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Sipdown (305)

This was randomly selected thanks to the excel formula. It’s been working out well seeing as it’s been getting me to drink teas I wouldn’t reach for. This, in particular, has been bumping around my stash since December 2017 but I have been ignoring it since it seems to be universally disliked for being overly artificial.

Honestly it seems to have taken almost 3 years of flavor deterioration to become decent. It’s still slightly artificial and floral and there is nothing distinctive other than a jammy black tea base. But it’s drinkable. And forgettable. I am perfectly fine saying good bye.

Sipdown but apparently this was not added to my steepster cupboard so no decrease in cupboard number. However, this is two years old so I am still happy to be sipping it down.

I picked this one specifically because of the caffeine boasted by Zest Tea. Exams started today and I was extremely worried about the one I had this morning (despite only needing to pass) so I tossed and turned all night. That includes giving up on the attempting to actually sleep at around 3 am when I started to feel like I couldn’t breathe. That’s when I turned on the movie Ocean’s 8 and watched that before finally falling asleep around 5 am and waking up again at 7 am. Then I wrote a 3-hr exam from 9-12. While I debated napping, I have another exam tomorrow that I need to do some prep for so instead I turned to caffeine for my midday slump.

I brewed this up and meant to add a splash of milk but the bag folded while I was pouring and a bit more milk came out than intended. Frankly I was okay with that because it drowned out the bergamot that much more. This was ok as far as earl greys go. It wasn’t too bitter or sharp, thanks to the milk but also due to this being a touch weak overall. It wasn’t anything special but it did its job of perking me up a bit.

Latte Sipdown though I never added this to my cupboard so the number of teas stays the same.

This was on of the bajillion teas Roswell Strange shared with me back in December when we finally met and it seemed like a fitting tea today given its Easter. Thank you, Roswell Strange and Happy Easter, Steepsterites!! Hope everyone is able to celebrate in their own way, despite all the crazy.

I decided to make this as a latte because chocolate-y blends often make for nice lattes. I also decided to top the latte with a touch of whipped cream and some festive and colorful flower sprinkles. However, as I tried to take my #365daysoftea photo, the whipped cream kept sinking so I kept adding more so that touch became more like a dollop+. Oops. So this became a latte with a bunch of whipped cream.

It is a bit thin but overall has good flavor. I get a slight roastiness and a lot of chocolate. It’s nice. Similar to Snowball but maybe a bit lighter in flavor. It’s made for a nice treat but I won’t go out of my way for this.

Sipdown (306)

This was a random selection and happened to be a caffeine free sipdown so that’s awesome. Also, I am ok saying good bye to this one. It’s mostly lemongrass and I have better versions of this flavor profile in my cupboard still.

Cold Brew Sipdown (307)

This was cold brewed in milk and it was quite nice. A lot of nutmeggy goodness. Yum yum!

I don’t love this one. It’s got a briskness that for my tastes is drying. It’s fuller bodied and more sharp so based on my preferences, this is not for me. It’s not bad, just not my cup of tea.

Cold brewed this and it tastes like a marshmallow. Also it’s super cute both as a dry leaf and when steeped since its a lovely purple. Thanks Roswell Strange for sharing!

Sipdown (308)

I have been tricked by this tea twice now. I bought this back when it was still Spiced Apple and then realized it had ingredients I usually avoid. I rated it a 47. Then, for some reason, I bought it again under the name Baked Apple Chai at the end of last year. So, that was dumb. Thankfully, I only bought a sample and this tea is so heavy that I just dumped the entire bag into one Nordic Mug.

I honestly would have kept avoiding this blend forever but today I kept wandering into the room where my teas are and just struggling to pick one to drink. So I decided to utilize my excel inventory and randomly select a tea that way. After putting in the formulas to randomly select a tea, strawberry matcha came up but I literally just finished the mango matcha so I did it again and this tea came up. I highly considered doing it again but decided to commit.

This hot cup is not good. It’s just not a good tea. My preferences are obviously factoring into that decision. It’s just waaaaaayyyyy too sweet, but with a spice note trying to break through. Honestly, I am just kicking myself while also hoping this doesn’t get another name change and I stupidly buy it again. I hoped the rating would improve but it’s staying at that 47.

I attempted Dalgona Matcha again. Last time I made it with an egg white and that required making a simple syrup to “cook” the egg white enough that it would be safer to consume. Unfortunately, it also had the added effect of making the drink very sweet.

On the DAVIDsTEA facebook group, someone shared a recipe that incorporated 1 perfect spoon each of matcha, sugar and warm water and then 1/4 cup of whipping cream so I gave that a try and it is much better than the egg white alternative. It’s obviously still sweet and milkshake-like but not offensively so this time. Actually, less milkshake and more milky-mango drink…but artificial mango flavor. I am making it sound bad and it’s not. Most successful dalgona matcha yet.