Old Barrel Tea Co

Sipdown! (9 | 152)

This one was enjoyable. Their Banana Bread Coffee Pu Erh is one of my favorites, so no surprise that I like it in a blend as well. I don’t really get a ton of lavender, but I do think I get a sense of creaminess, or at least a richness in the texture. Lovely coffee flavor, as always, though no banana to be found (it’s subtle in the unblended tea as well).

Not something I would order, but it was a nice blend for the fall subscription.

First one up from the fall subscription box!

Not a lavender lover, but their Banana Bread Coffee Pu Erh is one of my favorites, so that’s encouraging. Luckily, the lavender isn’t super strong here. Seems to be about an equal split between the two teas. I’m not sure how I feel about lavender and coffee together, it’s a bit of an odd combination to me. Maybe if there was more creaminess it would tie them together better. Honestly I’m surprised there’s not more cream flavor given the name.

Not bad, I’ll have to try this one a few more times to decide how I feel about it…

2024 sipdown no. 52

Thank you Cameron for sharing!

The steeped scent is coffee and cinnamon. Coffee and cinnamon are at the forefront and the base adds depth and smoothness overall. There is perhaps a subtle hint of banana towards the end of the sip, though I wish it was a tad more banana-forward.

The second steep was just as flavourful with a touch more sweetness. A lovely cup overall!

Seems like forever since I posted here, but I just sipped the last of this tin so I’d better write a note. The bergamot is subtle here, and the lavender is slightly more prominent. I don’t mind this tea, it was an interesting addition to the tea subscription box, but I don’t need this in my cupboard (unlike the coconut vanilla combo which I did buy more of). It’s an easy drinker, and my cup seems to be empty already :)

Sipdown! (39 | 105)

Not my favorite from this quarter’s box. I like the fruit flavors and the white tea well enough, but the rooibos comes in and ruins it for me. To be fair, I never like fruity and especially berry flavored rooibos, as it tastes so medicinal to me. There’s definitely some of that going on here, though the hibiscus does help to temper it a bit. Interesting that it has a smooth vanilla finish as well, which is an odd pairing with hibiscus.

Not bad, but not a favorite.

From the summer subscription box.

I expected to dislike this, but figured I would give it a chance. True to form, I don’t like it. XP

It’s not its fault though, I’m not generally a fan of cherry flavoring, and these fakey sakura teas always taste like powdery cherry candy to me. So into the rehoming box it goes! :P

This is a nicely balanced chai with ginger notes. It’s a bit chilly in WY this morning as it has been raining for the past day, so I added a scoop of ginger this morning. It added to the spice and I appreciated the extra kick. Overall, kind of pricey for a chai, and Okd Barrel Tea doesn’t have a sample size to try, so I’m glad I took a chance on this blend, but I don’t need to keep it in my cupboard.

Subscription tea!

I was wary of this one, as I don’t generally love coconut-flavored teas (though I do like coconut desserts, etc.) and the mocha maté seems suspiciously similar to Adagio’s. Thankfully, the coconut is not overly strong here. However, I do agree with Michelle that it’s a bit murky and muddled overall. I like coffee things, but here I mostly get a bit of chocolate flavoring, a bit of coconut, and a lot of murky earthiness and vague “flavoring” sort of vibes.

So not a favorite for me, but since it didn’t sound like my jam anyway, I’m not surprised he he.

Subscription box tea! I have tried their Mocha Mate before and it’s good, but I prefer Savoys. Haven’t tried their coconut crème puerh yet, but I think I need to. I do like OBT coconut flavoring, but these two teas combined together are not better than the individual teas. They don’t complement each other and the mocha came out a bit murky and in the background. I might change my opinion, as this was my first brew attempt. I will say it was very drinkable, chocolate and creamy and my cup disappeared quickly this morning :)

Sipdown! (1 | 120)

Really enjoyed this one, even though it seemed like a weird combo at first. But the butterscotch and the lemongrass really do go together well, like some kind of lemon and butterscotch pudding mashup ha ha. The lemongrass also lightens the body up a bit, which makes it more refreshing and suited for summer. Probably wouldn’t order it just because I have Bourbon Brew and I have lemongrass, so could easily mix them myself. But enjoyed sipping through the small tin!

Also, good timing on the sipdown since this was my last tea from the summer box, and the fall box should be shipping any day now! :P

Another summer subscription tea!

I wasn’t sure if I would like this one, the combination of butterscotch and lemongrass just sounded a bit weird? But it actually works – the lemon is sweet and candylike, and the butterscotch comes out tasting like a creamy, buttery caramel sauce. So overall it’s a bit like a caramelized lemon pudding perhaps? Nicely sweet and a bit decadent, and the rooibos is adding body but not contributing too much woodiness.

I’m not sure I would go out and buy it (they don’t sell it anyway), but it definitely exceeded my expectations. And now I want to try some kind of lemon pudding and crème brûlée mashup…

Sipdown! (13 | 119)

Counting this one for August, as I made the pitcher last night.

Sipped through this as an iced tea, though I did enjoy it warm as well. It’s just so hot here in Austin, and the mint is so nice and refreshing cold. This has a nice balance of sweet spearmint with black and oolong teas. I don’t notice the lemon at all cold, but I don’t miss it. I added a little bit of raw sugar, but probably doesn’t need any sweetener at all with the sweetness of the spearmint.

Not sure whether I would reorder it, as I would probably prefer a green or white tea with spearmint to a black one. But still so nice to have for the summer, so grateful for it being in the June box.

Got my summer subscription box from Old Barrel today, huzzah! Honestly, this is my third box, and I’m pretty impressed with their selections so far. They don’t lean too far into the seasonal angle, like it would have been easy to make this box all iced teas or all light and fruity teas, but they didn’t. And I appreciate that, since otherwise I don’t think a spring or summer box would be my jam.

Anyway! First one out of the bunch. This is a blend of black tea and oolong with spearmint and lemon. I don’t actually like iced tea with lemon, but this is really nice. Very well-balanced, with a smooth yet flavorful base, sweet and fresh mint, and a soft candy lemon note.

I’m sure it would be lovely iced, but I’m enjoying it warm. Maybe I’ll try icing it with some honey next time…

Bright and citrusy, this is very drinkable and half of my first steep is gone before I have blinked. This would probably go well with a touch of sweetner to dull the sharply sour lemon, and could certainly be iced. The lavender, licorice, and sage are very muted, but make for an interesting take on lemony, lemon, lemonade. I will mix this with some black or oolong for a morning brew, and enjoy the sipping down of the tin. Might need more.

This tea tastes like honeysuckle smells. With a bit of apple sweetness to finish. A nice, well balanced floral oolong. One of the perks of their tea subscription is 15% off and I managed to find some tea I “needed” to try. I bet this is good iced!

Hmmmm…

So this is an oolong with fruit and floral flavors. I guess I was assuming the “floral” part meant the chamomile, rose petals, and butterfly pea flower that are mixed in. But there is definitely some kind of floral flavoring going on here as well, and it’s reminding me of hair conditioner or something. It doesn’t taste awful or anything like that, it just has a distinct sweet and perfumey floral note that makes me think of bath products. I don’t really get fruitiness? Not sure what the fruit is supposed to be, as they don’t tell you.

It’s drinkable, but I am far from a floral lover, so this will be going into my rehoming box.

Another tea I picked up in my last (impulsive) order, heh heh… Somehow I ended up with three oolongs.

This is a nice enough tea, but to me, it doesn’t really fit the name. The cream part is definitely there, and it’s quite rich and vanilla-y. However, I don’t really get orange at all…? Which makes me sad, as that’s the part I was excited about. The oolong base here is very oxidized and also somewhat roasty, and has some woody notes that do pair very well with the richer vanilla ice cream flavor.

But I wanted orange… T.T

Sipdown! (13 | 26)

Another subscription tea. Not a huge fan of this one, I think it’s the rooibos that I’m not loving. The mint is also a bit muddy and not as crisp as I would like. Just a hint of that wet rag note.

A shame, I like the idea of a minty tisane with vanilla flavoring.

Sipdown! (6 | 162)

This one was just okay. I wish they hadn’t added the chamomile, because I feel like it sort of steals the spotlight from the peach. It becomes very pollen-y and floral instead of being a peach and ginger oolong. I sipped through most of the tin as a cold steep, picking out most of the chamomile each time, but I figured I would finish with a hot cuppa. Drinkable and fine, but I wanted more peach out of it, and the oolong base was nothing to write home about either.

Another tea from my retail therapy order, heh heh…

This is nice enough. It’s very mellow and smooth, with the ginger being the strongest flavor. It’s not sharp though, more earthy and subdued. Chamomile is up next, giving a lightness and that dusty pollen character. The peach shows up near the end of the sip for me, and then I’m left with a lingering stonefruit and ginger finish. The oolong itself isn’t super noticeable, but I do get some more woody and mineral notes in the background.

It’s not a favorite for me, but it’s a pleasant afternoon or evening tea, and I don’t think I’ll have an issue finishing the tin. I think if there was just a bit more peach, I would probably love it.

Picked this up in my last Old Barrel order, which was more for retail therapy than anything (lol). I chose six teas that I hadn’t tried, and this is one of them. I think I had overlooked it previously because of the incredibly boring name, but when I looked at the page I was excited to see pineapple in the ingredients, and also reviews mentioning pineapple. I feel like tropical teas are usually mango-based, and to me mango flavoring never tastes anything like the real thing, and it’s just not appealing to me. But pineapple, yes!

Anyway, all that to say this is pretty good, but not amazing. I do pick up on the pineapple, and I think it might be the same pineapple flavor as their discontinued Pineapple Upside Down Coffee Cake oolong? It sits somewhere in between canned pineapple and pineapple gummy bears. However, there’s a muddled quality to the flavor that reminds me of Lupicia’s tropical teas, in that I can’t really pinpoint exactly what fruit it is, it just tastes generically tropical.

It’s a nice enough tea and I’ll finish the tin, but probably wouldn’t reorder it. The pineapple just isn’t quite strong enough to stand up to the black base for me, maybe I’ll try mixing in some lemongrass or something to lighten up the body and try to accentuate the tart pineapple flavor.

Sipdown! (8 | 21)

From the spring subscription box. This was actually the only really floral blend in the mix, despite it being a pollinator theme. Not being a floral lover, I was so relieved not to have everything be rose or lavender ha ha.

That being said, didn’t love this one. I don’t generally like lavender-forward blends, but for some reason I like lavender Earl blends even less. Not sure why that is, it’s just not a combination I enjoy. Now technically this one is only half lavender Earl, but I felt like I tasted more of that than the Bee Pollen Black, which is sort of cake battery.

I did finish off the small tin, mostly preparing it with sweetened oat creamer, which helped to smooth out the lavender a bit. I’m sure a lavender afficionado would love it, though!

Sipdown! (6 | 19)

Another one from the winter subscription box.

A simple blend, but a good one. I love chamomile and I love lemongrass so this combination can do no wrong. Such a nice mix of that sweet lemon drop candy lemongrass with the soft honey and pollen notes of the chamomile.

I’m in the process of setting myself up to be able to just blend my own herbal tisanes based on my mood, and excited to get started once all my ingredients arrive. :)

Sipdown! (4 | 17)

From the Spring subscription. I’m not a coconut tea lover, so wasn’t thrilled to see this (although I was still happy that it wasn’t all floral teas).

However, I did actually enjoy it. Even though I don’t love coconut teas and I don’t love red rooibos, I found this to be very well-balanced. The coconut wasn’t too strong, and the vanilla gave a nice sweet creaminess. Also the rooibos wasn’t overpowering, it was tempered well by the black tea. Overall it gave me coconut whipped cream vibes.

So even though it’s not one I would order because of personal preference, gotta tip my hat to Old Barrel for making such a nicely balanced blend. :)