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April Sipdown Prompt – A pantry staple

I have had this tea on shelf for fourteen years (not the same tin ha ha) with very few months where there was none at all in the house. We definitely prefer the loose leaf version over the sachets. If you buy the pound, turn it upside down occasionally because this is FULL of vanilla bean specks and they need to be kept evenly distributed.

The first few times we drank it, we thought we had tea dust in the bottom of the pot until one day when JacquelineM wrote that those are vanilla bean specks! So instead of discarding what looks like the “sludge”, slurp it down because it is yummy.

I have made many notes on this tea already, so here is something new. When I made this last, I made a huge pot and we had about ten ounces leftover. I poured it in a jar, stirred in a little sugar, and put it in the fridge to have with lunch because we are working very hard on our outdoor projects and it is over 80F most days. Iced tea season is upon us. (We drink all year anyway.)

This made an absolutely brilliant iced tea. I may have to go back to buying it by the pound for this summer. The vanilla is so smooth and glides down when you are hot and thirsty. I highly recommend this tea both hot and cold!

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This is actually a sharedown. I had this one apparently and didn’t make a note. I think it must have been a latte.

Today we had a pallet of sod delivered and our next door neighbor came over to help us get it in place! He has been trying to find a green tea he likes but has been unsuccessful so far. It was really hot and hard work, so I went inside and made him a mason jar full of this, just 3/4 teaspoon or so shaken with ice in a jar of filtered water. He loved it! I sent him home with the jar, instructions, and the rest of the tin. He was promised a refill as well, because I have lots more matcha and I am so grateful for the help!

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April Sipdown Prompt – a tea that is a special shape

I see I had an April sipdown of this once before. After a very busy morning, I am lounging in the hammock with Hugo the Lionheart having tea, strawberries, and crumbles of chocolate scraped out of the pot where I made my son’s birthday cake with boiled chocolate frosting.

This is a year and a half past date and very muted. I will definitely buy this again because the base is far smoother than other Jasmine green teas I have tried and the Jasmine is sweet and natural, hitting the perfect level for me. When fresh, it resteeps well. This has grown a bit too weak for a really good second steep. It is a definite re-order and probably fairly soon, as I have no green jasmine on shelf and only one black tea with jasmine, I think Yunnan Golden Jasmine.

Teavivre’s jasmine teas are top notch to me and I prefer them even to Grace Rare Tea’s “Flowery Jasmine Before the Rain” and Harney’s Jasmine Dragon Pearls. And of all of Teavivre’s jasmine teas, this is my favorite. (So far.)

April Sipdown Prompt – a tea from a swap or a sample

I guess this counts as a sample because I didn’t swap anything for it! It is a gift from derk.

I may not have had a lot of sipdowns last month, but I did have a LOT of sample sipdowns. I don’t list those in my cupboard which means I don’t have the pleasure of seeing numbers go down, but I do see progress in the neatness of my shelves and cupboards, and this sample was finally able to peek out of the pile.

The leaves remind me of my first shou mei in appearance. Large broken bits of leaf are green on one side and nearly white on the other. I don’t see trichomes but there is a sort of cellular pattern visible on the back of the leaves.

I used boiling water and our shortest steep was five minutes. The liquor is deep deep yellow gold. The flavor is mild, more herbaceous than most white tea, and mellow rather than strong. I am not really getting an aftertaste, and Ashman’s comment (he is working in the yard on the new project) was that it had a very interesting flavor to him, and since he is on his third cup he must like it.

The description says it was reputed to “aid debilitation” and I told Ashman that if burping aids debilitation I should be right as rain soon. Strawberry leaf does this to me, too, and it is supposed to be good for digestion so maybe this is, too.

I am so glad we had something caffeine free to enjoy this sunny but windy/chilly in the shade afternoon! Many thanks, wonderful derk!

April Sipdown Prompt – a tea that reminds you of a garden

The last time I drank this I was frustrated about a construction project. Today the first stage of that project is nearly done. I enjoyed sitting on the bench on the front porch (a bench Ashman made using the metal ends I found thrown out by the road because the boards had rotted) sipping this tea yesterday.

Just a few feet from the bench is a lilac bush in full bloom, and the heady aroma has had me craving violet candies, lilac candles, and now – liquid flowers.

If you don’t like floral tea, you are going to hate this one. But if you enjoy floral tea, you just might fall in love with it. Even with all the floral notes, the green oolong base still shines through. So lovely. I don’t want to finish it, but I hope I have learned my lesson about hoarding things until they fade so I intend to enjoy it every time I want it.

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A minty tea with fruit. The color of this tea is a bit murky now and makes it hard to see the glitter unless you put it in something clear. Most people would probably love this tea but I am not the biggest fan of mint so I drink it but don’t love it. I do like it well enough iced where the mint helps with the cooling sensation. This is a year past date, but the mint is still quite strong. The big berries don’t appear to have suffered.

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Today this is giving me Tangerine White from Revolution vibes. Most enjoyable and glad the final pot of this still shines even though it is a tiny bit past date.

We tried this again today, this time steeped in hot water. It calls for thirty seconds and I went just a tiny bit over that intentionally. I sweetened it and put it in the fridge to chill and it has a lot more flavor made this way than by the 2-3 minute cold steep they recommend. I definitely prefer this method for iced, but still haven’t tried it as a hot tea.

March Sipdown Prompt – an unflavored green

I made a pitcher of this to go with lunch – cold steeped, sweetened, and poured over ice.

I made it by their cold steep instructions with misgivings. Only two to three minutes in cold water? I left it for a little over three minutes, using four teabags for about a quart of water total once I added the simple syrup to sweeten it.

I really want to make a fresh batch tomorrow because this came out unbelievably light. I want to steep it in hot water and then chill it and see if more green tea flavor appears. How ironic that the prompt was for an unflavored green.

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For the first time in years, I do not have any Teeccino products on shelf. Will repurchase either this or Vanilla Nut for next winter probably.

Steeped in a teapot then hot milk and sugar added for a hot cocoa vibe. Awesome flavor with no caffeine. Coffee-ish but this non-coffee drinker enjoys it very much.