397 Tasting Notes
Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | January 2023 | A malty tea
Logging this one for the sipdown! I wasn’t going to use it for one of this month’s prompts, but my cup this afternoon was pretty malty, so I’m categorizing it that way! :D
Yeah, this cup is extremely smoky and pretty malty. It’s also very astringent. Definitely waking me up on a rather bleak afternoon. Leaving my rating the same.
2023 sipdown count: 7/75
Flavors: Astringent, Banana, Drying, Malty, Smoke
Updating my rating on this one! I just finished it as a sipdown, and it was much more evocative of ginger cola this time. The effervescence carried through into the brewed cup more strongly, as did the gently sweet ginger cola flavor. It’s still not as punchy as I might want, but definitely deserves a better rating than the 55 I gave it previously.
2023 sipdown count: 6/75
Flavors: Cola, Effervescent, Ginger, Sweet
Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | January 2023 | Celebrate National Bittersweet Chocolate Day with a chocolate tea or have a favorite chocolate with your tea!
I had to plumb the depths of my stash to find a sipdown-ready chocolate tea! I have no idea how long this one has been languishing in my tea drawer, but I had two remaining teabags. I figured I’d need to work hard to coax much flavor out of this ancient grocery store tea, so I steeped them together. The scent is pleasant enough, almost milk chocolate-y with bright peppermint notes, but the flavor is almost entirely mint. The black tea gets pretty lost; it’s not really supporting or complementing the flavors.
Yep, pretty much what I expected. Not offensive, but pretty unremarkable.
2023 sipdown count: 5/75
Flavors: Bright, Milk Chocolate, Peppermint
Do you ever have days that are not particularly taxing or difficult or even stressful, but by the end you just feel drained but also unsettled? That’s me right now! Maybe it’s because all my four-legged housemates are on edge. We adopted a beagle last fall, and she’s recently decided to eat cat poop out of the litterbox, which would be manageable if we could still use the high-walled litterbox we’ve had for a while, but now our cat is having mobility issues with her back legs/hindquarters and we’ve got to switch over to a shallow litterbox. We’ve got a covered one, but she’s not interested in using it yet. Plus she hates the beagle. XD Meanwhile our other two pups also seemed in strange moods today.
Aaanyway, the CONSTANT VIGILANCE (preventing the beagle from eating cat poop, preventing the cat from terrorizing the dog, etc.) has worn me out! So rather than go for an evening run, I decided to cuddle up on the couch with a blanket and a book and a pot of tea. Rummaging through my selection of green teas, this one spoke to me. It smells amazing — like a sugary sweet marshmallow with delicate notes of coconut and a bit of toastiness, topped with whipped cream. I’m getting more toastiness and less overt sweetness in the sip, though it’s remarkably light and mellow. I wouldn’t mind a bit more coconut (I’m only getting it on the back of the sip). Really tasty, though!
I’ve managed to keep the dogs occupied with Whimzees, so things have quieted down. At least one of them will inevitably vomit up their Whimzee later, but that’s a tomorrow problem. :D
Flavors: Coconut, Marshmallow, Smooth, Sugar, Toasted Rice, Whipped Cream
We use Whimzees too!
Also my pups always conveniently wait until the middle of the night to randomly vomit lol… .
Big fan of Whimzees over here! And yes… I expect to be woken up by the sound of retching, then to hustle a pup off the bed in the middle of the night in the hopes she’ll vomit on the floor rather than our bed… hahaha.
Just happened to me last night, ha ha! >.<
Pet owners’ blues. When we wake up in the morning, it’s like tiptoeing through a mine field to avoid … things.
Gmathis, it sure is! XD
This one came in my subscription box a few months ago. I tried it once but didn’t rate it/add it to my cupboard, but I’m trying to be a bit more diligent about that so my cupboard here on Steepster eventually resembles my actual tea cupboard. :)
This one is very nice! The dry leaf smells like blueberry candy, but the brewed tea is definitely more reminiscent of real blueberries — maybe even those dried wild blueberries that are just bursting with flavor. (I’ve never had BooBerry cereal, so I cannot compare those flavors!) There’s just a bit of sweet, creamy marshmallow on the back of the sip, which rounds out the flavors nicely. The base is maaaybe a bit more astringent than I’d expect, but I’m a sucker for astringent black teas so I don’t mind. There’s also something a little bit floral? Overall, I’m enjoying this one. It’s solid, it’s flavorful, and it’s a nice morning tea.
Flavors: Astringent, Blueberry, Creamy, Drying, Floral, Juicy, Marshmallow
Huh, I could’ve sworn I’d reviewed this one in the past, but I guess not. I bought a small bag last year and it was calling to me today, so I brewed a cuppa for an afternoon pick-me-up. I’m underwhelmed! I remember enjoying it in the past, but today it’s tasting pretty thin even though I over-leafed it to make it extra flavorful. I even added oat milk and — gasp — a pinch of sugar to my second cup!
It’s not bad, but it’s not as rich or creamy as I’d like, and the chocolate flavoring is only OK. I’m also getting some minerality at the back of the sip that clashes with the dessert profile. Meh.
Flavors: Chocolate, Hazelnut, Mineral, Thin
Ashmanra’s Sipdown Challenge | January 2023 | Start the New Year by drinking a tea that you truly love!
I didn’t see this prompt until today, but by some stroke of luck, I actually finished up one of my favorite teas yesterday — how auspicious! Coconut Eggnog was the first 52Teas blend I tried and I have such fond memories attached to it, even though it was just last year (!). I was dealing with some medication-induced insomnia and waking up super early that December, so I’d often relocate to the living room, put on an episode of Murder, She Wrote, and sip tea until I eventually fell back asleep (…just in time to wake up for work). The solitude of those moments was really lovely; I’d turn on the Christmas tree lights and the other string lights we had strung up for the holidays, and then I’d burrow into a cozy blanket and watch Jessica Fletcher go about her business. It was the definition of hygge!
This tea was Day 1 of last year’s Christmas box, and it was love at first sip. I ended up ordering a larger pouch later in December, and I decided to finish it yesterday. It’s just as lovely as I remember, with notes of nutmeg layered on the creamy coconut base. So good. I’ll leave my rating the same. :)
2023 sipdown count: 1/75
Flavors: Coconut, Eggnog, Nutmeg, Smooth
12 Teas of Christmas: Day 12
I had a feeling I didn’t give this one due credit or attention when I brewed it up on Christmas, so I waited to review it till I could try it again. I’m drinking it on this second morning of the new year and really enjoying it! There’s a nice brisk cranberry note at the front of the sip, followed by the mellow, smooth sweetness of marzipan from the almond. Those flavors are layered on an equally smooth black base with very little astringency. It smells really, really lovely — very comforting and sweet.
I appreciate this one being the final tea of the box — sometimes all the traditional holiday/winter flavors can get a little overwhelming, so this more subtle approach is a welcome one.
Flavors: Brisk, Cranberry, Marzipan, Smooth, Sweet
