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Sipdown! (9 | 48)

Another oldie finished from Simpson & Vail! This is a nice one – they call it French toast, but it reminds me more of an apple cinnamon coffee cake or even oatmeal. Very mellow with sweet, cooked apple and just the right amount of cinnamon to enhance and add sweetness without taking over, plus the richness of maple. The flavor has definitely diminished with age, so it’s more mild than it once was, but still an enjoyable cuppa.

This was one of my first loves from S&V (along with Almond Sugar Cookie). I’m not sure if I would reorder it at this point, since I don’t often reach for dessert-like teas. It might be nice to have around for fall though, when I tend to crave apple & cinnamon flavors. Thankfully, I can buy a 2-ounce bag next time since I already have the tin!

A spring subscription selection.

When I first saw this one, I assumed they had renamed their Mocha Maté. But this seems to actually be a completely new tea! Usually they send an email announcement for new releases, so I was surprised to be seeing this for the first time in the box. It does seem to maybe be a replacement for Mocha Maté (which AFAIK was just Adagio’s Mocha Nut Maté) as that one is no longer on the OBTC site.

Anyway, this is a green yerba maté and black tea blend with coffee beans, cacao, and cinnamon. I love all of their blends with coffee beans, so I was excited to see them here as well. And I enjoy this one, too! It’s somewhat mellow with an earthy/grassy flavor from the green maté, a bit of body from the black tea, and a kick of roasty coffee. The cinnamon is quite mild, and the cacao even moreso. They describe it as being similar to Mexican hot chocolate, but to me it’s more reminiscent of a cup of black coffee with a sprinkling of cinnamon and cocoa powder. Not really desserty or decadent, but comforting and slightly sweet.

I think I will probably pick up a tin of this one the next time I order from OBTC (not anytime soon, LOL!) as it’s different enough from their other coffee blends to have a place in my cupboard. I like the flavor that the green maté contributes in particular, which is different from their usual puerh (which is also good!).

Sipdown! (8 | 47)

I’ve been slacking on cold steeping (and tea in general) these last couple of months, so it’s nice to come back with a bang thanks to many tins that were already low.

This is a really nice one from Harney, it’s mostly raspberry with just a hint of refreshing mint. I don’t really notice lime, but it’s already quite tart from the hibiscus so maybe it just blends in together. I like that it’s very specifically raspberry, rather than a generic berry blend, and tastes like a fresh, tangy raspberry. It does need a touch of sweetener for me, but nothing drastic.

Will definitely consider a reorder in the future, though I find it weird that this comes in a 3-ounce tin instead of the usual 4, and they consider it an “herbal tea” rather than a “fruit tea”. Yes, it has mint, but the vast majority is hibiscus/rosehips and fruit chunks. (shrugs)

Sipdown! (7 | 46)

This was a lingering tin from the winter subscription box. Red rooibos just isn’t my thing, so I never tend to reach for it, which is why this was still hanging around. It’s fairly unremarkable, mostly just red rooibos and herbaceous peppermint – I don’t really notice much in the way of vanilla. And because the rooibos is quite woody and the peppermint more herbal than crisp, it goes to a very earthy-tasting place that doesn’t really fit the name.

Not awful, just not my thing and didn’t come through on the promised vanilla.

Another one from the spring subscription.

Was dreading this a bit, as I hate Western cherry blossom-flavored teas, and have tried OBTC’s before. But thankfully, the berry fruit infusion mostly overpowers the cherry candy flavoring, and the tanginess helps tame the cloying, medicinal notes that I so despise.

It’s not amazing, but it tastes more like a very mild tangy raspberry fruit tisane, with a dash of cherry and an undertone of green tea. Very easy-drinking, and I might just try it as a cold steep as well.

Spring subscription tea.

Tried this one a few days ago and didn’t write a note. It was nice enough, mild and inoffensive with a softly sweet floral flavor. Didn’t taste like perfume or excessively flavored. The oolong base was green and silky.

However, I’m not a floral person in general, so it’s going into my rehoming box. :)

Sipdown! (5 | 44)

An oldie but a goodie! And one of many full-sized tins from S&V that I need to sip through…

I’m not very into dessert teas these days, as I often find them to be over-the-top. But I still enjoy this one, as it has a lighter buttery-creamy flavor that isn’t cloying. And unlike most almond teas, it tastes nutty and not like marzipan. As usual, S&V’s black base leaves a bit to be desired, but serves well enough as a mellow base for the flavoring.

Not sure whether I’ll reorder this, since, like I said, I don’t reach for dessert flavors often. But I am keeping the tin in case I decide to refill it later.

The last black tea from the March subscription.

As expected, this taste quite similar to a late flush Darjeeling. It’s pleasant enough, just not my favorite type of tea. Very smooth and woody/haylike, with hints of dried fruit and oats. A slight cannabis note, which is something I also often taste in Japanese black teas. Another one for the rehoming box.

Another one from the March subscription.

Not a good match for me, it has too much acidic and metallic Ceylon for my tastes. Will put the rest of the pouch aside to send to someone who will enjoy it.

From the March subscription box. This month, 3 of the 4 selections are unflavored black teas. I do enjoy plain black teas, but just seems like a weird choice to have so many in the same category. Two of them are breakfast-style blends, and one is a plain Nepalese tea.

This one… I’m not sure I buy that there’s no scenting or flavoring happening here. They claim it’s just black teas and blue cornflowers, and in my package the flowers are quite scarce. Yet this has a noticeable floral taste to it, especially in the finish. It’s quite a heady type of floral as well, something close to rose. It’s not rose, but I’m not familiar enough with florals to identify it. I’ve had cornflowers in so many teas, and never noticed a floral note from them, so I’m hesitant to believe that they’re contributing such a strong flavor in this blend. Aside from the floral notes, it tastes a bit Lipton-y, which is usually an indicator of Ceylon for me. Definitely acidic, with a bit of astringency as well. I can’t tell what other teas are here, but I’m not getting a lot of malt.

Definitely not the tea for me, so I’m putting the rest in my rehoming box.

ETA: I finally realized what the floral in this reminds me of, it’s lychee! I think S&V carries a lychee-scented black tea, so I wonder if that’s one of the “black teas” in this blend?