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Iced Latte Sipdown (267)

I made this as an iced latte but am not liking it. The tea is at least 4 years old and it shows. It’s not bad perse but it’s not good either. This got poured out since I’d rather waste the calories of a decadent iced latte on one that actually tastes good.

After adding the Dessert by Deb teas to my spreadsheet, the random tea algorithm I have set up picked this. I steeped it for the recommended steep time and then I let it cool before drinking it which was potentially a mistake. Or, the recommended 4 minutes was too long a steep time because while the flavor is great, but there is a metallic twang at the end of the sip that’s ruining it for me. So I need to play around with this to get flavor without the twang.

Had this with breakfast and it’s less bready and malt and more wood and leather.

This is the tea my sister picked out for me and while it tasted good, it fell a bit flat. It had cooled quite a bit by the time I got to drinking it so perhaps that played a part but between the berry, lemon, maple, scone, etc., there was a lot going on without anything really taking the lead. It was more muddled and I feel needed one thing to sort of pop. Perhaps it’ll be better hot…

I’ve been going nuts checking my tracking for this package from a new-to-me company, Dessert by Deb, for over a week now. It’s a Canadian company out of Toronto that specializes in dessert blends. For anyone that knows me, you know that’s my jam so I’ve been excited and it was supposed to arrive Wednesday last week so my family and Roswell Strange and Sil have all gotten basically daily updates about why hasn’t the package arrived yet! Well, it’s here and I’m excited. Also, surprised. Surprised because RS and I talked about how this company seems to be blowing up on Instagram but then I come to Steepster and it’s not even in the database yet. So, Steepster meet Dessert by Deb. Dessert by Deb, meet Steepster.

I made this as an iced latte (I asked RS which tea to start with as an iced latte and she suggested this) and while this doesn’t scream “cookie” to me, as the latte with a slight chocolate drizzle and whipped cream, this screams mint chip ice cream. At times I get a dark cocoa that reminds me of the cookie part of an Oreo so maybe that’s what they were going for. If that’s the case, then it’s some Oreo cookie crumble over mint chip ice cream. It’s just so smooth, creamy and decadently mint chip. Great introduction to a new company. Hopefully it’s not just excitement making things seem better though.

Simple but good.

Upping the rating from 70 seeing as I seem to reach for it often.

Sipdown (257)

Sil mentioned a potential 52 Teas order which of course got me browsing on their website picking out teas I may want to sneak into her order. This one caught my eye but in the past I would order blends and realize I already owned them and had never tried them. So, this time I checked and turned out Sil was kind enough to share a sample of this with me. Thank you, Sil!

I figured since I owned this I should try it before ordering more blindly. That’s the story of how I ended up drinking a tea called “I’m Snowing” at the end of June on a day where the sun is shining and the temperature is in the mid 20s.

If I’m being honest, this is a bit bland for me. There are so many teas made by 52 Teas that I enjoy with these various ingredients so while I know Anne is awesome at making each ingredient shine, this fell short of my expectations. Maybe it was the mixture of ingredients that ended up in my spoon but mostly I get a flat black tea with the slightest, slightest hint of ginger and coconut. It makes me want to reach for ginger cola or Anne’s gone bananas…

Another day. Another iced latte. Mmmm!

I made this as a matcha soda with strawberry Perrier. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it’s really good. I expected matcha flavor since this is a rare time that my matcha isn’t in a latte or smoothie but the drink is just so light and bright and fruity and flavourful. Mint is definitely at the forefront but sweet comes from strawberry and lime pairing nicely together.

Sipdown (257)

I made this tea this morning because I wanted the caffeine. Then I ate breakfast and that sort of woke me up so I just slowly sipped on this. Then, I got distracted and it’s now 6 pm, I’ve napped, and I am still drinking this tea.

It’s cold and has gotten brisker as it cooled. It’s got a lot of raisin notes now and while usually there is a lot more going on with this, that’s what has caught my attention.