78
drank Long-tailed Rooster by Lupicia
3986 tasting notes

Work – 11:00 AM

I’m so excited that November starts this week, as I’m going to break into a couple of my tea advent calendars! I’ve ordered five calendars total (Bird & Blend Tea, Bird & Blend Matcha, Palais des Thés, Simpson & Vail, and Tea Revv). So since five is too many to do at once, I’m going to do two of them in November. But which two… Yes, I’m aware that I have a tea advent calendar problem. :P

But fear not, fellow Steepsters! I don’t want to spoil the fun for anyone else, so I’ll be logging my notes in a text file and then posting them on the appropriate day in December.

Anyway, back to the present. This is another grape-flavored tea from Lupicia, and I find it to be very similar to Jingle Bells (also a black tea) so I question why they created this as a limited Year of the Rooster flavor. Oh well!

It is tasty, an interesting combination of sweet candy grape flavor and floral muscat grapes. I confess that I steeped this longer than I’d planned, as I managed to forget about it. But it didn’t come out even the slightest bit bitter, so bully for it! The base tea is very smooth and quite malty.

These grape teas from Lupicia will never be my favorites, only because they veer a little too far into the floral perfumey side of things, and I am not a great lover of floral flavors…

But still a good tea!

Flavors: Candy, Floral, Grapes, Muscatel, Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Aimerella

Haha, a tea advent calendar problem sounds like a pretty awesome problem to have! :)

Cameron B.

So many calendars, so little time. ;)

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Comments

Aimerella

Haha, a tea advent calendar problem sounds like a pretty awesome problem to have! :)

Cameron B.

So many calendars, so little time. ;)

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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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