16396 Tasting Notes
Sipdown (517)!
Finished this one off last night; it was a free sample I got in my last AQTT package. I’ve looked at it a few times on the site, but since it’s very similar to blends from other vendors I’ve had before, like Jessie’s Tea from DT or Just Lovely from Camellia Tea, I’ve always passed it up in favour of other more unique blends.
It was actually very nice though; certainly like the aforementioned teas but I think this was arguably smoother/more heavy on those vanilla elements and that was a very nice touch for me. It made for a really pleasant evening cup of tea even if it wasn’t a unique profile. I think for those looking for a tea with this kind of profile and who are maybe already considering an order with AQTT that this would certainly fill those needs for you, but since I know there are many other companies that do similar blends I would put it in the camp of ‘good tea, not worth going out your way to make an AQTT order specifically for it’. I’d revisit it if sent it again, but also wouldn’t go out of my way to get more of it either.
Side note – I wish AQTT would do more honeybush blends because I’m always looking for more unique caffeine free options to add to my stash and none of the current offerings really jump out to me…
Sipdown (518)!
Finished this one off on the way home from work yesterday; I realized my sample of this was small enough I could just finish it off in one go so I took advantage of the easy sipdown. I honestly didn’t expect to get so into it!
I know it had jasmine notes to it; it would be crazy if there was no jasmine in a jasmine scented tea. However, as I was sipping on this my brain decided to do that very, very weird and mostly unique to me thing where essentially all of those jasmine notes came across to me as grape notes. Really nice, sweet, smooth and beautifully natural tasting grape notes. Seriously, what the fuck brain? I LOVED this cup of tea but the entire time all I was thinking of was red grapes and green grape skins.
So strange.
Flavors: Grapes
Wow.
So, I think this might be the smoothest, cleanest tasting Shou that I’ve not only only had in recent memory but perhaps just in general? I’ve been sitting on a sample of it for a little white now and I honestly didn’t have any intention to brew it up any time soon but some people were talking about it a while back on the Slack chat & I got curious. I have to wholeheartedly agree that it almost doesn’t even taste like Shou…
I did not take individual steep notes, nor did I weigh out the amount of tea leaf I use/time my infusions. Basically I just found a chunk of my sample that looked satisfying/about right and then went with gut feeling. Sometimes I like to be really precise, but other times I feel like just rolling with what my gut tells me to do produces some of the most relaxing, peaceful sessions that experience wise are the most satisfying to be doing.
By my best estimate I’d wager I had around twenty infusions all in all give or take a couple. For me, this was an all day sort of tea that I broke up over several hours. Have like five or six infusions, go do something else for a few hours, come back and repeat. I listened to a few different things throughout but the best was popping on a Bears in Hazenmore EP and enjoying listening to that. I mean, fitting band name aside it was just nice music to listen to.
Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL87NPs59pOxMUXH047aX7G0nq_ILagF6F
Video Pairing: https://www.instagram.com/p/BetVxpjFQhJ/?taken-by=ros_strange
Taste wise I feel like the best way I could sum up the entire session would just be by saying that on the whole the profile was very, very clean and smooth with the most consistent flavour notes being things like sweet dates/figs, wood, and petrichor. Obviously over roughly twenty infusions you’re going to experience some variation and a lot more flavours kind of weaving in and out of the steeps, but those were the main ones and ultimately the most enjoyable as well.
Highly, highly recommend trying this tea if you get the chance to.
Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/BetbBsllmuJ/?taken-by=ros_strange
Still hands down one of the most chocolate tasting black teas I have ever tried! I made this one with milk and the faintest addition of chocolate agave just for a bit of an extra push because the tea leaf is so old now, but on the whole the tea was still delicious! It reminds me a lot of chocolate milk but without the unnecessary sweetness of the store bought stuff, and just a hint of milk. I really should finish this one off given the age though…
Tea Press.
Hmm, this is much fruitier than I remember it tasting my first go round; just a sweeter, more robust apple and pumpkin combo. I mean, definitely still not the dominant flavour here – that’s still very much the mix of boozey bourbon, vanilla, molasses, and burnt sugar sort of notes. Deeply enjoying this one still; I’m kind of ‘take it or leave it’ in regard to the stronger presence of apple in the mix. I mean, it makes the tea different for sure but it’s equally good either way IMO.
Welp, I cracked into my cake of this one!
It was really satisfying unwrapping it and taking the pick to it to break off the first chunk; and very easy to break apart too. I got it all in one go, even. Once again I have to take the time to express how beautiful and aesthetically pleasing this tea is when it steeps up. I had no intentions of filming the actual steeping of this tea as I was at work when I drank it, but I just couldn’t resist because those flowers are STUNNING. And, like, whole flowers. It’s hard to explain, but watching it is almost… humbling?
Flavourwise it’s a very, very delicate profile that is the sort of thing you really need to take your time to appreciate and enjoy. Floral, for sure, but in its own unique way that I find very challenging to compare to other flowers. The best I can do is convey that it’s a floral element in the vain of ‘fresh’ florals rather than more heady ones like rose or jasmine. Lightly sweet, in a natural way.
I don’t know why; but the whole thing reminds me of hummingbirds…
Evening cuppa from last night.
This was damn good. It was wickedly smooth and very full bodied with a nice mix of flavour notes, the main ones being: fresh baked French bread, walnuts, malt, fine cocoa powder, and raisins. It was one of those sort of mugs where you literally can’t put it down. I’m talking, pick that shit up from the counter and the next time you set it down it’s empty.
Iced latte.
Coolest part about this one was the really, really sick sort of ‘Barney’ purple to periwinkle to white gradient of the liquor before I stirred the whole thing up. I mean, it was very pretty looking! I snapped a few pictures but they definitely don’t do it justice. Flavour wise though, it basically just tasted like basil and milk which sounds very weird but actually worked pretty nicely. I was also snacking on some fruity rose candies, and they were nice ’cause they provided a nice, sweet contrast.
Photo: https://www.instagram.com/p/BelVicvlMXZ/?taken-by=ros_strange
Hot cup before bed with cashew milk and vanilla agave.
Essentially this amounted to a pretty even ratio of very soft and relaxing floral lavender notes, and vanilla notes with a touch of a honey graham quality from the base tea and just a little more nuttiness to the overall coconut notes from the cashew milk addition. It was pretty simple, and…
Just lovely.
I actually just picked up more honeybush to play with!
Oh yay! That’s actually really exciting!