251 Tasting Notes

70
drank Butter Brew by Nerdfelt Teas
251 tasting notes

nerdfelt advent, day 7

I wish I had more to say about this tea. It’s a smooth black tea with a subtle creamy sweetness to it. Didn’t need anything added (though that’s how I prefer my tea anyway, so ymmv). Nothing too unique, but certainly pleasant.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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55
drank Chai-Lo Ren by Nerdfelt Teas
251 tasting notes

nerdfelt advent, day 6

I think if you like red rooibos this would be a fine tea. The ginger stands out and even lingers a little, and the spices are well-balanced and flavorful. I found it more drinkable than most red rooibos, but still just don’t care for that wet wood chip taste.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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82

nerdfelt advent, day 5

A perfectly lovely genmaicha and an excellent way to shake up an advent that season that was leaning heavily toward flavored black and herbal.

Every year I tell myself I’d like to work on discerning more subtle differences between teas, and every year I wind up basically ignoring that until I regret it come advent season.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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70

nerdfelt advent, day 4

Absolutely stellar scent. Just exactly the kind of scent I want warming up my house on a winter day. Strong spice, a little orange. I wanted to keep smelling the cup all day.

The flavor didn’t deliver the same. It was a smooth black tea, but the bland taste was so jarring in contrast to the powerful gorgeous scent. I thought maybe it was me, but my partner made the same comment when I had him try it, so perhaps not. I’m wondering if maybe these samples are just so much smaller than the others I’m used to that I’m watering it down?

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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85

nerdfelt advent, day 3

Between the usual busy season at work, an unusually busy season at home, and a cold that had me unable to taste much, advents had to take an early pause. I kept drinking and writing down notes where I could once my taste was back, and now it’s time to play some catch up.

This was a surprisingly lovely berry-chocolate tea. I felt like I was eating a Sees truffle or something similar throughout. No surprises in the scent or flavor, and the flavor was maintained hot and cool. The “berry” was indistinct for me. I’m still thinking about this one days later, which I think is a good indicator of how much I enjoyed it!

Flavors: Berry, Chocolate

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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45

sipsby advent, day 3

It’s a very pretty tea, but the whole glitter tea thing is sort of gimmicky to me. Not that I don’t love a gimmick, tbh.

But the tea itself isn’t working for me. The black tea is both bitter and acidic, and the caramel feels like it’s attempting to cover that up unsuccessfully. The aftertaste is artificial. The balance improves as it cools, but not enough to make me want more.

Really though, gorgeous shimmer!

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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10

sipsby advent, day 2

There are tea flavors that feel like a safe blind buy, and there are tea flavors that make me skeptical from the outset. Anything claiming to be caramel or cookie falls in the skeptical category, and this tea is a great example of why. I found it cloying. I could not taste the green tea. There was that shortbread flavor again (not a fan), the intensely sweet caramel, and something vaguely fruity. I made it about halfway through before I had to give up.

Flavors: Sweet

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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88

BrutaliTeas advent, day 3

Peach tea is another one of those favorite flavors that always makes me nervous, because it seems like everyone does one but not all of them are good. Thankfully, this one is definitely good.

The ingredients list is long and includes such a variety of fruit I was surprised: apple, orange, strawberry, mango, pineapple – but I really do get the flavor of peach first and foremost. It’s well-balanced with the black tea and doesn’t give me the artificially sweet vibe of so many peach teas. I drank it hot but absolutely want to revisit it cold.

Flavors: Peach

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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45

sipsby advent, day 1

I didn’t plan to do this advent again originally but since I missed Plum Deluxe and this went on sale, I decided to go for it. It showed up late last night so I’m a day behind (but these are not assigned any numbers anyway; it’s random).

What stands out the most for this particular tea is how sweet it is. I can see the vision of baked goods, with hints of spice that come through more in the scent than the flavor. It makes me think of shortbread cookies with the sugar ramped up a notch (or two, even). I finished it, but I wouldn’t go back for more.

Flavors: Cookie, Sugar, Sweet

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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30

Bird & Blend advent, day 2

heavy sigh

A red rooibos claiming to taste of whiskey, two things I don’t enjoy. My hopes were not high for this cup, despite the promise of a smoke flavor that I often love.

The smoke and ginger tried to save it for me, and I probably drank a lot more of it than I would have as a result. The ginger in particular was sharp and spicy. I wouldn’t associate any of it with whiskey, which was probably for the best from my end. Ultimately, the red rooibos was too overwhelming, and I mostly felt sad for the waste of lapsang souchong as I tossed the rest of the cup.

Flavors: Ginger, Spicy, Wet Wood

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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Profile

Bio

College instructor, mom of 2, and general homebody in California.

Great at buying tea, good at drinking tea, bad at timely reviews. Drawn to fruit, floral, spice, smoke, and flavored teas in general; prefer those that stand well without milk or sweetener. Black is fine, green is better, and red rooibos is trash.

I aim to rate when I finish a package or a complete sipdown, except in advent season.

My ratings are for me, so I don’t accidentally buy something that sounds amazing but I’ve already tried and disliked. I struggle a bit with wanting to be “fair” to a tea that other people would probably like, but then my system won’t work!

90-100 A: loved it; would make this a permanent member of my stash
80-89 B: tasty; would pick it up again
70-79 C: good; could grab with a good deal or to try in a different style
60-69 D: okay; would keep in a set but probably would not repurchase on its own
1-59 F: various shades of bad; would not purchase; closer to 1 means may not even drink again if offered.

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