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Sipdown (213/216)!

I received my Just Organic Tea samples for review today, and I felt obligated to try at least one of them today and get a review up because the company was very kind and sent me their whole Kickstarter line up to try out, as well as the organic sugar they sell (I’m going to have my company try that though, since I don’t add sugar to tea).

This best fit what I was in the mood for (fruit teas), so it was the first one I tried. I’m sad to say, it was also from the round of tea that I grossly oversteeped, so this steeped more than double the time it should have. I feel bad about that – when reviewing samples for companies anticipating reviews, I should really be much more diligent in my steeping.

That said, I was actually quite pleasantly surprised because this was hardly even bitter/astringent at all and actually held up really well to the oversteep it got. It’s hard to comment on the black base because of my reckless steeping, but I feel like it’d probably be really good if it lasted a 10 min. steep without bitterness. The spices were pretty tasty – more gentle than I thought they would have been, for which I was grateful. I tasted cinnamon/cloves most prominently. I will say that the orange could have been more powerful – I felt that it really sat in the background, which is not what you want when that ingredient is in the title of the tea.

Overall, I felt satisfied with the cup and I’m really excited to try the rest of the samples I received. I feel hopeful that at the minimum they will all be average cups, but anticipate finding one or two which are truly extraordinary.

You should all check out the company’s Kickstarter, as well if you already haven’t. I’m really hoping they make their goal.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/justorganictea/just-organic-tea-the-very-best-tea-delivered

Sipdown (214/217)!

Sort of a sad sipdown. This was pretty good, and definitely sweet and caramel/apple like (it reminded me of RiverTea’s Mulberry White but with a black base), but it also felt just a touch generic – and it’s an Adagio blend which also immediately says “inaccessible” to me and is a huge turn off.

Sadly this cup was grossly oversteeped, so there was a very significant amount of bitterness that I struggled to get over. Definitely not the most pleasant of sipdowns, and it kind of felt waster because of the oversteep.

Morning cup of Earl Grey since I was definitely in a black tea mood. Not much new to report, but this cup is a little more fruit and a lot more astringent, which sort of just evens out in my opinion.

Morning tea, to counter balance the fruity/tart cold brew I’m having. This has been in my cupboard a while and I know I received the sample from someone else as an extra in the “Take it Away” thread, but I’m really sorry because I can’t for the life of me remember who now that I no longer have my spreadsheet.

I added a little bit of milk to this since I have some left I can enjoy plain, and I wanted to use up the excess of milk we have (which’ll go bad in a few days) up in at least some capacity.

Taste wise, this is “Holy Shit” level of amazing! I took a sip, and instantly my mouth was flooded with delicious tea ambrosia. I got strong, bold notes of honey, baked bread, and caramel/pastry glaze in addition to the beautifully smooth black base. This was instant love – and it’s going straight onto my shopping list because I need more.

Daily cold brew.

I had this hot months ago and noted that I thought it’d be good cold brewed, so I picked up a small sample recently and set out to cold brew it in my mason jar. In total, it steeped for six and a half hours. The tea is a really pretty vibrant red.

Taste wise, the tea is pretty sour/tart on the initial sip but mellows out into a nice, juicy fruit punch like drink by the end of the sip. I think I made this comparison with the hot form, but it’s like red Kool-Aid before you’ve added all the sugar. I’m definitely not about to add a bunch of sugar to my tea, especially since this really isn’t bad at all if you don’t mind a little mouth puckering.

Now I’m even more excited to try my RiverTea fruit blend which also has Sea Buckthorn in it!

And so concludes the backlog from last night!

This cup, similar to Vanilla Comoro, was also better than I remember my first tasting of it. I also did steep it for a much shorter time period though, so that likely played a role in it.

Taste wise, the mint and chocolate were pretty 50/50 in presence. It would have been better if there was something contributing some creaminess, but instead there was an almost metallic taste (not woody – metallic) coming from the rooibos. While it didn’t taste totally unpleasant this time around, it was distracting.

I still have a few more cups left of this that I’m sure I’ll get through surprisingly quickly. I wont be too heartbroken when this is gone.

Well, this would have been a temporary sipdown, but my RiverTea order showed up before I could log this note, so now I have 50g more to enjoy!

I really hardly felt the spice in this mug at all though – but no complaints!

I think I’ll leave my 50g untouched for a while though, so that I can sample the my new RiverTea blends first! The Absolute Spearmint is calling to me, as well as the fruit blends :)

Sipdown (214/217)!

I had this last night in a timolino, just because the timolino was the perfect sized thing to drink it in and use up all the leaf. I’m sad to be down a 52Teas banana blend because they’re so good, but it was a really enjoyable sipdown and I made sure to stretch it out, savor each drop, and make it really count.

The coconut was more mild in this cup, and the banana/vanilla was stronger. As well, the mouthfeel seemed to be thicker which added to the “pudding” feeling.

Goodbye Banana Pudding, you will be dearly missed!

Maybe this is growing on me or maybe it’s just that I’m finding better ways to enjoy it. But regardless, there’s not much left so this is an impending sipdown and I highly doubt it’ll be a restock.

This time I stuck with a hot prep. because I liked it better that way, but I also kept the steep time really short and then added some milk. This way, there was hardly any of the unwanted chamomile taste, and the mango was very thick and creamy, much more like liquid mango icecream which is a favourite summertime treat I like to get at the Indian Pavilion during Mosaic.

Best cup I’ve had of it yet. I still have one/two cups left, so I’ll probably try to have them this way.

So, I made this up last night (one more sachet to go and then it’s a sipdown) and brewed it up pretty much the exact same way as last time – which I know was maybe a stupid approach since I was so disappointed with my first cup which just taste like really silky water. However, I was pleasantly surprised with this cup!

I had a bit of it without milk and then the last of it with milk, and both ways I actually was able to taste the vanilla this time – even if it wasn’t that strong. So, I should apologize to this blend – there’s a little bit more than just water going on…

Still wouldn’t reorder it though, and not super impressed either.