Cameron B. select Send Message

Okay, so I’ve had this one (and Biscuit Brew, and Bedtime Brew) for a while now, but had never tried any of them. And that kind of tends to happen with newer and/or larger teas in my cupboard, because I’m constantly sipping down which tends to draw my focus more to older and smaller sized teas. But for some reason I decided to try this one today!

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much since it’s a classic-style teabag full of fannings from an inexpensive grocery store company. I don’t tend to like breakfast blend sort of teas as loose leaf, let alone as a teabag.

But this one blew my mind a little bit. The smell of it steeping was scrumptious, and the taste is exactly the same. It completely does taste like toast with raspberry jam. There’s a golden toasted bread note to it, along with sweet jammy raspberry. And then there’s this buttery quality that really makes this tea, IMO. So it’s definitely toast with butter and jam, or perhaps even a thumbprint cookie with raspberry jam.

Now the black tea does have a touch of astringency to it, but overall it’s really a delicious tea. I don’t generally add milk to tea, but I might have to try a drizzle of oat milk in this one to smooth out those tannins. Regardless, super impressed with it. I can’t wait to try the Biscuit Brew too!

Sipdown! (6 | 353)

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge (November) – “A tea from a small business”

Another tea from my white2tea order in early 2019.

Honestly, it’s good but nothing about it stands out to me. I definitely get the strong malty notes, it’s quite bready with an undercurrent of damp wood. Very smooth and full in the mouth, with some dark raw cacao and burnt sugar notes on the bottom end. But I’m missing the berry completely? There’s not really any fruitiness going on in general, at least to my palate.

Probably just a symptom of its age. It was still nice and comforting to drink as my first tea of the morning this past week or so! Very thick and full flavor that’s super satisfying.

Sipdown! (5 | 352)

So this one was a gift from an Instagram friend in a swap many moons ago. Thank you, tea friend!

I thought I would really love it based on the name and the description, seems similar to Lady Grey but it has grapefruit. I love grapefruit! However, for some reason the rose is quite strong to me, which is so weird because it doesn’t even mention rose flavor. There are rose petals mixed in for aesthetics, but that shouldn’t really affect the flavor much.

We all know that I don’t like rose. Happily it’s not terribly strong, though it does sort of become the main flavor of this tea. So not something I would ever buy for myself…

Sipdown! (4 | 351)

Not a ton to say about this one really. It has a strong, malty, and somewhat brisk black tea base that I find a bit too much for a flavored tea. The flavoring comes off as peaches & cream to my palate, with a hint of mango. I don’t really taste orange?

It would probably be nice with milk, but without it it just seems very imbalanced to me. Not one I would order for sure.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjtb3eeud55/

Sipdown! (3 | 350)

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge (November) – “A Japanese tea”

What a perfect sipdown challenge for me, heh heh… Finishing off the last packet of this from the Spring 2021 batch. Clearly I still have some catching up to do when it comes to my Obubu subscription… ^^’

175°F is a bit higher than I normally go for a sencha, but I’ve been using my Cuisinart kettle lately, and it doesn’t have any settings between 160 and 175, so 175 it is! I did shorten the steep a bit to account for the higher temperature though.

This is a lovely, savory tea with oodles of vegetal flavor. Not the umami kind of savory per se, more like a pan of freshly roasted brussels sprouts and broccoli. It’s comforting and feels restorative to sip on, like you’re drinking a healthy vegetable broth. There’s a fairly strong seaweed note as well, more of a roasted nori than a fresh wakame though. Little baby hint of pine at the end too? Along with some light grassiness that leaves a refreshing taste and slight dryness on the tongue.

So overall very fall or winter appropriate, with its cozy roasted vegetable and pine notes! A nice sencha to sip on while curling up with a book or knitting project by the fireplace.

Sipdown! (2 | 349)

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge (November) – “A tea the flavor of a favorite cake”

Okay, so it’s not really a normal cake flavor, but I looooove orange cake! Little Debbie used to make orange-flavored zebra cakes, and I miss them so much. The sweet orange just goes so well with vanilla frosting for those yummy creamsicle vibes.

Anyway, this is a nice enough lovely orange-vanilla tea. The orange is sweet, like those jelly orange slices. A little more zestiness or tartness would be nice, actually. The vanilla is decadent and creamy, while simultaneously reminding me of a marshmallow. I definitely get the aromatic woodiness that I guess is from the jatoba, and it does remind me somewhat of sandalwood (as the description promises).

I think my only issue with this tea is the base is a Chinese sencha, and it just tastes like slightly grassy nothing. It’s not offensive per se, it just makes the flavoring overall taste too strong because it lacks the flavor to support it. So I probably won’t reorder it, but enjoyed my pouch! Also, I could see this making a lovely perfume…

Sipdown! (1 | 348)

Oops, never wrote a real note for this one. Sorry, Ippodo!

It’s enjoyable as a latte, but quite different from the Naoki matcha I sipped down previously. The grind seems coarser, it was noticeably harder to sift and I saw some particles sticking to the sides of the jar after shaking it with water. The flavor is also a bit less concentrated, it seems like a lighter matcha overall. It’s fresher and more grassy, versus nutty and rich like some of the others.

Still very enjoyable, just different, and doesn’t hold up quite as well to my extra creamy oat milk. I think I only have one plain matcha left, so I’m starting to look at options for restocking for lattes. Leaning toward the 100g bag of Naoki Superior Ceremonial for just under $40 at the moment. Has anyone tried the “lower” grades from Ippodo, like Hatsu or Wakaki, for lattes? I think those are the only ones from Ippodo that would be cheaper.

Sipdown! (73 | 347)

Hmm, I don’t get this one.

The addition of the black tea is a bit weird to me, it doesn’t really contribute much flavor. Mostly I’m tasting the rooibos, along with the coffee flavor. Cacao… maybe a little? Definitely no orange. So it ends up tasting like a less yummy version of Fairytale of NY, because it lacks the sweetness and creaminess that one has.

Not terrible, but not something I would reorder. Hoping to restock on Fairytale of NY soon though, which is apparently now named Irish Cream.

Sipdown! (72 | 346)

The lone non-black tea in the Lupicia Hawai’i sampler. Which is weird to me, how are there no green teas at least? Not to mention they make a Hawai’i rooibos blend, but it’s not in the sampler. Odd.

Anyway, this is nice enough. I get piña colada vibes from it, heavier on the pineapple than the coconut. Actually, the description here doesn’t mention anything about coconut, but I mentioned it in my Instagram post. I assume I got that from the description card included with the sampler, but I don’t have it anymore so I can’t confirm. So this may or may not have coconut flavoring?

Either way, it’s a smooth and mellow tropical oolong. The base is a green oolong and it adds a nice mouthfeel, sparkling minerality, and a nice touch of floral to the mix. Overall, enjoyable, and I’m happy to have a full-size tin remaining to sip through.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjoMxLYOouL/

Sipdown! (71 | 345)

This one was just okay.

I don’t really get a lot of strawberry, mostly I taste a haylike and very musty white tea accented by some hibiscus and rosehip. I think the hibiscus, even though it’s fairly subtle, is just overpowering whatever strawberry flavoring was used.

It’s inoffensive but not something I want to drink more of. I have another unopened pouch that was sent by mistake, so I guess I’ll set it aside in my rehoming box.