6444 Tasting Notes
52 Teas 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 10
I made this one as an eggnog latte and had the weirdest experience with this. The entire time I was getting fruit leathers. Like spot on for a fruit to go bar. It was good, I suppose, but not what I expected at all. I have a small serving left I will try plain because this was just a very odd experience. I wonder if there was a cross contamination issue since my sister used the same steeper earlier to make a tea lemonade with Mango Fruit Punch tea. I thought I cleaned it thoroughly but perhaps not…
CuppaGeek Advent Calendar – Day 22
I cheated slightly with this. I had grabbed another tea and then I saw the marshmallow and chocolate chip in the dry leaf of this and was like I want those flavors. I switched the one I had originally pulled (but not yet scratched) with this one. I excitedly scratched away the label and was happy to see Chocolate Covered Marshmallow scrawled across the label.
This is a nice tea. Very chocolate-y, though more semi-sweet than milk. It’s also fluffy from the marshmallows but I did expect more marshmallow flavor. It’s not quite as creamy or chocolate-y as I anticipated. It’s also not as sweet.
Geek + Tea Advent Teas – Day 9
As a kid who both loved to read the books and watch the movies, Slytherin seemed like the bad house. I mean we all remember Harry obviously did not want to be in Slytherin and most of the baddies were Slytherin so I feel like we were conditioned to associate that house with “bad”. While I don’t particularly think that anymore, part of me found this tea fitting when I saw it was full of ingredients, I think taste bad such as gingko, ginseng, and green tea. I also thought a green tea was fitting because Slytherin’s colors do encompass a shade of green. So at first I was like this is fitting. Then I started thinking that those green teas are all associated with health and wellness blends and because of the “bad” association, they seemed odd.
Drinking it, I don’t like it. As to be expected, I think. It just tastes like a health/wellness blend in that it is sort of medicinal and focused on twigs and stuff. So, its going into my swap box because I don’t want this again – mostly since I have a bunch more teas to drink that appeal to me more.
When I was sorted into Slytherin, I went into a mild existential crisis because it was always portrayed as “the bad house.” It was like going through the stages of grief until I came into understanding and acceptance.
That said… I wouldn’t be pleased with gingko and ginseng green tea either.
52 Teas 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 9
Like the Banana TGY from a couple days ago, I just finished working my way through a large bag of this. However, I owned a large bag because I love this tea so I am perfectly happy to have a fresh batch in my life.
DIY Advent Calendar – Day 21
Eggnog Latte Sipdown (320)
I am back over 300 teas with more incoming and that’s scary to think about. On the plus side, my sister bought a new buffet cabinet and all my tea and teaware have been moved into it. The drawers are not as tall as my cloth drawers were so not all the tea fits standing upright. That means some teas are stacked, which is annoying to have to search through. Overall, there is more space in these drawers though for tea.
Anyways, this is today’s DIY advent tea. Of course I made it as an eggnog latte, using the entire sample. This is getting compared to teas like Santa’s Secret and Candy Cane Crush (which I have a lot of) and I find this bland in comparison. I get a little of the mint but nothing else can stand up against the prep method. So this is just weird minty eggnog milk.
I use those cloth cube drawers in a shelving unit to store my tea! So surprised to hear someone else used to use those.
I had a 4 drawer set that was all cloth drawers. I got it years ago when I was in undergrad and it has been used in various capacities – most notably, for holding my tea. Not it will be used for my sister’s baby’s dishware.
Ah, I have two of those stacked on top of each other, for a set of 8!
YAY for new tea storage! I use the cloth cube storage for some of my tea too. But I also keep most of the teas in those organized in big ziplock bags by tea shop or whomever sent them to me.
I can’t count, I actually have two sets of 6, for 12 cube shelves! And like tea-sipper, I have the teas inside them organized in the big gallon ziplock bags to make it easier to find things.
I’m lucky enough to have a small tea nook with cabinets for my tea. But I really need to organize them better. I’ve been watching too much The Home Edit…
Plum Deluxe Advent Calendar – Day 21
I cold brewed this for hours and was surprised to find it tasted like nothing. It was nothing, nothing, nothing, and then an orange aftertaste. It was very weird.
You mean if I steep it long enough the hibiscus will go away?! Or maybe all the hibiscus was in my sample of it. Some of these blends have been pretty inconsistent in distribution of ingredients.
Ya, I was honestly surprised I got flavor tonight, because a lot of the “chunky herbal” packets have been so weak-sauce with how much came in the pouch.
Plum Deluxe Advent Calendar – Day 20
It’s interesting Dustin found this tart because I had it iced and took it with me to a holiday drive thru exhibit and was surprised it tasted like bubble gum at first. Then I started to get blackberry but a candy version of that flavor. It made me think of the gummies that have the crunchy balls on the outside of them. These ones: https://www.ohnuts.com/buy.cfm/bulk-candy/gummies-gummy-candy/jelly-belly-raspberries-blackberries-gum-drops. I also get rose at times and every now and then its astringent.
Huh! Iced you say? Cold steeped or hot and then poured over ice?
I love those gummies, and agree this tea tasted candylike to me. I was not a fan. :P
Syrupy sweet to me. I didn’t dislike the flavoring, but wasn’t wowed by it like 52Tea’s blackberry flavoring. It was mostly the astringency in the base that threw me off.
CuppaGeek Advent Calendar – Day 20
This is a chamomile blend. Heavy on the chamomile with some sweetness. It is not for me given the chamomile which is disappointing because this steeped up the most brilliant blue color. Check out the picture of this tea (and the other day 20 advent teas) here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJDH6DKA2IL/.
Kenneth Ave Advent Calendar – Day 20
I made this as an eggnog latte and was excited for it but ended up dumping most of the cup. It was heavy on the ginger but not much else. Mixed with the mediocre black base, it all came off with that sort of muddy quality that Adagio blends often have.
DIY Advent Calendar – Day 20
I don’t like this one. At all. I’m sorry Deb but this was a huge miss for me. It was too sweet but also oddly tart and then somehow flat. I don’t know exactly where this goes wrong for me but its wrong. Into the swap box…
Aw! Sorry you didn’t like this one! I love Deb’s teas, and I have been shopping there frequently! :) Do you have any top Dessert by Deb tea recommendations off the top of your head? I noticed you reviewed quite a few of her teas! Thank you!
I’ll request this as a sample next time since I think I might actually like this one since I love overly sweet, dessert teas lol!
No worries. Not every tea can be a winner – if they were, my wallet would be even more sad than it is now. Haha!
Off the top of my head, I really like Mint Chip Cookie as an iced latte and Coconut Cream Pie Chai as a latte. Ginger Creme Brulee was also very good as a plain hot tea.
If you want, you can shoot me a DM with your address and I can send the rest of my package your way. I won’t enjoy it so I am happy to send it along to someone else who may :)
That is very true! :)
And ou! I really enjoyed the mint chip cookie; however, I have not tried it as an iced latte! That sounds interesting! I will definitely give that a go.
And I need to order coconut cream pie chai next time! I love spicy, sweet combos! So, I think I would also enjoy this one!
And that is so incredibly kind of you, and I greatly appreciate it! :‘D But I think I will just request it as a sample next time, since my order will be above $50 (I need to stock up on Fireside S’more, lol!) <3 But thank you! :) !!!
The Fireside S’mores is sold out :(
Aw! I believe she put everything out of stock until she comes back from her vacation. I hope you get to try it next year! :) My favourite blends so far are spiced earl grey muffin, lemongrass milk pudding, fireside s’more, and earl’s sugar cookie! So good! <3
I had some this year and it was nice. I don’t love bergamot teas so I am avoiding the Earl Greys…though I own them haha
Is there a reference I’m missing here with the misspelling in the name?
I was wondering that as well.
I was also wondering tbh. I skimmed the tea page on 52 Teas and didn’t see an explanation.
This tea was a reblend of a previous customer creation. This customer had invested in our Kickstarter start up campaign and she chose as her reward the “create your own blend” type of reward – and this comes specifically from her choice of spelling for the blend.
Ooh that’s interesting! Thanks for letting us know, hah.