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Thank you Inkling for adding all these Dessert by Deb teas to the TTB for me! I’m excited about them. Made as an oat milk latte, this went down so quickly and easily. My first impression was a cinnamon note, but apparently there’s not actually any cinnamon in here so… shrug emoji? I’m getting a light banana (not as sweet as the 52teas banana) and a nice maple flavor on a sturdy base. The slightest of astringency at the end of the sip, which is to be expected. I’m not really getting a bread/pastry note. Perhaps that’s being obscured by the oat milk. A pretty delightful banana-maple-cinnamon situation even without that bread/pastry flavor.

TTB 2025. Since the first Old Barrel Tea Co. blend was so tasty, I decided to go for another one. At first I thought I might have messed up the steeping parameters because all I’m getting is a big hit of cherry cough syrup. But then I looked at the other tasting notes and they say similar things! So I’m comfortable saying this is a no for me.

2025 TTB. Ooh, I’ve been wanting to try Old Barrel for a while! Getting to try new-to-me companies is one of my favorite things about TTBs. To give this its best chance, I made it iced with orange blossom honey as instructed. It’s pretty good! The mango is sweet and clear and juicy. I’ve never actually had prickly pear itself but the flavor here seems similar to other prickly pear blends I’ve tried, so I assume it’s fairly close (or everyone is using the exact same flavoring that may or may not taste like its namesake). I can see this being a winner in hot weather.

2025 TTB. It’s me Inkling, I’m the rooibos lover. This one never quite hit home for me though. It’s not bad, just a little muddled as others have said. The overall vibe is “red berry rooibos.” The woody flavor of the rooibos is pretty noticeable. While I can get a bit of mango flavor if I really focus, it doesn’t pop. And even though there’s no hibiscus in here, it tastes like there’s too much hibiscus in here. So basically, the balance between the mango and raspberry is a bit off. I experimented with adding a bit of oat milk to the bottom half of my mug. That just gave it more of a creamsicle vibe, but didn’t really do anything to help distinguish the flavors.

The TTB arrived early this morning, yay! I hustled to open it up before leaving for work so I could pick out a tea to take to the office. This was the first one that looked like it would be a flexible option for the day. Of course, because I was then scrambling to do too many things at once before leaving, I overbrewed the travel mug of hot tea that I made. Which actually turned out fine! Still a solid floral jasmine green with no bitterness, astringency, or essential oil-like taste. I took some more pearls to the office to make a cold-brew second mug. Weirdly, that one turned out much less pleasant than the hot brew. I combined fresh pearls and cold water and let it sit for a few hours. Pretty standard method. But the result had a harsh, almost bitter edge that wasn’t there in the hot brew. Very unusual, normally I’d expect cold brewing to smooth out any harshness in a tea. So while this is a pretty solid jasmine, it’s not the best or my favorite.

Day 3 of the Tea Thoughts spring countdown box. I think I maybe made this wrong! I have the equipment but I haven’t made matcha at home in the traditional way in a very long time. My best guess is that my whisk is too big for the bowl I was using (or the bowl is too small for the whisk). Or I should have sifted the matcha before whisking. Or both. But the long and the short of it is that I never quite got a great suspension or much froth. It came out a mossy green color – I don’t know whether it’s supposed to be that color or the darkness of the bowl made it look darker. Flavor-wise, it mostly reminded me of a seaweed broth. Not the most marine tea I’ve ever had – more like that thick, chewy seaweed than the thin, crunchy kind.
Mostly my takeaway is that I need to practice making matcha more often. Possibly in a larger bowl or with a smaller whisk. But I’m really glad to have gotten a reason to find that out!

Day 2 of the Tea Thoughts spring countdown box. When I first saw this, I was worried it would be a pu’erh. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it’s a compressed white tea! I brewed this up gong fu style, getting about 5 total steeps out of it before I had to stop because of the time. I’ve been sitting here with a flavor wheel trying to find the right words to describe the flavor, but none of them fit. There’s definitely a delicate orange note that comes through clearly and makes it through multiple steeps. The base tea has that savory, full mouthfeel, almost brothy quality that some white teas have. Not salty brothy like a gyokuro, but brothy nonetheless. The orange gives it a nice lightness, cutting through the heaviness that this might otherwise have. If anyone knows what words I’m looking for here, let me know!

Day 1 of the Tea Thoughts spring countdown box. I’m excited about this one because there should be several new-to-me tea companies in here, including this one. The description says there should be sweet notes, but I’m just not getting that. This reminds me more of a vegetal longjing. Like green leafy vegetables, not as bitter as kale or arugula but in that general vicinity. Which is not to say that I don’t like this – I do! I’m just not getting the tasting notes that I’m “supposed” to.

Sipdown, alas. I sent this one off in style, as an oat milk latte in a big cozy mug. I’d happily pick up more in my next DavidsTea order. It hits that sweet treat sweet spot: not too sugary, can’t taste the stevia, syrupy strawberry candy flavor, with a powdered sugar overlay and a hint of pastry. Oat milk drowns out the pastry note a bit, so I’ve probably had it as a latte as often as I’ve had it straight, just depending on the flavor I was in the mood for. Maybe I’ll be able to get some more before next Hanukkah to keep in my holiday tea rotation.

I was out running errands and got so thirsty that I had to grab something before I could get home. This is very sweet, definitely more “bubbly lychee juice” than “oolong.” But I think if the base tea was in any way harsh or drying, that would still be noticeable. So I’m comfortable saying that the base tea supports the lychee-ness well.