6444 Tasting Notes
Sipdown (283)
This expired two years ago and is from 2016 or earlier. The coconut in it wasn’t completely rancid but it was a bit lotion-y. The green tea was also more prominent than I liked. However, it did have a cookie vibe. This probably was better fresh, but even still, I don’t think this would have ever been a favourite for me.
I cold brewed this yesterday. I had some with dinner and the cardamom was overwhelming and sort of out of place in a summer Sangria tea. Today the fruits have come out more but this is more mulled cider than sangria to me. And with that said, it’s not as good as their actual mulled cider tea. At least not as a cold brew.
Sipdown (284)
A couple of teaple on Instagram are hosting a September Sipdown challenge. It started yesterday and I joined in via the Sororitea Sisters’ Instagram page. For those following along, I shared my tea stash yesterday and you might have caught that I separate the teas that are older than a year from the fresher teas (I put them in my “focus area” – Check out the photos here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CEjvtghgx_s/?igshid=1s5c8ov2zhy4i). It’s not an exact science because when I receive teas in swaps, I date them when I receive them even though I’m sure they’re older than that. So, the bijillion teas Roswell Strange shared with me in December, including this one, are marked December 2019 and they’ll stay with the fresh teas until this December. However, time has flown by and December is so much closer than it should be. I don’t think I have room in the focus area for all the teas that would need to be added come December so I’m working on sipping down the teas from December 2019 or earlier (aka most of my stash). To that end, I reached for this tonight, not expecting to finish it but I did.
It’s interesting because I mentioned a tea I had earlier came of sudsy to Roswell Strange but it’s actually this tea that’s sudsy to me. I blame the Shou mei which almost always tastes like soap to me. Once I get past the soap though, I am enjoying the grape flavor a lot. Actually, the grape almost sort of works with the soap. For some reason I’m reminded of the fruity L’Oréal kids shampoos that we’re meant to be tear free so stupid curious kids like me would open their eyes when rinsing it and then be mad when it hurts. They smelled like fake fruits but still tasty. Somehow that’s what this has me thinking of and it’s nostalgic but weird but still good?
Thank you Roswell Strange! It was fun to try and I think I enjoyed the flavouring. Just wish it was on a different base. Perhaps it was also slightly overleafed.
When I was younger, someone offered me a baked apple dessert. The kind where there’s no pastry, it’s literally baked apples, usually with cinnamon and sugar and other things to make it sweet. As a child, I was disappointed. As a tea, it’s not bad. Thanks for sharing, Roswell Strange!
Roswell Strange had an awful experience with the sample that I sent her with this tea. She got sudsy and chemical and “fresh linen” deodorizer. Needless to say, that did not have me particularly excited to try this.
With that said, that is not my experience at all. To me, this doesn’t really taste a whole lot like anything. I got a slight hint of milk chocolate. Maybe a touch of malt. A little metallic/copper at the tail-end of some sips. It’s sort of run of the mill and meh but I am definitely not getting suds and fresh linen. So is that a win? I don’t know.
I buy this almost every year. I blame nostalgia because honestly it’s a bit of a muddy mess. I guess a stormy night should be muddy and messy so that’s spot on in a way. However, today I made it as an iced latte and tossed some chocolate syrup in and that really helped improve it. It’s fudgey with a nice smooth vanilla and a slight tingle from the chilli. It’s quite good this way.
I made this to go with my lunch which was a bagel toasted with maple cream cheese and super delicious fresh peaches. The whole thing was so fresh and sweet and delicious! Plus this tea was the perfect pairing since the maple brought out the maple of the cream cheese while also contrasting the sweetness of the maple and peach with the roasty notes of the popped rice.
