I Drink and I Know Things aka The Imp's Delight

Happy National Science Fiction Day!

We’ve got a 2021 Sipdown Progress thread going in the forums (check here if you haven’t yet: https://www.steepster.com/discuss/42494-2021-sipdown-progress-thread) and there is a “monthly” theme (January’s is “Out with the Old!”) as well as a small handful of “fun” themed days to work towards drinking/sipping down the tea in your stash! Today’s is to drink a “geeky tea” (interpret as you will… a plain, simple Earl Grey was Picard’s favorite drink on Star Trek: Next Gen after all!)

So I have pulled this sealed packet out of my stash. GoT has never been a fandom I’ve ever gotten into (my sister was crazy about it for many seasons, then hated how it ended, and that is pretty much all I know about it, hahaha). I got this in a Mystery Bag pack, along with the Highgarden one (which I’ve already sipped down). Seems appropo to work towards clearing out the other GoT tea, and a mulled wine/chai sort of flavor sounded really nice this morning… we got dumped on by the white stuff last night! Brewed 3.5g to 350ml 205F water, 3 minute steep.

I’m getting a strong licorice aroma (anise!) from the cooling cup. Also a pithy, citrusy orange aroma; there are some other spices there, but the anise is so distinct on my nose that I can’t pick them out just by sniff. The black tea is malty/bready and tastes mostly like an orange spice black; against the strong orange peel flavor, the taste of cinnamon and, more prominantly, clove are popping in the cup. The end of the sip and aftertaste are still strongly anise, though, which is a flavor I quite enjoy. I am having a hard time picking out the wine essense, but I have been alcohol-free for so many decades now (it’s my main dietary migraine trigger, so I don’t touch the stuff) that I’m uncertain if I’d really notice it or not, especially against more dominant spice and citrus flavors.

I’m getting a warm and pleasant orange spice tea, with the main spice note being anise (at least in this cup!) which is especially pleasant. It’s a smooth sort of spiced tea, not a zesty/burny sort, which are the sort I prefer.

I enjoyed this chai blend. The anise is quite strong, but IMO that makes it better. I brewed this strong and then added a touch of soy milk to smooth it out. The black base came through nicely (it was a fairly bold and strong base that complements a spicy chai well) but the spices really tied everything together.

It’s hard to pick out the individual flavors, but I think that’s a good thing here. They blend together in my mouth quite nicely, like a good mulled wine. I can imagine Tyrion enjoying this on a rare day where he wants a few minutes of sobriety.

It does remind me a bit of Bigelow’s Constant Comment, if it were remade from better ingredients and blended better.

Sipdown (808)!

I’m not really a GoT person, but even I understand the reference behind this one. For a tea that’s supposed to be a sort of spiced wine kind of vibe, I’m really only tasting the spice. It is a really nicely composed chai profile though, even without the wine. My cup was pretty cardamom forward, but still had some kick from the other spices and the black tea base was really rich and malty too.

It’s not the type of thing I’d want around in a large amount, but as a one off cup it was pretty delightful! Thanks for sharing Kittenna!

This was a favorite from the Game of Thrones set. I like chai teas, so I was excited to try this one. I loved the big wheels of anise, and the boost of orange and red-berry flavors to make this go beyond the usual chai. The variety and intensity of the spices make me feel rich and lavish, like every scene in King’s Landing where smug royals are drinking and dining. The black tea is bold and a bit bready, and holds its own against the pantry of spices. The lingering, dark, fruity note at the end calls back to the idea that this blend is like a mulled wine. I think Tyrion would approve!

Ok, I made a rather large 52 Teas order, and Anne was kind enough to include a single serve sample of this in the package
Just a quickie review, this tea is OK. I would have liked it MUCH better without the anise. I find licorice flavor of any sort (black licorice that is) revolting and when it shows up in my tea I have to drown it in sweetener just to make it palatable. That is what happened here with each steeping requiring THREE splendas just so I could drink it. However, with the three splendas it was actually not too bad. I got the basic gist of the tea. I’ve never had mulled wine, so I can only guess that it what it tastes like. All in all, not a fan of this one, but I have had much much worse.

Mixed feelings on this tea. The ingredients sound like a chai, but I really didn’t want it to be another chai. However, it is, but it’s pretty heavy on the orange, which makes it kind of different. It’s also light enough on the flavours to drink straight, which is nice. Uncertain that it makes me think of Tyrion Lannister, but maybe if I think of mulled wine? (I haven’t read the tea description recently, is that what I’m supposed to be thinking of?)