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2025 sipdown no. 5

ashmanra generously sent me her last cup of this. I’ve been waiting for the right time to steep this up and there never seems to be a fully right time, but this past Sunday I submitted an application I’d been working on for weeks and although my to-do list still had plenty, Monday seemed like the perfect day for all that.

I followed her instructions carefully: rinsed with boiling water (~8-10 seconds), let the leaves steam in my mug with a wee lid for 2 minutes, then steeped with boiling water for 1 minute.

1st steep, 1 minute: The taste is very clean, wet, sandy soil. As the tea cools, there is the most subtle whisper of sweetness from mid-end of the sip.
2nd steep, 1 minute: Very similar to the first steep, just as delightful.
3rd steep, 1 minute: I stepped this up before dinner and by the time I got to it, it was cold. Nevertheless, very tasty and soil-like.
4th steep, 1 minute: Taste is starting to thin out, the next steep I’ll increase the time. Still very soil-like. The taste is remarkably similar to the first steep, with only the depth changing.
5th steep, 1 minute 30 seconds: Sweetly soil.
6th steep, 14 minutes: The tea was light in colour and thin the previous two steeps, so I let this steep until I became impatient. The soil is still quite pronounced. This has been a lovely tea!

Thanks ashmanra :)

2025 sipdown no. 4

I’ve quite enjoyed this tea. The peach flavour has not diminished over 2.5 years and is quite juicy, while being just on the side of candy-esque. I’ve enjoyed the somewhat mellow Keemun base, though this tea can become astringent is oversteeped.

2025 sipdown no. 3

I really enjoy this EG variation. The lavender is at the forefront with bergamot just behind. I appreciate the Ceylon base. Looking back at the EG/EG Creams I’ve enjoyed, they all share a fully Ceylon base (a note to myself because many an EG has a weird scent that bothers me). I would order this one for my cupboard. The resteep was also really lovely and had almost as much flavour as the first.

1st steep 3 minutes
2nd steep 4 minutes 30 seconds

2025 sipdown no. 2

I expected this to be similar to Berried Treasure, but actually, Berried Treasure is the clear winner between the two. This tea has the same depth of flavour (and gorgeous colour), but the hibiscus and raspberry together creates more of a one-dimensional situation where it’s tart and not much else.

This steeped up a dark red/burgundy. Very hibiscus, but much deeper in colour. This tea smelled very, very berry-y. The taste was much deeper and ‘thicker’ than I anticipated (like when I have Cavalla and think it will be like hot chocolate — this tea was the hot chocolate version, or like mashed berries poured into a mug). The flavour was akin to a warm cherry juice. But not exactly cherries — that may be the elderberry. Regardless, I was happily impressed with this one!

This is a decent blackcurrant tea, but not my favourite. This version leans more into musty territory instead of sweet. Additionally, this is one you need to drink as soon as possible as astringency comes forward more and more as it cools (assuming this has to do with the Ceylon base). I prefer the blackcurrant from Tante T.

2025 sipdown no. 1

A lovely vanilla tea, and great to have a decaf option that tastes nice. The pink cornflowers are also pretty in the dry blend. I prefer this to the Vanilla Bean.

2024 sipdown no. 96

The walnut flavour here is spot on (considering this tea has no nuts). The walnut is at the forefront with the caramel much more subtle. The oolong is a lovely base. The resteep still had a decent amount of walnut flavour and was enjoyable.

1st steep: 4 minutes
2nd steep: 6 minutes

Sorry for all the notes today! Hopefully the last of my sipdowns for 2024 — onward and Happy New Year!

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2024 sipdown no. 87

I’ve brewed this at 3, 4, and 5 minutes and it always tastes the same. Like muddled maple water. Such a shame considering the ingredients.