251 Tasting Notes
Sip Down and Backlog
We had some friends over for board games last Saturday and one of them requested a caffeinated hot tea. I knew that I had some Espresso Yourself sitting in a tin by the sip down pile, so I figured that this would be something unique to offer and discuss. We liked it very much and topped the pot off within an hour or less.
Notes: Vanilla, chocolate coffee, cinnamon aroma (not in the taste), no acidity as with a cup of coffee, and cappuccino (vanilla, creamy, & coffee).
Flavors: Chocolate, Cinnamon, Coffee, Cream, Vanilla
Dry Leaf: Sun tea & citrus
Wet Leaf: Malt, lemon, & dandelion.
Flavor: I can imagine this being much better as a sun and/or cold brewed tea. I can imagine the citrus, florals, and sun ‘essence’ (sunflowers or dandelions?).
Flavors: Citrus, Dandelion, Floral, Summer
Sip Down
This is an odd tea which took me a while to get through. The first time trying it, I was slightly disappointed in it being to hibiscus heavy. Smoky and tart –quite strange. Therefore, I did what was best and stored it away for a year or two. Jump to 2023, and I rediscovered this tin of tea in my storage (way, way at the bottom). I tried it again and it was far better than the first try. The tartness from the hibiscus died down and little…The flavors were less BBQ sauce and more smoked peppercorn, floral, and tomato. It’s still and odd tea, which I’m unlikely to buy again.
Flavors: Floral, Pepper, Peppercorn, Smoke, Tart, Tomato
When you smell the bag, you’d imagine that this will be a sweet cinnamon kick on the palette. It’s not. I’ve been too spoiled with Celestial Seasoning’s Cinnamon Apple Spice which means anything that is a step down from that tea’s power, is going to be a disappointment, which this was.
While this was much better than the cookie tea from Meijer, it was far from being a good tea. It was “meh” at best since there were some elements of chai in the mug. What the tea did well was that there were some spices, but very mild. What it didn’t do well is that the black tea base is completely lacking. I let the teabags sit in the mug the entire time while I was sipping, and the tea never seemed to get stronger. I love a strong chai, and this fell short in providing the necessary intensity which is required for a chai.
Sip Down & Backlog
The tea leaf reminded me of burnt toast and apple jam. However, the flavors were more balanced and less off-putting than I was expecting with the aroma. There were mild notes of caramel, clothes after a bonfire, smoke, and BBQ fruit.
Flavors: Apple, Burnt, Caramel, Smoke, Toast
Sip Down & Backlog
This was an interesting tea which is different to most teas I’ve had prior. It took me a long while to drink this down on the account I was never sure whether it was good or different. Teas that tend to break rules or change our perception on the tea varietals we encounter, during the endless trip through the Tea Rabbit Hole, give us pause. My very first session with the tea was riddled with notes of “rubbery, light intensity of Assam or CTC, & oolong-ish.” I think the way the tea was stored (rubber sealed container) added the oddities of the first session; therefore, I stored the tea with my shou cakes to verify if the storage was the issue.
After giving the tea some time to sit with shou, the aroma changed. It had a little bit of the earthiness of shou and the maltiness of stronger red/black teas such as Assam. However, the way it tasted was a lot of the same apart from the rubbery notes. I think if given more time and/or amount of tea, I’d’ve experimented with its storage more – adding to the sheng cakes, oolongs, and sealing one off entirely by itself.
Flavors: Malt, Rubber
