New Tasting Notes

Sample sipdown. I tended to give this a long steep. I assume the flavor would have been a bit different with a shorter steep but I only had a sample size of the blend and the few cups I made with it all got briefly abandoned during brewing. This is very cinnamon-forward, with spearmint coming in mid-sip and an apple-like chamomile on the back end. I don’t really smell or taste the florals. You know how lavender has a certain sensation to it, though? Sort of drying, I guess? I don’t have a great way of describing it, but this blend has it.

Sipdown for ashmanra’s sipdown challenge, of a tea I put off drinking. I really shouldn’t have waited this long to finish this tea off. I love a nice, thick, umami gyokuro, which this was, so I ended up drinking it sparingly in order to always have some around. Sheer foolishness to do with a Japanese green tea, especially one that’s been opened, and I knew better too. The best by date was nine months ago, which is too long for a good steamed green. This was still tasty today but not as rich as I remember it being at first. I did get a nice salad out of the spent leaves, though.

Very woody. Not so much the deep sandalwood notes you tend to get from ripe pu-erhs, but strong oak-like flavors. Some smoke. Not very sweet. Maybe slightly nutty. It seems like a lighter version of ripe pu-erh, overall. Interesting and glad I tried this, as it is my first Liu Bao Cha, but not a favorite of mine. I don’t find much in the way of “medicinal” or minty notes as others have mentioned.

Finishing this box of tea is bittersweet. Every cup has been a pleasure, whether hot or cold. The pineapple flavor really stands out—it’s bright, sweet, and refreshing, but also incredibly comforting. On a freezing day like today, it felt especially soothing. I’ve never had green tea blended with pineapple before, but it’s such a natural combination that I’m surprised I haven’t come across it sooner. I will have to keep my eyes open for other pineapple teas and give them a try.

2025 sipdown no. 3

I really enjoy this EG variation. The lavender is at the forefront with bergamot just behind. I appreciate the Ceylon base. Looking back at the EG/EG Creams I’ve enjoyed, they all share a fully Ceylon base (a note to myself because many an EG has a weird scent that bothers me). I would order this one for my cupboard. The resteep was also really lovely and had almost as much flavour as the first.

1st steep 3 minutes
2nd steep 4 minutes 30 seconds

Smooth round bodied flavor, not the least acidic or bitter. Just green and a bit citric. Good for 4 steeps.

Sipdown! (28)

The last of my Murchie’s teabag samplers! I do still have some loose leaf to sip down, but still nice to get the teabags cleared out.

I’ve been really interested in trying all of their green-black blends, and this one is similar to the No. 10 (one of my favorites). It seems to just include a stronger Ceylon base, which looks to be a CTC (and the description mentions a touch of bergamot, but the No. 10 already has that as well?). It’s lovely though, a nice balance of jasmine and citrus with the green and black teas. I always steep these using green tea parameters, so the difference in the Ceylon may not be as pronounced as it would be if you steeped it hotter. It does have a brisker edge to it, and I do think I prefer the No. 10, but it was fun to try!

Origines Tea Advent Calendar – Day 16
A decent black tea backbone with added natural citrus aroma´s, where I only can clearly tell the content in bergamot of the dry tea leaves. Once steeped, the bergamot sort of fades away. In taste the Lady Grey blends always are far softer than the Earl Grey blends, and this is no exception. I prefer a more intense Earl Grey for breakfast though.

A favorite of my Oolongs. This one is creamy and fragrant. Having all the complexity of a single garden tea, it is still simplicity and elegance in a cup. Hints of apricots and cream in the bouquet and on the palate. The second brew is just as good if not better than the first and I often get three brews out of 1 tsp. A tea to take your time with.

This is a really great, strong tea. Fans of sheng puerh owe it to themselves to seek this out. My lukewarm rating of this particular batch is due to the storage. The vendor specifies that it has been stored in Kunming since its pressing, so it’s all very transparent. Personally, I think more traditional storage is the way to go. This is still great stuff, but it’s kind of locked in time, which is unfortunate.

This is another tea, infusion really from the O&O Collection Chocolat, the collaboration of Origines tea&coffee company with Origines chocolate company. Also this infusion (cf. Cocktail Tropical) contains cacao bark, here in a blend with a few types of nuts. This nutty chocolate character overwhelms in the dry tea, and turns into a grogg-like smell for the steeped tea. It tastes like a chocolatey drink, quite strange.

Origines Tea Advent Calendar – Day 14
Fine green and white teas blended together with elderflower and (tropical) fruit aroma´s. Fortunately, these aroma´s are not at all overwhelming, which results in a subtly fruited elegant tea. Maybe even too subtle, as it´s difficult to get the elderflower (despite its 8% in composition) coming through and the pineapple is about the only fruit I can definitely notice here. When I first tasted this blend, I described it as a fresh piña colada over green tea.

Origines Tea Advent Calendar – Day 13 : this is a collaboration between Origines and another Bordeaux based company with expertise of chocolate. In this rooibos (blend of red and green rooibos) based infusion the chocolate-like addition is the cacao bark, which adds a dryness to the tropical fruit aroma´s in nose (for the dry tea blend). Once steeped, a ripe mango smell dominates. In mouth the tropical fruit smoothens the wooden character of the rooibos.

I had planned to check in my advent calendar teas on my phone while away from home, but in the end I not only didn´t do that, it took me some time after returning home to get me on steepster again… so this was Day12 from Origines Tea Advent Calendar, which I drank more than a month ago for the first time. Having tea calendars with pouches big enough for at least 5 tea brewing sessions has its advantage ;-)
This is a fresh tea, according to Origines´web page also great as an iced tea over Summer, which I can fully understand as it smells very minty, like an old fashioned chewing gum. Once steeped, the herbal taste of the green tea base comes through. This combination lingers on for a long time, which is really nice. Hopefully I can get myself to reserving the rest of the pouch for iced tea.

Sipdown

Ashman and I have enjoyed this one with meals. I don’t think we ever had it on its own. Warm and cozy spices greet you when you open the package. I don’t like too much clove or too much ginger in spice blends, and this one is juuuuuuust right…for me. If you were looking for a strong chai, this isn’t it.

It smells like I should be drinking it on a rainy day with soft light jazz playing.

US teabag version.

Much better than the English Breakfast. It doesn’t hold a flame to the memory of their tinned leaf I had 25 years ago but it’s good enough in a pinch. Rather drying and woody! I get hints of lime-cream swirling within the surprisingly complex bergamot taste.

Not sure where I acquired this bag, probably a TTB. This tastes like pepper? I shared it with someone who said it tastes like clove. We didn’t notice any orange, just a meh black base plus flavor notes that shouldn’t be there. It was drinkable, but really not great.

This is tasty and quite easy to drink. Caramelized sweet potato, with a touch of toastiness.

This tea has a great pungent taste, which is indeed very floral. I also love the aromas, they remind me of forest, nettle, peat, and also Mao Feng green tea.

The first infusion is sweet and bitter with strong forest vibes and a biting, spicy aftertaste. The second one bring vegetal notes (moss) and woody bitterness (pine). The aftertaste present really good huigan, as well as some apple note and a strong savoury minerality. Overall I get a sensation that makes me want to drink water in between the tea.

There is a strong clarifying energy to the whole experience. However, I found the mouthfeel to be a bit uninteresting for a tea at this price.

A tisane I’ve had in years past; giving a new box a go.

This time around, I can taste more than turmeric. The honeybush and/or rooibos come through a bit with honeyed sweetness and a woody, dry texture. Vanilla is soft and mild. I suspect cinnamon and cardamom round out the flavor but they are separately imperceptible. Overall, this tisane is mild, fairly thin and watery.

I enjoyed this the first few times I had it, but tonight… ick! My partner wanted a cinnamon-y tea, so I made a pot of this one. But neither of us cares for it. It’s got that stevia-like slippery-sweetness from the blackberry leaf that coats my tongue after each sip, and I’m just finding the overall flavor profile on the cloying side. It’s absolutely cookie-like, but it’s just not hitting the right notes for me tonight!