681 Tasting Notes

21
drank Silver Tips White Tea by Teapigs
681 tasting notes

Sipdown! (13/203)

At some point, I really must pick up another bag of this to try again. I bought only one from a teashop nearby, and didn’t realise I hadn’t logged it until now.

This was very early on in my tea enthusiast days, and (I am ashamed to admit), I poured boiling water straight onto it, completely ruining the delicate tea. At the time I hated it, and wondered why anyone would enjoy drinking such a thing, but I now realise that I messed up and it had nothing (or very little) to do with the tea itself. A fair review is in order in the future. This cup just tasted bitter.

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36

This was from my local tea shop, not the company stated. I didn’t add a separate entry as I suspect they buy their blends in rather than make them themselves, and from a quick browse this looked the most familiar.

I have never had grenadine before, but a google search told me it should be pomegranate flavoured. After reading that I might have became more susceptible, as I would probably now say that it tastes like pomegranate, but beforehand wouldn’t have been able to say more than ‘unspecified fruit flavour’. There is a sweetness which might come from the vanilla.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but this is not a flavour I am fond of. I have tried it hot, and I’ve cold steeped it. Nothing seems to work. I love pomegranates, and I don’t like vanilla on its own but don’t usually mind it in blends. Maybe I’m just not keen on pomegranate in tea. Either way, I have given Frank’s mum the rest of my bag of this tea, as I gave her a sample a while back which she loved. At least it’s gone to a good home!

Sipdown! (12/203)

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45

This was a sample from my first ever swap with Hapatite, and has actually been gone for quite a while.

I am not a big fan of green teas, and I actively dislike ginger, so this was never going to be a winner in my books. However, it is totally drinkable. The green tea is more green veg than grass, and the ginger isn’t overbearing. I don’t remember tasting any lemon but it does have a slight tang. Still, I am glad to only have a sample of this. Not as bad as expected, but still not one for me I’m afraid.

Sipdown! (11/203)

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89

I don’t seem to have this tea any more, and I don’t know where it went! My mam has a tendency to throw things out, and not remember afterwards, so maybe that’s what’s happened to it. I only drank this twice after I bought a whole bag of it, before it vanished, but both cups were lovely! It was the first rooibos blend I tried, and I really liked it. Perhaps it will turn up one day (probably completely flavourless), but there is a distinct possibility that it will come back into my life in one way or another a few years down the line. I remember the strawberry taste being very natural, and quite strong, but not overpowering the base. It would be interesting to try this again and see if my memory is right. Now that I’ve realised it’s gone, I miss it.

Sipdown! (10/203)

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44
drank Camomile by Knightsbridge
681 tasting notes

Icky. I’m not a huge fan of chamomile, and this is just standard, low-quality chamomile in teabag form. It’s from Lidl, though, and quite cheap, so I guess if somebody actually liked chamomile (which Frankie does, for some odd reason), and was looking for some herbal teabags, they’d be okay with these. Probably quite happy, even. I know Frank drank most of these without a peep.

Plain chamomile will likely never be for me.

Sipdown! (9/203)

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 30 sec

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88
drank Summer Rose by Adagio Teas
681 tasting notes

Sipdown! (8/203)

I was looking through my cupboard and discovered that I still have quite a few teas in there which I don’t have any more, and this was one. Unfortunately, I now have to try to write up notes of old teas I don’t remember all that well, but on the upside, I have at least 5 more sipdowns to add! Yipee.

This was part of my first Adagio order with my fandom samplers, bought to take me over the threshold for free shipping as I was curious of the tea. I am a fan of floral teas, and love anything rose or jasmine, and remember thoroughly enjoying this tea, although I did prefer it with milk and sweetener. Frank’s little brother (two at the time!) also loved this tea – after I gave him a sip of my cup, he insisted on his own little cup of it and drank it all down in just a few seconds, then asked for more! Over a couple of days, he drank down most of my sample of this (with lots of milk) so I only had a couple of cups in the end. If my cupboard weren’t so full, I would probably have a place for this – I don’t think I’ve found anything rose flavoured similarly enjoyable since.

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84
drank Magicienne by Nina's Paris
681 tasting notes

Sipdown! (7/202)

Thanks to VariaTEA for the chance to try this sample.

This was the first Nina’s tea I ever tried, and I was definitely impressed. There was enough leaf in the sample for two lovely cups, but I will seriously consider procuring more of this to try cold steeping at some point.

In dry form, I couldn’t specify any scents I noticed, possibly as it’s been in my sipdown box for a while now. Brewing, however, I could pick out both the pineapple and coconut scents. It smelled super tropical, and I could barely wait to drink it.

I wasn’t actually expecting to enjoy this as much as I did – I’m not that big on green teas usually, and I’ve only found one pineapple tea I’ve enjoyed (Bluebird Tea Co.‘s ’Retro Ted’) although I love anything else pineapple. Having said that, I am obsessed with coconut teas, and can’t think of one I’ve disliked. In this tea, the coconut flavour is prominent at the beginning of the sip, and then as a creamy background note with the pineapple taking over. There is a slight grassiness from the green tea but it actually works well in conjunction with the flavours and isn’t as offputting as I usually find it. Everything works really well together, and I’m sad to see this tea go. Thanks again for the sample, VariaTEA!

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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36
drank Cola by Dammann Frères
681 tasting notes

Sipdown! (6/202) This was a sample from the EU TTB Round 2.

This came as a single sachet, and was not wrapped in anything, so maybe that affected the flavour. I brewed it for 5 minutes, as suggested on the tag, and could maybe detect a slightly cola-esque scent as it was steeping, but it is totally missing in the flavour. To me, this tastes like a straight black. An average, not particularly complex black tea with maybe a touch of sweetness as you swallow. I really am struggling to say more about it that that. Despite following the brewing instructions, the resulting tea was weak, so I popped the bag in for a couple extra minutes to see if that helped. It did strengthen the tea a bit, but it also became astringent. I drank the last half of the cup with a drop of milk to alleviate the astringency, unfortunately this made the tea even weaker. Maybe if I had more than one serving I could play around with it until I struck the right balance between strength and astringency, but I’m quite glad to not have any more.

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec
Ysaurella

Cola tea ? by a French Tea Maker…oh…I’m very surprised I didn’t know they were commercializing such teas and just saw that they have this kid collection with grenadine and bonbon (candy).

Nattie

Yeah, I was surprised that this came from them too. I think this is the only Dammann tea I’ve tried and not enjoyed. I have a sachet of the bonbon tea too, maybe I’ll have that tonight and compare.

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74
drank Witches' Brew Chai by 52teas
681 tasting notes

Last but not least! My final tea of the Halloween Tea Marathon!

I fell asleep before I got the chance to write this one up last night, but I want to get it out of the way all the same. I actually have a deadline today, which I should be working on rather than writing up tasting notes, so it’ll have to be quick.

When I first opened the package, I was surprised with how sweet this tea smelled. All of the ingredients suggest it should smell deep, smokey and almost savoury, but what I actually smell is… Cola?? This really confused me at the time, all now I’m thinking it must have been the star anise which everyone else has more accurately managed to identify as liquorice. I neither smelled nor tasted liquorice, but that’s okay with me as I’m not a fan. The cola scent died down a lot once steeped, but I could still detect it. I could also not pick up the lapsang in the dry leaf, but it is definitely there at the back of the sip when drinking. There is no cola flavour, mainly a sort of sweet, spiced chai with a smoky background. I drank this with milk and a sweetener, which mellowed it out well.

So that’s it! I am now free to write about non-spooky teas (and maybe start thinking about Christmas)! But first, I have to get this work done…

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67

Halloween Tea Marathon 9/10! I think I received this in a swap with VariaTEA but I can’t quite remember. I shall have to consult my spreadsheet.

As many other notes have pointed out, I quickly noticed that by “sweet”, they really mean it. I have quite a sweet tooth, and this is too sweet even for me. I often add a sweetener to my teas, and can just about manage this one if I don’t add anything other than a splash of milk to mute it a little. I actually quite enjoyed it this time, a massive improvement on the last time I drank it (I added sweetener without trying it first). If you don’t ever add sweetener, then this tea is not going to be for you, but if you are partial to a sweet tea then it’s quite a nice comforting cup. It can definitely replace dessert, too, which is brilliant for me as I like to finish meals with something sweet through habit, but am also trying to lose weight. I do have a slight issue with the smell – I am sorry if this grosses anyone out, but to me, both the bag and the brewed tea smell sort of sicky. It’s not overpowering, but if you sniff too long it’s there at the back, reminding me of puke. I wonder what that is? It thankfully doesn’t taste like it, although I did notice I was holding my breath each time I took a sip, when the cup was close to my nose, just in case. I would have rated this low originally, but I think I’m coming round to it. I just have to remember to under no circumstances sweeten it!

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Bio

I first got into loose leaf teas when a friend of mine showed me Cara McGee’s Sherlock fandom blends on Adagio a good few years back, but they weren’t on sale in the UK so I started trying other kinds instead and have been hooked for almost three years (and have purchased several fandom tea sets including the Sherlock one I lusted over for so long).

Flavoured teas make up the majority of my collection, but I’m growing increasingly fond of unflavoured teas too. I usually reach for a black, oolong or white tea base over a pu’erh or green tea, though I do have my exceptions. I will update my likes and dislikes as I discover more about my palate, but for now:

Tea-likes: I’m generally easily pleased and will enjoy most flavours, but my absolute favourites are maple, caramel, chestnut, pecan, raspberry, coconut, blueberry, lemon, pumpkin, rose, hazelnut and peach

Tea-dislikes: vanilla (on its own), ginger, coriander/cilantro, cardamom, liquorice, pineapple and chocolate

I am a 25 year old bartender, English Literature sort-of-graduate and current student working towards finishing my degree. I am hoping to one day complete a masters degree in Mental Health Social Work and get a job working in care. Other than drinking, hoarding and reviewing tea, my hobbies include reading, doing quizzes and puzzles, TV watching, football/soccer (Sunderland AFC supporter and employee of my local football club), music, artsy weird makeup, and learning new things (currently British Sign Language).

I should probably also mention my tea-rating system, which seems to be much harsher than others I’ve seen on here. It’s not always concrete, but I’ll try to define it:

• 50 is the base-line which all teas start at. A normal, nothing-special industrial-type black teabag of regular old fannings would be a 50.

• 0 – 49 is bad, and varying degrees of bad. This is probably the least concrete as I hardly ever find something I don’t like.

• I have never given below a 20, and will not unless that tea is SO bad that I have to wash my mouth out after one sip. Any teas rated as such are unquestionably awful.

• This means most teas I don’t enjoy will be in the 30 – 50 range. This might just mean the tea is not to my own personal taste.

• 51+ are teas I enjoy. A good cup of tea will be in the 50 – 70 range.

• If I rate a tea at 70+, it means I really, really like it. Here’s where the system gets a little more concrete, and I can probably define this part, as it’s rarer for a tea to get there.

• 71- 80: I really enjoyed this tea, enough to tell somebody about, and will probably hang onto it for a little longer than I perhaps should because I don’t want to lose it.

• 81 – 90: I will power through this tea before I even know it’s gone, and will re-order the next time the mood takes me.

• 91 – 100: This is one of the best teas I’ve ever tasted, and I will re-order while I still have a good few cups left, so that I never have to run out. This is the crème de la crème, the Ivy League of teas.

I never rate a tea down, and my ratings are always based on my best experience of a tea if I drink it multiple times. I feel that this is fairest as many factors could affect the experience of one particular cup.

I am always happy to trade and share my teas with others, so feel free to look through my cupboard and message me if you’re interested in doing a swap. I keep it up-to-date, although this doesn’t mean I will definitely have enough to swap, as I also include my small samples.
Currently unable to swap as I’ve returned after a long hiatus to a cupboard of mostly-stale teas I’m trying to work through before I let myself purchase anything fresh

I also tend to ramble on a bit.

Location

South Shields, UK

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