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Additional notes: I’m enjoying this one again… it’s one of my favorites…but looking at Fusion’s site, it looks like they don’t sell it anymore. Upon asking Fusion, they said their supplier discontinued it. I’m definitely sad about this! If anyone knows of a similar blend, let me know. Maybe it’s just one of the blends that TeaGuys stopped adding to their actual website?
2019 Sipdowns: 78 (Tealyra – “Perfect Pumpkin Pie”)

Thanks so much for these teas, TreeGal!  It’s always a great opportunity to sample teas I otherwise probably wouldn’t try.  I had been meaning to drink this one soon for a few days and then felt a sore throat happening anyway.  Gee, what perfect timing for Achoo. sigh.  I was a little wary of this one… it looks like mostly lemongrass in my sample!  No matter how much I try to mix it in the pouch.  But the flavor is very good.  Lots of lemon and I don’t think it’s just the lemongrass that is making it taste like lemon.  More like a lemon donut than overly herbal.  And the licorice is helping my throat.  A pleasant blend and better than expected.  I wouldn’t mind having a blend with this mix of ingredients in stock in the cupboard. The second steep on the second night: sore throat gone.  I have an awesome immune system. :D
2019 Sipdowns: 77 (TeaRevv – Pumpkin Pie Chai)

Additional notes: Sipdown of this one. It hardly tasted of ginger which was odd, but it’s a surprisingly delicious cup for a GINGER green…. because the ginger is missing? Thanks again TreeGal!
2019 Sipdowns: 76

Additional notes: I’m always surprised by how well this older-than-the-hills tea turns out. It just melds together. The coconut is hardly noticeable in this ancient blend, so I’m glad it isn’t ruining the tea yet. But the coconut lends a sort of smoothness to the spices. I love the blend of spices here… it’s the perfect amount of everything. It’s always a really good cup and because it’s a really old tea, I always expect it to be terrible.
Also, I LOVE all of B&B’s chai blends and now they have a few more.

I thought I would be getting to newer teas, but with worrying about too much chlorine being in my tap water at the moment, I don’t want the chlorine either ruining teas or my inexperience with steep times from boiling water in a pot on the stove ruining teas either. So it is irritating I’m not getting to the newer teas I also couldn’t get to reviewing during my internet hiatus… but I will gradually get used to steeping teas from the stove and start the newer teas again.

Thanks again for the samples, Teakruthi!   The fruit here almost looks fresh in the blend — and so many great fruits here – strawberry, pineapple, mango and peach!  Wow.  I can’t ask for a better combination than that.  There even seems to be more fruit than green tea, but the fruit is so very tasty.  Since Gunpowder Green is stronger, the lesser amount of green tea to the fruit balances it out anyway. The flavor is fantastic — creamy yet full of fruit, with that amazing hint of fresh green tea.  And it is quite the tightrope walk balance of tasty fruit to green tea flavors.  This is a must-try blend — I’ve tried plenty of fruit green teas in my time, but this one is unique.  You will know it when you you’re parceling out some leaves in the teaspoon.   I will definitely be ordering this one.  I could drink it by the gallon. 
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 35 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 25 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep  

Thanks so much for the samples, Teakruthi!  This chai is intriguing, as it focuses mostly on cardamom.  I’ve never seen a chai blend with only cardamom and really, there aren’t many teas with cardamom at all.  There are plenty of cardamom pods here, cut in half, with the lovely Ceylon black tea base.   The Ceylon is medium bodied and lets the flavor of the cardamom be prominent while itself being sweet and smooth.  The fragrance and flavor of cardamom is definitely present and strong. The second steep, just as much cardamom to the flavor. It’s very calming, sweet, creamy, mellow.  It’s a nice change for the taste buds once in a while, instead of the “all the spices” sort of chai all the time.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 16 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled  // 3 minute steep

Additional notes: Finished Frank’s blend while on my internet hiatus. The flavor really held up over the years and I’m very sad that it’s gone. Raising the rating from 88.

Additional notes: This is from Ost, thank you! Maple delicious.
More importantly, I’ve been gone from Steepster for a while because my computer broke! I just got a “new” one today and I’m glad to see Steepster is still around. I’m already spam fighting. Thanks so much to the Steepsterers who asked how I was doing in my absence. It means a lot.
I also managed nine more sipdowns while I was gone.
2019 Sipdowns: 75

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