6444 Tasting Notes
Sipdown (294)
Me and Dammann Freres black base aren’t getting along. Like this tea is fine but not my favourite at all since that base comes through stronger than anything and it’s not my favourite. Also I was a bit surprised by the fruitiness of this since “Christmas Teas” are usually orange and clove and this went a bit more tropical with some sweet/tart pineapple.
So I’ve alluded to my living situation before, I think, but basically in Fecember, my brother and I left my mom’s house and moved in with my sister. I was at school half the week and then corona happened so I’ve been at home with my sister for 6 weeks while my brother and brother-in-law have been going to work. So that’s 4 adults between the ages of 28 and 31 living together. One is pregnant and all of us are not thin so we can eat. So menu planning is essential to make sure we actually have enough food in the house. Initially we used to only plan dinners from Monday-Friday but then weekends and lunch time we’d sort of just be lost or trying to hobble things together so we started planning for lunches and dinners on Monday-Saturday and we assume leftovers will get us over Sunday.
While some lunches are just us cooking extra of our dinners to have for the next day, some days we plan specific meals. Those are typically on the days my brother is home for lunch since he can be weird about leftovers and he eats a lot. Today’s meal was literal BLTs with no bread (except for my brother who wanted bread and mayo), mostly because my sister’s pregnancy craving is bacon and she needs to be low carb.
So I broke out this tea to add a little extra tomato to the meal. This is one I won and I really didn’t know what to expect. I think I always work myself up for these out of the box blends and then I’m always surprised by how normal a flavor it is. Like this was drinkable and like something I’ve had before. I get basil in the smell and a touch of drying that sometimes comes with fresh herbs. Tomato adds a little sweetness and then the black pepper adds a touch of spice.
It’s not a bad tea. It’s just not what I look for when I have tea. For that reason, the rest of this is going into my swap box.
There were two bags of this among the teas from Sil so I think she gave me a sample from her bag and then I happened to buy myself a bag. So thank you Sil for sharing. I actually finished one bag and broke into the second to get the recommended 4 g of tea.
I love Creme brulee and I love beignets and I’m heartbroken since I should currently be in Disney staying at the French Quarter resort where they have the famous Mickey Beignets. Alas, this is a lot more honeybush and a lot less creme brûlée or beignets than I expected. Spiced rooibos and honeybush. Not my thing.
Sipdown (297)
Earlier today I was at 279 and then I added the teas from Sil and I’m back up to about 300. Thank you Sil for sharing and for delivering my teas!
This was a single serving so I decided it would be easy to just drink it up while it was fresh on my mind. I am quite happy with it. I know Kittenna got more blueberry and Sil got more coconut but if I am being honest, for me it’s quite balanced. If I had to pick, it’s maybe slightly more blueberry but both flavours are present and distinct and delicious. Plus, the base is adding a lot of richness to the tea. It’s a dark sort of flavor in the sense that it is dense and jammy. I’m enjoying it quite a bit.
Sipdown (278)
Roswell Strange and I had very different experiences with this tea. She got malt and breadiness and I am getting a lot of mineral and astringency. It’s a big NO for me and thankfully a sipdown. Nevertheless, thank you Roswell Strange for sharing and giving me the chance to try something new…even if it didn’t quite work out with this cup :P
Preparation
Sipdown (279)
I was feeling a bit off today and I think perhaps my body got used to a little bit of caffeine since I’ve been in quarantine and this is my first cup.
I literally grabbed this so I could get a quick up of caffeine and also a sipdown. Alas, I really don’t like it. I am mostly getting the black base tea which is not my favorite. There is a muddiness to it which I think is intended to be the chocolate but it’s not really doing it for me.
Sipdown (280)
Sil came by to do a quick tea exchange (I.e. I put her teas outside my front door and she picked them up and left teas for me in their place…boo covid for no face to face contact). Before she arrived, I was trying to add things to her bag that she may not have had before. I also think I ate too heavy a lunch so I was a touch nauseous so taking one last cup of this mint tea and passing in the rest of the sample from teakruthi seemed like a two birds, one stone thing.
I didn’t quite get around to drinking this until later though. This has since cooled and the nausea already subsided so I’m drinking cool minty tea. It’s nice. It’s refreshing. It’s not overly special though so while I’ve enjoyed it, I’m also content saying goodbye.
Sipdown (292)
There is a lot more peach today than usual. I’m cool with that though. It’s a nice ginger peach balance that I’ve enjoyed each time I’ve had this tea. Hopefully Sil also enjoys it as I’m passing the rest of the sample on to her. Thank you teakruthi for the sample!
