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This is more a placeholder than a tasting note, just to say that I finished this one a couple of months back while I was away from Steepster and never wrote anything about it. It was nice for what it was, but what it was wasn’t my favourite.

Sipdown 170/397.

Sipdown 169/397.

I’m actually really surprised I hadn’t written any tasting notes on this one yet, given that it was one of the first loose leaf teas I ever purchased – I am very ashamed to say I’ve had this tea for almost exactly SIX YEARS now! Yikes. I never finished it off because it never really appealed to me. I’m not a huge fan of Adagio’s black Ceylon base – it’s too astringent to drink plain in my opinion, and ever so slightly citrus-y, which doesn’t really go with the cream flavouring (which itself is very artificial tasting). It’s not the worst I’ve ever tried, but it’s not very exciting and it smells a lot better than it tastes. Just overall unremarkable. It won’t be missed, and it probably will be forgotten. Oh well.

Another sipdown! (168/397)

This was quite a nondescript fruity ‘red berries’ sort of tea, the cranberry more prominent than the raspberry. I’ve had several cups over the last few days trying to finish this off, and experiemented using different amounts of the instant tea. I found it to be quite one-dimensional, one flavour that was simply weaker or stronger depending on the amount used with no particular nuances or notes which presented themselves at different temperatures or such. That being said, it was pretty tasty and a comforting cup to sip on while playing chess with the beau. I like that it’s quick and easy to make up a cup, and you can even stir the crystals into cold water for instant iced tea, but it just wasn’t good enough to hold a candle to my stash of loose leaf. I’ve tried several instant teas now, and while this one was not the best – nor was it the worst – none of them have been able to convert me. On to the next one!

Sipdown! (167/397)

Thanks for the sample, Marzipan!

I’ve been putting this one off for a while now, mainly because I have a pretty strained-at-best relationship with ginger, and I’ve found a lot of Celestial Seasonings’ offerings to be cloyingly sweet. Going in with low expectations has helped, I suppose, because I was pleasantly surprised by this one! I’m drinking it tactically after eating a couple of chocolates, with my thinking being that it would tame any unwanted sweetness, and it seems to have done the trick because although I get that liquorice root feeling at the back of my throat, I’m actually not getting a tonne of sweetness from it. The ginger is present, but not overwhelming and there’s actually a strong cinnamon note which puts this tea in my good books straight away. There’s an unexpected fiery kick which is partially to do with the cinnamon and ginger, but it’s punchier… black pepper is springing to my mind. I added milk because that’s how I prefer my chais, and this seemed chai-like to me from reading the description. I’m glad I did, because it’s certainly a bold tea and I think the milk helps keep that at bay. Overall, I’m really enjoying sipping on this while I catch up on what’s been going on with Steepter in my absence (I’ve missed you guys). Oh, how I love an unexpected win!

Sipdown 166/397! First sipdown back! Woo!

I am a big fan of this tea. The first time I had it I made a great big pot and accidentally underleafed a lot so it was mild, but even then I could tell it was something special. As soon as you open the bag, the dry leaf smells so intensely of buttery caramel popcorn that it takes actual physical effort to stop inhaling the leaf long enough to actually brew the tea. The flavour is dead on, only with a little fruity apple note which I feel is a little displaced. A tiny pinch of sugar really bumps it up to next-level deliciousness. This is a tea I could easily replace my cinema snack with. The green tea itself is basically nowhere to be found, but that doesn’t bother me at all. I was expecting a sort of caramel genmaicha from this tea, but boy was I wrong. This is nothing like a genmaicha, and so much more. Definitely going on my repurchase list, this tea is making me impatient to end this no-buy already!

Thank you so much Janelle for parting with this precious tea, that I may try it.

Thanks Sil for the sample!

The honeybush is more prominent in my mug than any of the added flavours, but there is a tangy cherry note which follows up the honeybush, mixing to give a cherry cough sweet sort of flavour profile overall. Not bad, but it is a little weird, and I’ve had just about my fill of cough sweets the last couple of months (I had flu, multiple colds, sinusitis and a nasty bout of tonsillitis which has rendered my tastebuds nearly useless since the middle of January) so the taste memory was not exactly the most welcome one. There is a lingering sweetness which I originally assumed was vanilla, but the more I concentrate – and after having it pointed out in several notes – I can tell that it is supposed to be chocolate. It’s that ‘cocoa butter’ sort of note which I find most ‘chocolate’ teas end up translating as, but I do taste it nonetheless. I’m intrigued by the sound of a cold brew, so I think I might try a very small batch with my one remaining teabag and see if that coaxes out any more of the cherry or chocolate flavours.

Sipdown! 165/397

Alas, this tasty tea meets a brutal end it did not deserve. Unwittingly brewed in an infuser contaminated with garlic or onion. Each sip is a delight as always, but the aftertaste is strongly savoury and oh no. I’m still going to finish the cup, though, because the initial sip is good enough to push through the aftertaste. And if that’s not praise, I don’t know what is.

Second matcha of the day and I am set on the caffeine front! Much better than the Irish Cream matcha. The flavour still doesn’t punch me in the mouth, but it’s much more present than the Irish Cream was. Yummy. Gulped my matcha latte down quickly without paying too much attention as I focused on this application.

My sample comes by way of MissB in distinctive flavour strength.

Sipdown! (164/397)

We ran out of coffee in my house and I really need a good caffeine boost this morning as I didn’t get much sleep last night and have an important job application to write up today. So, I was forced to make the effort I’m usually too lazy for and prepare a matcha latte. I went with this one as it’s a sipdown, and I really need to speed up how quickly I’m getting through my teas. This very generous sample came my way a couple of years back from VariaTEA, so I’m not exactly sure what flavour level it is, though my spreadsheet says delicate. I’m not sure why, since it doesn’t say on the packaging and from the looks of it VariaTEA never mentioned it in any of her notes (nor did Cavo, who it looks like VariaTEA got it from). Ah well, I’m going to trust that she told me in a message or a note in the swap or something, and say that it’s delicate. I definitely remember thinking the flavour wasn’t very strong in the past, so dumped about twice as much matcha as I usually would into my cup. This doesn’t really help. The matcha is vegetal, which is weird in a sweet latte, but there is virtually no Irish cream flavour at all. There is some creaminess, but it’s barely distinguishable from regular milk creaminess, just making it seem like I used semi-skimmed milk instead of skimmed. No whisky or alcohol at all, just sweet (I added sugar) creamy milk with a grassy, green-bean like matcha. I don’t think it’s just the low flavouring level either, as I’ve had other delicate matchas from Red Leaf with more flavour, and I’ve seen a couple of notes from people with the highest flavour level saying the same thing.

Thank you for the sample, VariaTEA, but I wasn’t a fan.

Having long since finished my teabags from VariaTEA , I only have a couple of cups left of this having received a couple more in a later swap with Marzipan. I drank this cup plain, and managed to get through most of the cup before it got too sweet. The pumpkin flavour is definitely accurate, which is an achievement in and of itself, and the spice blend is nice and complimentary. If only it didn’t have that darn added sweetener, this would be a really solid tea. Upping from 57, because it deserves it.