orange. There’s a pleasant touch of piney-ness at the end of the sip, either from the green tea or the grapefruit.

I’m enjoying my cup of this. But reading the description, I see that this was first intended to be a lemon-lime meringue kukicha but was modified. I will say, I think that meringue/cream element and a little bit more sweetness or creaminess would make this even better. Like a mixed citrus cream pie!

Flavors: Citrus, Grain, Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime, Orange, Roasted, Smooth, Spinach, Sweet, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 30 sec 2 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML

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60

Sipdown! (34)

There were four teabags of this in my January Sips by box. Hopefully since I changed my tastes preferences, they won’t give me chai every month anymore…

I drank the first two bags earlier today and figured I would just finish the remaining ones off tonight in one of my recently purchased larger teacups. In the cup earlier I didn’t notice much bitterness, but I am getting some in this cup. I don’t think it’s coming from the tea, likely from the moringa as it has a slightly different bitter flavor. I am getting a tinge of algae-like green flavor as well, which I assume is also from the moringa.

Otherwise, it’s a relatively mild and generic chai with notes of clove, cardamom, and cinnamon, and a hint of black pepper warmth. It would be nice enough, but the moringa bitterness is sort of ruining this cup for me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ4cGYxAhRy/

Flavors: Bitter, Black Pepper, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Clove, Seaweed, Vegetal

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 12 OZ / 354 ML

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Profile

Bio

Hi, I’m Cameron! I’m a 30-something software engineer currently living in Austin, Texas with my husband and our two pugs, Gobo and Ume. I tend to cycle between my different hobbies, and they include piano, knitting, video games, board games, miniature painting, planners, bento, KBeauty, and – of course – TEA! But really, what I’m best at is “collecting” hobby-related things… ;)

~ 2024 SIPDOWN CHALLENGE! ~
- January Sipdowns: 6
- Total 2024 Sipdowns: 6

I prefer my tea lukewarm or at room temperature and without milk or sugar. I steep Western style, and fluctuate between using big mugs or small teapots depending on the season. Occasionally I’ll brew Gongfu style when I’m in the mood. I’ll also often use a kyusu for Japanese teas.

I am always up for a swap! Just let me know if you’d like to try something in my cupboard.

Tea Preferences:
I enjoy both flavored and unflavored teas in many forms. These days, I drink mostly flavored teas, and I tend to gravitate most toward black, green, oolong, and herbal varieties. I do have a special fondness for straight Japanese green teas, however. I also enjoy maté, rooibos, and honeybush. I love matcha and drink it often! Fruit tisanes are not a favorite, but I’m always willing to try them.

I do not sweeten my teas, and pre-sweetened teas are usually too sweet for me. I also do not enjoy stevia.

Fruit: All of them! My ‘go-to’s tend to be in the red fruits, stonefruit, or citrus spectra. I also really love apple, banana, berry, fig, lychee, melon, pear, and rhubarb flavors. Tropical fruits aren’t among my favorites, but I still enjoy them once in a while – especially passionfruit, mango, and pineapple. I am not generally a fan of coconut in tea, though there are some exceptions.

Dessert: I love creamy vanilla and marshmallow flavors, along with anything in the caramel family such as butterscotch, toffee, or maple. Chocolate is also a favorite, though I’m often disappointed by it in tea. And don’t forget anything buttery, cakey, or cookie-y!

Floral: I’m a little bit more particular in this category. I very much enjoy jasmine, even strong jasmine, along with sakura, chamomile, and elderflower. Osmanthus is also a favorite of mine. But I’m not crazy about rose or lavender flavors, and I prefer hibiscus in moderation only.

Spices: I don’t generally find myself drawn to masala chai, but I do enjoy spices combined with other flavors. My favorite spices are the warm ones, especially cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, and cardamom. A bit of heat from black pepper or chili is okay too, as long as it’s not overwhelming! Ginger can be a lovely accent, but I find it difficult to drink as a starring flavor.

Aromatics: I’m obsessed with Earl Grey! I also love cooling flavors such as mint (especially spearmint), pine, juniper, and eucalyptus. I am not a fan of strong rosemary or sage in tea.

Favorite Companies:
3 Leaf
Bird & Blend
Dammann Frères
Harney & Sons
Kyoto Obubu Tea Farms
Lupicia
Old Barrel Tea Co
Simpson & Vail
Taiwan Tea Crafts
TeaVivre

Tea Rating Scale:
90-100: Outstanding! Permanent cupboard resident
80-89: Great – a possible staple
70-79: Good, but I wouldn’t buy it
60-69: It’s decent
50-59: Meh… I may or may not have finished the cup
40-49: Ick. Couldn’t finish it.
00-39: Repulsive, I spat it out

I will sometimes refrain from rating a tea if I feel I’m too biased due to my personal dislikes, or if I suspect the sample has been compromised by age or scent contamination.

Cupboard Spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZEuKf1-ppR-VXajO4vV39zU1N3zjFJteEPAynqD2yl0/edit?usp=sharing

Location

Austin, Texas

Website

https://www.instagram.com/tea...

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