Tearunners

Sipdown (229)

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.

Finished up the last of this the other day – tiny cup left for VariaTEA to try and have.

i REALLY liked this version from tearunners. Makes me wish i knew who their supplier was as it doesn’t taste like the YS version i’ve had. so good.

Latte Sipdown (317)

Thank you for sharing this one with me, Sil! I am a gingerbread tea fan and this is no exception. This is a clove heavy gingerbread flavor but that works for me. Ginger is also strong, as it should be. It also had a touch of molasses sweetness. A standard gingerbread black tea, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Sipdown (325)

I was talking to Roswell Strange and asked her to pick a tea for me. Completely randomly, she happened to pick a tea she gave me. So thank you Roswell Strange for both sharing this with me and selecting it for me to drink today!

I started taking sips when it was very hot and the flavor was all plum. However, I am worried that as this cools, it will get a metallic twang at the end of the sip. Something gave me that impression as I drank. As such, I am trying to drink this while very hot. My brother distracted me with talks of Wandavision though so now I am drinking it warm.

As it cools, its more floral, as opposed to more metallic, which is nice. However, the plum flavor faded slightly and that’s less appealing. Good, but not a favorite. Happy to have tried it though.

sample from variaTEA. was a nice tea to revsit in terms of “type” fairly middle of the road cones and an enjoyable cup

Sipdown (321)

This is one of two Tearunner samples that I grabbed from Roswell Strange before sending her along her teas. I was interested in trying it but don’t drink straight oolongs enough to justify purchasing a bag for myself. With that said, thank you Roswell Strange for giving me the chance to try this one!

Drinking it now, I am glad I didn’t buy it. It’s not bad but its not to my tastes. The website claims there are peach notes here and while I maybe get that a little, I get more a metallic floral. It’s a classic oolong profile but not the oolong I personally enjoy. Its been fun to try though and now I know for sure that I was fine with the one-cup sample and nothing more.

Sipdown (1320)!

Feels good to have finished off another smaller straight black tea sample! I think I actually liked this even more with the second cup – it’s still not really an exception Golden Monkey, but it’s very classic and the mix of golden honey, red fruit and cocoa notes in this cup were just so comforting and spot on for my mood! Also really full bodied and brisk, with just enough astringency to not feel flat without really being “an astringent tea”.

Thank you VariaTEA for the share!

This was really pleasant – it’s a very good representation of a classic tasting Golden Monkey. Notes of malt, cocoa, and bread rule the cup with undertones of red fruit. Very full bodied and smooth, with a deepness to the flavour notes that commands attention. Highly enjoyable, and one of those teas where you don’t sip but you slurp and then feel sad when you finished it so fast.

After my success with the unsmoked lapsang (which I did not know was a thing) by Teavivre, I am so happy to have this in my cupboard. I didn’t realize but I am a fan. This is maybe not as good as the Teavivre version but it is still very good. The website boasts dark chocolate notes with a sweet finish. The sweet finish I get but this is not dark chocolate for me. To me, this is breadier and with caramelized sweet potato/yam and a sweet finish. Very smooth.

Sipdown 53-2021
Goodbye black tea. I will not repurchase you.

Focusing on sipping through this. It’s rich and chocolatey, but I much prefer Verdant’s Laoshan Black, which I find a bit more smooth.

I’ve been toying with the idea of trying out Tearunners and finally went for it. My tea subscriptions are now up to 5: Bird and Blend, Mansa, 52Teas, SipsBy, and Tearunners. I’m trying to get my cupboard under control, but I also live trying new teas…the conundrum of a tea lover.
I actually have very few straight black teas in my cupboard right now, which is what I’ve been drinking the most of.
I was so excited to see a Laoshan black in the first box. Verdant’s Autumn Laoshan black is one of my favorite black teas.
This has the delicious, rich dark chocolate flavor that I love in a Laoshan black. So easy to drink and cozy. But, I prefer Verdant’s offering over this one. The dark chocolate isn’t pronounced enough compared to Verdant’s.

Sipdown (1290)!

In many ways similar to the last mug of this that I had quite recently, though this one seemed particularly fruity to me with sweet and waxy red fruit notes that coated the palate. Complimented, of course, by the same mix of malt/honey/floral/cocoa like notes that I observed before.

It was a good cup, but not the kind of “good” that sets it apart from other black teas to make it a necessity to have in my stash.

Thanks for the share VariaTEA!

This was a nice cup of full bodied, well rounded Nepalese black – more on the sweet and malty side of flavours with some coppery tannic notes, cocoa, honey, red fruit, and just a sliiighhttt hint of something floral in the finish. Reminded me a bit of DT’s Nepal Black but darker and more cocoa – less “golden” flavours. Delish.

One more cup, and it’s a sipdown.

Another sipdown! I’m doing fairly well with these, which is nice…but also makes me want more tea NAO! Still feels like this is YS’s laoshan black but maybe not.

I made this this morning at the same time I made my matcha and had full intentions of drinking it while watching the Tomb Raider episode of Geek Steep. Then life happened and I didn’t get a chance so I just ended up drinking this. I liked it and sort of remembered chocolate notes but was distracted. I will drink it again soon though because this mug didn’t last long.

Sipdown! Last of this over to VariaTEA to try. This one grew on me, even though overall my experience with tea runners is that they’re over priced. I expect a Canadian company to first of all offer CAD$ pricing and then secondly most of their teas are seriously marked up from what i am guessing are their suppliers (YS, Nepali tea etc…). I’d rather spend a little more on random teas from those company than pay for pretty re-packaged tea.