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Part Two: Cold Brewed/Sipdown

My wife was eager to work her cold brewed magic with this last night. My. Goodness. It. Was. Amazing! She made over a gallon of tea with the remainder of the pouch. The rooibos is more present than when we sipped it hot, but we love rooibos, so that’s a huge win. The orange flavor is still very much alive and it’s not as ‘juicy’ cold brewed as it was hot. I totally should snag a cup, after typing this, before it’s all gone!

What makes this super? It’s a tea blend! Did I feel super after drinking? I’m trying. :)

A hint of malt immediately hits the tongue and then remains a lingering vanilla taste. It went well with the two slices of homemade bread and Amish-made cherry jelly. Does it hold well on its own? Eh.

So…I know this one didn’t get a lot of love here, but…I love it. I bought one pouch whenever it went on sale, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasn’t hopeful, yet, but I was curious. The aroma reminds me of Valentine’s Day. Sweet chocolate and roses.

“Okay, this is weird.”

I’d’ve noted these aromas even with my eyes closed. The flavor wasn’t what I wasn’t expecting.

Anyway, I was sipping this at work last night in my massive thermos, celebrating the last day at the office/back to remote work starting today! 6+ weeks of 2 week training in an office space of endless emptiness is finally over! Back to the tea…I was sipping this and I had to pause to enjoy the cup. I never ever ever ever take time out of work (while at the office) to take a break or pause over anything. I’m a robot sipping tea robotically…lol

I paused sipping this because I was very much responsive to sweet floral chocolatey notes of the tea. It’s a bursting flavor of roses and chocolate. I love the dessert vibe, without being too overly sweet, or too chocolatey, or too floral. It balances well together and it reminds me Fruit Loops, but not entirely at the same time. Obviously it’s still complex for me to explain, but the thing is…I love it. The flavors always take me by surprise in the most pleasant way. This cuppa last night made me reconsider my options while working, too.

“Take a break. Tea can provide an opportunity for pause.”

I was given a discount code for the tea box. I was hesitant on even wanting to give this a try. I watched a bunch of reviews on YouTube and saw some of the unique blends that folks got, so I figured I’d take the risk for a 50% discount code. I’d do it for the channel, give some honest feedback, enjoy the teas…Instead, they sent me Stash, Twinings, bagged peppermint, and a small (one cup) sample of ‘strawberry tea.’ I was disappointed with the results, especially since I chose the option they listed on the site, “My blood is tea.” I think if I were to share tea with a supposed advanced palate, I’d offer better teas. I felt like this box was put together in a hurry while shopping at the local grocery store, and they grabbed whatever tea seemed available at the time. I was going to order another box for February, but at the full price ($16 USD), I’d rather spend the money elsewhere.

Backlong: 1/17/21
Sipdown
Finished the sample of this yesterday. I started drinking it with breakfast, but the moment quickly faded into an adventure. I threw this into a thermos to go, and it was the tea I grandpa styled the remainder of the day. This tea is/was tightly compressed, which was nice, since I was able to toss it into the gaiwan for later use.

It took me a few steeps last night and a couple this morning before I called it quits. This tea will brew and brew, if you want it to. Nice sweet notes of hay and lightly malty.

Smells like machine bubble gum. I’m not sure how to explain that exactly, however, bubble gum from a ball machine typically has a sweet spice (?) on the nose. Maybe my nose isn’t the most trusting thing in the world, but that’s how they always smell to me. Anyway, the flavor is very pleasant and fruity. The hibiscus makes the tea a little tart, which reminds me of sour cherry. That cherry + spices + pear is very nice. I definitely want to give this a try as an iced tea.

Edit—It tastes like Juicy Fruit. Roswell Strange narrowed the type of gum down. I haven’t had it in so long, that I almost lost touch with one of my favorite childhood flavors.

This is the second cup of tea tonight. I’ve been quite busy with work since a lot of places were closed yesterday with the large amounts of snow that gathered within various cities/states.

I found that this tea smells like a Girl Scout Mint Patty, but the flavor profile has more of a York Peppermint Patty taste. This was surprisingly creamy and dessert-y. The rooibos base didn’t really scream in this tea, despite the obvious amounts of rooibos leaf in the blend itself. The peppermint and chocolate took the show, and I LOVED it.

Day Two working remote. This was supposed to be the last week of training at the office, but my cars are still stuck in the driveway. Fortunately, the city sent a report and said that they are going to plow all the side streets this afternoon. I’ve managed to get all the snow off the sidewalk, and the driveway salted; however, the road is untouched. I saw my neighbor, in their pickup, struggling to gain momentum on the road at 06:30, so I knew that there’d be no way getting the wife out onto the road and going. I was correct because we spent 35 minutes pushing the car back into the driveway.

I brewed a cup of the Winter White Earl Grey after that failed attempt. I had a cuppa last night for the YouTube channel, but this is one of those morning teas that I like to enjoy—especially before my typical wakeup time. It was quite lovely. I added nothing to the cup. I never desire any cream or sugar for this Earl Grey. I will add honey to almost every other Earl Grey that I sip on, except for this tea.

The following notes:

Dry leaf: bergamot, citrus, & floral notes.

Flavor: mellow, sweet, warming, vibrant, citrusy, floral, and that smooth bergamot note throughout the cup.

PS. I know that this wasn’t quite the “deep dive” into the session, but it’s a simple tea that doesn’t need too much explanation. Sorry for the long venting at the top : )

It snowed a lot in NE Ohio today. I spent most of the morning shoveling the sidewalk and driveway. My boss wanted me to work at home, but silly me, I left the laptop at work. I couldn’t move my tiny car out of the driveway, so my parents were kind enough to lend me their AWD. Even with that, the drive to the office took over an hour. After the long morning/early afternoon, I wanted a tea to sip while starting the shift off. I grabbed for this one and it was immediately the perfect choice.

This tea is bursting with that strong orange juice vibe. There’s a hint of cream, reminding me of an orange Julius. I really enjoy this cup. I had this one hot, but I’m going to make a batch of cold brew tonight for the office tomorrow.

Gongfu’d

After reading another review, I realized that my palate may be off or I’m just feeling the energy a bit too much from the tea from earlier in the day.

I got a slight note of lemon and kale from the wet leaf aroma. I tasted more of the kale, sweet, ever so slight smoky elements, but that lingering flavor had a touch of lemon peel and custard. I compared it (verbally to a friend) to an IPA. You taste the citrus, but something else is blocking it from completely sticking out. I’m definitely fully tea drunk at this point, so at least I can confirm it’s a qi-filled treat.

Side Note: I’m going to make it a goal to eventually compare the 2020 with the 2021.