Lipton

Horrible, absolutely no flavor….this has nothing to do with liking higher end teas. It literally has no flavor. It used to be better…

Sooo good.
Bold, not bitter. The perfect pick me up. Totally different then regular Lipton which has gone downhill a lot lately (best replacement; tastes like how it used to). Just wish it didn’t have the ceylon in it…

I honestly felt like throwing up. The worst tea I’ve EVER tried.

Yuck.

I prefer loose leaf tea, but keep a few bagged teas at home… can get these at a closeby supermarket, and when they are on sale, I usually stock up for friends and family who simply stick to ‘oh, just a bag please…’

No fan of Lipton, but this is quite yummy tea for a bagged tea. It’s fresh and brews a decent cup.
When I am in a hurry, I will brew it too and enjoy a lovely cuppa … shshh. don’t tell…

I love this tea so much! My mom got a box from somewhere and she had to cut me off because I was drinking it all on her. Now I can’t find it anywhere. Please bring it back!

Pretty good! A fruit tea that avoids orangey flavors altogether and leans in the direction of pineapple. Lipton black and green teas don’t hold a candle to more artisanal varieties, but their fruit blends are surprisingly appealing.

I don’t usually enjoy orange peel in tea, but this grapefruit cocktail is the exception. Sadly, I’ve never seen it for sale in the US.

Ending the day with a little dessert tea. This is just ok for me. It is caramel with an unobtrusive black base but it’s a little flat for my tastes .
Thanks Sil for including it.

After the festival ended on Saturday I went out for supper with several friends from the tea community that I look forward to seeing each year, but before heading to dinner I did make a quick stop at a nearby convenience store to grab something cold to drink. Not a ton of options, so I picked this one out since honey appealed to me given I’d been speaking non-stop all day. I can’t decide if this tasted good because it was good or because I was just dying of thirst/overheated and it was more refreshing than anything else. But hey, no complaints with a quick fix!

The dinner was lovely, and I had some really great non-tea related food and drink. I really needed that time to just sit, have some good conversation, and mellow out after a PACKED first day in the city.

This one wasn’t in the database, though most other Pure Life teas seem to be. I tried finding a listing for it on Lipton’s site or the Pure Life site but no such luck; so none of the information for this is really filled out…

We just starting carrying this in our store; it’s the only non-black Pure Life drink we stock so I got curious and picked up a bottle to drink during my walk home. I really didn’t like it; even the overly sweetened other Pure Life drinks I’ve had were much, much better.

I thought that it had too much honey flavour; to the point where it was cloying and almost fake tasting. I would say that it was like someone had just squeezed honey straight into my mouth were it not for the weird, sour taste from the green tea. It was very ‘slimey’ and kind of seaweed tasting? Seaweed and honey should definitely never be a thing.

Nope; not for me. Though, it did keep me quenched on the way home so that was a positive I suppose. Probably the only one, though.

Sipdown (147)!

I am not a fan of Lipton; when I try to describe the difference between some of the really, really nice loose leaf teas I drink and cheap, poorly made bagged teas to non tea drinkers I almost always use Lipton as my example of bad bagged tea/grocery store tea. Really, it’s the difference between a fishstick or caviar, I think.

That said, I do appreciate this sample from MissB because of the thoughtfulness, if not for the tea itself. And, I’ll admit to being a little conflicted because it’s caramel and I love caramel. And you know what; it wasn’t bad. It certainly wasn’t great, but for what it is it certainly could have been so, so bad. Definitely not what I’ve come to expect/associate with Lipton.

What it reminded me of was those little five cent cube caramels they sell at Bulk Barn or convenience stores/gas stations and that you sometimes get around Halloween.

I used to love those when I was a kid; I’d eat handfuls of them in one sitting. However, they’re not really my think anyone. They taste oddly ‘woody’ to me now, and are almost borderline rubbery. But for a few short minutes while I drank this tea I tasted my ‘childhood version’ of those cube caramels – and it was great. Pleasantly nostalgic.

On another note…

My chawan arrived! WAY earlier than anticipated too; only took seven days to get here from Japan instead of the expected two weeks to a month! Holy smokes; that’s faster than pretty much anything I’ve ever ordered from the states. And guys, it’s gorgeous. I’ve been showing it off to anyone who’s at the house; my landlord, his GF and daughter, Tre, and the friends I had here today.

It makes me so sad that no one gets it. Tre instantly asked how much it was and then seemed visibly upset when I told him (if we’re counting the shipping it was approx. $168CA). But, it’s one of a kind, authentic, and basically just a piece of art. Sadly I haven’t had a chance to try it yet because I’ve been feeling really under the weather – but when I do you’re all gonna hear about it!

Got a box of 100 for really cheap. Its been a couple years, and this is finally my last cup of it. It’s basic and theres nothing truly wrong with it, but lets just say I will never drink a cup of this ever again :)

Hm. Okay. This is better than the Tropical I had the other day, although it’s very artificial, pow-in-your-face kinda tea. I don’t mind it, it’s cheap (2-3 euros/20), but it also left slime on my teacup — although that could well be the severe hard water issues I have here.

This is such a strange tea, I really can’t quite make whether I like it or not. Grapefruit, kind of, but perfumey (not soapy like the other day). Tart citrus as well. I much prefer Tarte Citron (lemon tart) to this one, or the Peach Mango, which I need to review still.

Made this with water that had cooled significantly so I’m unsure if that’s why it tastes so… unexpectedly. There’s grapefruit, yes, but it’s… soapy? I get pineapple, kind of, but it’s… floral? I don’t know, this is just not quite right, even though I can tell where it wants to go.

Shockingly sweet citrus/grapefruit tea. I need to have it again because I must’ve done something wrong – it was almost cotton candy sweet.

Reminded me of a caramel apple today. Noms.
Thanks MissB and Sil for coordinating

Thanks MissB for the sample!
I enjoyed this cup, but found it quite astringent at first. As it cooled, the caramel note emerged more. I wish I had added a touch of milk now!
Not super memorable, but tasty :)

Second time I’ve had this (first was yesterday), and I’ll say it’s decidedly different today. Not as chocolately? Mind you, yesterday was another of those hard water situations, whereas today the kettle in the hotel seems clean and fresh with zero buildup. So, who knows.

Regardless, this had a bigger punch of flavor yesterday. Today it’s mild at best, if pleasant. However I’m not so much a fan of pear in tea to be – YES!! Perhaps someone who really loves this type of flavoring would appreciate it more. Plus, the chocolate is completely out of sight today. Boo. Too subtle for me.

It smells better than it tastes, but it still tastes really, authentically like a lemon tart! So delicious, I can’t quite figure it out.

Damnit; I just finished writing a note for this and Steepster ate it!

Anyway, these are on sale for $1 at my store this week so on one of the days when I didn’t have time to bring tea with me to work I bought one. I’m only half surprised to find it already in the Steepster database. The picture they’re using is the old bottle design though; the new one is much prettier and appealing.

I’ve had like 1/4 of a bottle in the fridge all week, finishing it now while I pack my work lunch for tomorrow. It tastes much more like ‘real’ tea than any other bottled “Iced Tea” I’ve ever had, but it’s still a touch too sweet for me. They do sell a plain, unsweetened one though and it might be worth checking out.

After I’m done packing lunch I’m gonna watch the Voice Season 8 premiere. If Tre wasn’t busy ‘releasing a week’s built up tension’ I’d invite him to watch too like we did last season. I think if he knew how much I share about him on here he’d be mortified.

“Strangers know I masturbate!?”

“Tre, anyone with a brain knows you masturbate.”

Also shout out to my Aunt Jill! Got a letter in the mail not too long ago from her where she mentioned having found my Steepster blog online (wont get into how). Not sure if you’re reading these tasting notes regularly now, but if you do you’re probably as mortified as Tre would be.