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Sipdown (239)

Another 2018 sipdown. Yay!

Today was a crappy day and work didn’t happen that much. But at least I got a sipdown in.

This tea is such a nice tea. It somehow perfectly captures the airy quality of angel food cake while still being packed with flavor.

I’m finding more and more that even when I love a tea, I don’t reach for them often if they’re on a green or white base. So this tea has been sitting around for two years but every time I have it, I love it.

Latte Sipdown (240)

I didn’t love this tea plain so I shared some with a friend I thought may enjoy it but made sure to keep just enough to try as a latte. It seemed odd to through eggnog into the mix so this is just a regular latte with (dairy) milk.

Also this is another tea from 2018 (December at least) so that means along with other sipdowns from today, I am down to only 5 teas from 2018 still in my tea stash. Yay!

This makes an alright latte. The coconut sneaks in mid-sip for a sweet and creamy surprise. However, there is something about the spice blend that I am just not loving. Perhaps it is too clove heavy for my tastes. Or I think the base being rather robust combined with a heavy dose of clove is just not to my tastes. It’s not a bad tea but its just not to my preferences either and that’s okay since there are many other 52 Teas blends that are.

Sipdown (241)

Honestly, I thought I finished this already but apparently not. So now this is the official sipdown.

I’ve enjoyed this tea much more than I thought I would. I normally don’t love green teas and orange teas aren’t the biggest appeal to me but this one was always good. Also, its steeped in surprisingly hot water but never seems to suffer for it.

The green tea base is coming out a bit more in this cup than it usually does. Ofc that is to be expected given its the final bits from the bag. So while I don’t love the hint of grassiness, overall its ok. It has a nice citrus/bright orange flavor that also has almost a honey-like sweetness to it.

Sipdown (242)

Thank you for sharing this with me Cameron B! I have one more tea remaining from our swap back in 2018. I am sorry I left these last couple samples for so long. With that said, I have had this one before but I guess didn’t write a note. I think that is because the last time I broke this out, I ended up having dinner and didn’t get a chance to properly appreciate the tea. Unfortunately the same happened with this cup since dinner ended up being much earlier than anticipated. So I basically took two big mouthfuls of this to taste it, then had dinner.

I am now finishing the mug. I remember when it was hot, it actually had a lot of caramel and red fruit flavors. Bergamot too, of course, but not offensively so. Now that its cold, the red fruit flavors are coming out a lot more. Caramel and bergamot too but a lot of red fruits. As far as earl grey teas go, this one is pretty good. I enjoyed it both hot and cold, though definitely more so hot.

Overtime I realized I don’t love certain flavors made in French teas but things like caramel and vanilla and other “gourmet” flavors as Dammann Freres refers to them are usually pretty good. I also think their bergamot flavor is softer than more American bergamot flavoring which makes it more tolerable, especially when mixed with other flavors.

Sipdown (243)

With this sipdown, I say goodbye to all teas from January 2018. Now I think my oldest tea is from June 2018 and I only have about 7 teas from that year. So those teas will be going into the sipdown box to be focused on for the next little while.

I am going to miss this one. Even in the last cup where the base tea is coming through stronger than usual (as to be expected since its all the broken bits at the bottom of the bag), the maple is such a strong and delicious flavor. It fills the room and while it had potential to be crazy sweet, its not and it pairs really well with the toasted rice notes of the genmaicha. Plus, the marshmallow root keeps everything fluffy and light.

I had a large package of this and the banana marshmallow treat and it never felt like a chore to drink them. Plus, even though they are close to three years old at this point, their flavors have held up well.

I ordered these stuffed cookies from a small business that is somewhat local to me. I decided to pair one with a latte for a fun play on milk and cookies. I went festive and everything is candy cane flavor so this is tea was paired with the candy cane hot chocolate cookie. See the pairing here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CH4Ik_agr-q/

I don’t know if I like this one. It has chamomile and strawberry leaves. It’s sweet like candy cane but sweet+. Like something more is present and sort of out of place. Given my aversion to chamomile, I blame that. Alternatively, I am just used to Santa’s Secret and Candy Cane Crush and so this just tastes off.

Sipdown (244)

Normally at this time in the year I would be nose deep in the books studying. However, whether I am burnt out or checked out, I just haven’t had it in me to study. Thankfully, it seems like that feeling is being felt among most students and since we are marked on a curve, if everyone is struggling, we will all be ok. Also, I have an articling position lined up already and its not conditional on grades so as long as I pass, I should be ok. Not the best way to look at things but I also can’t be too hard on myself because there is a lot of other things going on.

So with that in mind, I haven’t done much today other than help my sister with my nephew. I needed to accomplish something and a sipdown seemed like an easy win.

I am glad to say good bye to this. It didn’t have much going for it in the first place. I was hoping it would be a lot more vanilla but its basically a straight EG the way the bergamot comes through. It’s very strong and very brisk. I am not a fan.

I was not expecting to like this. Darjeelings are usually sharp and drying and overtly floral. It came as a sample in my order with my first gaiwan so I guess in a way I should be thanking Roswell Strange for this one. Thank you, Ros!!

This is really smooth. It’s the slightest bit peppery and maybe a bit floral. But it really doesn’t have much flavor to it. It’s not bad and an easy drinking tea because of that. I just also don’t find it particularly interesting though.

Tea Pop Sipdown (245)

I actually did not anticipate this being a sipdown but here we are. I think I am okay saying bye to this one for a bit. With that said, I wouldn’t be mad if it showed up in this year’s 12 Teas of Christmas either.

My brother-in-law made carbonated water for dinner so I thought a teapop would go well with dinner but wanted to pick a flavor that would go well. This literally tastes like a soda when made as a teapop so it seemed like the perfect choice.

The cranberry flavor is awesome. The slight touch of tartness from the carbonation playing of the tart/sweet cranberry flavor. The base also adds to the tea overall and sometimes I find it adds a touch too much but being a green rooibos, its not too bad.