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This is so lovely. The dry leaf has enormous chunks of walnut, slivers of almond, and small cubes of candied fruit. It smells strongly of peanuts, wood, and flour.
Steeps a reddish color. It has a pleasingly oily, thick, satisfying mouthfeel. I definitely taste peanut, almond, and the papaya, as far as detecting the literal ingredients goes. It’s nutty and woodsy, with a tiny bit of sweetness and notes of cinnamon and apple in the aftertaste. It reminds me of apple crisp, actually. It’s a very well-executed blend— delivers exactly what it promises for flavor and feels indulgent.

This tea tastes exactly like those Atomic Fireball hard candies I used to get on Halloween when I was a kid. I adore sweet/ spicy flavor combos. It’s sweet without being artificial or cloying and has the perfect little kick of spice without being irritating. My one complaint about it is that I can’t really taste the black tea base a whole lot. I steeped it for longer than I normally would for a black tea, which helped a bit; I can detect a bit of mild malty earthiness characteristic of Ceylon, so I /think/ that’s what the base is. It’s just a tiny bummer because Harney & Sons uses high quality leaf and the spices and added flavor elements like the orange peel in this blend almost totally mask it.

A lovely companion to my chocolate chip banana bread this morning. It tastes like honey and is light on the astringency. Super pleasant and agreeable.

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow U.S. Steepsterites! I hope you’re all safe and healthy and have a good day, even if it looks different than usual. I’m thankful for YOU, and I’m sending you happy vibes and positive thoughts.

This is a sipdown. I loved this one. It’s a robust blend of Indian black teas, the most dominant of which is Assam. It’s like an elevated Irish breakfast tea.
The steeped liquor is a ruddy color and smells like autumn leaves, raisins, malt, and wet earth. It has flavor notes of malt, tannins, astringency, a tiny bit of lemon, and bitter cocoa.
Some might say this was just a standard black breakfast tea, but it’s a memorable one for me. Very high quality, low maintenance, and hearty.

There was too much lavender in this one for my taste. The EG itself was very delicate and beautiful and didn’t need the lavender at all, in my opinion. It was OK, but it wound up being a little on the soapy side, which is regrettable because I do love a solid classic EG with that delicate bergamot flavor. Glad I was only given a single serving of this to try by my friend and didn’t commit to a whole pouch of it.

Luscious is the perfect word for this one. It’s somehow summery and Christmassy at the same time. Strawberry, kiwi, and mistletoe in the same blend? It would never work with any base other than rooibos and honeybush! The liquor is a cheery pink color and very aromatic, almost like potpourri or mulled wine. I tasted the apple most distinctly, but there was a definite fruit punch-y note to it as well. The mouthfeel is very juicy. This WOULD be good iced, but I must admit that I enjoyed it as a hot cuppa as well. Not anything I would purchase large quantities of, but glad I got to try it nonetheless.

Had them prepare this for me. I drank it black, even though traditionally it’s supposed to be made with condensed milk and sugar. As promised in the description, the flavor was indeed well-balanced and complex. The vanilla and the non-astringent Irish breakfast black tea base provided a smooth, lemony, earthy foundation, and I enjoyed both the bitterness of the orange peel rounded out by the gentle sweetness of the cardamom and the spicy-sweet edge that the cinnamon and anise provided. Just super tasty and masterfully blended.

I love genmaicha. Like, really, REALLY love it. This one is everything I could have hoped for and wanted in a genmaicha. The toasted-rice-to-sencha ratio is on point. Some of the rice is puffed, which makes the dry leaf exciting to look at. The hearty nuttiness and high quality of the sencha provides the perfect vehicle for the robust roasted/ burnt notes from the toasted rice. Comforting and wholesome. If a tea could be a hand-knitted sweater, this would be that tea.

This was easily the best tea I received from Sips By this month. The green tea base is extremely robust and high-quality. The leaves opened up beautifully after the first steep and released just as much flavor on the second steep. The jasmine is delicate and almost fruity, without becoming perfume-y. Just an absolutely lovely rendition of a classic tea.

The dry leaf has aesthetically pleasing large chunks of cinnamon bark, entire cardamom pods, and cacao pieces. It smells sweet and roasted, with cinnamon and cardamom notes dominating.
The liquor steeps up a dark brown with a tinge of red from the rooibos. The ginger and chocolate dominate on the sip, with the cinnamon and black pepper adding a nice kick in the aftertaste. The woodsy-earthiness of the rooibos complements the spice notes beautifully.
This is a great wintertime dessert tea!