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This is the only tea my mom owns. It is one if the first teas I tried and I hated it. For years I thought I hated tea because of this and Red Rose.

Well today I was supposed to get on a train back to London but I missed it and will now be taking a train tomorrow morning. As such, all of my stuff is packed and still in the back of the car, including my tea. That’s why I decided to revisit this.

Honestly, while it is much more palatable than it was when I was a child, it still isn’t my favorite. It is smoother than I recall (probably because I actually know how to brew tea and didn’t drastically oversteep it) but also much more boring. A slight bit of malt and a slight floral-ish quality but not much more.

This was much better in milk. It is still cinnamony and a bit creamy but cold steeped in milk really helped to bring out the “milkshake” element.

Thank you Roswell Strange for this weird, weird tea. It actually isn’t completely out there tastewise but I am finding two things weird: (1) the concept of a black bean tea is a bit strange and (2) someone said the leaves looked like strange coffee and for some reason I keep smelling coffee when I smell this. Is there coffee beans in this? Or is my brain somehow normalizing the idea of beans in tea by thinking coffee? And is that normal when I do not drink coffee?

Anyways, this tea is not bad, just different. Different but not totally unfamiliar. Like it tastes like parts of teas I have had before jumbled together in a new way. It is earthy. Leathery, almost. And a lot of bean. It is smooth. It is interesting. Do I like it? I genuinely don’t know. It is so unique and yet so easy to drink but do I want another mug full? Not anytime soon I don’t think. Yet I am also not throwing it into my swap box so make of that what you will. Thank you Roswell Strange for the experience.

Cold brew sipdown (203)

I enjoy the strawberry candy flavor of this a lot but that herby/earthy quality for the moringa just ruins it for me.

Sipdown (204)

This was a sample given to me by Sil and it has been one I have pulled out to make countless times and just never got to it. Today I decided to just go for it and while it is not bad, per se, I am not really enjoying it either. Sil got no astringency but I am getting astringency and that sort of perfumey dryness/metallic quality that I normally associate with Darjeelings. It is sort of malty but everything else going on really takes away from that. Perhaps it is age that is to blame? Nevertheless, thank you Sil for the chance to try this.

Tim Tam Slam Sipdown (205)

I wanted to do a tim tam slam (where you bite the cornees off a tim tam cookie and use it as a straw for a hot beverage so the inside of the cookie gets all melty and delicious) and this tea seemed like it would compliment the chocolate flavor well. It did. The tim tam mixed with the soft peppermint was delicious.

I cold brewed my sample of this tea and then came home and had it with a splash of orange juice. I wish I could remember how it was but I had a bad headache and ended up napping before really doing anything. I remember thinking this wasn’t as sweet as expected in light of the candy strawberry smell of the dry leaf. I got more of the cold brew in the fridge though so I will have more to say another time.

Sipdown (206)

I was going to steep a straight black tea because I was feeling mighty tired after my endless shrimp lunch. However, I ended up napping instead.

So it was late and after my 4-day weekend, tomorrow is a long day of class so I need to go to bed at a normal time. So rather than a caffeine filled black tea, I went with a latte. This tea has caffeine but not much and also has chamomile.

I have had this since March 2017 but have clearly put off drinking it, probably due to the chamomile. However, as a latte, it is quite nice. It has a soft raspberry flavor that is sweet and compliments the creamy vanilla. The chamomile is hidden by the milk so if you have this and don’t love chamomile, latte is the way to go.

Honestly this smells and tastes exactly like vanilla cake frosting. Like uncanny flavor capture to vanilla cake frosting so I am happy. Plus, it’s blue. So blue. Which makes this fun and sort of nostalgic since you usually tend to get fun colored vanilla cake frosting as a child…at least I know I did.

ETA: The one thing I don’t love about this is it leaves an aftertaste but it is delicious while drinking it.