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additional notes: Thanks so much for including this in your cupboard clearout, StarFevre! I loved this one when I first tried it…. I can’t believe I tried it eight years ago. And somehow this pouch is still very very delicious! It’s in a pouch I don’t remember Butiki using though… it’s more of a resealable pouch than one of those fold top bags they always had. So maybe this was from a subscription type thing. The flavor is still so good. It looks a little crumbled now though… but I’ll still enjoy it!

Tiesta Tea sent me a couple samples with my order! Thanks so much, Tiesta Tea! If you are a passion fruit fan, hoping to find a passion fruit tea, LOOK NO FURTHER. Whoa. Upon opening the pouch, I was hit with the definite fragrance of passion fruit. So tasty and satisfying on a hot day. The black tea base is light, but that is fine with me, to showcase the passion fruit. There are other fruits here too, pineapple bits and raspberry bits, but really I can’t taste the other fruits under all this passion fruit. But the passion fruit is the star here, and it’s such a unique flavor to find in any tea! I thought I steeped it perfectly on both steeps. Both steeps had equal passion fruit goodness.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

Teakruthi sent me an awesome box of samples. I hadn’t heard of them before! They are sustainable with a ‘Just-In-Time’ sourcing model, single origin tea leaves and 100% Ceylon with no artificial additives or preservatives. Plus, free shipping at the low level of $18! They seem to be offering some uniqueness that other tea shops just don’t have. I’m excited to try some teas that I certainly can’t find anywhere else.
The leaves here look half rolled up like an oolong. The scent of the leaves is creamed corn with a hint of spice. That spice translates to a flavor that reminds me of the spices that might be in a BBQ sauce. I notice this flavor occasionally in a green tea. It’s rare though, so when it is in the mug, I can’t help but notice it taking over the mug.
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoons for a full mug // 29 minutes after boiling // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 32 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep

I wanted to try it again with the suggested one teaspoon to see if I could get the bite out of the flavor. I think that was accomplished, but it also lost much of that BBQ sauce flavor. It’s surprising it’s like a different tea with just 1/3 less of a teaspoon. Now there was hints of smoke. It tastes like savory vegetables. There is a slight lingering creamy quality while also being thirst quenching. I don’t see this flavor combination in green teas very often! At the same time, it isn’t the flavor combination that I reach for or crave in a green tea.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep

From my Tiesta Tea order. I had to grab a sample of a blend called a “bold chocolate black tea”. Probably because I miss so many chocolate teas that are no longer sold. But this isn’t really bold… I was really hoping for a DEEP DARK full chocolate tea but this doesn’t quite meet my expectations. I’d love if this was a murky black cup, but the brew is mahogany. The flavor is definitely chocolate, but with a weak black base, I can’t be too thrilled. The ‘creme’ in the name is also misleading… I wish it was a creamy chocolate tea. I wasn’t seeing too much chocolate in the blend: the description says both “cocoa shells and chocolate chunks”. My sample looks like mostly black tea with coriander. The coriander is interesting… I haven’t seen that in too many blends, but I have no idea how coriander should taste anyway. Wiki says “lemony” so I guess I’m glad I wasn’t tasting lemon with the chocolate. I guess the expectation of anyone can’t be matched with this one…
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

Additional notes: I’m raising the rating on this from 75 because I was certainly too harsh. Like Anne said in my last tasting note, mixing the bag certainly helps. I think I got mostly chamomile in the last steep session, as it is tough to mix a full pouch. Now it was much balanced, still only using 1 1/2 teaspoons. Wisps of blueberry, lavender, marshmallow, vanilla and much more tamer on the chamomile. Might need more marshmallow root, but this is much better now! It’s such a great combination.
2019 Sipdowns: 66 (Teavivre – Peach Jasmine Dragon Pearls)

In my last tasting note for this tea I mentioned the genius of the show Deadly Class and I suppose now I’ll just mention how crazy it was that it was canceled. It was amazing on all levels! Hopefully another network will pick it up.

This was a free teabag from my Lupicia order a while ago. And I have it in my Steepster cupboard, so I’m counting it as a sipdown. Hopefully I haven’t added too many single teabags on my Steepster cupboard. Crikey. First flushes are always tough for me to describe. I don’t know why because they have such a unique flavor. It’s not like I’m drinking Darj all the time. This one is tasty enough, but nothing I really want to seek out and stock up on. But that is generally all first flushes for me. I’m more of second flush fan. I hope everyone is doing well… I haven’t read tasting notes in a while.
Steep #1 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 28 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
2019 Sipdowns: 65

Thanks again, AJRimmer! First I must mention that I didn’t steep this iced like B&B intends, I prepared it hot and drank it hot. But whoa, there was hardly anything to this cup at all, and I steeped it at boiling, so if there was flavor here it would have been there in the hot cup, probably less so if I wanted to ice it? There is always the possibility this blend doesn’t like being steeped at boiling. Sometimes flavors shine at a lower temp. The brew color is the palest of yellow, so it isn’t even a pomegranate or strawberry red. There is the slightest hint of strawberry and pom to the flavor. I probably should have used two teaspoons but I’m not sure that really would have made a difference here. This is one of my least favorite blends from B&B. Meh.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // just boiled // 6 minute steep

So I technically had Shakespeare’s version of this tea thanks to Mastress Alita (thanks again!). But I love it so much I had to stock up and English Tea Store has the same blend. It’s on sale for the month at an already amazing price. I’m also happy to report that the tea still tastes the same! CUCUMBER. MELON. I’m always happy when different harvests are similar. So many cucumber slices, whoa! Also, 52Teas had a blend similar to this one (the general idea anyway) that I also love.
I’ve been eating a ton of actual cucumber from the garden lately, as I’m the only one around here that can tolerate cucumber…. and the garden will give about… FORTY or so cucumbers this year. So I made a cucumber dip today. And I’ll be making little tea sandwiches at some point. I also just like dunking some cucumber pieces in a dip of cream cheese, sour cream, and a bit of olive oil. Nothing too fancy. Also, one blueberry bush in the yard (spindly in my opinion) had about three pints of blueberries over the course of a month. I absolutely appreciate that blueberries don’t all turn blue at once… it’s gradual so you can enjoy blueberries for about a month even with one plant, if you’re willing to look every 2-3 days.

Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // just boiled // 6 minute steep

I really want to buy some of David’s retiring blends but I don’t want to pay $10 shipping. Maybe there will be another free shipping code soon, as I also don’t want to buy $50 worth of tea to get to the free shipping.
Thanks so much for the swap, AJ Rimmer! This is one of the retiring blends, but I can’t say I feel the need to stock up on this one. It’s tasty enough for a fruity blend, but nothing special. Many big orange pieces! So it’s mostly bright, fruity, refreshing, but there is also that note of splenda or maybe it’s like orange flavoring… it reminds me of Vitamin C or something. So a big mug of citrus, orange and tart. I also drank it last night, so at this point my memory is hazy. Not the worst fruity tea I’ve tried. Also, Teavivre now has some new fruity blends that sound pretty good… but I realized I haven’t even tried their older fruity blends that they have sold for years.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug // just boiled // 2 minute steep