4315 Tasting Notes
52teas 12 Teas of Christmas 2023 – Day 6
Enjoyed this one! I admit, I’ve never had a Dole Whip, but this reminded me a lot of pineapple sherbet, which I assume is similar. It doesn’t quite taste like actual pineapple to me, so more of a candy-like flavor. It’s not quite in gummy bear territory, but somewhere in between.
Very pleasant on the mellow, grassy green base. And always nice to see a pineapple tea with no coconut involved! :)
Flavors: Candy, Dry Grass, Grassy, Pineapple, Smooth, Sweet, Tangy
Preparation
Thésaurus Tea Fandom Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 18
Okay, so somehow the sumac here manages to taste just like hibiscus, LMAO! Like, this tastes like a mild green tea that someone put a bit of hibiscus in. It’s making me a bit sad because I was excited to try the sumac berries… XD
I do get a bit of the tulsi, which is lovely, but mostly it tastes like mildly hibiscus-y green tea. :P
Flavors: Herbaceous, Hibiscus, Mint, Smooth, Tart, Tulsi
Preparation
Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 18
This was quite nice actually. I’m always disappointed by peppermint bark style teas, for some reason they often include cinnamon and it makes no sense to me. This has a nice strong and fresh minty flavor to it that reminds me of candy canes. The white chocolate isn’t overly strong but I do taste it, and there’s a nice creaminess. Surprisingly I like the rooibos base with it.
I’m not sure I would go out of my way to purchase this, but I would say it’s one of the best renditions of a white chocolate peppermint tea that I’ve tried. That lingering cool peppermint finish is so nice! :)
Flavors: Candy Cane, Cooling, Creamy, Fresh, Mint, Peppermint, Rooibos, Smooth, Sweet, Vanilla, White Chocolate
Preparation
Tea at the White House Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 18
This honestly doesn’t really taste flavored? I mostly just get a smooth, woody black tea base. Maybe it’s the flavoring that’s giving it that woody quality, like whiskey? There’s a hint of creaminess but I think if you told me it was a natural note of the tea, I would believe you.
It’s fine but underwhelming.
Flavors: Creamy, Earthy, Smooth, Tannic, Woody
Preparation
Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 18
So this is a lapsang. It smelled quite smoky dry, but I’m finding the smokiness to be very mild steeped up. Mostly tastes like a very smooth, woody, and earthy Chinese black tea with just a touch of savory smoke.
Very smooth and pleasant, with a hefty texture.
Flavors: Earthy, Mineral, Savory, Smoked, Smooth, Woody
Preparation
Bird & Blend Matcha Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 18
To be honest… I don’t really taste the pineapple or the coconut here? I made this as an iced latte (as always), and honestly if I were guessing the flavor, I would guess lemon. It’s quite creamy and sweet, but the only discernable flavoring I’m getting is lemon, and it must be from the peel? Perhaps a hint of piña colada in the finish?
I mean it’s still good, I’m just surprised not to taste more pineapple, and certainly more coconut.
Flavors: Citrus, Creamy, Fruity, Lemon, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 17
Another of their holiday blends!
This is quite nice – a very mellow mix of sweet candy cinnamon, gently herbaceous lemon balm and verbena, and subtly bright orange. There’s something slightly cookie-y about it as well, perhaps it’s the almond mentioned in the description. It’s just a hint though.
I like it more and more as I sip. I would consider ordering some of this, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to make an order just to get some. We’ll see if there are any other teas I end up wanting once I’m finished with this advent. :)
Flavors: Almond, Anise, Apple, Candy, Cinnamon, Citrus, Cookie, Fruity, Herbaceous, Herbs, Light, Orange, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 17
Lol, there is absolutely nothing crème brûlée-ish about this. It mostly tastes like a fruit tisane with a big hit of cardamom on top. I get the apple and the hibiscus, the cardamom of course, and quite a bit of sweetness from the sugared fruit. And then a whole lot of artificial-tasting flavoring that doesn’t really taste like anything specific, and some bitterness.
Just not great, and definitely doesn’t fit the name at all.
Flavors: Apple, Artificial, Bitter, Cardamom, Chemical, Hibiscus, Red Fruits, Sugar, Sweet
Preparation
Thésaurus Tea Fandom Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 17
Ooh, another dragon blend! And this one has wintergreen, one of my absolute favorite herbal ingredients.
Okay, so first off, I do like this. However, there were maybe two little rolled oolong leaves in my sample, and most of it was spearmint dust. I admit, I’m a little frustrated with this advent because the sample size is so small, and too often I feel like I don’t get a good distribution of the ingredients… Which is kind of a big deal when it’s a company that seems to rely so much on the actual ingredients vs. just flavoring. Anyway, back to the tea. :P
This one is lovely. Unsurprisingly, I don’t really taste the oolong. However, I love the blend of the spearmint with the wintergreen and thyme. It’s sweet and savory at the same time, and the wintergreen adds an additional hit of freshness and gives much more dimension to the classic spearmint flavor profile. So really, it ends up being a lovely riff on a mint tisane IMO, because there was basically no oolong in mine. :P
Flavors: Cooling, Fresh, Herbaceous, Mint, Savory, Spearmint, Sweet, Thyme, Wintergreen
Preparation
DIY Kyoto Obubu Advent Calendar – Day 17
Is it bad that I never remember which sencha from Obubu is which, LOL? They have so many! XD This is a shaded spring sencha, Zairai cultivar. I didn’t realize, I guess they only have two shaded spring sencha? For some reason I thought more of them were shaded, but they seem to mostly vary in cultivar.
Annnnyway. This is lovely! You can definitely tell that it’s a shaded tea, it has a more intense and concentrated vegetal flavor that’s somewhere between a classic sencha and a gyokuro. Thick, silky texture as well, with a fair bit of viscosity to it. This one is like a concentrated vegetable shot – all deep green veggies like spinach and kale, but it also has a soft sweetness to it and a creamy undertone. Something slightly fruity in the finish, maybe a tart plum or even passion fruit.
Delicious, as all of their teas are. Now, to forgot all about this and have no idea which sencha this is next time… ;)
Flavors: Broth, Creamy, Freshly Cut Grass, Fruity, Kabocha, Kale, Mineral, Passion Fruit, Plum, Rich, Savory, Silky, Smooth, Spinach, Spring Water, Squash, Sweet, Thick, Umami, Vegetal, Viscous