1216 Tasting Notes

89

Holiday Tea-son! This was one of 52Tea’s seasonal flavors last year, so of course a tea hoarder like me is finally getting around to it this year. The good news is I actually have made really good progress sipping down the majority of the holiday teas I had stashed away in my cupboard this month! I’m getting down to the point where the rest of the month I’ll probably just be working on flavors that just sort of work, but aren’t specifically seasonal… mint teas, orange teas, etc. And maybe I’ll dip into a few of the new seasonals I got in my 12 Days of Tea box this year… if I don’t end up hoarding those until next holiday season, hahaha. (Bad habits die hard…)

Mmm, the spice aroma from this steeped red cup is lovely, particularly the cardamom. I’m actually getting a pine aroma coming off of the cup as well, and it smells very brisk and fresh… oh! It must be the juniper berry! Yes, that explains it. I live in the Pacific Northwest, and it’s a very homey, comforting aroma.

This is a very nice chai. The juniper is actually a very forward flavor note, and I’m loving it; it’s slightly citrusy but has a strong pine flavor, with a bit of a menthol-like coolness left on the tongue after the sip. I’m getting a very gentle lingering spiciness, with the main spice notes coming forward being cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and pepper, but the spices blend together very nicely. The base adds a nice balancing sweetness, but I’m not really getting any fruity notes to come forward despite having four huge cranberries in my teapot. I think any cranberry present is likely overwhelmed by the strong spice/pine; I love tangy cranberry so that is a bit of a shame, but I am definitely enjoying this pine-forward spice blend, which isn’t something I’ve had yet as I’ve been happily downing spice ciders this month. I’m seriously digging that juniper. I’m going to have to seek out more strong juniper berry teas now, discovering this is obviously a weakness for me!

Flavors: Cardamom, Cinnamon, Citrus, Clove, Menthol, Pepper, Pine, Spices, Spicy, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 7 g 16 OZ / 473 ML

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60

Holiday Tea-son! I drank several cups of this yesterday, but didn’t have a chance to review it since I was on the phone at the time. I finished off the sampler I snagged from Meowster’s cupboard destash, so thank you Meowster! Cocomint seems a rather holiday-season flavor combo, doesn’t it? Plus, I’m having a terrible migraine today from the snow front moving out last night (I knew the exact hour the barometric pressure changed… I should’ve been a meteorologist, seriously) but am having to buck it up and work all day today because all my coworkers are taking the week off. The mint at least calms the migraine-nausea.

This tea mainly has a minty aroma, though steeped up, I do get some sweeter chocolately notes coming through. The flavor is mostly a brisk, peppermint flavor, but there is a more subtle sweet cocoa note. The base feels pretty clean, but I don’t really taste any green tea notes against the flavor; there is a rather sharp peppermint flavor that does taste a little sweet and artificial compared to mint leaf, but I don’t mind it, and it isn’t causing me that metallic/coating reaction that I get from some of Adagio’s flavoring agents. Feeling a little sharp or possibly a little stronger than it needs to be is the most I can say for it. Mostly, it’s pretty nice, especially compared to a lot of Adagio flavored teas that have been outright misses for me.

Not my favorite chocolate-mint tea, but entirely servicable.

Flavors: Artificial, Cocoa, Mint, Peppermint, Sweet

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec 2 g 350 OZ / 10350 ML
Nattie

I too am often plagued by migraines, and recently they’ve been getting worse. I’ve even been considering getting a piercing to try to ward them off! Hope you’re okay.

Mastress Alita

I’ve had chronic migraine for nearly 20 years. It’s gotten worse over the years, but I get anywhere from 8-15 migraines a month (an average of 3 a week) so I’m quite used to it. I’ve tried just about everything over the years, Nattie (though I never did the daith piercings because the research showed that, at best, they only ever provided about 3 months top of relief in some people, which to me wasn’t worth a body alteration; even one I could remove, heh).

I’ve currently started the new anti-CGRP medications (I’m on Aimovig), which is the best preventative I’ve tried thus far. I’m not sure what their status is in other countries, I know in the US the main battle at the moment is getting insurance to approve them for most people (but our healthcare system is notoriously bad). It’s an auto-injector you use once a month, and the medication is a sort of anti-bodies that bind to certain receptors in the brain to try to prevent the onset of migraines, and cause migraines to be less severe and have a shorter duration.

I’m still having the migraine, but it certainly hasn’t gotten as severe as usual; the new Aimovig has really improved severity/duration for me when my triptan rescue drug fails. As far as prevention, I’d say I’m an “average” responder, getting a reduction of 2-4 migraines a month.

Nattie

Mine aren’t nearly as bad, I usually get 1 or 2 a month but lately it’s been 2-3 a week. One of the most recent ones was so bad I thought my head was splitting open or something more serious was wrong. I have never felt pain like it. I’ve never heard of Aimovig and don’t know if we have that or something similar over here, but I will ask my doctor. I might still get the daith since I like the look of it, so if it helps my migraines even for a little while I’ll see it as a plus lol.

Mastress Alita

I’m not sure if Ajovy and Emgality have made it to other countries yet (the other CGRP-inhibitors) but Aimovig appears to have been liscenced in the UK now: https://www.nationalmigrainecentre.org.uk/new-migraine-drug-aimovig-now-licensed-in-the-uk/

Nattie

Ah thank you!!

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90
drank Chocolate Stout by TeaSource
1216 tasting notes

Holiday Tea-son! This was another tea I had in a holiday sampler from TeaSource that I got shortly after the 2016 holiday season and… I sadly haven’t tried it yet. Though I have sampled this tea before at Twin Beans, which is pretty much the only place in my little town to order a cuppa (we have tons of coffee shops but only one of them has decent loose leaf as an option on the menu); they source a small selection of TeaSource teas and this happens to be one of the ones they keep around, and I know I’ve enjoyed it with one of their amazing crepes before. I’ve been drinking Cocomint Green tea all day (but was on the phone with family and didn’t have a chance to do a write up so I still need to get around to that!) and am still feeling in the chocolately mood. Just switching to a non-caffeinated option, since it’s back to work for me in the morrow.

I love the smell of this herbal! It’s chocolately, but it smells a bit nutty to me too, so the aroma of the dry leaf comes off like Nutella to me. There is nothing nutty in the ingredients, so I’m not sure what is giving me that impression in the fragrance, but I have no complaints. Smells sooooo good!

The steeped tea smells like melted chocolate and very sweet, and I still am getting a hint of nuts, though not as strongly as the dry leaf. The flavor of the tea is reminding me a lot of that Tiramisu herbal from Citizen Tea that I tried a few months ago and loved (I finished that sampler off), with a few differences. Both have that sweet and slightly tart apple note to the base, but I’d say that the Tiramisu tea had a more caramel/toffee-forward note with a more subtle chocolate flavor and some subtle hints of coffee, and this tea is very chocolate-forward in its flavor. I’m getting a strong cocoa flavor, and note both milk chocolate and bittersweet dark chocolate and hints of nuts; the finish comes back around with that tang of green apple skin.

It’s a nice dessert tea; comparing both, it’s a hard call; the Tiramisu is probably a little more varied in flavor, but this is definitely a better choice for a good chocolately flavor. They are similar enough that, trying to narrow down space in my cupboard and with Citizen Tea being in Canada and therefore having expensive international shipping for me, I’ll probably keep this one in stock instead as a dessert herbal. It definitely makes a nice sweet late-night cap.

Flavors: Apple Skins, Chocolate, Cocoa, Dark Chocolate, Green Apple, Nutty, Sweet, Tangy

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 3 tsp 16 OZ / 473 ML
Bluegreen

Sounds delicious.

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88

Holiday Tea-son! This was a free sampler Bird & Blend included in my advent calendar order. I honestly expected it to be in the calendar, so I was holding onto it so I could make a pot of tea when it turned up since I’d have two teabags, but it never did so now I’m just having a late night cuppa while I finish off watching Solo (yes, for the first time… I don’t really do movies in the theater because the volume is always just way too loud for my migraine-head, and it took forever to get to me on the hold list when we got the DVD in at work). I’m fine with some late-night hibi-hip cider, though. And it just passed midnight in my timezone, so Merry Christmas to all you Steepsterites that celebrate! (I actually don’t observe, but I send well-wishing to you all anyway!)

So, first good sign, my cup is actually red! Thanks B&B, I would’ve been a little worried if I got two spiced ciders this season lacking their hibi petals and having a weaksauce base. This smells absolutely lovely, in fact! I’m getting spiced cinnamon apples wafting off the cup… mmm! A bit of clove too. And spiced apple cider is pretty much the flavor I’m getting from this, too. Once the flavors settle, there is a hibi fruitiness to the base, but it isn’t nearly as thick or strong as other hibi ciders I’ve had, and actually the strongest flavor note coming through for me in the tea is apple! It reads as more of a tart green apple (mmm, Granny Smith is my favorite kind of apple!), with strong cinnamon and clove spices. The spice is warming but doesn’t leave any unpleasant heat behind in the mouth.

I like this one! It makes me think of a classy, high-end loose leaf version of Stash’s Apple Cinnamon Chamomile tea, which is one of the few bagged teas I still really like.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Clove, Fruity, Green Apple, Hibiscus, Spices, Tangy, Tart

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
AJRimmer

I totally agree with you about the movie volume! I’m afraid of hearing damage (and I’m also super cheap) so the only times I go are for the premieres of Star Wars or Star Trek movies.

Mastress Alita

I won’t even go to Star Wars premiers, hense why I was just seeing Solo for the first time last night. I’d rather wait and step on eggshells avoiding spoilers from my nerd friends for half a year than spend the money to be given a migraine when I already get 2-3 a week easily enough on my own.

AJRimmer

I don’t blame you at all! It sucks that you have migraines all the time!

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73
drank Mint Mix by T2
1216 tasting notes

Holiday Tea-son! I know this is hardly exciting, but I have quite the stomachache and mint, at least in my opinion, an appopriately wintery flavor, and it always helps settle my stomach, so I’m going to cash in this sampler from the ol’ T2 sampler haul of January 2018. It’s a blend of peppermint, spearmint, and lemon verbena.

The leaf smells like mint. Steeped up, the tea has the dull brown color of mint tea, and the aroma of mint. And guess what? Spoilers! It tastes like mint. (I bet you couldn’t guess!) It’s what you would expect of a mint tea; brisk, soothing, with a cooling menthol effect on the tongue. It’s a little more peppermint forward at the beginning of the sip, but I do notice a bit of a spearmint note closer to the end of the sip. The lemon verbena is pretty benign in this blend; the mint comes on so strongly I’m honestly not reading any citrus here, personally.

The leaf was nice and full, rather than the typical pulverized mulch of bagged mint teas, and I feel it tastes a little cleaner/vegetal/earthy, too. It’s fine. But at the end of the day, it’s just another mint tea. But most importantly, it’s cool on my throat but warm and soothing on my stomach, and I’ve only been sipping on this for maybe ten minutes and I already feel my stomach starting to improve.

Maybe I will be able to manage some dinner later tonight, after all.

Flavors: Menthol, Mint, Peppermint, Spearmint, Vegetal

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 5 g 17 OZ / 500 ML

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40
drank Gingerbread by Adagio Teas
1216 tasting notes

Holiday Tea-son! Tea-sipper reminded me of this one, which I got from Meowster’s cupboard de-stash last summer. I still need to try it, so may as well now! Adagio’s flavored blends can be quite hit-or-miss with me, because sometimes I seem to have issues with whatever brand of flavoring they use, and while I’m not willing to do business with that company anymore because of their anti-LGBTQ+ practices, I’ll at least still sample previously acquired Adagio teas in my collection. So, let’s see how this one stacks up…

The brewed tea is a burnt sienna color, and smells spicy, sweet, and slightly smoky to me… the aroma actually reminds me more of a Yunnan tea than a Ceylon, huh. The base tea is actually surprisingly nice for being a Ceylon, which is typically not my favorite; there is a very mild astringency, but it is very mild, and many Adagio teas I’ve had in the past have gone a little overly robust/too astringent for my tastes. This is right in my pleasant zone. It’s a bit malty, with some subtle citrus and smoky notes. The sip is not overly spicy, which I appreciate; I’m getting more of a warming cinnamon flavor rather than a ginger punch, and the cinnamon at least isn’t that overwhelming artificial “red hot” flavor that I dislike. In fact, I wouldn’t mind just a touch more cinnamon and a bit more of a ginger note (not something I say often, but the spice actually seems a little too underwhelming here). I do like that it is a bit sweeter, which reads more cookie-like than many gingerbread blends that go too spice-heavy.

But it still doesn’t really make me think of gingerbread… mainly because, yup, I’m getting that “Adagio flavoring” issue… they put their orange flavoring in this, didn’t they? * checks * Well, the ingredients claim it has orange, and I’m not seeing obvious orange peel in my leaf, so I’m assuming it is flavoring. Every single Adagio tea I’ve ever had that is orange-flavored I get this weird aftertaste that is overly artificial, slightly metallic, and coats my tongue oddly. I get that from their almond flavoring, too. If it isn’t from orange, it’s at least from something that is in this tea, because I’m noticing it. It isn’t as bad as I’ve had in the past, because I think that flavor isn’t used as strongly in this blend as the teas I’ve had that were specifically orange-flavored teas. But it is leaving me with this sour metallic feeling in my mouth I don’t like. Meh.

I tried the tea as a latte, too, hoping that some sweet vanilla almond milk might temper that sensitivity I seem to have to Adagio’s flavoring. It was certainly an improvement, but I was still noticing it. I have a pretty big bag of this, large enough I’d feel bad binning it. If you like this one (or just want to try it) and are within the US, feel free to contact me and I’ll gift it to you.

Flavors: Artificial, Cinnamon, Citrus, Malt, Metallic, Smoke, Sour, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 2 g 12 OZ / 350 ML
tea-sipper

Well I KNOW we both had the exact same tea from Meowster. I loved it, you hated it. Different tastes, I guess. haha

Mastress Alita

I have a known sensitivity to certain flavoring agents that Adagio uses in their teas. I get this reaction to many of their flavored blends. It’s almost like an allergy, really.

Mastress Alita

The only other person I know that gets this same reaction is AJRimmer… oh, and my Mom, but then her tongue may be quite similar to mine, hahaha. And I don’t get it from ALL their flavorings (off the top of my head I know the cream flavor and the rose flavor didn’t cause it, but the orange and almond have). I don’t know how to describe it except it feels like there is a metallic aftertaste in my mouth and like a coating over my tongue. I’ve had this problem with flavorings from other companies too (specifically with mango flavorings), so I know it’s some reaction I have to certain artificial/natural flavorings, but since those are never listed (like brands or what is included in them) I have no way of knowing exactly what it is that causes it for me. Just luck of the draw!

tea-sipper

If no one else wants it, I was staring at my pouch yesterday thinking a few teaspoons wasn’t enough. haha.

Mastress Alita

Sure, no problem! I can get it out the next Monday off in my work rotation (that isn’t a holiday, obviously!)

tea-sipper

But PLEASE if anyone else wants it, please take it!

Nattie

Can you fill me in on Adagio’s anti-LGBT practices? I have no idea what happened, and Adagio is one of very few companies that have a warehouse in the UK so they were one of my go-tos when I started out. I definitely don’t want to give my money to a company that does shitty things, though.

Mastress Alita

I’m asexual, so I consider myself part of the LGBTQQIAAPP+ community, so some of the things I’ve heard about their CEO’s treatment of LGBT employees have me no longer buying their teas (I will sample their stuff through trades/anything I have in my cupboards before I found out this news, I just no longer will give them my money). I’m not about to tell anyone else what to do with their money, it’s just how I feel being a part of that community myself. But here is a link from a former Adagio employee chronicling the mistreatment of several Adagio LGBT employees by the CEO, if you’d like to read it:

https://twitter.com/elliottjunkyard/status/980876681597673473?lang=en

Nattie

Thanks for the link. I’m not a part of the community myself (or at least not that most other people would count me) but I cannot stand bigotry. Thanks for the info ❤️

Mastress Alita

One of the A’s is for Allies ❤️

Nattie

I’ve never heard that addition before! I like it (:

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60

Holiday Tea-son! This was the final day in my advent calendar, though it was yesterday’s tea; the final day of the calendar was an iron-on patch (Me? Do ironing? How funny B&B! I put some tape on the back of it and stuck it on the frame of my computer desk, heh). Since I was re-steeping my pu-erh yesterday, I didn’t really make any other tea, so I just saved it for today to have with my breakfast. My sachet was a bit damaged inside the package; it had a small hole and I noticed some of the CTC tea at the bottom of the paper packaging envelope around the sachet, so I cut the sachet open and dumped the tea into my gravity well infuser to steep. I also steeped briefer than I usually give blacks, only going two minutes on this one, since it’s CTC leaf. Really robust blacks aren’t my favorite. While most people steep their blacks 4-5 minutes I typically only do three, so I push CTCs back even more, heh. Just call me Little Miss Tannin Wuss.

Okay, even with a two minute steep, I totally believe B&B when they say this is their “strongest breakfast blend.” This is a bold tea. Phew. It’s very malty, with a strong autumn leaf note, and just a touch of molasses and cinnamon towards the end of the sip. It is still a bit bitter with quite a bit of astringency after the sip… I can’t imagine having steeped this for the recommended four minutes!

I do realize that teas like this are designed to be taken “British style” with milk and optionally some sweetener, but since that isn’t my preferred way to take my tea, these just aren’t my favorite as far as breakfast blends go. I much preferred the taste of the Great British Cuppa blend from B&B, which I found had a nice flavor on its own, and I had no problem drinking as it was and found quite pleasant; I really am going to have to add a bit of milk and honey to finish off this cup.

I’m sure this is exactly the kind of black tea someone out there is looking for; that someone just isn’t me.

Flavors: Astringent, Autumn Leaf Pile, Bitter, Cinnamon, Malt, Molasses

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 2 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
Nattie

I am far from averse to drinking my black tea with milk (I am English, after all) but if I want to drink a CTC plain I usually only steep it for a minute. I guess I’m even more of a tannin wuss, lol.

Mastress Alita

I’m not averse to it (I did add milk and honey to this one to tame it!) it just isn’t my preferred way (unless I am actually in the mood for a tea latte, and those moods certainly strike me!) Mainly, the milk often coats my stomach and fills me up too much, hense why when I want a latte, it’s specifically because I want something more “filling”, and when I want a cup of tea, I just want a cup of tea, heh. I’ll try dropping my CTC steep time down a bit more and see how that goes next time I run into one! At least I’m not the only tannin wuss out there.

Nattie

Lol. I think there are many of us here in the UK! Sorry for all the questions, but how do you make your tea lattes? I might have to try that!

Mastress Alita

Usually when I’m going to make a latte, I make sure to use a mug that holds 16 oz (about 500ml) of liquid, and do 1 part milk to 3 parts tea. I usually brew enough tea for the two cups of liquid, but then add maybe just a half gram to a gram extra depending on the tea so the flavor will shine through milk nicely. Some teas that I don’t like much plain I actually really like latte-style, so it’s worth trying sometimes with less-than-favorites, too. And some teas just have a nice flavor for lattes, like chocolately or mint teas.

Nattie

Thank you! Definitely giving that a go.

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72

Holiday Tea-son! While not technically a holiday tea, tangerines/mandarins make me think of the holiday season (I’m eating one for breakfast right now!) so I figured I would finally try one of these little stuffed pu-erhs that I’ve been curious about for a while now. Plus I can just throw water on it throughout the remainder of the day when I need another tea fix, since I always seem to give out on steeps before pu-erh does. Handy! I got this from tea-sipper’s cupboard sale last January, so thank you tea-sipper!

I’ll admit I felt weird about leaving the tea in the shell, even though I know you are supposed to do that… I couldn’t even get “cracks” into the shell like the recommendations on TeaVivre’s site suggested because it was so hard, so I couldn’t imagine that the expansion of the leaves would be enough to break it; how would the pu-erh be able to fully expand and flavor the water then? So I removed the pu-erh, then just dropped the empty shell into the infuser with it. If I’ve created the biggest faux pas ever, feel free to let me know.

The steeped cup is a coffee-like darkness, and smells very earthy, but has a light, citrus-like perfume wafting from the cup. Previously my only experience with orange-flavored pu-erh was an artificially-flavored monstrocity from Adagio that had a very metallic bite to it… it was a decidedly very bad tea. The pu-erh base in this is very smooth, with a strong earthy flavor, and some slight minerality that is left on the tongue at the end of the sip. This tea has a very natural flavor; I’m so used to how strong orange flavorings are in flavored blends that this is actually quite subtle tasting in comparison. It’s an underripe sort of citrus flavor… I realize I’ve never had a “green” mandarin, but it actually has a very “green” sort of taste. There is a sort of light, delicate, and somewhat floral sweet taste to it, a bit like orange blossoms, rather than the more citric/tart/tangy taste I’m used to from citrus fruits. As the owner of the Hibiscus Rescue Habitat, we all know how I like those tart/tangy flavors, which is sort of what I was expecting… but even though the flavor has sort of dashed my expectations, I also really like sweet floral notes, so I’m still enjoying this. Would I have enjoyed a citric tartness more? Yes, but for what this is, it’s nice, and I’ll enjoy sipping on it this morning.

Flavors: Citrus, Earth, Floral, Mineral, Orange Blossom

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec 10 g 12 OZ / 350 ML
Kawaii433

hehehehe I felt weird leaving it in too. I broke it up, and not a very good result. I wish it had more citric tartness too. Big time. The tangerine one did though. :D

Mastress Alita

Oh, I am curious to try one of those! I have one I was actually given from the nice barista at a tea shop in Boise that is tangerine, and it comes from Yunnan Sourcing… I’ll have to try it!

Kawaii433

I have YS tangerine on its way too (yay). I will compare it to TeaVivre because their tangerine is really good. At least to me. Tastes just like a tangerine :D.

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89
drank Hot Choc by T2
1216 tasting notes

Holiday Tea-son! I got a discounted holiday tea sampler pack in an after Christmas sale from T2 last January, and this was one of them. Figured I’d enjoy a cup while waiting for my pizza to show up. Tonight is going to be a Netflix and Chill sort of night.

This is a nice chocolately tea, and usually I find chocolate teas either a bit weak on the flavor or the mouthfeel seems a bit strange to me if I don’t make them as a latte. I’m actually really liking this one, because the chocolate flavor is actually very rich, but also because something about the flavor is reminding me of a chocolate liquour, so the mouthfeel of the tea is working for me even without adding milk. The tea isn’t super sweet, with some deeper dark cocoa notes, and just a touch of nice bittersweet dark chocolate to its flavor, but there is also a subtle underlying sweetness from the blackberry leaf that I’m finding very pleasant, and that berry note really works, as well; it makes me think of those speciality dark chocolates that have fruity flavor notes to them. I really do seem to taste a sort of dry, alcoholic liquor sort of flavor in the aftertaste on my tongue, and a slight astringency which may be from the black tea; I don’t really taste the black tea as far as a flavor, but I can tell it is here from the qualities of the drink.

I am sort of digging this. While I like this exactly as is, which I really can’t say for many chocolately teas, I do still want to try this latte-style and see how creamy milk will change up the game. Likely it will be more cocoa-like and less liquor-like, but I’m hoping it will still retain more of the dark chocolate elements rather than becoming milk-chocolately. I’m very curious to try it out!

Flavors: Alcohol, Berry, Cocoa, Dark Bittersweet, Dark Chocolate, Drying

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 3 g 350 OZ / 10350 ML
Nattie

Adding to my wishlist. I usually find chocolate flavoured teas so lacklustre.

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70

Holiday Tea-son! Ooo, I’ve been wanting to try this one! Little known fact about me, I collect mermaids! I actually added a mermaid mug to my collection on my last tea-cation!

I wouldn’t say I’m the biggest fan of Butterfly Pea Flower, but I don’t hate it, either. I’ve sort of adapted my palate more and more to the earthy flavor of it over the years, but still don’t prefer it plain; typically I take it with citrus (often lemonade or lemon juice) and sweetener (sugar or honey). I’ll be making this matcha with my typical latte formula for this little sticks, mixing the matcha in 100ml of 175F water, mixing 200ml of vanilla almond milk on the warm setting of my frother, and then combining the two in a mug for 300ml of matcha latte.

It’s a lovely sea-green color beneath the layer of white milk foam on the top of my cup. The flavor is quite vanilla sweet, but I’m uncertain how much of that is coming from my milk, and how much of that is coming from the matcha. It is a little cake frosting like, though, and only toward the end of the sip am I starting to pick out the pea flower flavor. It’s really quite subtle though, at least in latte form, and using a milk as sweet as I do. It really is reminding me of vanilla cake frosting. I don’t really think it is different enough from Bird & Blend’s Ice Cream Matcha, though, aside from the novelty of the color, and tasting even less matcha-grassy.

I still love the name, though. Because mermaids!

Flavors: Cake, Cream, Frosting, Sweet, Vanilla, Vegetal

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 1 g 10 OZ / 300 ML

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Profile

Bio

Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

Contact Info:

Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

Location

Idaho, United States

Website

https://teatimetuesdayreviews...

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