A Quarter to Tea

Cold Brew!

So I don’t really feel like this tasted like biscotti to me, nor did the cranberry in it actually particularly stand out – but it was a really nice cup with some truly great focus on the pistachio. The best I can think to describe it is if you took pistachios and made a cream of them and then used that pistachio cream to make a thick fresh “whipped cream”. Very sweet and fatty/buttery tasting pistachio but with an airiness to it that I love and which, I believe, the white tea base helps to support greatly. There’s also a little bit of a boozy quality to the tea, and I’m wondering if maybe it’s just part of the carrier of the flavour as it was very much the kind of alcoholic note that really stands out in things like chocolate flavouring with an alcohol based carrier. Regardless, I thought it only complimented this whipped pistachio taste and all in all it was a refreshing and flavourful nutty profile I liked.

2021 Sipdown #17

This one was never super “peeps” for me, mostly just genmaicha so I’m happy to finish this one off and move on!

P.S. apologies for all of the sipdown spam, I’m done now :)

2021 Sipdown #15

2021 Sipdown #14

2021 Sipdown #13

This one smelled funky when I opened the bag so I decided to just toss it. I’m removing it from my cupboard both on Steepster and in real life, so I’m still counting it towards a sip down haha

2021 Sipdown #10

An old tea getting finished off

Most of my old AQ2T samples are opened and that’s why so many have lost their flavor. While cleaning out my tea, I found this one that was still sealed. I opened it up and made myself a cup, hoping the flavor had held up better in this one. Luckily it had! After that cup, I made a pot to share with my partner and we both really enjoyed it.

My first cup was very tart raspberry/strawberry heavy without any creamy custardiness. The pot that we shared had more of a strawberry and blueberry flavor, and much more of the vanilla cream-type flavor that I was expecting. We have a few more cups of this one left and I don’t plan on letting it sit around and get old(er)!

2021 Sipdown #8!

This was a tiny sample size from quite a while ago. I was hoping since this one hadn’t been opened, it would still be good. Unfortunately, it looks like that isn’t the case :(

This one smelled nice but overall it just tasted kinda funky and I ended up pouring out the rest of the cup. After looking over the other reviews, I’m not sure if this one was off because it was old or because of the raspberry flavoring. I’m happy to have cleared this one out, but sad I didn’t get to taste it at its best.

I saw this in a friend’s cupboard and asked to swap – glad she had some left! This tea snarls great. I never heard of the jobs if tea it was, so I had to Google it. I didn’t know it was a white tea, so was worried when the color was not that deep. I frothed up some half and half and added a teaspoon of erythritol and made it as a large. I enjoyed it. I’m glad I have more than one cup’s worth! The little snowflake sprinkles were a fun addition.

2021 Sipdown #6

Finished this one off last night with my fiance. Dry, this smelled AMAZING. Tons of pistachio and cream scent. Unfortunately, as with many of my old teas, nearly all of that was gone once steeped. I didn’t get any pistachio. The tea base was weak but still present, and there was probably a tiny bit of creaminess (or just wishful thinking).

I’m really enjoying being a part of this sipdown. I wasn’t as into tea for a while and let a lot of samples go old and didn’t have them properly stored. A lot of the ones that went old were the ones I really liked and that I was worried about not having more of, so I “saved” them. Participating in this sipdown has really taught me about enjoying them when I have them, since so many have gone to waste!

2021 Sipdown #16

I hope to find something similar to this soon! I really enjoyed the lemon flavor in this. I’m not normally a lemon fan but this one was sort of a creamy vanilla lemon with the nice breadiness from the muffin. This last cup still had enough flavor to be a satisfying farewell!

I don’t know how this one has held up as well as it has but I still get some lemony flavor and some breadiness from this! Of course not as much as it originally was but it’s still enjoyable enough to finish off what’s left in the bag with no problem!

Sipdown 4

This was one of those where I was saving the last little bit because I was too sad to see it go! Luckily it still had some flavor left even though it was a little too old. I love coconut black teas and this was no exception!

Instead of being super coconut-y today, it was more of a subtle marshmallow. Still tasty but not at its best. Now I just have to figure out what my next coconut tea should be

I’m honestly not sure I can say I was a fan of this one – I think the cinnamon was a bit overkill. I liked the concept and love the smell of raisins – I thought this might remind me of a Thanksgiving dinner kind of drink. I was excited to receive it in a swap, though – my roommate loved it and she finished the pot.

Holy moly, I had a tablespoon of this left. I had it after supper. I was not wowed. I recall this wasn’t one of my faves from A Quarter 2 Tea. It was heavy on the tannins without any sweetness. I didn’t get any ginger from it either. It is quite old, so not too surprising.

It’s been snowing for around 36 hours so far and is expected to continue to snow through Friday. We’ve gotten 7 inches so far and may have another 10. Trying to be positive. So … Good tea drinking weather!

Had this in the afternoon today. It is quite old, like maybe two years old. I miss A Quarter to Tea.

This one sounded wonderful. Maybe it was the age, but Ididn’t get a lot of flavor out of it. Some gonger and cinnamon, but no bready pancake goodness. That aid, it was a pleasant cup. Not one I would rush out and buy more of (fortunate, then, that Q2T is not selling right now) but I’ll enjoy the remaining 20 ounces of this.

This has a dusty, bitter flavor before sweetening. I could maybe guess fennel seed but only because I know it’s in there. After adding some maple syrup (seemed right), it’s taken on a deep caramel flavor. I don’t really love it, to be honest, and the more I drink it the less I like it. I ended up dumping the rest of this down the drain.

This one was awful. I should probably toss it. It’s old. I didn’t like it. James didn’t like it. It’s well past its prime, but who knows if I would have liked it even when it was fresh. Green teas are a struggle for me.

I love floral teas, though green teas not so much. I overleafed this one and it’s bitter.

Chamomile isn’t my favorite, and that’s pretty much the bulk of this blend. I picked up a hit of mint before steeping, but it’s mostly chamomile in the dry leaf and all chamomile in the cup. I steeped a stronger cup and added some frothed milk which, to me, makes the chamomile more palatable. I don’t remember ever liking this one or being able to taste much else. Certainly not the rose. I think if all three main elements were there – chamomile, mint, and rose – it would be an interesting blend.

For International Mother Earth Day.

I’m a day late (what’s new?) and this sounded like a perfect pick for Earth Day. I did pick it out yesterday but never got around to making a cup. My last note said this was bitter and only tasted like chamomile, so I made sure to keep an eye on my temperature so it didn’t go over the recommended 200 degrees. I think that may have been the problem before because I can taste more than just the chamomile this time around. It’s still the dominant aroma, actually the only thing I smell before steeping and after, but now I can taste a bit of mint in the mix. We’re having breakfast for dinner tonight, so this will be a nice cup to have with our pancakes.

I made this into a latte. Chamomile isn’t my favorite flavor on its own, but I like it better this way. I was hoping to at least get some of the rose flavor, but I don’t taste that or the mint. Only the chamomile. It’s not great, but it’s making me sleepy right before bed so I’ll take it. I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately, so maybe this is just what I needed tonight.

Samurai TTB #44

I’m not a drinker and I’ve never had a margarita, but since this was AQTT, I had to try it! The black tea base is very smooth and the flavor is very fruity and slightly artificial. Apparently it’s supposed to be lime, but I’m not sure it really read as lime for me. I did enjoy it, but don’t feel the need to drink it again.