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Many thanks to Youngest for this tea!

Again, a tea that says two ounces on the bag but there is considerably more than that in here. Nice surprise!

This is a good breakfast tea and works for any time of day, with or without food. It makes a good latte and a good cup of plain hot tea with no additions.

I taste vanilla and cardamom most of all, with a bit of rose. This is my kind of chai.

This tea was a gift from *Youngest – many thanks!

I am not a fan of banana bread and I don’t know exactly why. I like zucchini bread, which is similar. I like bananas and banana sandwiches with iced tea are a summer staple for me. I think the idea of a banana that has been cooked soft gives me a texture heebie-jeebie.

(Weird aside that might make sense of my aversion to banana bread. When I was really little, my mom and sister sometimes made me a banana sandwich by smashing a banana to a pudding consistency on a plate with mayo, and then smearing that on bread to make the sandwich. Other times it was a normal sliced banana. Don’t know if they were covering up that the banana had gone mushy? Why else would you do that? I prefer medium firm slices now.)

I don’t have anything against the flavors in banana bread, though, so I felt sure I would like this. And I do! There is noticeable banana flavor here unlike one of the first banana-flavored blends I tried that I can’t remember the name of right now. The spices are just right, not too mild and not too pushy. The base is good and could serve for breakfast, lunch, or snack time and could take milk and sugar but doesn’t need it. This would also make a nice latte.

The Oatmeal Raisin Cookie blend from Tin Roof Teas was a KAPOW WOW smash of flavor and lots of the flavor was similar to this tea. Somehow I find myself reaching for this one often, though. Sometimes you aren’t looking for KAPOW. This is a really nice pot of tea to accompany my breakfast. Like soft happy music versus rock and roll blasting at a party.

I must say – the package is marked two ounces but I didn’t think that was accurate. After making tea several times I dumped out the leaves on a scale and it said there were two ounces still. They must be very, very generous in their weighing, as Vanilla Rose Chai was the same way. Schweel.

Very smooth and creamy white tea, tasting more marshmallow creaminess than anything until it starts to cool and then the hojicha really comes out more. I am a hojicha fan, so that is a good thing! Between the huge pot made for breakfast with a friend and a pot for Ashley for breakfast, this is already a sipdown! (I just had the taster pack.)

This is one of my samples from the Teavivre VIP program. See, Stoo, I DID choose one or two unfamiliar teas after all! I was bemoaning to you that I thought I had only ordered old favorites!

This was a welcome surprise this morning as I was craving a solid black tea, unflavored, but full bodied.

From the smell of the dry leaf I thought it was not what I was after as I was getting lots of high fruity notes, but the steeped tea was just just what I was looking for. It was strong enough for breakfast, didn’t need additions but could take them if that’s what you like, and would also be a great lunch or afternoon picker-upper tea. Good solid base with beautiful red color and smooth on the tongue, a mix of malty and fruity.

Would definitely reorder.

Rare Tea Company special – glass flask 1/2 price with purchase of two cold steep teas.

June Sipdown Prompt – your oldest oolong

Sipdown

This tea has stayed on shelf bag after bag for years. I received some from Superanna and some from Kawaii and Superanna bought some for her own house, too. And now it is gone!

When I saw the Rare Tea special, I ordered. I loved the flask and I want to try cold steeping and getting away from so much SWEET tea at lunch time. But I was eager to try my hand at cold steeping while I wait for my order!

I decided to try cold steeping the last of my Theodor milk oolong in a JoeMo and it was not a success. I overleafed the first batch, thinking I would need to in order to get enough flavor. Also I had read that some oolong teas need to cold steep up to 48 hours, so I left it for twelve but it was bitter, and this is a smooth and creamy tea usually.

I tried making some hot and putting it in the fridge and it was better, but still not as good as served hot. I tried cold steeping another batch, this time with less leaf and less time, and that was better but this tea really shines as a hot cuppa, and just didn’t appeal to me cold.

This is a sample sipdown and was in my box of tea from Youngest – many thanks!

As soon as I sipped this I knew I had had something almost exactly like it before. Of course! Cookie by Lupicia! And therefore the slightly fancier Christmas version, White Christmas.

Rich and creamy, almond and bakey goodness. Well worth a try. Very tasty and our big pot at breakfast paired wonderfully with food, as well.

What a surprise this tea is!

I picked it because I like toffee and I like banana and I need some caffeine free options on shelf. I have never had the Chinese dessert Toffee Banana and didn’t know the tea was inspired by that until I read Roswell’s tasting note.

I steeped the tea twice and combined the two steeps. I was a little worried about trying that right off the bat without having sampled it before because not all teas can take that treatment. But this one can!

Wow! I never expected so much banana flavor! I have only had samples of one or two banana teas in the past and they did not have nearly this much banana flavor. And the toffee is so rich, with the nuttiness making the cup really have nice body.

I love this, and would definitely repurchase. I had it hot with nothing added. Paired it with a few squares of Milka Kuhflecken chocolate bar. YUM

This was a sample packet in the box from Nicole – many thanks!

I was in the mood for a hot tea before bed a few days ago and this one sounded promising. It says pomegranate in the name but the first ingredients listed are apple pieces and rose hips.

I was hoping it wasn’t just going to smash me in the face with hibiscus because honestly SO MANY tisanes all taste alike to me because the hibiscus overpowers everything else.

This one was an exception, though. The cinnamon is really front and center here and it is more of a tart apple and tart fruit vibe, but without being super puckery.

I wouldn’t buy it, as I don’t purchase much along these lines, but it was a decent enough evening cuppa.

June Sipdown Prompt – a refreshing summer tea

We try to keep a pitcher or carafe of caffeined tea and another of either decaf or herbal. My decaf/caffeine free stash for things that taste great iced is a little lower than usual, but my eye fell on this one and I wondered how it would be iced.

It is amazing iced. Ashman poured it for me and when he brought it I thought at first he had misunderstood me when he asked if I wanted something to drink because it looked like he was bringing me water. As he got really close I could see it was pale yellow, but the first sip assured me that the taste was anything but weak. This is a powerhouse of lemongrass and anise and citrus flavor. Love it, and it will be a regular this summer.

This was a gift from Superanna. Many thanks!

Would definitely repurchase.

June Sipdown Prompt – a tea from Africa

I prepared a huge pot to have for breakfast on the patio – bagels with Ashman. It was much as the first note, but I gave it a little extra leaf today so when we combined the two steeps we would have a nice, big STRONG pot.

Man, was it good! I still get those Darjeeling-esque notes from it. I love that it steeps at a low temp for a short steep of two minutes and breakfast is ready that little bit faster.

There was a cup leftover in the pot, and when lunchtime rolled around I poured it over ice with no sweetener at all and took it outside to enjoy with a honey nut chicken salad sandwich. (Copycat recipe of the Sprouts version.) Some leaves had strayed into the pot and though they were few they did lend a bit if briskness and potency since so little tea was left….and it was excellent. This made an awesome unsweet iced tea and I didn’t see that coming.

A definite re-purchase, maybe for Christmas, because the smell if these fine cut leaves says TEA!