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I oversteeped this and possibly overleafed it too. It has a baked spiced muffin sort of feel to it. Lots of spices and deep or low notes. It doesn’t have bright notes, it’s really dark and deep and almost murky. The start of the sip is a little brighter and sharp, but it doesn’t transition smoothly to the later part of the sip and finish. Anise is very present, but somehow in the background. I’m not hating this cup, but I’m a little perplexed by it and I do wonder how much of it is due to user error.

Been enjoying cups of this on occasion, but realized that the roommates have found it recently and are drinking it down. I did buy it with them in mind, but if I want more cups of this I need to drink it soon. Like tonight. It has such a nice fruity and sweet watermelon flavor to it! Great for when you want something sweet to sip on.

In other tea related happenings… we got a 3D printer recently and have been printing up a storm! I had been thinking for a while that I needed to design a caddy to hold the lids and steepers to my David’s tea mugs and I finally got around to it the other day. I’m super happy with the way it turned out and now my counter is tidier! I posted pictures of it on my IG. https://www.instagram.com/p/C2BxofMORL9/?img_index=1

Sipdown!
This is a mint chocolate rooibos. If you’ve had any of them, you have probably tasted this one. I put a ton of oat milk in it to drown out the potential rooibos and highlight the mint chocolate and it’s easily drinkable this way. It’s not great, but it’s not bad and it wasn’t what I was hoping for when I ordered it.

I picked up two bags of this at some point. I’m at the bottom of the first bag, so I dumped the crumbs that were left in my steeping basket and added a small scoop from the new bag. This cup is tasting like a morphing of hot apple cider and mulled wine. The finish has a weird flatness to it. I don’t recall my other cups of this tasting quite like that and I’m attributing it all to it being the bottom of the bag dust. I do recall enjoying previous cups of this. I also could have sworn that I had written a tasting note on this before, but I don’t see it now.

The oolong in this is very creamy and buttery and that taste comes through the flavoring. There is a bit of mint, but it’s subtle. The cacao flavors are even more subtle adding a little depth without popping out as chocolatey to me. This is an overall very mellow tea. I’m enjoying it a lot, but it’s not something I’d restock.

I haven’t had a cup of this in a while! It’s tasting a little sharp today. Maybe should have done a shorter steeping temp. I love this tea, but I’m feeling a little less enthusiastic about it today which makes me question my undying love. I’m probably just in a mood for something heartier and shouldn’t blame the historically delicious tea.

This bag is closing in on being done. I see in my last tasting note that I reordered this, so I hope I’m sitting on another bag of it and that this isn’t that second bag. I’m still heartbroken that Theodor is gone. Had they given ANY notice, I’d have placed another huge order. I don’t understand what they did with all their stock and why they wouldn’t have sold it instead of abruptly shutting their doors.

When I open the bag I smelled graham cracker notes with a little lemon behind it. I steeped this at a higher temp for a shorter period of time before looking at my last steeping parameters. The super hot cup seems a little more astringent than I recall. As it cools I still get the same thing. I think I burnt this cup which feels like a crime considering that I can’t get any more. Le sigh!

I read my last note on this tea and I think I’m enjoying this cup a little more this go. There is an underlying sweetness and a mix of malt and hay that is pleasant. Something in this is making my throat ever so slightly scratchy. Overall it’s not as exciting as I like my teas. The first Chroma tea I had was very exciting, so I was expecting the others to be loud as well. Alas, they are not. Still, it will do for a gloomy day as I hover over my new 3D printer and monitor it’s progress. So many settings on this thing that my mind is boggled with the crash course learning. I need to design a print to hold all my David’s tea perfect mug lids that only stack so high before toppling over!

I’m liking this cup. It’s like a savory chai. The cardamon gives it the impression of chai. Can’t tell what is giving it more savory notes. Caraway? It’s well balanced, but slightly on the airy side. I sipped this cup somewhat mindlessly for most of it, mildly aware I was enjoying it through the slow haze of waking up.

I bought a pack of 5 teabags of this and I’m not sure where I’m at on the sipdown progress. Things have a tendency to disappear in my cupboard.

This has a very rich caramel scent to it when dry. It looks like CTC. Once steeped it’s very strong. The caramel flavor comes out, but there is a bitter tang from the tea that is a little distracting, but passes quickly. It would likely be delightful with cream and sugar. It’s a good cup, but not one I’d restock. If I remember, I’ll do a shorter steeping with the next bag.