Old Barrel Tea Co

A flavored puerh first thing in the morning? I have some Scottish breakfast on deck as a backup. But this is earthy without being barnyard, a hint of chocolate without trying to be sweet, and a citrus note that is drowning in puerh. It’s not bad, but I prefer the coffee puerh from OBT. I might add some ginger next brew.

Sipdown! (7 | 150)

From the fall subscription. Trying to finish up these fall teas, as I know the winter box will be coming next month… ^^’

I liked this one more than I expected. I’ve had quite a few iterations of this sort of “mulled wine” flavor with hibiscus and spices, but this might be the best. Maybe it’s because it has some black tea involved, instead of rooibos or pure fruit tisane? The hibiscus is pleasantly tangy without being too much, and the spices are mellow. It’s heavy on the ginger and light on the clove, maybe that’s why I prefer this version. :P

2024 sipdown no. 75

When I first steeped this, I found the strawberry to be juicy and very true-to-taste. I’ve never been able to re-achieve that in any subsequent cup, sadly. The pu’erh base comes across as earthy – not offensive, but not my favourite. Thanks for sharing Cameron!

Another from Cameron B!  THANK YOU.  I’m trying to write tasting notes for Cameron’s teas while they are new to me…  I really wanted to try this one! It sounded dreamy!  Unfortunately, this only works as a great coffee flavored puerh blend.  It’s really tasty coffee flavor.  But any banana bread notes are nonexistent to me.  If I ran out of coffee puerh options, I’d definitely stock up on this one for that necessary tea in my cupboard.  I’d just ignore the banana bread aspect that I’m very sad is missing.  Subtle notes of cinnamon and a little bit of woodiness from the rooibos.   Cameron noticed banana in the past, so I guess it has now faded!   But three very solid coffee puerh cups, if that is what you’re looking for.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 21 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 minute steep

This tea has grown on me as I steep it more and it cools a bit before sipping. Not much of an orange but more of a creamy oolong. For a flavored oolong I prefer Maya’s good morning oolong, but this one isn’t bad. Its a rolled tea, so a small teaspoon opens up and goes a long way. Second steep adequate. Don’t think I need any more of this tea in my cupboard.

#OctoberTeas2024 Day 2 – “Something Green”

Forgot to post about this yesterday, oops lol. I went for double green, with green tea AND green chile! The regular Green Chile Biscochito is a classic from OBTC, but this version is from my fall subscription box and has their Horchata Rooibos blended in. I love how they blend their own teas together, it’s so interesting and I’m sure it helps a lot with having variety in the subscription year after year.

Anyway, this one is delicious for fall. I don’t taste much of the green chile, which is a shame, but the combination of the anise with the cinnamon and vanilla of the rooibos really pushes the cookie aspect and results in such a cozy, gently spiced brew with a soft licorice note. And since it’s only half red rooibos, it doesn’t taste too rooibos-y for me. Win-win! :)

2024 sipdown no. 59

Without additions: Those Hatch chiles POP. This is super tasty — very dark chocolate with hints of cinnamon and a smash of spiciness at the end of the sip that really stays with you.

With additions: The instructions recommended making this with cream and honey. I improvised with the creamiest milk I had and maple. I used about 3/4 mug of hot water and 1/4 mug of soy milk. It was super tasty, but the milk and maple definitely took over and the spiciness was almost nonexistent. If the spiciness had come through, this one would have been that much more amazing.

I may have to improvise with Cavalla and Trader Joe’s Hatch Chiles (from Kelmishka!) until this company ships to Canada XD.

Thank you Cameron for sharing another great tea!

Subscription box tea! I am a big fan of the banana coffee puerh, so I figured I’d like this, and I did like the lavender crème brûlée, but I didn’t see a need for more of it in my cupboard. Maybe I should rethink that. This is a lovely cup of tea with strong coffee notes while it’s hot and nice creamy lavender as it cools. It makes me wonder what else I could add to the coffee puerh. Ginger? Chai? The second steep isn’t as good as the first, but still has a nice creamy lavender vibe. I will enjoy sipping down this tea!

First one up from the fall subscription box!

Not a lavender lover, but their Banana Bread Coffee Pu Erh is one of my favorites, so that’s encouraging. Luckily, the lavender isn’t super strong here. Seems to be about an equal split between the two teas. I’m not sure how I feel about lavender and coffee together, it’s a bit of an odd combination to me. Maybe if there was more creaminess it would tie them together better. Honestly I’m surprised there’s not more cream flavor given the name.

Not bad, I’ll have to try this one a few more times to decide how I feel about it…

2024 sipdown no. 52

Thank you Cameron for sharing!

The steeped scent is coffee and cinnamon. Coffee and cinnamon are at the forefront and the base adds depth and smoothness overall. There is perhaps a subtle hint of banana towards the end of the sip, though I wish it was a tad more banana-forward.

The second steep was just as flavourful with a touch more sweetness. A lovely cup overall!

Seems like forever since I posted here, but I just sipped the last of this tin so I’d better write a note. The bergamot is subtle here, and the lavender is slightly more prominent. I don’t mind this tea, it was an interesting addition to the tea subscription box, but I don’t need this in my cupboard (unlike the coconut vanilla combo which I did buy more of). It’s an easy drinker, and my cup seems to be empty already :)

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Not my favorite from this quarter’s box. I like the fruit flavors and the white tea well enough, but the rooibos comes in and ruins it for me. To be fair, I never like fruity and especially berry flavored rooibos, as it tastes so medicinal to me. There’s definitely some of that going on here, though the hibiscus does help to temper it a bit. Interesting that it has a smooth vanilla finish as well, which is an odd pairing with hibiscus.

Not bad, but not a favorite.

From the summer subscription box.

I expected to dislike this, but figured I would give it a chance. True to form, I don’t like it. XP

It’s not its fault though, I’m not generally a fan of cherry flavoring, and these fakey sakura teas always taste like powdery cherry candy to me. So into the rehoming box it goes! :P

This is a nicely balanced chai with ginger notes. It’s a bit chilly in WY this morning as it has been raining for the past day, so I added a scoop of ginger this morning. It added to the spice and I appreciated the extra kick. Overall, kind of pricey for a chai, and Okd Barrel Tea doesn’t have a sample size to try, so I’m glad I took a chance on this blend, but I don’t need to keep it in my cupboard.

Subscription tea!

I was wary of this one, as I don’t generally love coconut-flavored teas (though I do like coconut desserts, etc.) and the mocha maté seems suspiciously similar to Adagio’s. Thankfully, the coconut is not overly strong here. However, I do agree with Michelle that it’s a bit murky and muddled overall. I like coffee things, but here I mostly get a bit of chocolate flavoring, a bit of coconut, and a lot of murky earthiness and vague “flavoring” sort of vibes.

So not a favorite for me, but since it didn’t sound like my jam anyway, I’m not surprised he he.

Subscription box tea! I have tried their Mocha Mate before and it’s good, but I prefer Savoys. Haven’t tried their coconut crème puerh yet, but I think I need to. I do like OBT coconut flavoring, but these two teas combined together are not better than the individual teas. They don’t complement each other and the mocha came out a bit murky and in the background. I might change my opinion, as this was my first brew attempt. I will say it was very drinkable, chocolate and creamy and my cup disappeared quickly this morning :)

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Really enjoyed this one, even though it seemed like a weird combo at first. But the butterscotch and the lemongrass really do go together well, like some kind of lemon and butterscotch pudding mashup ha ha. The lemongrass also lightens the body up a bit, which makes it more refreshing and suited for summer. Probably wouldn’t order it just because I have Bourbon Brew and I have lemongrass, so could easily mix them myself. But enjoyed sipping through the small tin!

Also, good timing on the sipdown since this was my last tea from the summer box, and the fall box should be shipping any day now! :P

Another summer subscription tea!

I wasn’t sure if I would like this one, the combination of butterscotch and lemongrass just sounded a bit weird? But it actually works – the lemon is sweet and candylike, and the butterscotch comes out tasting like a creamy, buttery caramel sauce. So overall it’s a bit like a caramelized lemon pudding perhaps? Nicely sweet and a bit decadent, and the rooibos is adding body but not contributing too much woodiness.

I’m not sure I would go out and buy it (they don’t sell it anyway), but it definitely exceeded my expectations. And now I want to try some kind of lemon pudding and crème brûlée mashup…

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Counting this one for August, as I made the pitcher last night.

Sipped through this as an iced tea, though I did enjoy it warm as well. It’s just so hot here in Austin, and the mint is so nice and refreshing cold. This has a nice balance of sweet spearmint with black and oolong teas. I don’t notice the lemon at all cold, but I don’t miss it. I added a little bit of raw sugar, but probably doesn’t need any sweetener at all with the sweetness of the spearmint.

Not sure whether I would reorder it, as I would probably prefer a green or white tea with spearmint to a black one. But still so nice to have for the summer, so grateful for it being in the June box.

Got my summer subscription box from Old Barrel today, huzzah! Honestly, this is my third box, and I’m pretty impressed with their selections so far. They don’t lean too far into the seasonal angle, like it would have been easy to make this box all iced teas or all light and fruity teas, but they didn’t. And I appreciate that, since otherwise I don’t think a spring or summer box would be my jam.

Anyway! First one out of the bunch. This is a blend of black tea and oolong with spearmint and lemon. I don’t actually like iced tea with lemon, but this is really nice. Very well-balanced, with a smooth yet flavorful base, sweet and fresh mint, and a soft candy lemon note.

I’m sure it would be lovely iced, but I’m enjoying it warm. Maybe I’ll try icing it with some honey next time…

Bright and citrusy, this is very drinkable and half of my first steep is gone before I have blinked. This would probably go well with a touch of sweetner to dull the sharply sour lemon, and could certainly be iced. The lavender, licorice, and sage are very muted, but make for an interesting take on lemony, lemon, lemonade. I will mix this with some black or oolong for a morning brew, and enjoy the sipping down of the tin. Might need more.

This tea tastes like honeysuckle smells. With a bit of apple sweetness to finish. A nice, well balanced floral oolong. One of the perks of their tea subscription is 15% off and I managed to find some tea I “needed” to try. I bet this is good iced!

Hmmmm…

So this is an oolong with fruit and floral flavors. I guess I was assuming the “floral” part meant the chamomile, rose petals, and butterfly pea flower that are mixed in. But there is definitely some kind of floral flavoring going on here as well, and it’s reminding me of hair conditioner or something. It doesn’t taste awful or anything like that, it just has a distinct sweet and perfumey floral note that makes me think of bath products. I don’t really get fruitiness? Not sure what the fruit is supposed to be, as they don’t tell you.

It’s drinkable, but I am far from a floral lover, so this will be going into my rehoming box.

Another tea I picked up in my last (impulsive) order, heh heh… Somehow I ended up with three oolongs.

This is a nice enough tea, but to me, it doesn’t really fit the name. The cream part is definitely there, and it’s quite rich and vanilla-y. However, I don’t really get orange at all…? Which makes me sad, as that’s the part I was excited about. The oolong base here is very oxidized and also somewhat roasty, and has some woody notes that do pair very well with the richer vanilla ice cream flavor.

But I wanted orange… T.T