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Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | June 2023 | A true sipdown tea

Logging this for the sipdown, since I pretty much just reviewed it. I have not been drinking much tea this month, in part because I’ve been traveling quite a bit. But! I am finishing this one off. I wonder how many more I can squeeze in before the end of the month?

2023 sipdown count: 39

This is the first morning in a while that I’ve craved hot tea — I’ve been making iced teas lately because it’s been so hot. But today it’s rainy and a bit chilly, and I’m feeling a bit under the weather, so… hot tea it is.

This was a good choice. I enjoy ginger overall, but sometimes ginger tisanes are a bit off-putting to me. So the black base here is quite welcome. I’d like to try it iced, too.

Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | June 2023 | An iced tea

I cold-brewed the last of this one and enjoyed it as a post-run drink a week or so ago. Very refreshing! Leaving my rating the same.

June has been way busy so far and I’ve really fallen off on my sipdowns. :(

2023 sipdown count: 38

Snagged from the TTB, and it’s verrry tasty! It’s got a lot of “warm brown” flavors: chestnut, toffee, sweet roasty pecan pie… just very yummy.

I got a fancy Breville milk frother from my local Buy Nothing group and thought this tea would make an excellent latte, so I brewed it up strong and tried to froth some oat milk. Alas, it did not froth… at all. Still, my milky tea was quite decadent and delicious!

I think maybe non-dairy milks require a higher temp and/or more frothing time, so I’ll have to try again.

Despite my longstanding dislike of banana-the-fruit, I am discovering an appreciation for banana-in-tea! In fact, I quite like this one. It’s got a nice creamy mouthfeel thanks to the coconut, which rounds out the banana nicely.

I snagged a couple of these bags from the TTB, not realizing initially that they’re meant to be cold-brewed — so I was a little surprised when I read the packet later! I brewed one up this afternoon, and it’s very welcome on a 90˚F day.

The tea brews up a gorgeous vivid pink, but I find the flavors a bit muddied and weak. The titular juniper is almost nonexistent and the yuzu comes through more than the grapefruit. I find the blackberry leaf almost too sweet — it hits at the back of the sip in an unpleasant way. I thought it was stevia for a hot second!

Well, I’m glad I tried it, but I won’t be too sad when I use up the remaining sachet.

We have a box turtle hanging out by our backyard pond, and we’ve been periodically checking on her to see what she’s up to. Yesterday we went out back to look for her, but she was very well camouflaged in some dried leaves, and my partner couldn’t spot her at first.

We are huge fans of The Office, and my partner immediately channeled Michael Scott:

“WHERE. IS. THE. TURTLE?!”

A deep(ish) cut from season 4, but it’s from a great episode—the one where Michael drives his car into a F*CKING lake!

Anyway, the quote made me think of chocolate turtles, which made me think of this tea, so after pointing out our camouflaged turtle friend, I went inside and brewed up some cashew turtle tea. :D

I’ve had this one twice now and each time I feel like there’s something missing! I want more of the buttery richness I associate with cashews and more rich, deep, chocolatey-ness. It’s a tasty tea, but I want more depth!

Grabbed a small sample from the TTB… mmm! Such a great vanilla tea with mild boozy notes. It reminds me of this fantastic whiskey barrel-aged maple syrup I received as a gift this year… yum.

Cold-brewed this and took it outside with me for an al fresco work session this afternoon. I’m not sure the chili added much, honestly… the spice felt a little out of place! Maybe if it had just been a mango-chili blend, rather than blood orange AND mango AND chili? I dunno.

Soft, gentle, marshmallowy, lemon goodness. It’s more evocative of a sweet lemon drop than anything particularly tangy. Very cozy and relaxing!