Short and Stout

Sipdown!

Probably my favorite out of my Short and Stout samples. The chocolate is there, sometimes candy bar delicious and other times just Tootsie Rolls. I feel like this one is perfect for milk and sugar, but I don’t have any milk at work and I should probably swear off sugar for the day in deference to all the Oreos I’ve had today.

(But seriously – Cinnamon Roll Oreos are irresistible especially when one of your coworkers brought them in as a morale boosting treat!)

It’s good, but probably not something I’d restock unless it was super convenient to do so.

Another sample slated for the work tea pile.

I don’t like this one. It’s drinkable and not bad overall, but I’m getting a lot of floral flavors with a hint of tartness that might be the pear. Not what I was expecting from a pear tea. Where’s the juicy, fruity goodness?

This isn’t something I’ll be replacing once my sample is gone.

Sipdown!

This one is a lot less astringent when it isn’t oversteeped. The lime is prominent and accurate without being sour. Despite the astringency when massively oversteeped , this one holds up well to a longer steep time. Good work tea.

Over the weekend I packed up twelve different teas to take to work with me. Most of these were samples I’ve neglected and would like to use up as my cupboard is starting to overwhelm me. This was one of the samples I packed up.

I massively overstepped this – ever thought you’d removed your infuser from the cup when you really forgot to? Yeah… The good news is that this one didn’t get bitter despite a ten minute steep time. The lime was very pleasant and biting, though, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Lime teas should have lime front and center, don’t you think?

The weird thing about this tea is that it is a White Cab…last I checked Cab Sav is a red wine. That being said the tea is pretty good. It isn’t something I would drink every day. But it is something different that I wouldn’t mind trying out now and again or sharing with friends. The jasmine and rose work very well together and give off a very sweet flavor.

Smells like melons. Tastes like melons. Resteep (7 minutes at boiling) is better than the first steep (5 minutes at boiling).

The flavor is really spot on – melon but not entirely honeydew – but I don’t know. It’s not my favorite despite being accurate to its name. Maybe I just wasn’t in a melon mood when I had it the other night?

Although, kudos to Short and Stout for being 2/2 on accuracy of tea taste to tea name. Impressive.

Backlogged sipdown.

Had this one last week before I got sick and added a splash of Magic Creamer. Wouldn’t you know, this is the one tea it doesn’t raise to otherworldly levels. I taste the tea and the creamer separately in each sip. Play nice, guys.

Oh my God.

I have terrible luck with dessert teas. They’re thin, their flavors fall flat, they never taste like their namesake. I thought that I would never find a good dessert tea that incorporated chocolate or cake. But this tea.

Guys. It smells like tiramisu in the bag. It tastes like tiramisu in the mug. Is it as thick and creamy as real tiramisu, no, but the flavor is so spot on I can’t even bring myself to care about that.

Fantastic! Definitely going to have to get more of this once my sample runs out.

This tea tastes exactly as expected and definitely lived up to my expectations. Malt, sweetness, and a bit of pleasant bitterness from the tannins were my first tastes. The color is bright and coppery. I added a bit of soy milk, lightly sweetened, and the flavor blossomed and became fuller. I really enjoyed this tea for breakfast and had the rebrew, with no additives, for lunch. A very drinkable Assam, smooth, not astringent, and full of interesting layers of flavor.

I have only tried Darjeelings in bags and never as a loose leaf tea. I am really impressed with the complexity of this tea. It has a floral and almost musty taste, which is really pleasant. I definitely taste the muscatel flavor, and it is almost wine-like. It’s second steep is not as flavorful, but still nice. I am really glad I tried this, and will likely try more second flush Darjeelings in the future.

This tea really made my morning better! I’m still recovering from springing forward to DST, and I needed a pick-me-up and this was the perfect choice! It is tangy from the black tea base, which I think is a Ceylon, and tastes exactly like grenadine with a splash of vanilla. No sugar added! I often read about flavored black teas, try them and think huh? Where’s the taste? Not with this one – no sugar needed to bring out the smooth and syrupy nature of this tea. Be aware – if you do not like sweet teas, this is not the tea for you!
Edit – Steep 2: Still good. I just left the teaball in the cup to extract as much goodness as possible. Did not oversteep, and I could still taste the grenadine and the vanilla, but they were quieter on the rebrew.
Such a good tea!!

Yum! I drank this one for breakfast and it definitely had enough of a kick to get me going. I have been trying every vanilla black tea that I can get my hands on, and this one is my favorite so far. It tastes smooth, rich, and slightly nutty. I can definitely taste the almonds in it, but I’m not sure I can pick out the coconut. It just lends it a round, full taste. I will definitely buy more of this one. No bitterness, even in the rebrew. I did not need to add anything to this tea, but I might try it with some milk and/or sugar next time to see how it tastes that way. This fits my requirement of a vanilla tea that I do not need to add sugar to, but still tastes like vanilla. Well done, Short and Stout!

I’m sipping on this one right now, for breakfast. It is smooth, and tastes very much like an Earl Grey. I guess I didn’t expect it to, due to the added ingredients, but the bergamont does really shine through. It’s like “Earl Grey Plus”! I did add about 1/2 tsp sugar to bring out the sweetness of the berries. I think I’m learning to really like Earl Grey mixes. I didn’t like Earl Grey for years, so I shied away from anything with bergamont, but perhaps my tastes have changed.
Anyway! With a little sugar and a splash of almond milk I taste mostly bergamont and smooth black tea with a touch of lavender and a touch of berries. A very well-rounded tea.
I made the rebrew right away in a separate pot to compare it. I taste the berries and black tea more strongly, but perhaps that is due to not adding milk. I actually think I like the rebrew better, and may leave the milk out of this one in the future.

Sipdown!
Drank this tonight with my mom, as one of her favorite flavors is caramel. Yum!

This is a lovely, nutty, slightly salty rooibos. The first thing I tasted was nutty, but as it cooled, I could taste the sweet caramel notes more strongly. I definitely overbrewed it (close to 10 minutes). I might try brewing it a little less strongly to see if I can get more caramel and less nuts. I can definitely taste the high-quality rooibos base, that is not woody at all. It has a very slight minty aftertaste, which is the sign of a good quality rooibos (not a real minty taste thankfully, as I cannot drink mint teas). It even resteeped – and I’m currently drinking the resteep as iced tea.
It is really good and I don’t know of any other local teas like it. Thankfully, I am just a 15 minute drive away from this shop. I look forward to trying two more of their teas this weekend, and many more in the future. I would definitely buy this again and drink it often. It is very reasonably priced as well, making it even more attractive.