OLLTco (Sips by)

The dry leaf smells of jasmine but does not look like green tea. Granted Chinese green tends to be a bit darker in some aspects. The initial scent after pouring the hot water on is jasmine but it reminds me less of the flower and more of a tea you would get from a Chinese restaurant. WHOA. Whoa. Whoa. The wet aroma is like nothing I’ve smelled before! If this wasn’t organic and fair trade I would wonder what the heck they did to get this scent. It’s sensational. It reminds me of the passion fruit jellies or bobbing boba used in bubble tea. The taste, I think I over-steeped it. A bit more astringent than I was hoping, through the jasmine still remains a bit. Now that I’ve started talking about those passion fruit jellies I can taste them too. Second steep. Still astringent so I’m just going to accept that as part of the experience.

I’m used to black teas that are thick and rich with flavor. This guy is not that way, and embodies more subtle flavors of traditional Assams. While I prefer fuller bodied black teas, this one is still fairly solid. While I would never jump to recommend it, I wouldn’t discourage someone from snagging it either. Tasting notes of cocoa, fruit leather, honey, with a moderate level of astringency.

This was easily the best tea I received from Sips By this month. The green tea base is extremely robust and high-quality. The leaves opened up beautifully after the first steep and released just as much flavor on the second steep. The jasmine is delicate and almost fruity, without becoming perfume-y. Just an absolutely lovely rendition of a classic tea.

Good morning, Steepster.

This one is from an old Sips By box. I’m actually getting quite close to finishing all of those, right in time for my new box to arrive I’m sure. ;)

I felt this had quite a peppery scent dry, which was certainly unusual for an Assam. Then when I poured the hot water over the leaves, I was struck by a lovely aroma of honey and golden raisins. Ahh…

In the cup though, it mostly tastes as I would expect for an Indian Assam tea. The notes in the forefront are malt, tobacco, and raisin, and even though I kept the steep short, it has a fairly strong astringency. If I look, I do find some nice subtle flavors of honeyed figs and hay though, which are quite pleasant.

It’s tasty enough, though Assam is never quite my thing, and I also have a very good one in my cupboard already for when I get a craving.

It’ll be quite interesting to see what I get in my first Sips By box after re-signing up. Since I think a lot of the partner companies are different now than they were before, plus I took the survey again and I’m sure my tastes have changed…

I brought last month’s sipsby box to work and forgot about it, and today I really needed SOMETHING and I didn’t want to get a soda (saving soda time for dinner!) and thus, I’m drinking this (also in the box is “pomegranate mojito” from zest tea? I dunno about that one).

the lil bag that this came in said to brew it for 4 minutes @ 212F and that seemed like…too much. I don’t know the temp of the water, but I turned on my kettle and kept working for a while before pouring over the leaves. I also only brewed for about 3 minutes and it is malty/bready perfection. I have hit/or misses with assam and I think it’s mostly due to the fact that I use too hot water and it gets so bitter. this is delicious though.

First hot tea of the season. Also time to bring the succulents in. Gotta find places for them all…

For some reason, I expected a more harsh experience with this tea. But no, it’s very smooth. I’m tasting notes of bread crust, hay, and stone fruit (faintly). There’s also a kind of malty, buttery note that I’m liking a lot.

…I would add more, but I’m hungover and my brain does not want to work.

A very pleasant, smooth black tea. Not prone to coppery aftertaste unless severely over brewed, and holds for 2-3 re-steeps.