1414 Tasting Notes
2025 sipdown no. 11
I adored the Iceberg tea from Dark Tickle, and was thrilled to find two sachet options from this company handy to me. Sadly, this one was not a winner (I had my suspicions with the sachet). The Ceylon base, in my opinion, wasn’t the best choice here due to the metallic bitterness it imparts, overtaking any berry flavour. Ah well, onto the next!
2025 sipdown no. 10
From across the room, this was all maple in scent. Up close, the scent was very reminiscent of pumpkin pie. The taste was a fairy equal balance of both maple and pumpkin, with hints of cinnamon and perhaps some warmth from ginger in the background.
I had the resteeped leaves cold brewed and the flavour was all pumpkin, little to no maple, with a gentle yet clear ginger heat. Quite a tasty tea overall.
Thanks Martin for sending this my way!
The P&T website says 7 teas make up this blend. The flavour is relatively smooth, no astringency, and light-bodied. There are very subtle hints of floral and an even more subtle sweetness in the background. The second steep is remarkably similar to the first, which is a point in its favour. This tea is nice, but not as special as I had anticipated.
Ehh, the pu-erh mixed into the base makes this a pass for me. It’s not super noticeable and doesn’t have any pu-erh weirdness, but something just seems off. This one started strong and I made it through maybe 1/3 of the 50g, but now I can’t even open the bag because the smell bothers me. I’ll try to rehome, but it may be another compost-down.
2025 sipdown no. 9
A smooth malty tea, quite light overall. I find Assams to be more ‘heavy’, but this was a nice change. The raspberry notes are there is I really concentrate (though this could be wishful thinking on my part). I quite enjoyed this cup, though not sure I’d order more.
Preparation
2025 sipdown no. 8
There are both baked cherry and honey notes, but neither are as robust as I anticipated. Regardless, I had no issue polishing off 25g and look forward to the other red oolongs I have to try.
I tried this in my gaiwan doing 15-30 second steeps, western with a 2 minute, 2.5 minute, and 3 minute steep. I personally enjoyed the 3 minute western steep best.
Harvest: Spring, March 2024
Origin: Chokechamroen, T.E., Doi Mae Salong, Thailand
Preparation
2025 sipdown no. 7
Thanks Martin for sending this!
I had the first two cups of this at home and found it to be floral-bitter, like a lower quality Darjeeling perhaps. The last two cups I had at work and found it to be milky in taste. Neither version was for me!
I tried boiling and 200°F at both 3 minutes and 2.5 minutes.
2025 sipdown no. 6
The base here was too sharp for my liking, finicky and quickly becoming astringent. I tried this hot at various temperatures and cold steeped, to no avail. The base was so bothersome to me, I barely noticed the flavour, but the spices and pumpkin were there, but nothing to write home about. Finally, I mixed some Wild Quince (from Georgian Tea 1847) into what was left and that mellowed it enough to enjoy this as a work tea.
