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Sipdown 150 (!!) of 397.

I actually got my tea box out to brew a totally different tea, but got suddenly super thirsty (salty nachos at the cinema just now watching the new Mary Poppins film with my brother and boyfriend) and wanted something that was quick to make and equally quick to drink. This is still a sipdown, so it’s a win/win. It’s super old and I was expecting it to be gross, but it’s still pretty tasty. There’s an acidity to it which strips your teeth and leaves a drying, pulling sensation at the back of your throat, but it’s sweet, tangy and flavourful in the sip which makes it easy to drink. I just gulped the whole thing down, and now I’m tempted to open up a new Whittard’s instant tea (which, unlike this, actually does contain tea). It’s just nice to have something so quick!

Sipdown 149/397

I tried slightly different steeping parameters this time, and probably should have stuck to how I brewed it last time, but I was hoping I might stumble upon a way I liked it better. I didn’t. There was more of a smoky note this time around, the cherry still noticeable, but no vanilla sweetness. It’s almost whisky-like this time, definitely not something you would expect aimed at kids!

Sipdown! 148/397. Now for a new target – I think I’m gonna try to get my cupboard below 300 teas by my 5 years on Steepster anniversary, at the beginning of February 2019. Google tells me I’ve got 41 days, so it works out to like 1.2 a day. Which is totally doable, if I don’t deviate from my sipdown box. I am totally committed to getting my cupboard down enough that I can justify buying more tea in 2020. Maybe even next year, if I’m super committed!

I chose this one today as a sort of low-key good luck charm for my football team. I’m a huge Sunderland fan, raised on them since I was 6 years old (18 years ago) and I’m going to their Boxing Day match against Bradford today. They’re expecting a record crowd of 44,000 and I can’t wait; the atmosphere is going to be amazing. Their nickname is The Black Cats, hence me choosing this tea.

The tea itself is disappointing. I paid attention to adding more leaf and less water than usual to try and intensify the flavour, and zippo. It is an old tea at this point, and I’m not going to judge it for that, but I know I’ve had better cups. Ah well. Hopefully the football will be better!

Sipdown 147/397 – I made it to 350!! Now to drink down another 250 so I can buy myself some more tea…

I’m almost certain my sample of this has been contaminated, either in the bag or from my infuser basket which I didn’t clean properly in between brews, as it doesn’t taste anything like it should or I remember it tasting. Weirdly enough it actually does have a slight kick, something I thought was lacking the last time based on the name.

Edit: After some Google-sleuthing I have found a tea from a now-defunct Canadian tea company called Steeps Tea which is likely the same blend under a different name – it has the same description and ingredients, only more elaborated on, and this one includes black pepper in the slightly elaborated description, which would explain the kick I’m getting now.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

To those that don’t celebrate it, I hope you had a wonderful day regardless. I spent the day with my brother, parents, grandparents and boyfriend. We ate lots of good food, watched some Christmas TV, drank a healthy amount of alcoholic beverages, and generally had a really lovely day. I didn’t drink much tea, in fact this is all I drank all day, and I didn’t manage to get my cupboard to 350 as I got more tea for Christmas from my parents, which maybe I should have seen coming. I drank this mainly for the name, but it turned out to be a nice stomach settler after eating far too much Christmas dinner. I didn’t get really any of the fruit flavours, just a hint of something a bit juicy at the end of the sip. It was mainly just a jasmine tea, but that’s alright with me. I was too busy with everything else to pay that much attention.

Thank you Anna for including this in the EU TTB many moons ago. Sipdown 146/397.

Sipdown 145/396

This was okay. I expected worse, from the other reviews. The blueberry isn’t the strongest flavour ever, but I can tell it’s there. It’s mostly rooibos in the sip, with the blueberry coming through in the aftertaste. It pops a lot more with sugar added, too. There are other teas I’d rather drink, but I certainly wouldn’t begrudge having another cup of this. It’s nice.

Thank you Janelle for the sample.

Quick note to say that I created a Frankenstein’s Tea out of my resteeped Yunnan Gold Tips from Andrews & Dunham, which didn’t have enough flavour on their own, and a couple of tiny samples of Bird & Blend’s Love Potion and Vicky’s Sponge Cake teas. Taken in a travel mug to work yesterday with milk and a pinch of sugar. Sipped several times, poured down a drain and replaced with a cappuccino-to-go from Cafe Nero. It was far too sweet with nowhere near enough of a robust tea base. Ah well, you live and learn.

Somehow I managed to go through a whole box of these teabags without adding them to my cupboard or spreadsheet. At least I’m pretty sure it’s these teabags. The box in the picture looks similar if memory serves me (I threw out the box a while back and kept the teabags elsewhere), and the description both on here and the M&S website lists cocoa nibs as an ingredient, but the label on my teabags said ‘Rooibos, Vanilla and Cocoa Nibs’ rather than just ‘Rooibos and Vanilla’. I also thought I had reviewed this tea before, so there’s something weird going on somewhere here. Never mind. I actually really like this tea! It’s soothing, malty, chocolatey and reminds me of a chocolate digestive biscuit. It’s dark and rich, with the kind of depth I rarely experience in rooibos blends, and even more rarely in chocolate teas. It’s delicious plain, pops with sugar, and mellows out beautifully with milk. It’s genuinely a really lovely night time tea option that I would seriously consider picking up again, if I can ever figure out which tea it is, exactly.

Sipdown, I guess, even though it was never logged on here. It still counts, right? 144/396.

Sipdown 143/395. Thank you for the sample, OhFancyThat!

I feel like I’m letting the whole of Steepster down, but I just don’t love this like everyone else does! I have had a few cups and was always hoping it would be better than I remembered, and it just never was. I’m not usually the biggest fan of Chinese blacks, though, so I guess it makes sense. I’m chalking it up to personal preference more than the tea itself. I can’t pick out a lot of the nuances that others have experienced, based on the Steepster flavour profile, even when it was brand new. I get a slightly smoky, savoury note along with some rye notes and a sourness I often notice in Keemun blends, but no cocoa, no raisin, no cinnamon or spices. Today I’m drinking it as my breakfast tea with milk (not that it needs any, as it doesn’t have any astringency) alongside a Nutella-filled Christmas tree puff pastry that my mam made for our family gathering last night. I do like the way it pairs with the pastry. It’s not too sweet and it tempers the sweetness of the chocolate, pastry and icing sugar topping well so it’s not too much. Yummy yummy. At least I’m finally in the holiday spirit!

Sipdown 142/395

This is probably going to be my last new tea of the day. I have plans to resteep my Strawberry Rhubarb Cheesecake leaves after this, and then hopefully get another couple of cups out of this leaf, too. I had originally planned on trying to use up three more samples, but I can feel a migraine coming on and it was going to be a very Nina’s Paris heavy day, so I think I’ll save them for tomorrow or Monday. I’m aiming to have my cupboard at or below 350 by Christmas.

What a lovely straight black tea! I remember drooling over reviews of this back when it was first released, and immediately adding it to my wishlist despite rarely drinking straight unflavoured teas back then, especially loose leaf without milk or sugar. I’m a true English girl, at the end of the day. Sil sent me this along with a few other unflavoured black teas, when I told her I was trying to expand my horizons, and this tea was truly one that helped me appreciate more unflavoured teas, particularly without additives. It is strong and bold, but with very little astringency (something I abhor and the main reason I still add milk to certain teas). It has a malty flavour and bready note which just make me want to curl up in a ball with a thick jumper, a classic novel and a cup of this tea. It’s comfort tea! There’s a honeyed note somewhere in there too, but it’s not as prominent as the more savoury, bread and malt notes so I think that this would be a perfect breakfast tea. I’m not getting any chocolate notes as others have mentioned, and I’ve never smoked so couldn’t say if there are tobacco or cannabis notes, but it does sound interesting. I wonder if they’re there and I just didn’t pick up on it… Either way, this is a delightful, hearty tea which I am particularly enjoying in this crappy weather.

Thanks for helping me try yet another wishlist tea, Sil!