65
drank Sea Dragon by Todd & Holland
2036 tasting notes

Sipdown no. 87 of 2018 (no. 443 total). A sample.

It was interesting the first couple of times. By the third and final, it was just odd.

As I’ve been drinking a lot of chai lately, it occurs to me that this may be trying, just a little, to be a white chai. It has the cinnamon and cloves, which are the main flavors.

Maybe not, though. Because raspberry. But I don’t taste the raspberry as an independent flavor — more a generic berriness.

In any case, it was fun to try but it’s not a favorite.

On another note, WorldCon is going on about half an hour away so I’m going to try to meet a friend there for part of the day today. If I succeed, I’ll have gone to my first. Since I write SFF, one would think I’d already gone through this rite of passage, but with work and family obligations it’s not that easy to plan. We typically get our vacations together a few weeks before we leave.

But. I really don’t have much of an excuse this time, so despite being incredibly intimidated by the prospect (being an introvert and all) I am currently working toward that plan. We shall see.

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I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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