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Sipdown (169/173)!

It’s a shame that the dry leaf for this one smells so damn good but the taste falls really flat most of the time. I thought I’d at least attempt to make it a bit more drinkable for my last cup of it so I added a splash of vanilla vodka (the last of our vanilla vodka) and a spoonful of Lemon Pie Filling/Spread to sweeten this up.

I think it helped a little bit but for the most part this was still somewhat hard to finish and I was tempted to dump the last half. I’m glad I stuck it out though – the last sip was really sweet so I’m thinking lots of the spread probably ended up sitting at the bottom despite intermittent stirring throughout drinking it.

If only this tasted like it smells; that’d make for one creamy, vanilla lemon treat! Instead this tastes like rind/peel. Sorry but not sorry to see this one go; another DT sample out of the cupboard!

And hey, I did make it under 170 today!

Sipdown (170/174)!

In an effort to finish this guy off tonight I doubled up on the recommended leaf and used a slightly larger mug; I also added some milk. This is very good and hitting all the right notes tonight with the potent strawberry flavour and lovely black base.

I can’t believe my first experience with this one was so negative! Or rather I should say the circumstances surrounding when I drank the tea were really negative. I remember it being right around Christmas time and I had made myself this massive “breakfast at night” kind of meal with this huge plate of scrambled eggs and a mug of this. And then just minutes after finishing the eggs and this tea I got violently sick and threw everything up…

I thought that I would never not associate this tea with that circumstance; but thankfully even though that was a really unpleasant memory I’ve been able to enjoy pretty much every single cup of this since! Right now I’m all “Ruby Pie”ed out though so I’m glad this is a sipdown and I can spend some time apart from this blend. I know I’ll come back to it eventually though! It’s too good not to ;)

Sipdown (171/175)!

Congrats to me on finishing off one of my oldest teas!

This was my very first Genmaicha; I got it in September of last year and we have had quite a journey! This one really is a perfect example of how, as tea drinkers, our tastes really change over time. Originally I hated this one; I remember rating it something like “20” or equally low: it tasted like seaweed and was very offensive to my palate. But tastes change and over time this grew on me – a lot! Genmaicha is now a staple evening tea for me, and one of the only “straight” teas I drink on a regular basis. I also recently learned that I really like my Genmaicha with added milk (like I’m drinking now). Back at the start of my journey the thought of “seaweed tea and milk” probably would have really turned my stomach…

I’ve even gone questing to try as many Genmaicha blends as I can and I think I’ve got a fair number under my belt now – but plenty more to try still, of course!

And you know what this means!? There are finally no other Genmaicha blends in my cupboard to keep me from cracking open my Marshmallow Treat! How exciting is that!? I might open it later tonight – but if not then I definitely plan to finally indulge in that one tomorrow! Mmm!

Sipdown (172/176)!

I wonder if I can get under 170 today…

Anyway, I decided to take advantage of my empty mason jar from this morning’s cold brew to steep the last of my flowering teas and just have a really nice, more aesthetically focused tea drinking experience this afternoon.

This is not the nicest flowering tea I’ve had – by far, but I appreciate getting to sit down and really taking the time to enjoy it for what it is: and that’s a nice, light mint green tea with a simple bloom with a small splash of colour to it.

I don’t think I’d get this again despite it being fairly solid flavoured – I want to try new bloom teas or stick to blooms with either a more potent flavour for home use (like today) or a more showy appearance for when I’m sharing them with others.

I know I’ve sent this to VariaTEA so I look forward to hearing her thoughts! :)

Sipdown (173/177)!

Well, goodbye custom blend! I didn’t realize that drinking you this afternoon would be a sipdown but that’s ok – I think we’ve run our course.

Today I had this one hot and I think looking back on it that was the better way to drink this one: it felt less, and I know this isn’t the right word but I think it’s close enough, “musty”. The bergamot was mild but present and the right was just light citrus and berries with a sort of tingly feel on the tongue in the end sip.

It was definitely a great way to re-purpose three blends that I wasn’t a fan of to begin with, so cheers for that. Now I’ve freed up another tin though – so I think after it finishes air drying (I washed it out because the bergamot was very strong smelling and I didn’t want it tainting anything going in here) I’ll be moving Ombrelle de Papier out of its bag into the tin. That should help make some room in the “white tea” section of my tea storage closet for when my 52Teas order arrives (I have two pouches of white tea incoming).

Hooray! Lots of tea drinking progress today!

Mixed 50/50 with Strawberries & Cream matcha to make “Strawberry Banana & Cream Matcha”. You can read the full review here:

http://steepster.com/roswellstrange/posts/242371#likes

Midday Matcha? Hell yes!

I think mixing and matching matcha is maybe my new favourite thing! I’m really happy that in my most recent matcha order I picked things that will go well together, like Coconut and Pineapple. I know they have a Pina Colada flavour as well but I wanted the two separate ones because coconut is tasty in milk on its own and Pineapple is really good in club soda…

Today I paired Strawberry & Cream with Banana & Cream because that sounded like a divine mix of flavours. I used about 1/4 tsp. of each matcha for a cup worth of cold milk. It was really, really good! I’m pretty sure this is something I’m going to want to drink again and again in addition to both matchas straight. So happy I picked both of them up in my recent order!

This was really rich in flavour, and neither the strawberry or banana stood out more than the other; they just really meshed and balanced each other out. It actually felt like I was drinking a nice thick smoothie or milkshake – and now I really want to go pick up some vanilla ice cream and bananas so I could make an actual smoothie/milkshake with this.

Some other time, I guess. Definitely adding those two things to the shopping list, though…

Big thanks to VariaTEA for the sample! This is a Butiki blend I was curious enough but defnitely would not have pursued on my own for a variety of reasons – the biggest being that I’m very fussy about blueberry flavours: they can’t have the texture of a real blueberry but they can’t taste remotely artificial at all.

I should be trusting of Stacy’s genius: after all, when does a Butiki blend ever taste artificial? It was just a mind thing that was hard to get over, though. Also, I’m pretty sure this happens to be my first purple tea – and not going to lie I find it very amusing that the tea page has the type of tea this is listed as just simply “tea”. I guess there’s no “Purple Tea” category on Steepster.

I stuck to Butiki’s steeping instructions pretty thoroughly although I was surprised the steep temperature was so low: visually this looks closest to a black tea so I was anticipating it to have a higher steep temp.

Taste wise – I think earthy is a good description because there is a very “raw” and natural feeling to this blend. The blueberry is definitely a really prominent flavour and is pretty juicy – but also really jammy like a Blueberry compote. I can’t imagine adding sweetener to this: I think that would push it to a cloying level of sweetness.

I like it and I would drink it again – but I don’t believe I’ll order it; I still have lots of Blueberry Jam from DT and I think I like what the black base lends to the blueberry flavour more so than the overall flavours of this one. Blueberry Jam is also maybe a little bit less sweet – and surprisingly I think I prefer that.

I am more curious about purple teas now though – I’ll probably go and more actively seek out other purple blends to try (like Purple Sunset Oolong from Butiki – which was already on my wishlist). And I still have one more cup of this left to enjoy as well!

Sipdown (174/178)!

Wow, look at that sipdown progress! I’m starting feel less fearful about my Red Leaf/52Teas orders arriving and any incoming swaps!

Thanks a bunch VariaTEA for the sample of this! It’s the second green from your giant package of them that has really surprised me with how good it is. For the prep I, of course, cold brewed last night while I slept. So, it cold brewed for a pretty good nine or so hours – potentially closer to eight.

Basically it’s a light green that leans towards a more buttery kind of quality – with a very creamy but somewhat generic fruitiness to it. And the fruitiness is strong and potent – just not abundantly “rhubarb”. I would maybe venture to call it somewhat more strawberry like. It’s very good though and I’m quite happy and content drinking it.

I don’t know if I’d want to buy this in any sort of quantity for myself – but I wouldn’t pass it up if offered in a swap or just served to me in general. I’m actually pretty curious how it would fair hot…

Sipdown (175/179)!

I thought this would be a nice way to start off my morning and, surprise, it was a sipdown too! That’s pretty awesome; I’ve been trying to work my way through this one – and I’ve sent it to several people as of late in an effort to decrease my supply of it.

I do really enjoy it though, even if I don’t plan on restocking: while it’s good it’s just not so great that I feel the need to have it around yearly because it’s not really an “everyday” kind of tea. Maybe I’ll make an exception and order it again around Christmas, though.

This cup was especially delightful because it was plummy with wavering notes of orange and spice in just the right amounts to give it some depth and life and then the sips finished off on a rum soaked bread type of note. It was a great final memory to have of this blend.

Farewell TPP: another Butiki blend out of the cupboard so I can make way for many more! That order is getting even closer to becoming a reality…