4170 Tasting Notes

84

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – October Tea #5-A coffee tea

Oh no!  I never wrote a note for this one – probably because it is the same blend from another tea shop and I bought this one later on to replace the other.  Not even sure what the other one was, at the moment.  But this blend has coffee beans in it!  So it suits this prompt.  I REALLY like the mix of ingredients here - chocolate chips, caramel, hazelnut, yogurt, coffee beans- even the Roman chamomile is a great addition.  The flavor fades a bit with my steeping parameters in my current location, to a less distinct flavor, so I should probably save this one for home.  I also drank this with a Boston Creme Donut POPTART.   And the poptart nails the flavor of a Boston Creme Donut, as I feel that particular donut has always been too sweet for me (which somehow I say about nothing else in existence, other than a Boston Creme Pie).  Not my Poptart (or donut) of choice!  Why isn’t there a Steepster for Poptarts anyway??

Courtney

I am such a sucker for a Boston Creme donut! I’m always on the lookout for a vegan version. :)

tea-sipper

haha! I’m a sucker for… all the other types of donuts. :D

Courtney

Hahah! Well, donuts are so delicious!

Sakura Sushi

Boston Creme Donut Poptart?!? Sign me up! I had no idea that existed, and now I have to pretend it doesn’t so I don’t ever search it out bc I may never stop eating them!

tea-sipper

haha yup, Boston Creme Donut poptart. I’m always willing to try any new poptart flavors. :D

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93
drank Matcha Kirara Rice by Lupicia
4170 tasting notes

additional notes: This favorite is finally a sipdown (with a best by date on the pouch of 2013- yikes!) But somehow the flavor held up. I thought it time to finish it as I bought Tealyra’s matcha genmaicha to replace it. I really like Lupicia’s though! And this batch really aged well – no off flavors for a green tea OR matcha which is magic, I think.
2022 sipdowns: 102

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99

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – October Tea #4- An apple tea

The ultimate of apple teas and not a sipdown YET.  Though there is only one serving remaining of my newest treasured pouch, I’m really trying to stretch this tea out.  I guess I’ll have to finish the older pouch before having an excuse for a S&V order of this absolute cupboard necessity.  Also an autumn necessity.  How did I live before this blend?  I also had to order from Tealyra recently because I happened to catch that they are discontinuing the amazing Lavender Lemon Potion.  I’m very grateful I was constantly checking whenever Tealyra had a sale e-mail, so that I caught a chance to buy some. (It quickly went out of stock though, so please don’t run and look to see if they still have it.) A problem of too many favorite teas, I guess.

ashmanra

Going on the wishlist…

Lupiressmoon

Okay, so this is the second positive review I’ve seen for this one, and I adore maple and autumn stuff. Definitely going to end up getting!

tea-sipper

I hope you love it when you eventually try this tea, Lupiressmoon!

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99

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – October Tea #3-A de-caf/caffeine free tea

Oh look, yet another opportunity to write another tasting note for this wonderful blend: A prompt for a no caffeine blend.  I can’t possibly finish this tea for A WHILE.  It’s so odd the levels of coconut badness depending on which teaspoon is steeped up, even if it’s from the same bag.  But the other parts of the flavors are tasty enough.  Though I just wish B&B would take my advice and just REMOVE the coconut from the blend.  It just doesn’t do the blend any favors OR contribute to anything that should be jelly or ice cream flavors.  Marshmallow root could be a perfect replacement.  Or those little yogurt pieces?  Or even, whoa, what an idea, those DRIED ICE CREAM PIECES!!!  Feel free to run with that idea, B&B!  (And hopefully I haven’t already mentioned this in another tasting note.)

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97

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – October Tea #2-A cinnamon tea

Yes, I DID just write another note for this tea but this is the ULTIMATE cinnamon tea, fit for this prompt. With my limited selection of teas with me, I’m already drinking it again. It will never get old. I always want to chug it. So glad I bought a tin for the start of cold weather. 70 degrees tomorrow though!

gmathis

This one is a favorite with my slightly less tea-sophisticated coworkers and stays in stock next to the kettle.

tea-sipper

I can see this tea as a crowd pleaser!

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91
drank Tulsi Original by Organic India
4170 tasting notes

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – October Tea #1-A vegetal tea

Thing is, I will never know if this is a sipdown as wrapped teabags tend to escape their boxes to conserve space.  As one of my oldest teas, this will probably be a sipdown soon, if it isn’t already.  It’s hard to tell!  This did always taste very vegetal to me – green beans!  I would love to see a purple basil tea. Since this isn’t even in my Steepster cupboard anymore, I’m counting it as a sipdown.
2022 sipdowns: 100

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81

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – September Tea #10- A chai tea

I wanted to get this one finished for this prompt, especially as it has recently been replaced with a big ol eight ounce tin of Harney’s regular CHAI.  At $1 an ounce, couldn’t resist.  THIS one never really seemed “supreme” to me.  I actually probably prefer the tin of nonfancy plain chai… but that is for another tasting note.
2022 sipdowns: 99

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96
drank Candy Cane by The Angry Tea Room
4170 tasting notes

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – September Tea #9-A tea with a strong aroma

I feel if any tea is worth its salt, it should probably have a strong aroma, so I think many teas would be appropriate for this aroma prompt!  But I went with this one… the best candy cane tea.  Sadly it seems Angry Tea Room has folded.  Even though I will still be working on their Christmas advent from many years ago this year. (Possibly they made their advents too big?  But that is why I bought it. :D)  Anyway, I couldn’t ask for more from a candy cane tea.  Fierce mint and sweet from actual candy cane pieces.   Could I throw in my own candy canes to a black tea?  Sure.  But I like the perfect balance here.  Also, just want to throw in that my current book is ‘Hell of a Book’ by Jason Mott and it’s a special book.

Cameron B.

It seemed like a lot of their teas were from Adagio so maybe this one is too?

tea-sipper

yep – I already tracked it. The Adagio blend is called…wait for it… Candy Cane. :D

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84
drank Breakfast Assam by TeaSource
4170 tasting notes

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – September Tea #8- A tea from a tea swap/traveling tea box

Man, no sipdowns for me for about a month now.  So here is one.  This was a good CTC!  Not TOO strong of a CTC, but with a ton of flavor anyway.  It never had that brisk bite to it, even while it was overbrewed for five minutes.  It was probably one of my favorite CTC blends that I have ever had.   I was glad to find this in a teabox back in the day.   Way way back. 
2022 sipdowns: 98

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97

So I just had to order a few things from Harney’s and lo and behold I had quite a few rewards points stacked up that I wasn’t aware of.  Which means I splurged on a tin of Hattialli assam!  Hattialli is my very favorite tea, but I have only ever had it from Butiki!  So we will see how Harney’s Hattialli goes… more on that later.  The story on THIS tea.  I have always thought Hot Cinnamon Sunset is an essential cupboard tea.  My old tin is almost gone BUT I also wanted to try the no caff Hot Cinnamon Sunset to see how it stacks up to the black tea version.  I also thought a rooibos base for these sweet cinnamon flavors sounds like the perfect dessert tea.  Steeping it up, I can’t ask for a better dessert tea.  Wow.  It’s all the same sweet cinnamon flavor of the other version.  I love it so much.  Very happy I gave this a try.  Now BOTH versions of Hot Cinnamon Sunset are cupboard staples.  (They also have a decaf black Hot Cinnamon Sunset but I’m fine with these two.)

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Profile

Bio

Hi! I love tea and trying new ones – it adds a bit of variety to my day! Books, music, TV & movies are my thing… and tea, of course.

Some of my favorite tea shops (still operating):
birdandblendtea.com
teavivre.com
52teas.com
svtea.com
whisperingpinestea.com
justea.com
harney.com
Dammann Freres
fusionteas.com
Javateaco.com
Lupicia
Octaviatea.com
Davidstea
eco-cha.com
what-cha.com
singleoriginteas.com
teasenz.com
tealyra.com
Mandala
verdanttea.com

Favorite tea shops (RIP):
butikiteas.com
steapshoppe.com
steepcityteas.com
aquartertotea.com
dellaterrateas.com
zentealife.com
angrytearoom.com
theteamerchant.net
joysteaspoon.com
tealiciousllc.com
Rivertea
Specialteas

My icon photo is Richard Mayhew from the graphic novel ‘Neverwhere’ by Neil Gaiman, Mike Carey & Glenn Fabry.

Most of the teas listed in my cupboard are actually sample sizes. I don’t really have 2,000 ounces of tea around here! Many of my teas have only one teaspoon left… maybe two. But I like keeping them in my cupboard list for reference to what I could be sipping. Usually, I write tasting notes once for each tea. I’m still drinking them, just not writing tasting notes each time!

I’m always in search of: Hattialli, Qu Hao black, Jin Jun Mei, teas using marshmallow root.

My dislikes: hibiscus, ginger (unless in chai), turmeric, bee pollen, charcoal type flavors

My ratings:
95-100 – Super awesome deliciousness favorites – cupboard essential
80-95 – Also pretty delicious
65-80 – Pretty good
50-65 – Okay
1-50 – Probably won’t want to sip it again

I’m planning on being a Steepsterer as long as there IS a Steepster, so if you’re not hearing from me, that means something happened to my health… if you know what I mean. (Or as evidenced by the great computer hiatus of 2019, something happened to my computer… I have a dumb phone so can’t access internet on that. As of 12/20/21 my wifi might start getting unreliable.)

Happy sipping!

Location

USA

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