A Quarter to Tea
Edit CompanyPopular Teas from A Quarter to Tea
See All 245 TeasRecent Tasting Notes
Sipdown!
It feels like a strange thing to just have added this fairly old (2018) tea to Steepster! And when I just sipped it down, too. This one was really quite good – fantastic base with delicious creamy banana flavour. Reminds me of … 52teas’ Coconut Banana Cream Pie Houjicha? Is that the one? Similar toasty/sweet combo. I’ll miss it.
Found this in my travel tea bag! Not sure how old this is, but it’s probably had several birthdays by now. The genmaicha is going strong flavor wise, but it feels like any other flavors left long ago. It’s a little creamier in the finish than I’d expect from a gen and I’m attributing that to the cashew. I really don’t get any salted oatmeal cookie though. I wish I had made a tasting note for this when I first tried it so I had a good comparison of fresh and aged.
Preparation
Well.
I thought it’d be nice to finish up the last of my milk in a chai, perhaps drizzled with a bit of honey. Could not find any chai tea, though I am certain there’s plenty. Somewhere.
This ancient one turned up and though green tea with milk is sacrilege, I thought it might be worth a try. Previous efforts yielded a far too spiced brew, so it might be chai-enough with milk. Emptied the packet, three heaping spoons worth, steeped the tea. And the milk had gone off.
Had no hopes for this cup and the resteep. Age. Far too much leaf. Far too much spice in the leaf if memory serves. I was expecting disaster.
Surprise! Black and unsweetened, this cup is better than I ever remember it being. There were a few white snowflake things in the leaf which add a bit of frosting to the roastiness, hint of spice, and green of the cup. Quite pleasant. Quite tasty.
One just never knows.
And I still have celebratory treats to gobble.
And it’s a sipdown!
Sipdown 110-2021
I can’t believe I haven’t written a note on this yet. I’ve been hoarding my last cup’s worth because I loved it so much. Unfortunately, this is another victim of age. The banana and toffee flavors that I loved have faded into something vaguely sugary.
This tea is ancient, but all the flavours are present and accounted for, if gently so, against a backdrop of brisk black tea. Quite a tasty cup.
I saw the name and was like “wow, its been forever since I saw this tea” and then you start your note with its ancient lol
I don’t know whether it is age that has mellowed it or whether it was originally so, but it is perfect now. Generally, I find AQTT’sblends too artificially force for me. With a few exceptions, of course.
Man, that sounds like a brilliant flavor combo. I wish I picked some of that up years ago when I bought from them.
Apparently I have some of this too, and this flavour profile just sounds delicious. Maybe on “V” day…
I have one cup left and I will make a note to not leave it too long because it is perfect NOW.
I is for… Irish Coffee Keemun!
This tea smells good, nice and creamy, but there’s an odd, vegetal(?) note here that reminds me of some white teas – and that I don’t really care for. It’s… almost minty?But not quite. It’s possible that it’s the “whiskey” flavouring, or alternately, an element of the “irish coffee” flavouring is responsible, I’m not sure. I don’t think it’s coming from the keemun base. (It actually has occurred to me that this has sat so long, it’s possible that it was adjacent to a minty tea and absorbed some flavour, but hopefully not). The flavour has this same vegetal note, along with coffee/cream flavours, but that note is definitely affecting the experience of drinking it.
Either way, an ok cup, not a favourite, but obviously for the best since it’s unavailable!
I is for… Irish Rock Shandy!
First tasting note on a years-old tea? Ok!
Really had to dig through my stash for “I” teas for today – the only DavidsTea one I had I finished off last month (Irish Breakfast). Definitely a theme with the names here, though!
This was not ever a favourite tea of mine; I didn’t really care for the citrus – it’s just edging toward a cleaner sort of flavour, and there’s also a flavour in this tea that I can’t place but don’t really care for. It’s not a terrible tea, but just not matched to my preferences, which generally don’t include orange-flavoured teas.
2021 Sipdown 44/365!
One-day hiatus from the alphabetical Ode to Tea, mostly because a) I was not prepared enough for it and b) it was a very very busy day, spent mostly at my MIL’s house, and the teas at her house, again, did not begin with the correct letter.
I guess I hadn’t reviewed this before (but do have an unopened or nearly full pouch somewhere else too) – it’s nice enough. Rooibos without some of the less appealing, medicinal qualities; no scratchy throat either. The maple is also pretty good. I drank it alongside another “sweet-flavoured” tea so can’t be sure which was the source of the delicious aroma, but it also could have been both. I’d have this again as a nice caffeine-free treat.
Sipdown 63-2021
A very kind share from Shae that I have been holding onto. This is the type of flavor profile that I really miss from A Quarter to Tea- sticky sweet honeyed fruits. The almond is reading as maraschino cherry to me, which I’m not mad at. Just a touch of apricot. Definitely something I would purchase if I were able. cries in tea
Cold Brew!
Love the combo of pistachio and red fruit, so I was excited to revisit this tea after waaayyyy too long since I last had it. Seriously, why did I sit on this sample so long!? It wasn’t bad, but it does have a more chemical tasting flavouring in it than I had remembered. Very aromatic pistachio that’s sweet and nutty but also a little alcoholic and weirdly floral? I don’t think drinking it cold was the wisest decision.
Worth saying, though, that the tea is like at least four years old at this point. All things considered, it’s aged pretty damn gracefully.
