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Sipdown! (6 | 415)

So after making a somewhat successful hot latte with this tea yesterday, I thought I would try cold steeping my remaining pouch in some water and milk overnight. I’ve never tried this approach before, but I’ve heard of other people doing it and figured I would give it a go.

Well, after steeping for almost a day, the tea didn’t have much color. I tasted a bit and it had some of the flavor of the spices but not much else. So I ended up dumping everything into a saucepan and heating it on the stovetop for a few minutes to allow the tea and coffee beans to properly infuse.

It came out tasty! The ginger and cardamom are more prominent than usual, probably because they had ample time to infuse in the refrigerator. I do get a bit of the coffee and chocolate, though they are outweighed by the spices. But it’s a lovely mug of stovetop chai in the end!

If I were more of a chai lover, I would consider ordering this one. As it stands, I almost never drink chai, so I’m not likely to buy more of this for now.

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I steeped this one up in a glass teapot so I could see all of the pretty flowers blooming and floating around. It’s a mix of rose, calendula, and jasmine.

We all know I’m not a rose lover, but I actually find it much more palatable when it’s actual roses instead of flavoring. It’s light and fresh instead of perfumey, and has an almost creamy quality. The jasmine is milder, but adds a nice lush and exotic quality. There’s a light, clear sweetness like cool spring water and honeysuckle nectar.

Overall, it’s a soft and sweet floral infusion, and I’m enjoying it much more than I expected. It’s not something I could see myself purchasing though, as rose still isn’t a favorite for me. But I’m impressed by how much more I like this compared to other rose teas.

(Please note that my rating is only in regard to the taste of this tisane, I can’t comment on any potential health benefits.)

Sipdown! (3 | 412)

Yay, finished off another herbal tisane!

I’ve been enjoying this one as my before-bed tea lately, it has a pleasant soft herbal flavor with a nice combination of mint and chamomile. There are a bunch of other ingredients as well, but those are the only two I taste.

Not something I would reorder, just because there are a bunch of other companies I want to try for herbal tisanes. But I still have quite a few to get through before I can buy any new ones! :P

Sipdown! (2 | 411)

So I just wrote a note for this a couple of days ago, so I don’t have much else to say. It’s good, but there’s not enough marshmallow for me. It mostly just tastes like genmaicha. I hoped to get a bit more of a marshmallowy punch from the bottom of the bag, but no such luck.

Sipdown! (1 | 410)

Starting October off right with a sipdown!

This one was just okay for me. It was pleasant enough to sip on, but mostly just tasted like a cream-flavored black tea with some brown sugar added. Perhaps a hint of raisin?

Definitely not a scone though. Farewell, not-scone tea!

P.S. – I got my DAVIDsTEA advent calendar today, YEE! Is it December yet…? :P

From my most recent Dessert by Deb subscription box!

Hmm. Not really getting chocolate or cookie from this. It mostly tastes like honeybush and cinnamon, and it’s quite sweet from the maple crystals. Too sweet, really. The honeybush has a pleasant flavor, subtly woody with a bit of a peppery quality that goes well with the cinnamon.

But it’s mostly a sweet cinnamon honeybush to me. Definitely not something I would reorder.

I felt like a stovetop chai, so I pulled this one out to make. I started with the recommended two heaping teaspoons per 8 ounces of milk. Not sure whether they mean measuring teaspoons or regular kitchen spoons? I assumed measuring teaspoons as that’s how tea is generally measured. I heated it over medium heat and simmered it a bit, then decided the color was too light and added another two teaspoons of tea.

So… This came out weirdly savory with no sweetness at all? I don’t know if I didn’t use enough tea, so that’s why I’m not tasting the honey? It almost reminds me of some kind of pumpkin soup but without the sweetness. I ended up stirring in some additional honey to get some sweetness, which helped, but it was still a rather bizarre cup of chai. Spice-wise, I was getting a lot of fennel, maybe that’s why it went to such a savory place?

Clearly I need more practice preparing this tea, ha ha…

So this tea and Radioactive Marshmallow were my main drivers for placing my 52teas order (though about 10 other teas ended up tagging along… oops?). I admit, I’ve tried a few variations of this, both from 52teas and from other companies like AQ2T, and I’ve never been super impressed by them. So I’ve been wanting to give the original a fair chance for a while now, and here we are!

I will say, it’s tasty. I love genmaicha, so naturally I enjoy this blend. And I do slightly get the rice krispie treat reference? But for me, it’s not quite enough marshmallow to really get there. I’m mostly tasting genmaicha with just a tiny bit of marshmallow/vanilla in there. I want MOAR! So it doesn’t quite live up to the hype for me, as I know this is a very beloved tea.

So I’ll enjoy finishing off the sampler pouch, but this probably won’t be a reorder for me.

Finally trying this tea from the last B&B subscription package I got, which I think was in July?

It’s not bad. I think I was expecting a bit more from the added flavors. I definitely get the coffee, but I’m missing the chocolate and the vanilla a bit. Perhaps a hint of creaminess from the vanilla? But mostly, it’s cardamom and coffee for me.

So it’s not wow-ing me, but I feel like it would make a very tasty latte… Next time!

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The very last advent mini-tin has been defeated! \o/

This is an interesting one. It’s called “Chocolate Vanilla” and yet really it’s a Mexican hot chocolate-style chocolate and cinnamon rooibos with a bit of vanilla creaminess. The chocolate is fairly natural despite there being some chocolate flavoring here, and the cinnamon is somewhere between the spice itself and Red Hots. The vanilla mostly just adds creaminess, I think.

I like it, but not something I would order. I would rather just have a hot chocolate!