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Sipdown no. 2 of 2022 (no. 652 total).

This made a surprisingly delicious cold brew — I worried that the cold would make the vegetable notes come out and I’d feel like I was drinking cold vegetable soup with notes of tea, but fortunately that didn’t happen.

Instead, the cold brought out the spicy, peppery note. Which, as I write it, sounds unpleasant, but somehow wasn’t.

I saw a The O Dor store when I was in Paris last March, but I didn’t go in. I was afraid I’d buy more tea and I’m still terribly overloaded with old tea that I need to clear out as I’m contemplating beginning a house remodel — and every little bit I can get out of the house between now and then will help.

Sipdown no. 1 of 2022 (no 651 total).

Hi! Did you miss me? I missed me. :-) I missed you too. It has been a crazy, crazy time. Not much tea drinking going on over here for a long time until pretty recently when it got super hot and I decided to make some of this iced. Then I made some more, and finally today I put the last bit into the fridge to cold brew.

It made a really nice cold brew. Probably nicer than it was hot, though that was so long ago I can’t say I really remember.

So, news since last time. Puppy is now a dog. No. 1 has graduated high school and is headed off to some form of higher education in the fall. No. 2 is a “rising junior” in high school. Work is still fun, and still very busy.

We have all managed to evade covid so far.

I have started doom scrolling again, which sucks. State of the world (or at least this country) and all.

How are you?

Sipdown no. 30 of 2021 (no. 650 total).

One of the lower rated teas in my collection (since pretty much every true tea in my collection is rated over 80 now with maybe one exception, I’m enjoying an embarrassment of riches).

My original note on this, when I drank it hot through multiple steeps, identified one of its characteristics as fishy. I sipped this down with two cold pitchers worth and neither were fishy. So there’s that.

Cold shu is actually kind of nice when you’re in the mood.

I still have way too much pu’erh.

Sipdown no. 29 of 2021 (no. 649 total).

This one strikes me as a true “84.” It’s a good, solid first flush darjeeling. Nice and grapey without the bloaty quality I sometimes get with first flush darjeelings. On the smooth side, not a lot of wood and stonefruit, but some.

And with that, I am down to only 15 cupboard pages in my Steepster cupboard. Huzzah!

Sipdown no. 28 of 2021 (no. 648 total).

Another “84” that I’ve decided to demote. I just think I overinflated my rating the first time.

As smoky teas go, it’s about the right degree of smoke for me. Like Puer, I think I tried too hard to really love smoky teas and while I can appreciate them once in a while, too much smoke and ash reminds me of why I gave up smoking more than 20 years ago.

A small amount of smoke is fine, but I think that maybe a nice keemun without the lapsang would be plenty for me to have that hint without being hit over the head by it.

I do have one lapsang I quite like, though I could never drink it every day. I’m not sure I would need this in addition, but I’m not saying I’d never buy it again. I’m really, truly, on the fence.

Sipdown no. 27 of 2021 (no. 647 total).

Big news: we got a puppy!

I haven’t been drinking as much tea as usual because two weekends ago, we did a whirlwind road trip down to Southern California to pick up Reggie, our baby Basenji. Down on Saturday (one cup of tea in the morning) and back on Sunday (no cups of tea). Baby is very fun, and very smart — he’s already learned “sit” and is learning “down” — and potty training is going pretty well. After he goes potty outside, he comes over like “bruh, where’s my treat?” which is exactly the point.

Last weekend I had an early haircut appointment on Saturday — following strict covid protocols — so also didn’t get any real tea drinking in because I wasn’t back until the afternoon.

I did drink a bit of tea on Sunday, which enabled me to get into sipdown range with this for today.

I have to say, I’m conflicted about this. I mostly stand by my original note, it’s just that my current thinking would put something described in my original note as lower than an 84. So I’m bumping it down.

As I mentioned, it suggests cookie, but it’s not very sweet, which makes it not quite as cookie-ish as I’d expect. Yes, some cookies are sweeter than others, but most of them are pretty sweet or they wouldn’t be cookies. AmIright?

What kind of cookie? Slightly almondy, slightly shortbready, I guess. Not bad for the right mood. I guess I’ve just become more of a hardass on my grading scale.

Sipdown no. 26 of 2021 (no. 646 total).

Of all the teas I have clustered around the 83/84 mark, this is the most deserving. I’m bumping it.

It’s a great example of a very drinkable every day Earl Grey. Smooth, not too much bergamot (but now I’m convinced, the right amount), aromatic and well-weighted base that gives it a medium body.

While I will always favor Earl Greys with a Yunnan base because of the depth Yunnan delivers, this is one I could see having in my cupboard long term for those days when I want an Earl Grey, but something a bit lighter. I think I either didn’t notice or had spaced that his blend also has white tea in it, which may be one of the reasons it has a smoother flavor than some others.

Sipdown no. 25 of 2021 (no. 645 total).

Someone at work gave me a box of these teabags because I was talking about my difficulties sleeping. I see that I didn’t add them to my cupboard, but nevertheless this is a sipdown.

As night time teas go, this rather pleasant. It doesn’t have a lot of flavor, but that’s part of why it’s pleasant. Who wants to be thinking about flavors, good or bad, if you’re trying to go to sleep?

I notice the licorice, but it isn’t strong, which is fortunate because I don’t love strongly licorice tisanes. None of the flavors I would have though would make me dislike this — valerian, tulsi, even chamomile if not well done — are individually discernible, or even discernible at all, really, which is also good. I have no idea what oat flower tastes or smells like, but I am guessing the milder grainy flavor comes from that, and I don’t notice the lavender continually, but it comes through some of the time.

Did it help me sleep? Probably didn’t make much of a dent as my sleep problems are pretty well established by now, but I can’t discount it having a small effect. I have also been trying to cut down caffeine, exercise regularly, not eat too late, meditate, etc. so with all of those causes, who can say what is causing any effects — I am finding it easier to fall asleep, but I still wake up multiple times during the night.

I probably wouldn’t drink this just for fun. It’s better than a purely medicinal drink, but something about the psychology of the name would make me view it as a sleep aid.

At some point, I might get more. Really depends on the state of the cupboard and the fact that I have so many other non-caffeinated options at the moment that I need to pare back.

Sipdown no. 24 of 2021 (no. 644 total).

Yeah, my recent note says it all. Nothing to add.

Sipdown no. 23 of 2021 (no. 643 total). A sample.

First time trying to make a little nest in the Breville. Unclear how successful an effort it was — the tea seems a little thin, but then again not all that different from how I described it in the initial note. So maybe it was an OK effort?

I have an awful lot of pu er to sip down, including a couple of never-before-tasted-single-serving-samples I really should steep in the gaiwan to do them justice. But since multiple steeps isn’t really something I consider fun, I’m sort of dreading these.

On the bright side, I think there are only a couple that fit into that category, as well as a brick that I had bad luck with on an initial tasting and need to retry.