A.C. Perch's Thehandel

A sipdown! (M: 1 Y: 1) prompt: January 1 – Happy New Year! Drink a favorite tea to start the year off right!

Well, this is so… so sad sipdown of delicious tea. Courtney shared a bit with me and as I wrote in previous note; I probably don’t have any expereince with raw mulberries, but this tea was just delicate and berry-ish.

But c’est la vie and I bet it is better drinking this fresh. And now, into the new year with aim to reduce amount of the tea!

This is another tea from Courtney that I have received. Now, only one remains to try. Thank you!

I consider myself quite experienced with nordic / European berries, but mulberries are new for me in a cup of tea I suppose. Definitely unusual ingredient.

The tea, which you are supposed to steep 7 minutes is quite light in flavour, but the berries are clearly present in the taste and combined with flavorful white tea that tastes like a melon; it just go so well together. Smooth, creamy tea with fruity element that was so familiar, but somehow not experienced so far.

One cup of tea remains in my pouch and it’s one of the teas that I don’t want to see go.

Good vanilla flavor.

Sad sipdown! Courtney generously sent me a sample of this. I loved it every time. It’s just such a perfectly sweet and juicy mulberry blend. Would totally restock this.

Thanks again to Courtney for sending me a sample of this one. I originally planned to gong fu a straight tea today, but I’ve been having trouble getting going and blew through most of my caffeine window. So instead I opted for a blend that feels special. I rarely see mulberry blends and they’re so so tasty. This one does a good job of letting the mulberry shine while also having a bit of complexity from the tropical fruit flavors and just enough heft from the base. The word that comes to mind today is shimmering, for some reason. Not literally but in terms of the vibe. It’s working for me.

Many thanks to Courtney for sending me some of this when I ordered a few things from her stash sale. I haven’t had a mulberry tea in ages – not since DavidsTea discontinued theirs – but this one is as delicious as I remember those being. It’s tasty hot, but admittedly I prefer it when it cools. It’s juicy, sweet, and perfect for a summer’s day. I kept thinking I could taste peach, but since there isn’t any in this blend I’m guessing that was my brain misreading the papaya. No astringency, no dryness – the base really plays up the mulberry flavor nicely. Super glad I still have a few cups of this left.

Logging this tasty little number for the sipdown. I stand by my effusive praise and high rating from the first time I tried it — it’s so good, and I am sad to see it go!

In fact, I’m going to bump the rating up… I’m really digging it.

2023 sipdown count: 48

Received this in a swap from Courtney and it’s so good! It smells like sweet cream and tastes like creamy vanilla pudding with berries. Yet it’s also really bright and fruity and light. Super delicious — thanks for sharing, Courtney!

The base here has an edge of astringency, but I lower the steeping time to 3 minutes and it works out quite well. The berry flavours are very ‘wild’ tasting with hints of strawberry and the European ‘red fruit’ flavour. I believe there’s meant to be red currant here as well and there is a jammy quality I’ll chalk up to that. Overall a really tasty tea, and one I’d happily order for our cupboard again.

Comparison of A.C. Perch Queen’s Blend & Organic French Earl Grey (posted under both teas)
Both steeped for 3 minutes at 200 ° F

Queen’s Blend — There’s a mixed base here of Ceylon and green gunpowder. The gunpowder is noticeable, but adds a level of complexity. I’ve only had gunpowder from A.C. Perch and I know someone mentioned last year that it’s often smoky — I’ve thankfully not experienced that with their straight gunpowder or this tea. I would say the bergamot is the same in both these teas. A says this one, hands down, is her favourite (though she enjoys both).

French EG — This version has the Ceylon base. This tea comes off as “cleaner” or perhaps “crisper” with the single base tea. I actually really enjoy both of these teas and either (or both!) would be great additions to our cupboard.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 23: Organic French Earl Grey

This was one divine. Very clean taste, light-bodied, and beautiful blending of the bergamot. I understeeped at 3 minutes, but it paid off. I would order this for our cupboard without hesitation!

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 22: China Oolong

This was lovely. I enjoy a green oolong and this one was creamy and just all round delightful. I would order this one for our cupboard.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 21: Cool Herbal

Dry, this one smelled strongly of grapefruit. Once steeped it was too heavy on the liquorice root. It came across as stevia and had a mouth-coating effect. Otherwise, the lemongrass and peppermint nearly cancelled each other out. No real grapefruit taste in the steeped tea.

Comparison of A.C. Perch Queen’s Blend & Organic French Earl Grey (posted under both teas)
Both steeped for 3 minutes at 200 ° F

Queen’s Blend — There’s a mixed base here of Ceylon and green gunpowder. The gunpowder is noticeable, but adds a level of complexity. I’ve only had gunpowder from A.C. Perch and I know someone mentioned last year that it’s often smoky — I’ve thankfully not experienced that with their straight gunpowder or this tea. I would say the bergamot is the same in both these teas. A says this one, hands down, is her favourite (though she enjoys both).

French EG — This version has the Ceylon base. This tea comes off as “cleaner” or perhaps “crisper” with the single base tea. I actually really enjoy both of these teas and either (or both!) would be great additions to our cupboard.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 20: Queen’s Blend

This one definitely had that bergamot edge that can be in straight EGs, but not nearly as intense as most I’ve tried. I think the mix of base teas here serves to mellow it out. Also, A.C. Perch teas are always smooth. I would order this one for our cupboard!

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 19: Green Organic Darjeeling

This one is smooth, as per usual with A.C. Perch. I wouldn’t say it’s anything special, but I have enjoyed drinking the teapot. The tea itself is very light-bodied, yet has the distinctive Darjeeling characteristics that I find enjoyable — some hay notes especially.

This is my first full day working from home in months and I am so grateful to be able to truly sit an enjoy a tea which I haven’t done in a long time.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 17: White Temple

This tea was really tasty! The tropical fruit scent was very prevalent in the dry tea, and the flavours really came through once steeped. I would say pineapple and orange with hints of mango as well. I really delightful tea and I assume one that would be very tasty chilled.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 16: Black Columbia Organic

This one was smooth. The steeping temperature was only 80 C and the time was quite long at 6 minutes (though all A.C. Perch teas have long steeping times). I was surprised that this one was so delightful.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 15: Caribbean Star

I didn’t get much flavour from this, but that was my fault as I was happily eating through a sleeve of gingerbread thins at the same time XD. I can say it was smooth with some fruitness. I have some left, so I’ll try to remember to make a more detailed note.

A loved it so much she said we must order it for the cupboard.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 14: Organic Green Kukicha

This was lovely. Equally toasty and green tea. This was a nicely balanced and smooth cup.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 12: Ceylon OP

True to A.C. Perch form, another incredibly smooth tea. This was a light-bodied Ceylon with absolutely no astringency or bitterness. We both really enjoyed this one — one of those cups where I drank a whole teapot without realising.

I am glad we have more of this one and would consider adding this to our cupboard.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 8: White Nepal

This was delightful! There was a sweetness that was just lovely at the end of every sip. There were also notes of hay. We both loved this one and would order it for our cupboard!

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 11: White Symphony

The rose was all that came through. The rose was definitely stronger in scent than flavour, but with so many teas behind I wasn’t in the mood to drink the whole cup of this one.

Also, I think the ingredients of this one have changed since the original notes. The booklet that comes with the calendar states: “White tea (China), pear pieces, flavoring, pomegranate pieces, rose leaves, cardamom, vanilla pieces”.

A.C. Perch 2022 Advent Day 10: Java

A straight black, breakfast-like tea. There was no astringency or metallic flavours here. Just smooth black tea.