Friday Afternoon

The scent when I opened the bag smelled so strongly of anise that I was a little afraid…I tried to include as little anise as possible in my basket, but the flavor still shows up pretty strongly in the tea. I can taste a little black tea underneath, but it’s really mostly anise. I don’t find myself minding the flavor though. I wish I tasted the sour cherry, but nothing can overcome the anise. This is one of the better Friday Afternoon teas I’ve tried from the TTB surprisingly! It was satisfying with some milk.

Unfortunately, these Friday Afternoon teas from the TTB aren’t working that well for me. This one was mildly fruity oolong, and that’s all there was to it. The oolong was too floral for my preference, and the fruit wasn’t strong enough. If you’re a fan of floral teas, a cold cup of this might be exactly your thing, but unfortunately, it’s not for me.

This tea from the TTB has absolutely huge slices of guava in it that I really just want to eat. It brewed up quite light. The black tea is a little weak and unsatisfying warm, but the fruit flavor comes out a bit better when it’s cold. The fruit flavor isn’t clearly guava, and it could have been much stronger. I think this tea would do better if it focused on adding flavoring instead of huge slices of fruit, which don’t impart much flavor. Overall, I didn’t find this very exciting, and the quality of the black tea really wasn’t great.

I got a tiny packet of this as a sample along with another bulk order of tea from Friday Afternoon, and it sat in my cupboard for a while – until I had a morning where I was doing a bunch of writing. At which point I thought, “OK, this is probably when I should crack that sample.” I wasn’t expecting to like it – I’m not generally a fan of smoky teas, and although this one doesn’t officially list “smoke” as a component on the webpage, the package does.

I was very pleasantly surprised. This is a very good non-distracting tasty tea. I can see why it’s considered writer’s fuel – it’s the sort of tea one drinks all morning and enjoys the mouth feel and taste, while not being distracted from the task at hand. It is definitely a cooler weather tea, however – I don’t imagine this one would work particularly well over ice.

I will probably keep a smallish (2 ounce) tin in the cupboard for marathon writing sessions. It’s not a tea I’ll be going for regularly, but it’s definitely a keeper.

From the TTB. This chai had sort of a weird, almost weed-like flavor? The chili pepper in here was quite spicy, but a little too savory and one-dimensional. I also didn’t love the rooibos base. It was just sort of murky and unpleasant. I didn’t notice any other flavors. I had this with milk, and it sadly wasn’t a great chai for my tastes.

Another one from the TTB. There was a ton of fruit in the leaf, but I mostly taste sort of musty black tea. I would have almost guessed it had chocolate in it, but that quality must just be coming from the tea. I don’t get very much fruitiness, which was surprising.

Some time ago, I decided I wanted a sample pack from Friday Afternoon. (They do that. It’s lovely. You tell them, “Give me a bunch of teas of type [x]” where X is things like Green, or Black, or whatever, and they send them.

I wasn’t expecting to like this one. I did. :-) Bergamot and I are not on speaking terms (my annoyance with Earl Gray and the fact that it’s often all I can get at conferences is a subject of some hilarity amongst my friends) but in this case, it’s subtle enough that I didn’t automatically go, “Ewwww.”

I’m sure the pomegranate helps. One of my favorite teas that I can no longer get was the Tealuxe Monk’s Blend, which included both pomegranate and bergamot.

This is not a tea that I feel the need to keep large amounts of on hand, but I was pleasantly surprised by it. It is neither excessively floral, nor excessively fruity, and I can taste the tea in it without difficulty. Said tea is also unobjectionable – not strongly acidic, nor does it leave my mouth puckered and angry. I can’t tell which black tea they used, but it’s not one that makes me go, “Nope,” and dump my mug down the drain.

The leaves also handled a second brewing just fine, which was a nice surprise. I will possibly get a small tin of this to keep on hand, for days when I want a tea that’s mostly just tea. It won’t be a huge tin – this isn’t going to be one of my go-to teas – but that’s fine. It’s why I bought the sample pack, after all – to broaden my taste buds.

I’m pleased by this particular broadening.

I got this sample in a recent TTB, and it must be old because it really doesn’t taste like anything. I taste sort of musty green tea and barely anything else. There were lots of rose petals, and I’m relieved they didn’t come through strongly at least!

Sad sipdown. I got this from a TTB a while ago and have been rationing it. It starts out toasty vanilla, which is delightful enough. But then the gingery, pepper sharpness builds over the course of the cup in an enjoyable way. Bummer to be finishing it off!

Such a treat out of the TTB! Easily one of my favorites. It’s like a forest cookie, but… not gross like that sounds. It’s got a spicy, cookie vibe that evokes fall, walks through the trees, and the changing colors of the leaves. So more “cookie one might eat before/after/while spending time in the woods in the fall” than “cookie made out of forest materials.” If this was an actual cookie, I can totally picture pairing it with a mug of hot apple cider.

Was feeling indulgent today after a late summer swim, so this was a particularly appealing choice as I keep making my way through the TTB. The flavors are a bit muted without any fixins, but a touch of sugar really brings them out. I’m getting toffee and caramel, not so much fudge, but it’s a mellow and enjoyable dessert cuppa. I added oat milk to a long second steep, and the creamy element was a nice complement to the flavors too. I really appreciate that this uses a white tea base for this flavor profile rather than a black tea, as so often happens. It supports and complements the flavors without overpowering them, and I don’t have the same stomach issues with white teas that I often have with black teas so I can drink this without worry. Win!

Sipdown of this gently chocolatey blend. I really liked this as a latte and am sad to see it go. On the up side, I’m counting it towards Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge as a tea the flavor of a favorite sundae topping (chocolate anything, hopefully ethically sourced!).

This one is really growing on me. I keep coming back to it from the TTB because it’s just mellow and soothing, particularly as a latte. Its mild milk chocolatey goodness and the roasted notes from the hojicha really hit the spot for a dessert/chocolate craving. While not a strong flavor, it is a consistently pleasing one that apparently I’m getting hooked on.

Had this a couple of times over the weekend from the TTB. The first time, I made it straight and it was a fine roasty chocolate hojicha blend. The second time, I added oat milk and a touch of honey for an evening latte. It tasted like hot chocolate milk, with roasty undertones that linger after the sip, along with the chocolate note. It’s good, it’s enjoyable enough, but it’s not great.

Strange VariaTEA TTB – Tea #15

So, this one mostly tastes like plain rooibos.

I do feel like I get a little hint of the apple or maybe the strawberry? There’s a tiny bit of fruitiness. But I certainly don’t get caramel, which is the added flavor.

It’s not bad, the rooibos isn’t overall medicinal or anything. But I feel like I’m drinking straight rooibos, which isn’t something I’d choose to do ha ha. Not sure if this tea is just old or if it always tasted this way.

Result: Tried

Friday Afternoon is a company I’ve been wanting to try, and thanks to vallhallow I finally can! This is such a unique blend – I can absolutely smell the vanilla and lemon in the dry blend. I look forward to having more cups of this one later on. It’s probably one of my favorites in our swap.

TTB 2022
Well this is interesting, mostly rosemary notes. It doesn’t seem that this mixes very well, the raspberry leaves are very light and float to the top of the mixture. I shook the bag to try and distribute, but I still don’t think I scooped a good mix. It brews up dark, and I can distinguish the underlying puerh, but mostly this is smoky rosemary. Typically I like to mix my shou with peppermint, but I might try throwing a tiny tiny bit of rosemary in there too.

I got a tasting packet of teas from Friday Afternoon because I was in the mood to try a bunch of new stuff, and said, “Send me random teas.” So they did.

It’s an Earl Grey I don’t instantly loathe! This is saying something positive for me, but not necessarily for anyone else? It is, however, still discerneably an Earl Grey – I can taste the bergamot pretty clearly, and as usual, my reaction to bergamot is “nope nope nope nope.” So, not for me, but nothing wrong with it if you like Earl Grey. Otherwise, the chocolate is definitely there, and I can’t taste the orange or vanilla at all.

I can smell the peach and strawberry, but the hazelnut that is hypothetically in there eludes me. It didn’t do anything in particular for me? Nothing wrong with it, it was simply “there.” For someone who’s big on peach tea, definitely worth a try.

(I got a sample pack for the fun of it, this was one of the ones in it. Hence trying it and going, “Yup, tea, that’s fine.”)

TTB 2022
This is a pleasant chai with maybe a hint of pumpkin(?). An unremarkable chai without bitterness, I’d put some more ginger in it if it was in my cupboard for a sipdown. Thanks for the opportunity to try a new tea vendor!

Just going through some of the Friday Afternoon tea blends today and I haven’t been overly impressed so far. So far I have had the Pomegrante black, Star dust and now A-L’s for teas. I have had a few herbal blends in the past that I have tried as well. Overall, so far I haven’t been really enjoyed anything enough from them to hold on to them or finish them which makes me sort of sad. I still have a few black blends and an oolong and hojicha blend left to try but hopefully I find one that clicks with me.

Prep: Western
Tasting Note: Oolong has some roasted notes but not very strong. There is some light amount of cinnamon and citrus. But mostly tastes pretty thin. I put probably 3 tsps in 12 oz so i just dont think its my cup of tea.

I almost didn’t try this one from the TTB, but it’s been okay! Maybe I’m mostly tasting all the sugar I added, but this cup tasted sweet with no negative flavors. I can taste the berry, and there’s nothing complex or super interesting here, but it’s not unpleasant. The green tea doesn’t have much character, but it’s okay.

Had this one late last night, while winding down for the night. I have been working on spreadsheet to organize all my tea beyond just tea category (black, puehr, oolong, green, white, herbal, etc) and tea type (straight, blended). I have been specifying what is in the blend more specifically and what tasting notes are in the straight tea.

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note: This tea is a heavy rose flavor with some vanilla. I don’t get a lot of lemon or any osmanthus flavor but it is possible those ingredients have mostly settled to the bottom of the bag. The rose used is a bit cloying which, isn’t my favorite but the vanilla is interesting. I think this tea is best served hot. I would not purchase again probably.

Watching some It Crowd and coloring tonight. Decided to take a little hiatus from instagram and some well liked tea stores. Trying to curb the tea and stationary buying compulsions for awhile and enjoy what I have. Still drinking tea and crafting planner layouts though.

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note: Light soothing herbal. The sage is a nice change from mint. Its very calming without taking over. Lemongrass is refreshing and tangy. Apple is giving a little bit of sweetness. I don’t really taste the rose in this blend bit that is ok with me. I think that this is really refreshing and gives that “Haku/river spirit” vibes.