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This one is quite interesting because it has wakame in it.

Dry, it smelled very dill-like to me, which was odd. I love dill, so I wasn’t mad at it lol. Steeped, it smells very strongly of seaweed, and I was a bit nervous to try it to be honest. I do like wakame in things, but I wouldn’t really want to just drink a wakame infusion if that makes sense.

Luckily, the taste isn’t super seaweedy. I definitely get those briny marine notes in the beginning of the sip, while the middle is more of the vegetal, beany green tea base. I do taste a hint of tangy sea buckthorn in the finish, but I wish there was much more, and the same with the nashi and orange. I think if there was a somewhat stronger fruit presence here, this would potentially be a reorder for me, but as-is I don’t think I would purchase it again. A fun and unique one to try though, and I do love Ponyo!

Last one from Sips by!

I like the idea of this blend, but the anise/star anise combo is just way too strong IMO. I can taste a bit of the tulsi and ginger at the beginning of the sip, and perhaps a touch of orange, but mostly it’s just a big ol’ pile of licorice.

So not a favorite for me.

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I haven’t been drinking much matcha in recent months, so now I’m trying to make an effort to sip through what I have, so it doesn’t just languish in a drawer until it’s sad and brown lol…

Apparently I’ve never written a note for this one? It’s one of my favorites from 3 Leaf! I usually prepare my matcha as an iced oat latte, but this one is also delicious as a matcha lemonade, as you might expect. The raspberry flavor tastes very authentic to me, and has a nice balance of sweet and tart notes. It’s very present but I can still taste plenty of matcha, and their matcha base is smooth and flavorful, as always.

This is also fun to mix with their peach or lemonade flavors!

This is an interesting one, it’s very creamy and smooth with a light pumpkiny flavor to it. There’s honestly not much spice going on, just a subtle warmth in the background, particularly the clove. And then the honeybush base is mellow and woody.

Not sure how I feel about it just yet, though I like that’s it’s more unique. I think I might try it with a drizzle of honey or maple next time, to see how that affects the pumpkin flavor.

Picked up a 50g pouch of this with my matcha advent order, and I’m so happy to be reunited with it. This was one of my first loves from Bird & Blend, and remains a favorite. I don’t even generally like fruity rooibos, but here the rhubarb is tart enough that it doesn’t give weird medicinal vibes. The cream is quite light but sort of rounds the edges and contributes sweetness.

Just yum. :)

Sips by tea number 3 for October!

This is a pleasant enough white tea. It has a light strawberry sparkling wine sort of flavor to it, with a touch of deeper berry or maybe pomegranate. The flavor is nice enough, fairly juicy-tasting, but I can’t help feeling this flavor profile would be better with a touch of tartness, maybe from a sprinkle of hibiscus. Or even as a fruit tisane?

Anyway, enjoyed it well enough, but not something I would order.

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This one is fine. It’s a green chai with hojicha, and supposedly vanilla. I do taste a little bit of the hojicha toastiness, but mostly it’s just the same “spice flavoring” as every other blend, but this time on a green base. I don’t notice any vanilla to speak of.

Meh!

Another October Sips by selection.

This one is just okay. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Old Barrel’s yummy coffee teas, but I’m not loving the coffee flavoring here. The Assam is quite brisk as well. I get a little bit of maté earthiness, but would love a bit more.

I think part of the problem is, it tastes a bit like hazelnut coffee creamer, of which I am not a fan ha ha. It’s decent, but there are other coffee teas I like much more.

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This was nice enough. Honestly I was surprised to not taste much vanilla? Two of the three teas here are vanilla-flavored, so not sure how that happened. Mostly it tastes like their Honeybush Pumpkin Chai, but with a slightly more realistic spice flavor due to the extra spices in the mix. The ginger in particular stands out.

Tasty enough, but not a favorite. Not sure what’s “latte” about it, unless that just means they expect you to prepare it as a latte.

From my October Sips by box. Somehow even though my renewal date is the 1st of the month, and I live in the same city that Sips by is based in (Austin, TX), I still never get my box in the first half of the month. :P

This is an interesting one. It’s a black tea and rooibos mix with apple, orange, hibiscus, and… sage? I don’t taste the black tea at all, mostly it’s a woody rooibos base with strong sage flavor and a bit of the orange and hibiscus tartness in the background. Strange combination of a fruit tisane and a more savory herbal blend.

It’s not bad, but I will say the combination of red rooibos and sage tastes very medicinal to me, probably because both of those things can lean in that direction. Was interesting to try though! It seems like this company might no longer be around, at least their website doesn’t work. So maybe this was just some leftover stock that Sips by still had on hand.