New Tasting Notes

Sip down!

I let this one get too old. Its been sitting in my stash for almost 2 years now. Suprising the flavor that I had remembered was mostly still there.

I can’t remember if I tried doing this as a cold brew. I keep thinking I had and that I did not enjoy it. But, if I did, I made no notes and I might have this mixed up in my head with a diferent tea.

Overall it was enjoyable. But I find my enthusiasm for flavored teas tends to go through a pattern. I started off excited and loving it enough that I buy a significant (for me at least) amount. I go through about a third of what I bought and then just loose interest.

Note to self, stop buying flavored teas in quantity no matter how much I am currently loving it.

I haven’t liked other DavidsTEA lemonade versions, but this one is a little better. It definitely requires extra sweetener, but I taste the fruity lemonade vibes. Sometimes it ends up pretty thin and unexciting. I think it’s ultimately not for me, but not bad.

33 year aged sheng pu-erh. This session lasted a day and a half! 5g leaf, 10s boiling wash discarded, 8oz steeps in boiling water to give 10 infusions—5 pints of tea, over a half gallon! Dark brown leaf & liquors all the way out. I think the caffeine peters out by about the 5th steep, so I may stop going farther than that in the future. Very smooth without bitterness, astringency, nor dank humidity. Flavors much the same as I previously reported.

This tea is indeed a lullaby. Sweet and soothing. This is the first Yunnan white tea I’ve had (not that I’ve had so many) with the bright and fruity notes more reminiscent of a Fujian bai mu dan tea. Maybe not quite as bright and fruity as can be, but definitely going in that direction.

Sweet notes of green grapes, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon. With delicious minty tingles. Very creamy, too. All over a background of the grassy haylike Yunnan character I am more familiar with from other Yunnan whites. Very smooth.

The mini weighed in at 7.64 grams on my kitchen scale.

July Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a white tea

Beautiful white peony base with nice berry flavor, crisp without being at all tart. Once again I am drinking it with bestie Melissa and still haven’t tried it iced, but now I like it so much hot than I am not sure I want it any other way. We shall see. It is so horrifically hot (over 100F for five days in a row) that I might give it and try it iced, and maybe sweetened.

This recently made its way into my “5 oldest teas” sipdown box, and to my dismay, the tin is still basically full. Oops?

I don’t normally write notes for teas that aren’t new or a sipdown, but I just had to pop on to say that this is still delightful at almost three years old. The raspberry is such a nice middle ground between candy/jam and the real thing, and the touch of savory sage sets it off perfectly. Their light and earthy base, while sometimes detrimental, works perfectly here and gives a more wild, botanical taste that doesn’t overwhelm the raspberry.

Will happily drink a mug of this one every day until it’s gone, and then reorder more so I can neglect it all over again! XD

The last June sip down
I didn’t write too much on this tea! It was marked as “September Tea Club, 2024.”

Aroma: Pie crust, baked bread, & bakery.

Tasting Notes: Smooth. No texture. Not bitter. Not too complex. Standard cuppa tea.

June sip down
At the beginning of June, I went on a drive to Ohio Tea Co to purchase some samples of their new teas. I know that they offer free shipping on tea, however, I prefer to smell and look at the tea tins they have out for customers to determine whether they’d enjoy it. I wanted to talk with the owner(s), but they were out for the day, and the workers there weren’t very sociable that day. Lol.

Orange Grove Vanilla is the first tea of the bunch that I finished! The details online sounded like this could be a winner, and thankfully I only grabbed 2oz, instead of 4oz.

Aroma: Orange juice & orange soda – very citrusy

Tasting Notes: Zero vanilla notes despite the vanilla placed in the name. There is a citrus bite coated with a touch of cranberry (must be the apple?). Not one of my favorites from OTC, however, it’s not terrible. 65/100

June sip down

My rating of this tea is from 4 years ago. This current review does not reflect or alter my previous thoughts due to the age of the tea at the time of sipping down.

I finally sipped down the huge bag of this in June! From my last review, I must’ve purchased it 4 years ago…Yikes. I think that this tea held up despite its age and while the peppermint patty vibes dwindled, the material held up regardless of the age! Based on this last session, I’d say that the 80/100 is valid even after it sat in my tea stash for 4 years.

Sample Sipdown

July 24 Sipdown Prompt – International Self-Care Day: drink a calming cup in quietness

I have had this for a while and hadn’t tried it because I am usually drinking tea with Ashman in the evening and I didn’t realize how big this sample is. It fit the prompt so nicely that I decided to stay up late and try it. I have enough to drink it cold again tomorrow and if there is a big difference I will come back and note that in an edit.

This smells so good. I really enjoy green rooibos as a base for flavored teas, even though I dislike red rooibos. The citrus aroma is fresh and bright. There is a lot of chamomile aroma and the lavender is light.

Drinking the tea, I noticed a rich mouthfeel and sweetness from the marshmallow root. The chamomile is a little stronger in the taste than it was in the aroma of the dry leaves but the other flavors make it so interesting and so much better than plain chamomile, which I like fine but I like chamomile better with other flavors accompanying.

I like this blend better than Mother’s Day from Harney and Sons, which is a citrus chamomile tea. I looked it up on 52teas site and it is not currently available.

A tisane from the Chicago Tea Festival. I quite enjoy this lady’s packaging. It’s beautiful, informative, and unique. The dry leaf is fascinating. Huge pieces of ginger, hibiscus, and lovely-looking mint. A spicy aroma that reminds me of the smell of the chest rub that you put on when you have a heavy cough. And instant cleaning for the nose.

You can steep it for the directed time or you can do longer. Like five hours because you totally forgot about it, and it was too hot when you first made it. The flavor is calming and refreshing with a kick of spice from the ginger.