380 Tasting Notes
Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 10
Wow, the caramel flavoring here is exceptional. It’s buttery, rich, and smooth, and something about it reminds me of caramel corn. The base has a tinge of soapiness that’s slightly discordant, but overall this is really nice and very cozy on a damp and foggy day!
Flavors: Buttery, Caramel, Popcorn, Soap
Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 9
So light and fresh and delicate! The peach is super authentic, and it plays really nicely with the light floral notes of the base. There’s almost a hint of creaminess, which is interesting because the ingredients are just white tea and peaches. Tasty!
Flavors: Cream, Floral, Peach
Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar: Day 9
This is one of my favorite S&V rooibos blends, and I already have a bag of it… but I wasn’t mad to see it in the advent today! I ended up making a big pot to share with my partner this evening.
It’s so good. Buttery caramel tempered by a hint of walnut. It does what it says on the tin!
Keeping my rating the same.
Flavors: Buttery, Caramel, Nutty, Walnut
Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 8
I really like the brisk, robust base here — it’s smooth and bold, with just a little tannin kick at the end. I do think it aaalmost overpowers the fluffy vanilla marshmallow notes, though. You really have to wait till this cup cools for the creaminess to pop!
But this is one of my favorite flavor profiles, so it’s hard to go wrong!
Flavors: Brisk, Cream, Marshmallow, Tannin, Vanilla
Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar: Day 8
Uhh… are you SURE there’s cacao in this, S&V? I taste none of it. It’s just an astringent, grassy base and the barest whisper of a flat, artificial strawberry. Not delicious, unfortunately. :(
Flavors: Artificial, Astringent, Grassy, Strawberry
Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 7
Drank this one last night and subsequently stayed up waaay too late. Oops! It wasn’t as grape-y as I’d hoped, more a tart berry on top of a somewhat grassy and slightly bitter base. Maybe I can coax a little more grape out of the remaining leaves!
Flavors: Berry, Bitter, Grassy, Tart
Tea Thoughts Winter Countdown: Day 6
Drank this one a day late! I’ve made three infusions from this lil tuocha so far; the first two were quite bitter (probably oversteeped) but the third one is pleasant enough, if a bit boring. It’s light and silky, with a fairly muted woodiness. I’m drinking it alongside some spaghetti and not-meatballs, and it’s actually a nice complement!
Flavors: Bitter, Green, Light, Silky, Woody
Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar: Day 7
Ribena tea! Hehe. I enjoy black currant as a rule, so I was happy to see this one after yesterday’s bubblegum nightmare. (I exaggerate — it wasn’t that bad.)
Back at my first Real Job out of undergrad, I had an officemate who turned me on to Twinings’ Blackcurrant Breeze, so I kept a box of that at the office for a pick-me-up. It’s been a while since I had the Twinings version, but I think S&V does a slightly more muted take on the flavor profile. It’s lightly fruity, with juuust a bit of something floral? I would prefer a deeper, darker flavor, but this is fine.
Flavors: Berries, Black Currant, Floral, Fruity
Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar: Day 6
This was a real “be careful what you wish for” situation: After complaining that S&V’s inclusion of a chai in the advent was boring, this dang tea popped up the next day!
I’m not a bubblegum fan, possibly because I had to take prophylactic amoxicillin before dentist appointments as a kid… I abhorred that viscous pink bubblegum-flavored liquid! So this tea did not excite me.
The dry leaf smells reallllly strongly of bubblegum, but luckily the flavor is more muted in the actual cup. And the hibiscus tempers it, adding a bit of juicy tartness. Kind of a weird pairing, but!
Not something I care to try again, but not as bad as I’d feared!
Flavors: Artificial, Bubblegum, Juicy
Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 6
AJRimmer is really spoiling me with this swap — I’m getting to try so many new-to-me brands I’ve seen on Steepster over the years but haven’t ordered from! And I was very excited to see this one; this flavor profile is right up my proverbial alley.
It’s giving me hot buttered rum vibes, but if you made it with bourbon and added some butterscotch sauce. Maybe a little too much butterscotch — it’s definitely heavier on that element. I like the rooibos in the background, but I’m not getting much of the pu’erh!
My second steep of this one was lighter on the butterscotch and just a lot gentler overall. The corn kernels (!) came through more strongly, probably because they’d been soaking in the damp tea leaves for an hour before my resteep! :D
Flavors: Bourbon, Butterscotch, Buttery, Rooibos, Sweet Corn, Whiskey
