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I thought this was a sipdown but according to my spreadsheet I have another cupful from my advent calandar! This is the last of my Santa’s Secret from the very generous WhatSheSaid. I’ve drank this so many times and never written up a note, apparently! I don’t know why this still surprises me, I was terrible at writing up notes while I was at uni – I would have 5 or 6 cups of tea a day and only log one. I bet that’s actually preferable to me logging so many teas and clogging everyone’s dashes.

Mmmm… probably my favourite Christmas tea. If you look at my ‘tea-dislikes’ you’ll see I’m not big on spices (unless with pumpkin) and so most holiday blends are a no-go for me. Candy canes though are one of those things that just epitomises the season, you know? As soon as you taste one you know that the holidays are coming. And this tea gets the candy cane flavour bang on, without the tea being pushed to the background. The mint and the creamy vanilla are sooo good together, and if I add a little sugar it’s like I melted an actual candy cane right into a cup of tea. I overleafed a little (I had almost 2 tsps but not quite, so I used it all in a 12oz mug) and left it for over 6 minutes and I’m still getting no astringency from the base tea, which is incredible to me. The creaminess is so pronounced that I didn’t add any milk and I’m drinking this black, which again is super rare for me in black teas. It’s the first time I’ve drank it without milk, though, and I know it can take it well. I just can’t think of anything that I don’t like about this tea.

I’m going to have to come up with something creamy-minty to replace this with, since DAVIDs isn’t readily available to me. Oh US and Canada, how I envy you.

A mysterious baggie of teabags labelled ‘Rooibos + Vanilla’ from my swap with Mina. I can’t seem to figure out what exactly I’m drinking, but again I don’t mind. It’s not something I’d buy for myself. I’m ambivalent about red rooibos at the best of the times, and have openly negative feelings about straight vanilla teas (though I seem to be drinking them a lot lately – what’s up with that?) so I can’t say I was too hopeful about this one. I’m mostly drinking it because it’s 5am, I can’t sleep and this was one of the only uncaffeinated teas in my focus box.

It’s exactly what I expected. The rooibos base it pretty weak, slightly woodsy but mostly just thin and underwhelming. The vanilla comes across as a very slight creamy note but it’s almost undetectable. Would probably dump it under normal circumstances but as it is I’m just going to finish it in bed and try to get some sleep. The wind is screaming through the broken seal of my bedroom window and I have the world’s worst cough (it’s literally every time I breathe in) so I’m not too optimistic about that either. The tea’s soothing my throat, though, so at least there’s that.

Would rate around a 34 if I knew what the hell it was.

Oi, watch it, spaceman!

Oh how I love Donna Noble. Even though I have a lot of love for a lot of the new companions, I think Donna might be my favourite. Don’t tell the others.

I feel like this tea represents more how people that don’t know Donna perceive her rather than how she actually is to those that know her well. Solid and familiar, but quiet and plain at first, with a hint of something spicy hidden beneath the surface that we don’t get to fully see shine, even though we know that the potential is there. Too much detail? Am I overthinking this association? Probably. Anyway, I like the idea that this is pretty much an Irish Breakfast you think you have sussed and then there’s a hint of ‘oh hang on, what was that?’ citrus zing and warm spicy cinnamon at the end of the sip, which becomes more pronounced the more you drink it. It’s a regular cup of tea turned up a notch, so it’s warm and comforting on another level, but imo as a lover of strong teas I think the cinnamon and orange flavours, particularly the orange, could stand to be a tad more pronounced. I like this tea, I really do. I just wish it shone more like the star that Donna is.

P.S. MERRY CHRISTMAS STEEPSTER!! It was a total accident, me drinking this today, but the flavours are perfect for Christmas!

P.P.S. Did anyone catch the Doctor Who Christmas special today?? I was at work while it was on but watched it afterwards. Doctor Who + superheroes = basically my personal heaven.

Sipdown 54/375! I’ve decided I want to try to get to 200 tasting notes by the end of the year, and under 400 teas in my cupboard by my 3rd Steepster birthday. Since I don’t know when I’m going to be working (zero-hours contract) and I have family over tonight for a pre-Christmas party, I’m trying to fit a couple of notes/sipdowns in now before it gets too hectic.

I made this the same way I did when I had the flu, and I’m pleased to report that it wasn’t just the illness making me think this tasted nice! Man I wish I’d brewed it this way more often. More concentrated with milk and sugar, the citrus flavour comes out way more and it isn’t just a lame-ass chai, it’s the embodiment of Christmas in tea form. Still, I’m glad we parted on a high.

I nabbed this one from the EU TTB a while back after trying and really enjoying it. At the time I couldn’t place the flavour much past ‘chocolatey’ and I know I didn’t get apricot, but for some reason in my final cup the apricot is really standing out. I couldn’t remember the flavour profile at all, but as soon as I took my first sip I knew it had to be apricot. I’m drinking it black with half a sugar and it’s still very lovely. No astringency which is rare, and the pinch of sugar really brings out the fruity, caramelised apricot. The base is chocolatey and slightly sour (though not in a bad way, just in a ‘juicy’ kind of way) but I’m not picking up the thick chocolate notes that I have in previous cups.

Google tells me that the name of this tea in English is ‘Tinkerbell’ – cute! It’s definitely appropriate – delicate, sweet and fairy-like.

Sipdown 53 of 375.

Sipdown 52/375

There may be a couple more sipdowns like this that have escaped my attention. I don’t know why I never wrote a tasting note for this tea but it’s been gone for ages. Smoky teas aren’t usually to my taste, but I really enjoyed this blend. Something about the combination of spices softened the smokiness so that it wasn’t overwhelming, and my favourite way to drink this was with a teaspoon of honey, maple syrup or agave which I thought rounded it out very well. Of course, this being an Adagio black tea blend, I drank it with milk most of the time because astringency. In fact, I’m almost convinced I can remember writing up a tasting note to that effect years ago (what is Steepster doing to all my notes from back then??). Because I do like a smoky tea every now and again and because of the novelty factor – it really is a good fit for the character it represents – there’s a good chance I might restock this at some point.

Sipdown 51/375!

Man my cupboard is not as up-to-date as I thought it was. This tea belonged to my flatmate over a year ago and I had a cup or two out of curiosity – I have no idea why it’s in my cupboard. I actually didn’t hate this! I don’t remember too much about it, but it was very one-note, and I do enjoy the flavour of nettle tea.

Sipdown! (50/375)

Okay so this was technically a sipdown aaaages ago, and I never wrote up a proper note on it because I just love it so much I drank down my entire 0.8oz tin and then my 2oz pouch without stopping long enough to think about it. I am so glad this tea is still available, and as soon as I’m done with my no-buy I will 100% be buying another big bag.

Purely cinnamon tonight. Cinnamon plain, cinnamon with sugar, cinnamon with milk. Chocolate was present in the scent but didn’t translate to the flavour except maybe a little while plain. Still no apple. I just got a last-minute message telling me that I’m working tomorrow, so I won’t be getting in that 50th sipdown tonight. Still, I have Friday off, so I can make it before Christmas at least!

Sipdown! (49/375) Hmm I might try to squeeze in a 50th tonight…

Still on my dessert kick, I actually drank this a couple of hours ago straight after vanilla comoro. The black tea base is almost nonexistent, and the liquor brew up an opaque sort of pinky-orange colour. I know that it used to be there in the notes, so I’m guessing there was just a disproportionate amount of sprinkles towards the bottom of my sample. Either way, it was super yummy. I never got chocolate or coconut from this at all, and only actually realised it was meant to be there last time I drank it. To me this has always been more of a plain vanilla iced cupcake, and you know what? I liked it that way. It was sweet, and creamy, and sponge-cakey, and just what I would expect from a tea called Birthday Cupcake. Chocolate coconut would have just been confusing. Even though I’m not a fan of vanilla this tea always impressed me because the scent and the flavour were so accurate. In this last cup they were even more prominent, and since it’s getting on a bit now I didn’t mind the lack of actual tea in the dry leaf. I will probably miss this tea on birthdays, but not enough to purchase more since it’s not the kind of thing I would drink often.