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Probably it was Shae who sent me a few tea bags of this tea; but I just put them into my stash in the place which I don’t check often and how surprised I have been to see so many teas there, so neglected!
So, this was in closed zip-lock bag, so I took it out and brought to work. Because only flavoured black tea I have there is Earl Grey (from Czech company), which isn’t very good in fact; and I don’t want to have huge stash in the office as I am not sure how long I will stay there (I may work in different office, not company — at least for now). I just looked and see this is caffeine-free blend. It’s not flavoured black tea? :O

I digressed greatly from the tea I haven’t even started writing about…
Well, honestly it surprised me how sweet it is. Not in a bad way, however I thought it is definitely more sour.
But it’s fine and definitely easy drinkable, in easy preparation method so I don’t have to take care too much, which is definitely a virtue for me in those stressful work days from early hours.

Not tasting much of the cake either recently; the pastry flavour is a little bit missing, but yes, I will finish my small stash of this fast.

Shae and others who joined me in the TTB last time I took part, thank you. And also thank you Devon that I actually could try that and I was really sure I need it to have with me. Now I have… and maybe I am not that much impressed anymore, but still, I like it. No tossing out.

Searching for fruity raspberry tea, without caffeine?
Search no more!

This is a raspberry jam in the mug, nothing more, nothing else. Thick tasting tea, not watery as some tea. A little too sweet, if you ask me, but there is none of stevia awful aftertaste. And although there is Vitamin C and Zinc gluconate, it doesn’t taste medicinal; though I am not sure how helpful they are if you use boiling water.

Raspberry intoxication

Finally I decided to open those Bhutanese tea samples.
And I thought this may be very interesting and I was in a mood trying something unusual, maybe because I just came home “on time” and not late like other days; and moreover not so tired.

The dry leaf looks very unusual. It looks like burned leaves, there wasn’t any rolling or shaping; just dark, huge leaves. I may use this into the sipdown prompt! Well, afterall, you can check picture yourself. There are also stems and branches; fairly uncommon for loose leaf.

The aroma itself is also different than I am used to. No, this doesn’t smell like a black tea at all. Rather a shu. With extra salinity and something that reminds me manure. Very woody too.

Decided to brew it western, 4 minutes. It brews sooo dark. This is not a black tea. It’s a shu puerh, but not from Pu Erh region and not pressed.

Anyway, the taste is smooth, maybe almost flat (like not an explosion of flavours in the mouth); woody, wet forest floor and a bit mushroomy. Yes, again a flavors of shu, not a black tea. Aftertaste is a bit earthy and woody, which makes sense, considering the visual of the tea.

I have thought that the tea has more to offer; so I prepared also the second steep; this time 3 minutes brewing.
Definitely it has got potential to show me another impressions. It was dark as the first steep, but the flavour was more woody and earthy, with salt and mineral aftertaste. A bit like licking rock salt (yes, I did that). Not bad!

I’m definitely going to try this gongfu… with a little less leaf than I will be used to. But on the other hand, I don’t think I will try Bhutanese style. That’s prepared this way: into boiling water you throw the leaves, you let them steep in the boiling water, strain the leaves, add hot milk, butter and SALT. Yes, like the tea isn’t salty itself!

Came home tired from work today, so I picked the very same tea bag I had on my desk; and I’m glad I did.
It was delicate green tea, slightly grassy and jasmine level was just right. Definitely not overpowering the base tea flavours, and not so weak either. It was clearly jasmine, and considering it was just a tea bag… colour me impressed!

Food pairing: cold, unbaked blackberry-quark cake. Great pairing!

Pouch of this appeared in my black tea box; probably from Kaylee — so thank you!

I am focusing on small pouches before I open other ones; and I need to focus on them as well, having something over 700 grams of black tea for me alone, is a bit too much. Of course, sometimes I prepare a cup for family members or friends coming over; but it doesn’t happen that often, sadly.

Anyway, this is a solid black tea, easydrinkable and not tannic or astringent. Rather I do notice cocoa and malt, somewhow a bit into sweet teritory; round and smooth. It’s not a top-notch tea with extra flavour profiles, but as a daily drinker it would be more than fine.

A sipdown! (M: 3 Y: 64) Prompt: A refreshing summer tea

Prepared as a cold-brew, steeped for approx. 20 hours in a fridge; french press with 1 litre volume.

Delicious as hot, but as cold — definitely more refreshing and watermelon… is there anything more summery? Peppermint was weaker in this method, but still quite refreshing and tea was liked by all the family :)

Now, it’s gone; but summer is almost over, so I won’t miss it that bad. But once hot days come again; I will need to find some substitute tea.

This tea is intended to be drank cold-steeped or iced; but as usual, I prepared it also hot. The mentioned preparation methods will be tried within this week, aka hottest week this summer. Sadly, as I have only 5 grams left of my 10 grams sample, I can’t try their recipe: https://teerausch.de/melone-minze-eistee-rezept/

Surprisingly it’s refreshing even hot (read: luke-warm): pretty much distinct watermelon taste, not artificial and not too sweet… followed a bit with the white parts near the rind of the melon itself. After a sip a burst of menthol cools whole throat, thanks to peppermint used.

Overall, so easydrinking, genuine and fresh tasting tea was so nice today… I would definitely pick up more if I get the chance one day. I assume that recreating watermelon taste isn’t the easiest task to do in a hot drink.

A sipdown! (M: 2 Y: 63)
Trying this tea for the second time; this time prepared western and glad to finish another tea I had for long; with miniscule amount left. And I was craving oolong this afternoon.

It was fine, creamy oolong. Smooth and enjoyable, with “green” oolong taste and a bit sticky, some florals hidden there too. I did just a single steep, which was refreshing enough.

Definitely better when steeped gongfu, but also one year later; so maybe it has faded a bit as well.

A sipdown! (M: 1 Y: 62) prompt: A tea bought “in-store” (From February!)
I will try to focus to prompts. I couldn’t pay much attention to them when I was in Germany; but now I am back home.

This tea I bought in Teerausch store; so it fills this prompt, and I am happy that I have bought it. It’s indeed a wonderful fruity black tea, full of red berries. It works well with it’s black tea base. Blended just right, nothing was too strong and that’s what I like so much.

A tea from Kaylee, thank you! Which, I accidantly preprared probably too strong.
I got 6 grams, maybe even a bit more… and decided to brew all in 300 ml mug, with short steep. That was two-three mintues long.

Well, it WAS strong. Suggested 5-7 minutes would be definitely too much. It was strong in taste too, but I managed to notice bergamot, a little peppery rose and cinnamon. I thought there was also the clove, but it seems it was the rose and cinnamon together making this feel. But the flavours were working well together, so yes, I can see a chance trying this once again, if I get the chance to get it.

I have enjyed it, but as I wrote, it was a bit too strong in all flavours, so… a little sad face here. But on the other tea, another tea down (though not a sipdown, as prepared all at once).