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Sipdown (280)

I guess despite my tournament being over, I still want to have tea battles. Plus, today is National Fragrance Day as highlighted by Mastress Alita in her sipdown discussion. I noticed Kittenna picked out DAVIDsTEA’s Salted Caramel Oolong for the occasion and that got me thinking about that tea and this one and how I had one serving left of the sample given to me by Roswell Strange and how I wanted to use it to compare the two. So here we are…

The tea has cooled a bit – I always forget how quickly an 8 oz cup of tea can cool down. It is still so lovely though. At first I thought it was mostly just oolong that I was getting but the caramel is lingering. It coats the tongue really while the slight roast and vegetable flavor of the oolong dances on top. The flavors are so different but intertwining well together. It also manages to stay light overall while being rich in flavor. That stands out as one of the main differences between this and the DAVIDsTEA version, which is more heavier/syrupy – the European vs. North American takes on the flavor profile really stand out here. Check out the tasting note for that tea here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416697

Thank you Roswell Strange for the share and the chance to revisit this gem! I think as a plain tea, I prefer this to the DAVIDsTEA version. DAVIDsTEA one makes for a better latte though.

This tea made it to my final battle of my sipdown tournament inspired by Mastress Alita! It got this far because it’s a lovely tea and this cup is no different . I don’t think I have much new to say that I haven’t said already. It’s a solid black tea with a nice marshmallow note throughout. Simple and thus easy to have again and again. However, as much as I love this one, Cereal Milk by Dessert by Deb took the win. Check out my tasting note for that tea here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416670

Watching RuPaul crown a winner on Drag Race UK and decided I should crown a winner too. This tea wins the tournament, beating out What the Fluff? by 52 Teas in one final battle. Check out the tasting note for that tea here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416671

There isn’t much new to say about this tea that I’ve had several times recently several different ways. Today I made the tea plain and it’s great once again. I like that it’s not in your face but captures a complicated and nuanced flavour like Cereal Milk. Creamy. Starchy. Sweet. Yum! I might have bought more of this one…

Iced Tea Sipdown (281)

Yesterday I pulled out the last little bit of this tisane because I wanted an iced tea and this was good that way. I then had enough for an 8 oz serving so I decided to give cold brewing a try. I ended up walking around with the iced version in my tea press yesterday and today. The cold brew I basically chugged last night because we were putting the dishwasher on and I wanted to put the cup it was in in the dishwasher. It could be because it was made with the last of the tea but the blackberry leaves were overwhelming in the cold brew, making it way too sweet.

This iced tea, on the other hand, is not overly sweet. It’s distinctly mango and to that end it does have a sweetness but it is not the cloying sweetness that blackberry leaves can sometimes contribute. It also does manage to be creamy w/o being overly artificial, which I find impressive from a fruit tisane. While I am not placing a T2 order just for this tea, I think I would add it to the cart if I were grabbing other stuff.

I made this tea. Then I ate part of a cookie that was so big it was stuffed with an entire krispy kreme cake batter donut, among other things. Then I watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Now I’m drinking the tea. The tea is cold but alright. It’s got a natural berry flavor. It’s also not too verbal-tasting despite being a detox tea. I almost always expect to hate detox teas and was even mentally preparing to drink this and pass off the rest of the sample Roswell Strange was kind enough to share – thank you!! Thankfully, I don’t feel like I need to since it’s alright.

This tea went against Cereal Milk by Dessert by Deb in today’s sipdown battle. Check out the tasting note for Cereal Milk here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416589

I iced both teas because I forgot to cold brew them and this tea isn’t the best hot. I didn’t know if Cereal Milk would be any good iced but it beat this tea at its own game and moved on. This tea is the same as it has been – good, sometimes too sweet, but amazing passion fruit notes. It just is not as good as Cereal Milk.

I have a midterm tomorrow so I have been doing some last minute studying. I did take time out to make the teas for my sipdown battle today – this and Tie-Dye Butterfly by DAVIDsTEA. Once again I forgot to cold brew the competitors so I made them iced because Tie-Dye Butterfly is always best cold. I wasn’t sure if this tea would be good cold but went with it anyways since I know I don’t love Tie-Dye Butterfly hot. It took my by surprise that this is really good iced. This tea is just really good in general.

Iced, latte, plain – this tea is consistently good and doesn’t really change at all based on prep method. It works all ways and iced seems alright since cereal milk is usually cold. And this manages to be creamy despite no added milk. Due to that, this tea wins the second of the two semi-final battles. I think it will take the whole tournament but we will see how it matches up tomorrow against the other finalist, 52 Teas’ What the Fluff?

Check out the tasting note for Tie-Dye Butterfly here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416590

This was one of the competitors in my sipdown tournament and one of the things I noted is this could be good as a latte…so I’m trying it as a latte. At times it works and at other times it’s weird and sort of mud-like. Overall, I just haven’t been able to get this one to really work. I’ve drank it because it’s not bad but it’s just not for me.