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Thank you VariaTEA for the sample. Yet another DT Mate to check off the list of ones to try, which is always a good thing.

Dry this smells very tart and fruity – not sure if I’d call it “berry” per say, but definitely fruity. Steeped it smells familiar, but not totally sure where from. I have to say, I’m a little disappointed though because I was bracing myself for horrifying mouth puckering tart and instead I taste… Like, a semi tart but also kid of muted hibiscus/berry jumble? Maybe it’s the earthy mate kind of holding this back? But it doesn’t taste anything really like what I was expecting. Also, the aftertaste strongly reminds me of beets. Ew.

Maybe it’s an unfair comparison, but I think McQuarrie’s Rum Cream would be much more fitting of the title “Queen of Tarts”. This is just… No thanks.

I guess I’ll try cold brewing it, but right now I’m a little less than impressed and I’m struggling a lot to get over the beets thing because it’s just so unappealing. I do not want to be drinking a hibiscus/berry/beet juice cocktail.

Also – it took me forever to right this note because I’m incredibly distracted by Season 9 of Bones (just finished the wedding episode), and Teens/Elders/YouTubers React episodes. That is distracting shit right there.

And… THE MAIL IS HERE! My/Tre’s Classic Who books from Carol Who arrived today (I’m especially loving all the tea/Doctor who quotes on the page you printed out), and the tea from Keychange showed up today too. Definitely going to have to make some Boston later today! I’m also happy to report that I’m still under 200 for the time being.

EDIT: More than half of this got dumped.

I cold brewed this for a total of 12 hours. Something told me it’d be an interesting cold brew. Sadly, it used up a good portion of the leaf. This is disappearing quickly, and I’m not sure yet whether I’ve really wrapped my head around it.

But anyway, it is yummy as a cold brew even if there’s no presence of chocolate at all whatsoever (that disappoints me). It’s hard to describe though – because it’s pear – completely, and totally pear – but not really creamy pear, not chemical or artificial pear, not exactly candy pear, or soft gentle floral pear…

It’s like that grainy, I want to say ‘stony’ pear texture from when you eat the actual fruit. That texture comes across magnificently in the taste. Except I don’t understand why or how. I guess I just need more time to wrap my head around this one.

Scary close to a sipdown on this one. There’s enough left for one cup – so I’m really going to have to postpone/draw that out, despite the easy sipdown being tempting.

It was about 2 AM when I decided that I just had to drink this and I don’t got a second regret it because it was a warm, smooth comforting cup of caramel, vanilla, and yummy puffed wheat. I’m not sure if this has ruined Genmaicha for me nearly as much as it has for VariaTEA but it certainly has done a number on me.

Now, what I do regret a little is deciding to make peanut butter cookies at the same time as I made this tea. 2 AM baking is not necessarily the best or brightest idea.

…And so concludes yesterday’s backlog.

Nothing fancy; just a nice hot mug full of it with milk. I wanted something reliable to pair alongside the Rum Cream, just in case it wasn’t drinkable.

The oiliness of this blend is becoming increasingly bothersome, though.

Sipdown (197/201)!

Again, only sort of a sipdown technically – because there’s still a little left, but I’m going to be sending it to VariaTEA because she appreciates it a lot more than I do. I wanted to get one last cup worth in though, just in case my opinion has changed.

I did severely under leaf this cup because I’ve found it to be way too strong/sour in the past – so I used less than 1 tsp. for my 8 oz. mug of it. This did affect the flavour, and I found it was more creamy with a lighter touch of strawberry/hibiscus, but I still didn’t enjoy it a whole lot so I’m happy with my decision to send what little is left to someone who will fully appreciate it.

Sipdown (198/202)!

Well, sort of a sipdown. There’s enough for a cup left but that’s being set aside until it can be sent to someone else in a swap VariaTEA, so I’m just gonna take it out of my cupboard in the meantime.

This is my first Hojicha but I’ve read a fair bit about them so I had a relative idea of what to expect. Dry, it smelled like straw and steeped up, it smelled very much like a Genmaicha.

Taste wise, it was like a Genmaicha in the toasty, roasted quality of it but it didn’t have the “puffed wheat” taste. It gave me the same kind of “hug it close to your body for warmth and comfort” kind of feeling, though. It was really yummy, although it got relatively bitter by the time I was at the end of my mug.

I hope VariaTEA likes it! I’m not sure why, but I just have this feeling that she should really try it.

Sipdown (199/203)!

Ha! Finally under 200 teas – let’s see how long that lasts. My guess? Not even three days. Of course, I do hope I’m wrong.

I must say, I had mixed feelings on this one because while I do like apricot – peach is a flavour I’m very fussy about, and neither are flavours I immediately turn to or reach for the same way I do with pears or bananas or pineapple. That’s why I was really surprised when I brewed this one up.

The black base here is really nice. Very smooth and I’ve found kinda malty, and it doesn’t get bitter or astringent very easily. All of those are things I can get behind, and I don’t think it’s premature of me to be saying that I’m really a fan of the black base used by Just Organic Tea.

The flavouring in this one was an interesting experience in and of itself. Where I was expecting peach/apricot I was immediately sucker punched with the lemon myrtle/calendula which was very tasty and creamy and just delicious. However, I found that they were the dominant flavour in this tea and the apricot very heavily sat in the background. I couldn’t even taste the peach in this at all.

So, I have to rate this accordingly because it was incredibly delicious as a black lemon tea, but it fell really short on its name because it was not a Peach/Apricot tea at all.

Sipdown (200/204)!

I cold brewed that last of my sample of this one! I probably should have let it cold brew longer because this was rather weak in taste, but I was being impatient to drink it and get my next cold brew started, so I took it out after about six hours of cold brewing. Weak may not have been too bad though, because it lacked the somewhat off putting sourness it sometimes has.

This is more than likely going to make a reappearance in my cupboard come summertime. Right now, it’s missed but not in an immediate capacity.

Also part of my round of whites teas, probably because I was still in a coconut mindset following the amazing Coconut Oolong that I enjoyed.

This one is really very tasty and very light (less buttery, though) – but a slight downside of it is the oiliness, which was really pronounced (more than usual) in this mug. Maybe that’s because I’m getting even closer to the bottom of the bag and the pieces are becoming increasingly more broken. It’ll be a really sad day when I run out of this.

It needs a triumphant return.

Had a round of white tea while there was company over. Nothing new or all that fancy – just some teas that I find to be really consistent in flavour that I knew would be enjoyable while Kristina was over.

Of course this was one of them! It’s my first flavoured white love and my favourite currant tea and just so delicious!