6444 Tasting Notes
There’s a Valentine’s Bingo on Instagram and one of the prompts was to pair a tea with a sweet treat. I had a heart sugar cookie from Starbucks and I wanted something similarly festive for the pic and this tea caught my eye. I made it hot but the hibiscus had me worried so I waited for it to cool before actually drinking it. It’s ok. Reminds me of the Strawberry Rhubarb Parfait (I think that’s what it’s called) by DAVIDsTEA, with no tartness to set off the sweet strawberry and cream. Better than expected.
Also, I was so ready to get my nails done after work that I had showered and gotten dressed on my lunch and even set up a cold brew of this to take to the appointment. Then I learned the appointment is actually tomorrow and I was sad. But now I have a cold brew to compare to the “hot” tea.
The cold brew is more strawberry and less cream. Is that better or worse? I have no idea. I guess it depends on preference because cold brew this makes me think of strawberry hard candies.
This is one of the newest teas added to my cupboard and thus it meets the final prompt in Mastress Alita’s scavenger hunt. Sneaking in under the wire. This was new to my cupboard but not new to me. I picked it up in an Indigo order and made it with a splash of milk, how I used to. I find this pretty flat though, which is upsetting.
Sipdown
I had 13 empties and that number felt weird so I pulled this out of the sipdown box. I don’t really like it if I’m being honest. Somehow it seems medicinal though mango medicine isn’t really a thing I know of. Still, it’s sharp and I’m just not a huge fan of this one.
Sipdown (216)
I made this for the tea with a bean note prompt in Mastress Alita’s scavenger hunt and I think I did something wrong because this ended up being fairly astringent. It’s got a lot of vanilla flavour. But the astringency is what hits first and sort of ruins it. I previously rated this a 75 so that makes me think I’ve had this before and it was better. Thank you Sil for the chance to try this again, even if it didn’t go so well.
A tea flavored like your favorite pie – the prompt I went with in Mastress Alita’s Sipdown scavenger hunt. I haven’t actually had a lemon chiffon pie but I do like a lemon meringue pie and thought this may have been close. This is a lemon flavoured coconut tea. Does that make sense? There is some lemon, though not sweet or tart lemon like you’d find in a pie. Just lemon that’s there atop creamy coconut. There is also a butter crust element here that’s nice. It’s odd to be drinking a Deb tea and thinking it needs to be sweeter, but that’s where I’m at. Or maybe more tart. It needs to be something more.
Ruby Hot Chocolate Sipdown (216)
I don’t love Earl Greys usually but they find their way into my stash. And Mastress Alita prompted us to drink an Earl Grey as part of her January Sipdown challenge. So…I figured it out. I used this whole sample and made a ruby hot chocolate infused with Earl grey. This is creamy and sweet and definitely has a strong bergamot note. It’s brisk but not bitter or astringent and I think that’s because it’s calmed by the milk and the sweetness of the hot chocolate mix. I am happy for the bergamot note because there isn’t much ruby flavour in this ruby hot chocolate mix. It’s mostly like a white hot chocolate with bergamot. Not bad but could have been better. That said, this is probably the best way to enjoy this tea.
Latte Sipdown (217)
Picked this as my latte tea for Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge for the latte prompt. I make lattes often enough so it was just a matter of choosing a tea I felt like having as a latte.
This was odd. I felt like I lost my taste because this was much more bland than I expected. I think I just underleafed this though. The flavour I am getting is French toast but without anything to add sweetness. It needs sweetness. So this is fine but nothing special. Still fun to try though so thank you Sil for sending a bit more of this my way.
