Oxalis

I got this from Martin and lost track of it, finally brewed it today. The brewed tea smells citrusy. Wow! With so many flavors, I’m getting an overall fruit punch flavor or a mulled wine flavor. I’m not picking out the aloe flavor, but I’m not sure what that tastes like. It pairs well with dark chocolate. Thanks, Martin!

TTB 2022
Not getting a pineapple or fruity vibe from this one, neither last night when I brewed it hot, nor this morning when I’m finishing the leftover second now cooled brew cause I fell asleep before drinking my tea! I’m getting more of a thistle herbaceous taste, its not unpleasant but not something I’d reach for again.
Thanks for including it in the TTB!

Pulled from TTB 2022, shared by Martin Bednář.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from an aloe tea. James seemed perplexed when he tasted it, but I’m still not quite sure what to make of this one. There is a flavor like lemongrass, but I don’t remember seeing that in the list of ingredients. It has a Pez candy vibe. I don’t drink a lot of fruity herbals, so I don’t see myself reaching for this one very often. It was nice as an after-dinner treat though.

Another fine present from Martin!

This is very lemon-forward, but what sort of lemon flavor is it? I have to go look. Oh it’s lemongrass I’m tasting, nice! There’s a little bitterness that lingers on my tongue, a bit like lemon rind, but it’s not bad. I have some Thai curry that’s ready to heat up, bet this will go great with it! The sencha flavor is very subtle with all the lemon flavor, but it’s nice. Thanks, Martin!

So yeah, I finally got to try this tea. Sending this blindly to AJRimmer and it was the winner of the Advent teas; so I was naturally very curious why it was so loved.

But days were flying by; they didn’t had it in stock, but in 1kg bulk; so I was still waiting and waiting and then ordered again from other company. I have 50 grams, so if anyone wants to try, I have quite a plenty left.

I must say it is delicious and unique blend. I think I notice that pineapple fruity flavour, somehow tropical; but aloe flavour is nice and present there as weell, but I am not able to describe it well. I agree with AJRimmer’s note saying almost fruity, almost minty, almost savoury

Although it is a bit weird blend, it works well and green rooibos is great base for it. It’s pretty much mouth-coating, but not in sticky way; and pineapple fruitiness is great. They say it is citrusy, but I don’t think so. Cold-brew, or iced-tea… I bet it can be a winner for the upcoming summer.

Office cleaning day
Tossdown (M: 2, Y: 64) Apparently I have already removed it from my virtual cupboard.

Sadly, too old and just plain green was left. Dusty and musty smell. Tossed out the remaining amout (roughly 5-10 grams).

Well, this is different story from Oxalis!

And it’s what I was craving for. But I can imagine it is hard to make the lemon flavoured green badly. I can be wrong though…

Okay to the tea; I have received quite a crushed sencha (I am afraid it is same base as in previous tea) quite lots of lemongrass and a few, quite big, pieces of dried lemons. Honestly, I have no idea what to do with them, because I don’t have enough pieces to add them in every session, moreover some are just very big, like a half of lemon! I put the smallest piece in the strainer today. The picture is actually quite accurate. And everlasting flowers are just for visual I guess.

The taste of tea: it’s okay base tea. Much less buttery and I think it is because it was less crushed, though still a lot. Maybe fresher a bit too. And lemony. Calling it juicy — not sure if correct word for it, but it had quite light taste overall. Well, I guess there isn’t anything else. Maybe sadly too straightforward; because I couldn’t even notice the lemongrass. It was just lemon tea with green tea base, so it doesn’t bring any bold and robust notes. Maybe I miss them a bit here. But I wanted a light citrusy green tea!

I have bought yesterday two flavoured green teas, as I was kind of craving them; and Bird & Blend subscription don’t deliver them often + I wanted something else than rose green teas. So, I took this one and Thai Lemon, which were pretty nice smelling (hard to smell through mask though!) and this sounded quite nice too.

Unfortunately, this one from the bottom of the jar, and thus sencha was quite crushed and I am afraid it is affected in taste. It was quite buttery green tea base and flavour was quite straightforward raisins (sultanas? What is the difference native speakers?) combined with cloves. It wasn’t offensive in any way, but nto really what I have been expecting at all.

“mellow tones of marzipan, vanilla and seasonal spices” and I only got one spice and nothing else. Maybe my first 3 teaspoons were just unlucky and I will get the other tastes later. I don’t think either there would be a big difference between 70°C and 80°C in flavours, with exception of the buttery sencha. I have been expecting more.

So, it’s after Christmas, and second bank holiday is today; so… Christmas time is already over for me. Happy New Year! everyone.

I was asked for brewing a pot for family again. I decided for this one and it seems I have last amount for one cup in. So, unfortunately, no sipdown. But soon!

I think that Izzy described this tea very well! Very interesting flavour and aroma. I get prunes (not dried plums Martin!) and mostly almonds. And then spices. I think mostly cinnamon and cloves. Maybe hints of cardamom.

I get raisins too, though not a major flavour. I agree with her saying its being a bit thin, but still quite creamy and enjoyable. I was expecting more from hibiscus, but I am glad it wasn’t that case.

I am impressed, I knew this company is doing a lot of blends. If it comes to actual orthodox teas, this brand isn’t that great. I had their teas ages ago. They weren’t that great, but honestly I am not sure now. Maybe those were a good batch, maybe that teas were stale, maybe… I prepared them wrong.

Martin Advent Day 25
I’d like to thank Martin for all the fun teas! There were some great choices in there, and even when I referred to a tea being not really my thing, I was still able to enjoy every single one. I’ll miss the surprise each morning!

As for this tea, it was a nice one to finish on due to the holiday spices in there. It was a little thin, and I didn’t totally love the fruit flavor, but I enjoyed what it was going for. I think I’m going to mix the leftovers from this pouch with some fruity leftovers from earlier in the advent, and create the perfect cidery tea – or maybe something weird…but we’ll see!

SIPDOWN
Okay, finally finished another tea which I had more than a sample, tea bag, or some other little amount. Originally I had 50 grams + I have sent some to AJRimmer in Advent Calendar… two years ago almost? Damn… Also, I have “overleafed” it a bit, as I had left more than I thought.

Anyway, this tea had it’s best before date on March this year. And it is August already! And it is certainly past it’s prime time.

First of all, I haven’t noticed orange again. Which is a bit werid is it should be Sweet Orange tea. Instead, stonefruits. I said apricots last time, but they are gone. Also oranges aren’t much present. It was somehow generical fruity tea, with hints of raisins, which are in; and it was quite pleasant.

So, in conclusion, it wasn’t bad. But I am happy that I have finished it.

I had to give a try this tea I sent to AJRimmer without actually trying it beforehand. I am glad that you liked it!

Name of tea, translated, is: Sweet Orange and well, it’s not very orangery! I have to agree with AJRimmer saying it is indeed rather dried apricots, somehow creamy and very smooth. Though beetroot is in, I think it’s just for colour and not distinctive in taste at all.

Pretty much expected something else, but nevertheless, it’s tasty. This is from their series of fruit teas without hibiscus, so nothing for our hibi-lover Mastress Alita. They have vast collection of fruit teas, so feel free to go through their website; pick up a teas you would like to try and I can get them to you. 50 grams are the lowest amount of tea, though. Or I should start a group order in discussions? Let me know!

My Christmas eve eve tea! I brewed a scant teaspoon for a full 10 minutes, even though Martin suggests a 6 minute brew on the label (thanks for this tea!). I’m in the mood for some strong festive spice, and I didn’t want to use all this tea up in one go.

It has the red glow and tart aroma of a hibiscus dominated blend – which is definitely my cup of tea. Love it. But there’s also some spices (cloves, cinnamon) and other fruit notes (juicy sultanas and apple) swirling around in the steam.

Wow! Interesting flavour. It’s very light and not very hibiscus flavoured at all. Smooth and sweet. Notes of apple, apricot and sultanas develop a few seconds into the sip, with a hint of tartness coming in at the end with those berry hibiscus notes. But that’s super subtle – even if you dislike hibiscus, I reckon you wouldn’t be too upset with this tea.

Can’t say whether that’s because I only brewed a small teaspoon (perhaps I missed the large hibiscus pieces in the bag) or if that’s how the tea is designed to taste.

The spices are present, but mingled and more of a sensation than a flavour. Besides cinnamon, cloves and maybe nutmeg, I can’t decipher which specific spices are included.

Overall, this is a good festive tea. I might brew up the rest tomorrow, adding a shot of amaretto. I think the sweet almond flavour would work well with the fruits in this tea.

Martin Advent Day 5
Another great choice! The flavor is pretty nice. It sort of tastes like dried apricots. I’m having it cold, and it’s quite refreshing. The rooibos is a nice support for the flavor. I haven’t experienced this exact flavor profile before, so I’m quite pleased.

Martin Advent Day 4
Okay this one is my favorite so far! 100% my kind of tea. The aloe element is such an interesting flavor, almost minty, almost fruity, a tiny bit savory (until I sweetened it). I’m having it cold, and it’s so refreshing and delicious. The flavor really lingers. Green rooibos is the perfect base for it. I need more of this tea!

I bought 3 blooming balls while I was in Brno, CZ. Let’s see how this goes.

Well I steeped this 3 times already, didn’t really taste good. The official description says it is a white tea, but to be honest it tastes like water! I have no idea why this happened. On the other side, the blooming is great! I’m absolutely in love with the blooming movements. :-)

Entirely horrible. Tasted like ass.

This is my first tasting of a shincha (and first note to write here in Steepster!) and I was totally amazed by the richness of this tea. I think it’s the umami part of the taste that pleases me most. The aftertaste is long and delicious. There’s a hint of sweetness, but not too much to my taste. Everything seems to be very balanced. I really like this.

On thing that makes me wonder, however, is the infusion time. In English, it says 1 minute, but as seen through the sticker there’re instructions in Chech language (?) under it, saying “4 minuty”.

Contains citrus and rosehip. Very refreshing.