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Oh bother. This was a sipdown.

I drank quite a bit of this after rediscovering it the other night, so it was really inevitable. Definitely a really balanced, delicate but flavorful cup. It appealed to so many different things I liked (wine, florals, tea) and hit them all well. Nom.

I really adore the light grapey, floral aroma of this one, and it’s definitely grape-ier tasting than I remember.

The whole thing is definitely a marriage of tea and wine. It’s has a dry, almost sparkling quality. The main star is the lovely grape flavor, but the florals add a delicate layer of flavor, with the jasmine coming through more than the rose. It’s not quite a dessert wine, and not quite a table wine.

Either way, this is beautiful.

I don’t think this tea is perfect by any stretch nor do I think it’s my favorite pumpkin tea, but I do quite like it and I think it’s the one I would want around most because I find it transcends the season the best.

I wish the pumpkin was the sweeter cooked variety, but I really love the spicing in this cup. It’s bold, but not overwhelming or dominating of the pumpkin. It’s a flavorful pumpkin pie spicing that is evocative of an autumn day with changing leaves and hayrides regardless of the weather outside. It kind of teleports you to the season.

I think a little sugar does a lot for this cup in terms of the pumpkin flavor, but I’d gladly drink it with or without add ins.

At first I thought this reminded me a little bit of Kool Aid. The base surprisingly isn’t really present, and it’s a very reminiscent of a childhood, candy-like lime flavor.

And then on my second glass I reflected.

This isn’t Kool Aid. This is melted lime jello with a splash of grenadine. And it’s way better than it sounds! Add real grenadine and it’s even better! I honestly wouldn’t mind having a full summer’s supply of this.

Upon having a second and third cup of this today, I think my brain has cataloged this as an extra juicy Da Hong Pao. It’s very much a slightly stone fruited, nutty base with just a little earthy cocoa. When I process it like that, that mango and rose just meld into the base and make that fruity and delicately floral. There’s a clean aftertaste as well.

So yep. That’s how to enjoy this one.

Mango and rose are at the front of the sip, with more muted notes of passion fruit, and all twine their way more subtly through the rest of the sip. The fruits are juicy and slightly perfumed tasting; very summery and refreshing.

The base is a strong counterpoint to the fresh fruitiness, though. It’s a little roasty and earthy with a slightly cooling wet stone mouthfeel. On one hand I think the fruit would be better with a greener oolong base, but on the other I really enjoy the contrast and think it makes it a better year round cup. Either way, I think this would be stunning iced.

Oooooh.

This is kind of like puer for people who aren’t sure about puer.

I think it’s pretty neat for that reason, though. It has that rich, earthy, loamy, wet mulch flavor that puer has, blended with buttery caramel. I initially expected the toffee to be a competing flavor, and at first it was. It was much lighter and separate, almost like it was a little cloud of flavor on top of my cup, but as it cooled it simply becomes part of the puer adding brown sugared buttered sweetness to the base.

I didn’t find the toffee too subtle, but sugar does pop it just a bit more. I don’t find the cup needs it at all, but maybe if I was drinking this as more of a dessert cup, I might consider it.

Well, this won’t be a morning blend for me anytime soon (Give me caffeine!), but it’s better than I thought it would be. It has kind of a pungent woody aroma, but tastes far more lemongrass-y with a peppermint afterkick. It’s not super medicinal either.

Tasty, yes. But morning cup this is not.

One of the downfalls of being a caffeine addict who can’t drink caffeine after 8pm if I want to sleep is that I don’t typically have around a lot of herbals. And I don’t usually care for red rooibos, so that’s usually right out too. Green is better, but harder to find in blends I would like. So that leads me to this tonight.

This smells like fruit loops and tastes pretty much exactly like what’s in it. So, like chamomile, lemon grass, a slight bitter orange element with a very subtle minty aftertaste.

It’s nothing exciting, but it’s a good cup to relax into tonight.

Aaaand I’m back for more experimental fun!

In my 10 oz mug of cold steeped goodness:

1 tsp Vanilla Cream (Culinary Teas)
1 tsp Blood Orange (Adagio)

It made a surprisingly clean, dessert like cup. Very creamsicle tasting, with a bit of creamy mouthfeel from Vanilla Cream tea. It needed a touch of sweetener (1/2 tsp or so) to cut the dissonant notes of hibiscus that would pop up infrequently. If it weren’t for that, this would be pretty close to ideal.

Rating: 81/100