Tea Runners

Decided to try a cold brew. For some weird reason, this reminds me of that instant iced tea mix that was around when I was a kid. Can’t remember for the life of me what it was called. Not enjoyable cold IMO. It seems even more astringent than it did when it was hot.

Got this from May’s subscription box. I’ve been trying to broaden my tea horizons a but more. I’m also trying to be more detailed on my notes so 6 months or more down the road I know what the heck I was talking about.

And, of course, I start this new and improved note taking with a tea that I have absolutely no words to describe. Why do I have such a difficult time detecting flavors others get? I don’t get toasty at all. No stone fruit, no honey. I still haven’t the slightest clue what malty tastes like.

I can detect a little of the tannins, as after a sip, parts of my tongue get that dry feeling. Not unpleasant, but its basically a unexceptional inoffensive tea. I’ll drink what I have, but I’ve no desire to get more.

Sipdown (1389)!

Thank you Sil for sharing this one – and VariaTEA for passing it along!

I think, under typical circumstances, I likely wouldn’t have been a huge fan of this blend as it’s very earthy and robustly spicy – so much turmeric and ginger and a crawling heat down the back of the throat, as well. However, I was watching a very emotionally charged episode of one of my favourites shows of the moment and there was a main character death during it that left me feeling emotionally WRECKED.

…and so what probably would have originally been an uncomfortably spicy blend actually ended up being the deeply cozy and warming hug that I needed. Plus, cardamom! I will very, very rarely complain about the use of cardamom in tea.

Y is for…Yunnan Black Gold

Another black tea that’s alright but nothing special. Stone fruit, malt and honey.

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S is for…Sichuan Black

Thank you Sil for the share!

This tea is an interesting one. Sil found it flavorless but at 4 mins, I am definitely getting a fair bit of flavor. It is smooth and has a fair bit of date notes. Dates, raisins, and a touch of smoke which seems like it shouldn’t be a thing but is.

This cup has a very strong medicinal-tasting raspberry flavor. Not a fan but it’s almost gone. It’s floral but not in a good way with the strange medicinal raspberry notes.

April Sipdown Alphabet Challenge: “L” Tea
This was another tea in my box that I was really looking forward to. It’s a raspberry herbal tea without hibiscus! I like this one though I do wish they had used real raspberries here instead of natural flavoring. The natural raspberry flavoring does come across as a tad medicinal. Always happy to have another caffeine-free tea in my cupboard to balance it out more. Short notes in between working on my 3 essays that are due soon.

I was craving a plain tea this morning and this one was really nice. I was able to get three flavorful steeps from it. Such a smooth savory blend and slightly sweet as well.

April Sipdown Alphabet Challenge: “I” Tea
So I finally have an “I” tea now for the challenge. I’ve never had a yellow tea before as far as I can remember at least. I’ve always wanted to try one though so this a nice surprise!
The description of this tea compares it to a green tea but I’m not sure I agree with that?
Don’t remember much about it other than I liked it and it resteeped well. I’ll have to write another tasting note on it with more details.

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K is for…Kanchanjangha Black

I really need to say thank you to Mastress Alita because her alphabet sipdown challenge has done wonders for my sipdowns!! I think I am at 28 empties for the month already. Plus, it makes figuring out instagram content for the Sororitea Sisters blog so simple. Thank you Mastress Alita!!!

Also thank you Sil for this “K” tea. It is one of 3 K teas I have and so its nice to have some variety. This is the only caffeinated one in the mix.

Tasting it now, it’s an okay tea. Nothing particularly interesting about it. It’s a sort of standard darjeeling profile – a little on the greener side though not metallic at all. Smooth. A touch vegetal/floral. Fine. Meh. Still always fun to try new things though!

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Thank you Sil for sharing this one with me. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Despite the name and the many petals, this was a malty vanilla black tea. Smooth and really quite nice. Not overly floral, which is weird since its a rose tea.

April Sipdown Alphabet Challenge: “E” Tea
Quick little write up more next time though.
This smells just like rootbeer before steeping I can’t stop sniffing it. Once steeped it definitely is a lot more of an herbal rootbeer flavor and with chamomile. It’s good but not as good as it smelled. I still will be playing around with it and really enjoying my pouch of this.

Sipdown

This is like an earthy ginger tea with cardamom. I usually find turmeric too earthy for me but I don’t hate it here. I don’t think this is something I need more of but it’s a cozy enough cuppa for watching Into the Spiderverse with my brother-in-law tonight. Thanks Sil!

This tea smells absolutely amazing, exactly like root beer. The flavor is authentic too. The spearmint is so clear and delicious, and there’s almost a feeling of carbonation. I never really drank root beer, but I’m loving this tea version! It’s so refreshing – I grabbed the last servings from the tea box, and I’ll have to track down some more! It isn’t quite perfect – I feel like maybe some added vanilla or something could really make it great, but it’s quite good.

April Sipdown Alphabet Challenge: “O” Tea
I didn’t expect to like this one as the loose-leaf looked pretty heavy on the lemongrass along with the citrus oils in it. It’s actually a nice citrus herbal blend. I honestly don’t remember much about the cup other than that.

Cold Brew!

I took the opportunity with this month’s (gifted) Tea Runners subscription box to restock this herbal blend since I enjoyed it so much when I received it the first time. It still smells strongly and sweetly of wintergreen but not as much as I remember. I’m getting more chamomile and other florals and herbs than were present last time. At least, in my memory anyway.

It’s still super refreshing cold brewed with that kind of cooling minty quality that gets you at the back of your chest. However, the taste is sweet and coating with very herbal and heady floral qualities. Much, much more chamomile than I remember along with lavender, linden, and clover. It detracts from how brilliant the wintergreen/spearmint/vanilla mix is – but not enough to change my love of this blend entirely.

It is nice, however, to know there’s variation from batch to batch. That is something I will absolutely note for next time.