Sipdown (162)!
So, I’ve had this before in store and I really didn’t like it and consequently had never planned on acquiring any more, but my Dad bought me the holiday sampler which of course includes this one. Blah.
I’ve been sipping at some neo citron all day today, so not a lot of tea drinking going on because you shouldn’t really have tea and medicine. However, my Dad asked me to make him something and this is what sounded good to him. And then I figured that since this is herbal it’d be totally safe to drink along with my neo citron, and I also seem to be running out of the herbals I brought with me at an alarmingly quick rate so I just made a timolino full of this for myself too.
My 12 oz. timolino full used 3 1/2 tsp. of leaf steeped with boiling water for seven minutes. Based on reviews and my only other experience drinking this I was very generous with the leaf. My Dad’s cup had the same steep time but used 2 tsp. of leaf for an 8 pz. cup. And, between those two cups that used up the whole 25g sample amount. This really is a stupidly heavy blend and the fact it needs so much leaf to be flavourful makes is very expensive. No thank you.
Dry, this smells like sweet, sticky figs and dates with the tartness of cranberry in a gentle way and with some delicate spices. Honestly, it’s a nice smell and I remember really liking the smell in store too. Steeped, it’s a nice balance between gentle spices and figs. It’s nice and festive smelling.
My Dad really enjoyed his cup, and I’m assuming my stepmom did too because she kept stealing sips out of his mug.
As for my timolino full? The first notes are light ones of clove and slightly stronger ones of figs. The fig notes hold throughout most of the sip and a joined by mild notes of dates, apples, cranberries, and maybe something like brandy and cinnamon. No presence of almonds, and no lasting aftertaste whatsoever. This is quite a lot better than my first experience which was highly watered down and had zero fig taste to it all, which was just embarrassing because “Fig” is expected as a flavour when it’s in the bloody name. However, while this is stronger and more flavourful than my first experience, it’s still pretty weak which is sad considering how much I had to overleaf it just to achieve this taste.
So, yeah – 25g of this basically made two just barely adequate mugs worth. That’s pathetic. This is one of the heaviest blends I’ve ever seen which makes it horribly expensive to keep stocked; that might be doable if the taste was jaw droppingly, astoundingly good – but it’s not. Never ever going to be a restock for me.
PS. I just finished watching Sherlock Season 3 Ep. 2 and it was just so perfect! Again, I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone but the whole episode had me madly switching from hysterical laughter to immense feelings of sadness at a moments notice. If that’s not a sign of great television then I don’t know what is!
I am watching the episode now and it is loading so slowly but it is so amazing.