1598 Tasting Notes
Sipdown! Woo, 222!
This was a good one. Yep. Very nice!
Also, I guess I am looking to sipdown 22 teas in 7 days? Yeah, so this could still happen!
(And I’m already talking to Sil about Damn Fine Teas, and Lupicia, and thinking about Mandala…. NO! BAD CAVO! I just went and bought a comic and a toy for the kid instead :P)
Sipdown! (226)
I just realized why this tasted like a mocha and it’s because it has coffee in it. LIke, actual coffee. Good thing I like coffee, but I know that spells trouble for some of you.
Still, I really enjoyed it, and am now 2/2 for Simple Loose Leaf Teas! Thanks Sil!
Preparation
How appropriate!
I’m reviewing this tea while I read the revised script for the last episode of Hannibal S2. (no spoilers – I’m not allowed to say anything, but I WISH I COULD. :O)
I’m in a total Hannibal mood right now – listening to this awesome music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WP6_m9rRlI&feature=youtu.be) inspired by the show. NBC heard the song and asked to collaborate with the artist to make a official music video and the final product is quite lovely and haunting! Some spoilers for Season 1 there. I don’t think anything important from S2 is in it. Just, give it a listen!
Also, I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that we made a ravenstag at the shop. I helped glue the fur and feathers on. Pretty neat!
Anyway, on to the tea review: I think Aun-Juli nailed it. This is show that takes subject matter that churns the stomach and makes it antithetically pleasing. Never has cannibalism looked this good, right? The show is sophisticated and treats it’s audience intelligently, and turns the victims into art… This tea does the same. (See I was going somewhere with this…)
It takes hibiscus, orange peels and rose hips, ingredients that can very easily ruin a tea, and does something masterful with it. This tea is sweet, and tart. It’s bold, (for an Adagio blend) and the caramel orange swirl together quite nicely.The video is awesome and so is the song, thanks for sharing :-)
Yay! I’m happy you enjoyed it. :D
last night i spent a minute trying to find season 1 online. then i just ended up watching sad HBO documentaries instead.
but the important thing is that i got close :) hah
That’s infinitely more effort than you used previously! :P
And I wish I knew where you could get Season 1 legally, though I did find it here: http://www.cokeandpopcorn.info/?s=hannibal (Umm, I’ve never used this site but tumblers mention it. It may be safe? Be warned…)
Of course if you’re just looking for more sad documentaries, check out “Dear Zachary.”
This sounds delicious. As for the show, I just hope that there’s a season 3…and 4 and… :P Same for BBC sherlock.
Me too! I’m hoping to get to work on future seasons because it’s so interesting!
Wow, finally listened to the music video that you posted -love it.
Yay! I can’t stop listening to it… It’s almost like a lullaby…
I showed it to my roommate (he’s a huge Hannibal fan) and he loved it. I actually caught him listening to it this morning before school.
Thank you, MissB for sharing some of this treasure with me (227). It really is liquid candy cane.
It really is delcious. It really is the perfect cup before bed…
Agreed! I bought a pound of it I love it so, and am more than willing to share more if you ever want another fix.
Wow – that IS love, although I bet this one gets added points for being kid-friendly. :D And thanks, I’ll let you know. I’m always open for future swaps if something catches your eye.
So, I’m really happy Sil stole a bit of this before passing my half on because it’s good and she liked it, so that’s even better.
This tea is magic! Just pure liquid cool melon, with light (very very light) floral notes. I could see myself drinking TONS of this tea, except I won’t be able to because Lupicia doesn’t ship to Canada.
/sobs/
I was trying to think what I’d had recently that was comparable ,and I think it was Cool Cucumber from DAVIDsTEA, but this is just BETTER. I’m on my second steep now and I might cold-steep it a third time to see if I can get just a little more from those leaves….
Flavors: Melon
Preparation
Haha you’re. Lucky I didn’t accidentally misplace this one….
TOTALLY LUCKY.
Please tell me we can arrange a shared order some time! :D
Cavo, I will probably place an order by the summer and have it sent through my Dad. When I do, I will most likely be back in Toronto so it won’t be too hard to add some things for you :)
Oooh, that’s great! Thanks!
No problem. It won’t be for a little while though since I need to get my cupboard controlled. Do you think you can last? :P
I’ll be ordering from lupicia again….for as long as Sharon doesn’t mind being my tea mule lol
I’ll be at a Lupicia store in June, and can just buy whatever and ship it direct to you from the US if a teensy wait is okay.
Nous pouvons toujours attendres madam! Je crois que ca sera plus facile is mon ami l’emporterai ici….
Oh! Mai ca ce peut que je vous emprete d’acheter les thes qui son suelement Vendu dans le magasin! (iPad autocorrect is the worst for French typing lol)
My god this is one of the best teas ever. if I wasn’t going to Cali this summer, and if the wonderful ifjuly wasn’t sending me some to tide me over in the meantime, I’d crash this group order bigtime! LOL
OMG. Everyone is all over this Lupicia thing. :O I’m amazed!
And I’m so not ready to order just yet (uhhh, cupboard is over 200… ) but once someone is ready in a few months I’d love to figure something out.
Also, thumbs up to me for deciphering Sil’s french. I’m so rusty but at least I can translate it even if I couldn’t write what she just said.
Can I chime in? YES LUPICIA. Chaud les marrons! is AMAZING. I’ve had it hot, cold, plain, with stuff, and have only one cup left. So good.
I have a feeling that if i can get through some of these small samples to that i don’t have AN ENTIRE BOX FULL OF THEM….outside of my cupboard, I’ll go through all the teas we recently purchased and then start planning another order. Though, that being said, that might not be until May since i’m pretty sure my april order will be damn fine tea..and way over my budget at that lol
Wheee! So many future orders!!!
Mmmm. This is a nice creamy sweet vanilla black. The mint mixes well with it, while the raspberry sorta lingers around the edges. Why are you so shy? Come on out?
But this is tasty. And this is the second tea I’ve enjoyed from Simple Loose Leaf!
Too bad you can’t really get them in Canada as I’m curious about more of their teas!
And that’s it for this tea! (231)
I made a giant mug of it so I could get ALL THE FLAVOUR, and then I threw the rest in my new box for Sil. (This one will take longer to fill though since I have nothing coming in…. yet)
It smells interesting! Chai spices make me think warm, by the fire thoughts, while the peppermint is a blast of ice. And this tea is part of the A Song of Ice and Fire fandom – OIC what you did there Aun-Juli!!!
The verdict? I really actually like it. The two contrasting flavours never quite mix – they dance around each other and taste great. The base may be a little weak but the flavours and scent more than make up for it. Let’s see what Sil thinks!
I love that this series of tea are all inspired by the many deaths of Sean Bean. :P I can get behind this. So far they’re great.
ETA I’m thinking if I can reduce my cupboard by July, then I may place a birthday order at Adagio! If I can’t mule it through Sil I may just end up paying the min charge because laslt time I ordered so much that shipping worked out to be buttloads anyway… Yikes. But yay! Time to sip! But after drinking all these Aun-Juli blends I am getting ideas on restocks. It’s great that she lets you buy samples from her website!
Preparation
WOOHOO 1300 Tasting notes! – I feel like you guys should get achievements for still being here after all that rambling… :P
And another sipdown this weekend (232)- I’m definitely slowing down as a lot of my 1-cup samples have already been tasted. There’s 8 days left in the month so if I did 4 sipdowns a day I coudl easily make 200 teas for April, but I won’t. I just won’t. It’d reqcuire a carefully regimented schedule of what to drink and that’ll take all the fun out of everything! But I have ZERO orders incoming, and I even managed to go to DAVIDs today for tea filters without buying any tea.
I know, right? :O
This was a lovely sample sent over from MissB who got it from KittyLovesTea. That’s quite a journey for this sample! Over the Atlantic and back again and now it’s fairly close to where it was originally mailed from. I’m enjoying it, which is surprising, because rose tea makes me think gross perfume… It tastes like a nice sencha, with tart cranberries and a bit of floral rose to mix it up. It makes me think of spring!
Spring!
I might not have gone out of my way to buy this, but I’m happy to have had it. I could see drinking this in the spring when I have the odd craving for it, but I wouldn’t want more than .5 oz!
Preparation
1300 awesome!
Yay, congratulations!
Congratulations!!!
You went to David’s and resisted buying tea! What a good girl! I can’t walk buy one without a purchase.:)
yay for 1300!!
Yay 1300! And also yay for only getting filters at DavidsTea! :)
Holy crap, congrats! I wonder how much tea 1300 tasting notes translates to!
So much Dustin…..sooo much.
Congrats, that’s amazing!
I’m guessing around 650? (based on my spreadsheet, but there’s a few duplications and a few I forgot to note). SO MUCH TEA. And that’s about 1.5 years on Steepster.
And thanks guys! :D
Cavo….steepster says 716 if you’re looking for number of different teas you’ve tried and logged :)
I was thinking in pounds of tea. 5 for 1300 servings? I could probably calculate using math, but lack the brain power at the moment. :)
But then you have to take into consideration average cup size, and teas drunk but not logged. :)
Thank you Sil for this sample! (233)
Unfortunately, I really don’t know what to say about it. It tastes like Orange Pekoe? I haven’t had enough of this type of black to really be able to appreciate it, and it’s been so long since I’ve had the bagged grocery store version that I couldn’t tell you how much better this one is in comparison, if at all.
It was a nice cup though. Thx
“Orange pekoe” refers to the size of the cut leaves. You’ve probably seen SFTGOP, right? It means “Special Finest Tippy Golden Flowery Orange Pekoe”. The OP refers to orange pekoe, the size of the cut leaves. BOP means broken orange pekoe, so the leaves are smaller. CTC means crush tear curl, etc.. So the name of the brew you just prepared does not refer to any particular type or flavor of tea. Perhaps it is Ceylon? There is no question that “Orange Pekoe” has been successfully marketed into the minds of consumers as a type of tea!
Thanks for going into all of that! Tea can be so fascinating, yet confusing. :D
I guess I meant more that it tasted like Ceylon, and that I haven’t had much experience with Ceylon teas as straight blacks. I’ve been drinking more Yunnan’s and Assams.
Sipdown! (234)
And another one from Sil via Terri! Thanks guys!
This one reminds me of the Absinthe White from Herbal Infusions, minus the mint.
I can taste the white tea, which is the sign of a good blend, and the licorice is really nice with it. It’s not overwhelmingly strong and it has a bit of sweetness to it that I quite enjoy! I wish I’d seen that recommendation to steep it for 5+ minutes, but I am happy with this as it is. Steeped like this, it’s a nice tea for 10:30 at night.
Oh and this is a soft and fuzzy kind of white tea!
Thank you!
That’s not so bad. 3.1, 3.2 per day? You can do it.
Go go go! I would be seriously impressed if you made it. Depends on how much a sip down would entail! I just wrote down a list of fourteen teas I’d like to finish by the beginning of April. Quite a few are 5-8 cups worth though.
Go Lupicia order GO!!!
Thx! :D
Ahahahaha, Annna. Everyone is such a bad influence.
And you might be able to do it Fjellrev; at least you can try to get close!
I am running out of Cookie. =( This is an emergency. Please place Lupicia order and then send me Cookie. Sadface.
Oh no! :O Do you have to rely on people to forward it to you? They don’t have any other stores? That’s totally not cool, Lupicia!!!