New Tasting Notes

I am a HUGE sucker for HomeGoods and funny enough, every time I go there, I buy almost exclusively food/bev. Their selection of unique, artisan, organic treats and teas is a huge reason why I never leave empty-handed. This time I picked up a sampler box of Tea Forte and we’re starting off strong with this flavor.

But first, I have to make a special mention of the delightful packaging. The tea sachets are enveloped in these adorable little cardboard pyramids, and the sachets themselves hang within the cup on the cutest little leaf holders. I do enjoy really nice aesthetic packaging, and this was muah chef’s kiss.

Okay, moving on to the tea itself. When I first began steeping, the scent was immediately pleasant and strong. Chai, but of the more herbal variety, if that makes sense. The taste…wow! So nice! I am definitely getting some of the apple. I don’t think I’ve ever had a red chai before, but this mixed with the pink pepper made for SUCH a pleasant flavor! It’s like…fruity, herbal chai, but without compromising all of the things you’d typically love about a chai.

I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this tea and I look forward to trying their other flavors!

I don’t like alcohol, so I’m relieved it doesn’t taste too much like that. The base is also a little strong, almost like green tea, but I guess green rooibos has a similar vibe. I drank the whole package without forming too strong an opinion. I guess I thought the base overshadowed the flavors this time. I would have liked more strawberry or bubbliness.

Sipdown

This was really lovely today and the lavender was stronger than last time I served it. I just wish it didn’t have licorice root, not because I don’t like the taste but because I have had blood pressure issues in the past and don’t want to risk it. Yes, I know it PROBABLY takes a lot of licorice root to affect blood pressure, but I prefer to sweeten my own tea as I choose, and I almost always choose not to sweeten at all.

This is one of their better teas, IMO.

Some of the largest leaves I’ve seen in any tea; very flavorful, but not in a “traditional” black tea taste. Strikes me as more of a green or oolong tea flavor, but it is very tasty. Just not what I expected from a “black” tea as it is described in their literature.
Malty, I wouldn’t say sweet as some others have, but sure, some honey flavors. Nice scent.
Leaves are so large I had to just use my fingers to get the tea, my little round scoop I usually use is useless.

2025 sipdown no. 1

A lovely vanilla tea, and great to have a decaf option that tastes nice. The pink cornflowers are also pretty in the dry blend. I prefer this to the Vanilla Bean.

Quick backlog impressions based on one ball.
Floral, vegetal green teaish notes, upfront sweetness. Low bitterness, astringency is higher when pushed. Light body, some texture byt not too much, no standout aftertaste. The best part for me was some mushroom and barnyardyr funk that showed up quite strongly in some steeps, reminding me of some lower Menghai area teas (but without the bitterness).

Ummmm idk how this is so good and I can’t describe it very well anyways but it’s just a phenemonal tea. I’ve tried it twice now after a rest, and I have to say it’s the best puerh I’ve had! Wanted to try this famous cake and now I understand it’s renown. The wrapper is so beautifully designed too! And to show how much I like it, I ran this one for 25 infusions, so 4 g in 60 mL is plenty hahaha.

This is certainly worth $1.5/g, but I can’t begin to think about sparing the $600 for a full cake haha. I’m just glad that LP gave me the opportunity to try a sample :).

Next up is this one from 2012. It was given as a free sample. Quite an interesting sheng in terms of aroma of the dry and wet leaves, which give dates and, when wet, leather with barley.

Mouthfeel is nice and thick on this one. Very minimal hui gan. Starts out with a nice, subtle flavor, but falls off pretty quickly after 3-4 infusions. Fairly disappointing tea after a fun aroma.

Location: Dong Banshan, Mengku, Shuangjiang County, Lincang, Yunnan, China
Cultivar: Da Ye Zhong

Another sample from my recent order. Wanted to round out the remaining middle aged puerhs from their catalogue. This one is described on the website as having tannin and peat flavors. I can understand the peat, and there is some astringency, but I would not say it is overpowering. Not a bad tea at all, but not the tea for me in the end.

Producer: Yunnan Liming Agro-Industrial Commercial Integrated Tea Factory
Location: Banpen, Menghai, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China
Name: Cloud mist remnant taste

Got a sample of this with my second Nannuoshan order and it’s very nice! Haven’t had BHYZ in a while so this is a treat. Very floral for a white tea. Super smooth and without any off notes, as expected for this bud only tea. Thanks, Nanuoshan!

Day 9 of DIY mostly Adagio advent. The coconut flavor in this is fine – not too oily, decently creamy – but the base tea is extremely meh. It just has this coarse edge to it that doesn’t complement the flavoring and makes it impossible for me to enjoy the cup. I tried adding honey in an effort to soften the edge, but it didn’t help at all.

Elder care is not for sissies. We have been unsuccessfully researching care and living options for mom-in-law and I feel like a moth who has beaten its little head senseless on light bulb after light bulb without getting anywhere.

So this evening I folded my scorched wings and overheated brain, picked out a playlist of hymns that made my heart happy, crocheted to the beat, and washed it all down with a double bagger—this nice spearmint/peppermint blend, plus a tulsi chaser. Other reviews mention a cooling effect. I concur. Leaves your taste buds a little tingly.

I really enjoy this tea, it’s fruity with a hit of syrup and marzipan. It’s light and sweet and refreshing. I think this will be a rebuy eventually… just have a sample for now.

This is one of my all-time favourite teas. I did not buy a box this year because I still have a few teabags. To my delight, my new job had some teabags of this sitting in the communal tedabag area.

Not only did I land my new dream job with awesome pay, but they also pay us for a 30 minute tea and coffee break where we talk about science things. It’s incredible! AND I get to drink my favourite tea.

I have been drinking this nearly every day and have now used all of the tea bags, however I really enjoy this tea brewed hot (either plain, or with vanilla soy milk).

My teabag is labelled “Lemon ginger” and does not specify herbal revive as the produce line. But it is by Twinnings and was purchased several years ago directly from the Twinnings store in London. I’m not 100% sure this is the exact same blend as the listing.

I put this in a large water bottle (~750 mL) with cold filtered water and just left the teabag in for several refills of water. It can flavour about 2L of water, which is very impressive. It tastes a bit like a lemonade but without the sweetness. I did not find it overly sour, since it was coldbrewed. I’ve had this brewed hot and it steeps too sour and tart. But cold it makes a lovely iced tea (even if you don’t have any ice). The ginger could be a bit stronger but overall it is balanced. I can also taste what I think is lemongrass. It might just be the lemon zest with other herbs but either way it is very tasty.

As a housewarming gift, Kiki gave me a nice glass teapot from HomeGoods that included a few flowering teas. Spring snuck (do you say sneaked or snuck?) in this weekend, so why not give one of them a try. Gosh, I don’t think I’ve had one for 12 years, since my dad sent me an awesome Numi flowering tea giftbox.

Directions say to brew with boiling water for 5-10 minutes but I can’t bring myself to do so, recalling how the Numi balls would become bitter. So 185F, enough to get the ball to unfurl. The flower tower isn’t standing upright; it’s definitely a leaner.

The tea itself is drinkable, mostly mineral with light cooked green bean taste and a hint of butter. It is so heavily perfumed with jasmine and maybe rose?, though, that I’d only be comfortable serving this to a matronly patron of Crabtree & Evelyn. A little peach hides behind that gigantic perfumed schnoz.

For me, it’s a fair complement to the sunny, windows-open day but not something I would buy. Much too strong and artificial.

This is my go-to morning tea. It has a sufficient amount of bergamot, though to be fair, I always want more. I drink mine with a little honey and lemon and it’s a good start to the day. Is it fancy? No. Is it good. Yes it is. It’s a sturdy tea.

I was looking forward to try this because of the name but I am underwhelmed. Very astringent and tannin taste. It’s smells nice but no amount of milk can save this tea. Let’s just say it’s best to keep this tea on the secret sale as it doesn’t really live up to the hype.

This is super tasty cold with almond milk and sweetener. It didn’t taste like much warm. I definitely noticed the vanilla once it cooled down. I might like this is even more than the original flavor! So rich and chocolatey.

Sipdown! (23)

One of my tea goals for this year was to start cold steeping again, and so far it’s been going well! I have a little stash of teas I bought specifically for this purpose, and this was one of them.

Harney’s fruit teas are all quite enjoyable cold steeped (aside from the Goji Berry one, which I was not a fan of), and I’d be hard-pressed to choose a favorite. Anyway, this is one of the more hibiscus-y ones, but I can still drink it without sweetener, and it’s enjoyable tangy with prominent strawberry notes. Not sure whether I’ll repurchase it or not, we’ll see how I feel after I finish the rest of my cold steep stash!

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Finishing as a cold steep for Ashman, who is finding that this is how he prefers his strong black teas.

Sipdown

This was one of the teas I was most excited to try in the advent as it was one of the few that I hasn’t had before. It was very good, figgy enough for me and not too figgy for Ashman. I do prefer Fig and Lavender from Tea Grotto over this one I think, but this really is comparing apples,and oranges because this Fortnum tea is what it is supposed to be – a black tea with fig flavor. Tea Grotto has a lot more flavoring and would probably suit different pairings than the Fortnum tea which is more black tea forward.

I would definitely enjoy having this tea again and if we do the advent again sometime I hope this one stays in the line up.

I saw this tea/company while grocery shopping, and I decided to give it a try since it’s not every day that a whole new tea company pops up in the grocery aisle. I’ve done some very light research and it seems like these cocoa husk teas are only a small area of focus of the company, and not their main bread & butter as far as products go. So, that’s kind of interesting to me!

I know that legally they don’t need to list out all of the spices in the ingredients and that just writing “spices” is compliant, but it always bums me out when companies choose not to. I would much rather have the full ingredients list as a consumer. Inspecting the dry leaf, I see quite a lot of cardamom along with clove, cinnamon, and ginger. I think maybe a small bit of a fennel, too? I didn’t look super close, but these were all very visually apparent.

Steeped up it’s pretty nice tasting! In the spectrum of cacao teas I’ve tried, I think this could be richer but it’s also not as thin/watery as some I’ve come across either. Like a light hot chocolate sort of flavour, but supported with warming spice. Cardamom is the strongest by a landslide and that’s really not surprising to me given how many full pods I saw when scooping. I like cardamom and chocolate paired together a lot, so no surprise this worked for me!