3224 Tasting Notes
Aw, apparently never wrote a note for this. It is ancient, and from a teabox and stored badly… so it has very little flavor at this point. It tastes like….something. But I’m not sure that it’s belgian chocolate. It’s matcha at least! It seems like I don’t know where half my matcha is, then the other half isn’t even on my tea lists/steepster cupboard. sigh. Matcha mess. Won’t rate this.
2021 sipdowns: 9
SkySamurai’s mystery advent tea #10 backlog from 12/23
A green tea with some fruity bits! Looks and smells like pineapple or papaya/mango. I’m a fan even before the first sip. :D The flavor is plenty fruity and very thirst quenching. The green tea makes itself known in a lovely balance to the fruit. I like it. The second steep was also heavenly. My guess: Sencha with pineapple, papaya or mango and mayyybbbbeee blueberry flavoring. Was I correct? Kind of. Replace the blueberry with rum BUT this blend does have pineapple, papaya and mango.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoon for full mug // 35 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 30 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
SkySamurai’s mystery advent tea #9 backlog from 12/22
(Note accidentally deleted.) This seems to be a black tea with a cherry/marzipan sort of aroma. The flavor is very much the same and also slightly boozy. It reminds me of Dammann Frere’s Noel Paris tea. Which I like but isn’t really my favorite of their wonderful Noel teas. (At least I didn’t brew both teas up on the same day! That would have been funny. ) The second steep is much the same with slightly less flavor. My guess: cherry marzipan black tea. Was I correct? Heck no. There was no way I was tasting black currant here. haha. And yet another shop I have never heard of.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 2 minutes after boiling // 3-4 minute steep
Additional notes: Enjoying this chai on a windy blustery day. It’s raisiny today! Next time a sipdown.
Otherwise, I just want to say YEAH AMERICA on this lovely inauguration day. I also want to share this song that always reminded me of the last four years (and was a sad balm) and now we can move on from them: The Mynabirds – Golden Age: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n03MIQRwrU&list=PLb94Zw9KCu-eAuGoPQsiUES2qucUz-9if&index=3
Mastress Alita’s sipdown challengeTuesday, January 19th: National Popcorn Day Tea #3
Additional notes: and the third for popcorn day! My nighttime choice. Not much to add though, just wanted to note that there was a third popcorn tea!
Mastress Alita’s sipdown challengeTuesday, January 19th: National Popcorn Day Tea #2
From the Boxing Day sale and a fitting tea to try today! This blend sounded good to me! The dry blend somehow has a fruity scent to it — not sure how but the flavor is all sweet popcorn. (Looking at other notes, Courtney notices a grapefruit scent, but I don’t think that is the specific fruit I was noticing.) I don’t think I’ve had a quinoa tea yet, so I’m not sure what that is imparting to the flavor. It mostly looks like a genmaicha, certainly not an overabundance of actual popcorn. But there are some odd ingredients here — liquorice and cardamom. Luckily the liquorice doesn’t make this weird, but it might do that with age. All around the name is accurate to the flavor so I’m happy with this one! But then the second steep tastes like licorice to prove me wrong… enough to make it noticeable anyway.
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for a full mug // 37 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 28 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Mastress Alita’s sipdown challengeTuesday, January 19th: National Popcorn Day Tea #1
Six days since I posted a tea note! (Thanks, freezes.) This is from AJRimmer so a genuine thank you for the tea. haha. This blend has plenty of buckwheat which apparently looks like popcorn, but it certainly somehow smells like fresh popcorn! Sadly the taste isn’t as strong as the fragrance. It’s slightly popcorn on a weak black tea. And I thought I used a lot of leaf so the flavor definitely should have been stronger than this. The description also mentions caramel but I don’t notice that at all. It’s not bad but not something I would be gravitating towards to steep up. The second steep is also bland.
Steep #1 // 1 3/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 19 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep
I once had a sencha with soba (buckwheat) in it instead of genmai, and it always tasted like peanuts to me! It was definitely a “sweeter” sort of nutty taste to me than genmai produces. I liked it! But I wonder if a black base would overwhelm it?
It’s been a while since I last had soba cha, I really like it!
This black base is weaker, so I don’t think it’s overwhelming much.
Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge National Kiss a Ginger Day / National Marzipan Day Tea #3
From last night! This particular tea is from Mastress Alita – thanks very much! It took a while to write a note for this as I’ve had many iterations of this tea in the past. Somehow some of these blends sometimes seem like there is ONE piece of rosehip… like it imparts just enough tanginess for me to notice. (Though it isn’t in the ingredients list, I swear I can see a rosehip in the pouch.) Or maybe it’s just an overabundance of the apple in the scoop I brewed, creating that tanginess. If anything, this cup wasn’t the bright pink from the beetroot that it normally is, so that is also unusual. So not just my tastebuds changing. Otherwise, it’s usually sweet almond with a hint of apple. So not quite what I remember but I don’t think I’ll ever get over this unique blend. I’m glad a few shops sell it.
2021 sipdowns: 8 – David’s S’mores Chai
Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge National Kiss a Ginger Day / National Marzipan Day Tea #2
additional notes: One old and one new tea today for this sipdown challenge! An old favorite. But seeing as Simpson & Vail’s Almond Sugar Cookie is probably the same tea, I’m good with finishing this favorite soon. It’s TIME. Still very flavorfully almond! Probably doesn’t even need a teaspoon and a half.
Ha ha, great minds think alike! I’m steeping a cuppa of S&V’s Almond Sugar Cookie right now! :D
This late?! :D
Caffeine doesn’t seem to affect me much, so YES!
hah, yeah, I get that but I would just rather not push the chance of NOT getting sleep, so I pretend caffeine is still affecting me.
Also – I’m not sure it’s the exact same tea, the S&V version doesn’t have cinnamon.
Yeah, I noticed that last night… but if not the same blend then VERY close.
I already found the “dup” of Brioche, it’s from the wholesaler Wollenhaupt. They call it “Candied Almond” but since teashops can rename wholesaler teas whatever they want, search by ingredient list on Google, not name. As one example (and they are far from the only ones carrying it), The Tea Smith has it under the name “Almond Biscotti”. Black Tea, almonds, cinnamon, safflower, flavoring: an exact ingredient list match to “Brioche”.
Yeah, I’ll learn eventually, sorry Mastress Alita. :/
Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge National Kiss a Ginger Day / National Marzipan Day Tea #1
Well, I’ll post these even though Steepster is on another freeze. Thanks very much again for the teas, AJRimmer! This not only has ginger BUT ALSO almond, so yay! Two in one for the challenge today! A huge mix of ingredients here, but it looks like there isn’t very much black tea here. The brew says it too – the color is extremely pale brown. I wouldn’t say this tastes like gingerbread as the apple is very noticeable. But then the second steep is mostly ginger flavored to the point where the color of the brew and the flavor is making me think of turmeric. Neither steep was saying gingerbread to me. Gingerbread cookies aren’t this healthy!
Steep #1 // 1 1/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 21 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep
Flavors: Apple, Ginger
