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Sipdown! As a pre-work latte to keep me from getting hungry (or hangry). This is the way I prefer it – made in milk or half milk and half water with sugar.

January sipdown prompt for Bittersweet Chocolate Day!

This was a gift from Superanna last year. It is one of the few chocolate teas that tastes like real chocolate to me. I do not find the chocolate super strong in this – I can still taste the black tea base fortunately. And the chocolate flavor lacks that odd mildew smell that I find in some Harney chocolate teas as well as other companies.

The chocolate is mild and smooth and this was great with breakfast, but could also serve well with sweets or as a stand alone cup. I didn’t add milk and sugar, but I bet with additions this could be a dessert substitute if you were so inclined.

A really good tea.

January Sipdown Prompt – a tea that is hard to pronounce or spell

I think I may have found the most perfect flavored tea I have ever had in my whole life. I have to tell Ashman I found something better than Carol.

The smell of the dry leaves is so heady, and it just screamed “wine”! The combination of the apple scent (like a strong cider) and the fruity apricot is intoxicating. This is so good I might cry.

I shouldn’t be having it this late but Superanna gave this to me today at our late Christmas gathering (we had Covid) and I just had to try at least one cup of it. I am already excited about having for breakfast tomorrow morning.

I HAVE to have more of this and it is going on my shelf staples master list.

This is a sipdown!

I really enjoyed this tea. It was good hot and iced, and it was awesome that it was caffeine free so I had another evening option that had nice flavor.

I stand by former statements – it made me love green rooibos, tastes apple and peachy, was refreshing and resteeped like a champ. I always made three and combined them.

I have had this sample for a long time, and I think the blend has lost some flavor or Covid is still playing tricks with my sense of taste.

I am only just coming to tolerate red rooibos but I am determined to get rid of all these single servings or small bags that have been lying about. The rooibos here is very mild, and lacks the sharp Robitussin flavor I dislike so much. That is a good thing.

While it was piping hot, I tasted very little. As it cooled, the nutty flavors came through.

Not bad, but not one I need to buy. I wouldn’t turn down a cup of it if it was offered.

Sipdown Prompt – your oldest green tea

And this is an actual sipdown! This is an excellent tea and I have purchased it more than once. I have decided that I really should only have either this one or Premium Jasmine Dragon Pearls on shelf, but not both at once. I have a bit of the other so this will not be a re-order right now. Maybe someday, but of the two, I think I prefer the Premium Jasmine Dragon Pearls.

Even at this age, the green tea still had lots of flavor, though the jasmine and peach were lighter. It is also possible that my taste isn’t fully restored from Covid, and Ashman’s isn’t back at all yet.

Since the big tin was empty, I transferred the label from another Teavivre green and refilled it, thereby eliminating a large silver bag on the bottom shelf, and it is amazing how much neater it looks just whittling down a tea or two. This gives me incentive to keep going!

I have some extra time tonight to try some teas that I only have in small amounts, thus getting some sipdowns rolling for this year. (Ashman is watching tv with daughter so I am snarfing Bissinger’s chocolates in my craft room and drinking tea – pure, unadulterated pleasure.) It is the first time I will have ever kept track of sipdown numbers, and I am also making a list of my absolute must have shelf staples, and that list is surprisingly short so far.

Bonne Maman included a couple of tea samples in with our order for their jelly advent. I received Dream and Vitality, which also happens to be the two teas included in their Perfect Moments gift set, which includes two bags of loose leaf tisane, a glass mug with attractive steeper that seems pretty generously sized, and a spoon. I don’t know why I wasn’t expecting much, but I love the scent of this one dry. I enjoy lavender and that is the dominant aroma of this one. I haven’t been as “into” herbal tea as camellia sinensis, but now that I can’t handle caffeine at night I am trying to find some good options.

While steeping, it went through an awkward stage aroma-wise but then started to smell like the dry leaf did.

The flavor is definitely lavender leading and trailing. The rose had to be teased out but it is there. There is a hint of fresh minty flavor, maybe the linden. Somehow that is making it seem like it would do very nicely as a daytime tea as well, maybe even a nice morning cup when you don’t have anywhere to be. I can see sipping this on the patio with fresh fruit on a cool spring morning.

If you don’t like lavender, you won’t like this. If you love lavender, you really might want to give it a try. I dig it, and might buy it when my cupboard is smaller.

I had only one bag of this, so by golly this is a sipdown. This is one that was gifted to me and I just never got around to trying it.

I have had this for so long that I don’t remember where it came from, and when I took it out I noticed the side of the outer bag was open. I almost tossed it, thinking it had probably lost all flavor by now, but I am glad I didn’t. This is a hibiscus tea that I would be willing to buy. I feel like I am getting more peach than orange, even though orange comes first in the name.
There is something minty or cooling here, even though it is piping hot and unsweetened. Digging the cinnamon chips. Maybe they are why I feel like this is a baked peach vibe.

If I see this in a store one day, I might buy it for making iced tea in summer. A big surprise to me that I like this one so well.

For 2023 Sipdown Prompt – a tea you love

Happy New Year to all!

This was a pretty easy choice. I finally have my sense of taste and smell at nearly 100%, although Ashman does not yet. Queen Catherine is dearly loved, but I wanted to go seasonal and also have a tea we have been holding back on. Bai Lin Gong Fu was in the running because that would be Ashman’s daily drinker. I always keep it on hand for him.

In December we were pushing the advent teas and still have a long way to go with those. Then we couldn’t taste anything so why waste your favorites? This year we really didn’t drink Carol leading up to Christmas, but we got Carol, decaf Carol, and Jingle Bells in our stockings.

Lupicia seems to have two strawberry flavorings – or else some other ingredient in the blends changes my perception of the flavor – and this one is my favorite. This is strawberry, vanilla, and coconut, although I really don’t taste the coconut except as a creamy sweetness. Their other strawberry flavor seems to have a musky aroma and taste, and the aroma is a little off-putting for me even though the taste is good. Perhaps it is some other ingredient causing that, though.

I won’t bother to add this to my cupboard. This note is a backlog from tasting this tea two weeks ago. I served it simply because my guests that day were fans of it. My eldest daughter loves this tea but I am not as big a fan of mint and this just doesn’t float my boat. I have never tasted a great deal of ginger in this, nor is the white tea very noticeable.

Sadly, neither Ashman nor myself can taste or smell anything at all at this point, so I guess I won’t be making any notes for a while until sense of taste and smell begin to return. Stupid Covid.