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Sipdown! (32 | 32)

Sorry, it’s been a few days since I’ve written a note. I had a couple of all-day work events this week which really just wore my introverted self out. But thankfully now it’s Friday and a half day, woo!

This tea was delicious. It’s been my first tea of the day for a couple of weeks now, and is such a lovely start to the morning. It’s gentle and smooth and just tastes like pure honey with a touch of bread. I’m not sure I’ve tried another tea with such a strong and distinct honey note to it. And not like generic honey flavor, but like actual clover or wildflower honey with those subtle pollen-y floral notes. It reminds me a bit of Taiwanese black teas, but without the other fruity and cinnamon flavors those tend to have.

Anyway, not a very complex tea but super delicious and I would absolutely buy it again. :)

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So I haven’t been craving matcha much lately, not sure if it’s because of the cooler weather or what. But I don’t want to let my matcha languish into sad brown blandness, so I’m going to make an effort to have some every day or two until I sip through everything.

This pouch was my first time trying this one from 3 Leaf, and I really enjoyed it. To be honest though, I’ve enjoyed all of their flavors so I wasn’t surprised. I always prepare my matcha as an iced oat milk “latte” (although it’s not foamed), and this flavor has a really nice blueberry oatmeal or muffin sort of vibe that way, especially since I sweetened it with maple syrup. The blueberry here is definitely more of a dried blueberry flavor IMO, like you might find in blueberry instant oatmeal or Blueberry Morning cereal. So it has more of a concentrated, sweet flavor rather than a tart, fresh one.

Very tasty! I think the raspberry is still my favorite of their fruity flavors, but they’re all good. I probably won’t order again for a while since I’m not really drinking a lot of matcha at the moment, but I would buy this one again.

So I have this bad habit of making orders from companies and being really excited about the teas, but then neglecting them because I’m trying to sip down other things. So I’m trying to make an effort to keep a tea from each haul on the counter with my sipdown teas, and right now I’m working on Monsoon and Simpson & Vail.

All that to say, this is the first tea I’ve tried from my order back in October! Sadly, for some reason it just doesn’t quite jive with me. It’s a green tea with mango and coconut flavors and pandan leaf. I think it’s the coconut that I’m not loving? It’s a little bit suntan lotion-y. Overall something about it is just slightly off for me. A shame, as the tea leaves are beautiful – huge and spindly.

So I think this is destined for the rehoming pile, as I’m sure someone else who loves coconut more than I do would probably appreciate it.

Sipdown! (30 | 30)

This has potential, but the base ruins it for me. It’s too metallic and tannic and works against the creamier banana and cocoa flavors. And if I steep it less, I don’t get as much of the chocolate notes. I didn’t see any chocolate pieces in my package? Not that I mind, chocolate tends to make tea oily and gross.

Anyway, the banana flavor is nice but that’s about it.

Sipdown! (29 | 29)

So this wasn’t my favorite, just because I’m not a ripe puerh fan. That being said, it was still very enjoyable. The cardamom and the tulsi do a nice job of freshening up the damp earthiness of the puerh and counteracting its slight fishy notes. I don’t actually taste much of the chrysanthemum, but it’s probably just melding with the tulsi since they’re both a bit peppery in flavor.

A nice tea, just not one for my personal preferences. Also the color seems like an odd choice given how earthy and herbaceous this tastes…

Sipdown! (28 | 28)

So I seem to like this more than a lot of the other reviewers.

Yeah, it has a lot of stuff in it, and I’m sure I’m not tasting all of it. But I don’t really find it muddled. To me, the spices are the main flavors, and I can taste mostly the cardamom, ginger, black pepper, and a bit of clove. The vanilla sort of rounds out the edges and adds a touch of creaminess. And then I can taste the elderberry in the background, giving a hint of dark and jammy berry that I actually really like with the spices.

This last cup is a tad heavy on the black pepper, so I guess there must’ve been some dust at the bottom of the pouch. But in general, I quite enjoyed this blend and I could see it being nice in the fall and winter as an herbal chai option, or a mix-in for other teas.

Sipdown! (27 | 27)

I enjoyed this one. It was definitely a bit inconsistent on how much of the Laoshan green tea I tasted with each cup. This last one doesn’t taste much like green tea at all, which doesn’t surprise me since I’m sure there was a lot of mint dust at the bottom of the bag. So mostly I’m tasting the mint and a bit of earthy burdock root.

I’m not sure if I would reorder this. I did really enjoy the cups where I got more of the nutty, beany green tea flavor. I wish I tasted more fennel as well, I don’t even notice it’s there. Maybe it would be worth mixing this tea with a bit more Laoshan green to bump up the green tea notes. We’ll see, I still have the herbal and shou puerh versions of this blend to try!

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Gabby was kind enough to send me a generous portion of this tea in her holiday package, thanks Gabby! I really enjoyed this tea in the Dammann advent, so I was more than happy to have more.

I won’t say it’s exactly panettone, just because it’s missing the raisins or other candied fruit, but it’s definitely very close. It tastes like a delicious orangey brioche, which is essentially what panettone reminds me of. Buttery and rich, yet light and perfumed with sweet citrus.

A scrumptious tea! Definitely on my list to purchase the next time I order from Dammann. :)

I don’t get this one.

It doesn’t taste anything like the name to me. Like yeah, there’s a bit of a caramel thing going on, but it’s more of a dark, almost burnt, caramelized brown sugar note to me, which isn’t what I think of for salted caramel. And it’s not super strong either. I taste a lot of the base, which is smooth and fine but nothing special or interesting. A bit woody, mostly earthy with some mustiness going on. Certainly no pumpkin to speak of.

So anyway, into the rehoming box it goes! :P

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So I did really enjoy this one. That being said, I’m not sure how much of that is from the added ingredients, and not just the Laoshan black base. Also I was always left wanting more toasty rice. The coconut didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would, mostly because I couldn’t really taste it. I think it added more of a rich mouthfeel than a flavor.

It’s been ages since I’ve tried Laoshan black plain, and I noticed Verdant sells the toasted Laoshan rice as well. So I’m thinking I may order those two at some point and try them mixed together. And then I’ll reevaluate whether this is worth reordering.