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Sipdown (202/204)!

This note was much longer last night, but to my chagrin we lost our internet connection and I lost my tasting note (and couldn’t watch any TV finish my backlog).

Had this as a cold brew at work. In total, this sat for nine/ten(ish) hours. I’m actually really happy I discovered this one as a cold brew, because it was great for using up leaf, gets an older tea out of the way and tastes a lot better than the hot version. Win win win!

And as far as work goes, I feel like I’m really getting into a rhythm – not just with the job itself but with having a routine and consistent bedtime/wake up time. I feel like I was at a point where I really needed that.

But yes; this is gone now and I’m pretty ok with that. More cupboard space and all that. It was cool having this hand picked for me, though – and I still adore the name. I wont be surprised if I find it being added to future RiverTea orders.

And hey, I’m officially 19! I think that means it’s time to try some tea infused martinis…

A perfectly simple tea to end the evening with, and a perfectly simple tasting note to match.

Holy butts I can’t believe I turn 19 in one day! Ahhh!

Daily matcha!

I’ve always loved having a large glass of milk when I get home from a long day of work (calcium, yo!) and it’s even better being able to have a large glass of matcha whisked milk now! Serendipitous, actually.

This is, of course, part of the giant matcha sampler from aisling of tea.

I’m so happy with this though, which is good because they sent so much! It blended amazingly well and frothed up really nicely too. On top of that, it tastes very good (not too weak or strong, and no grassy matcha taste) – and just like pumpkin pie gunk. The only thing that’d make it better is some super rich creamy vanilla icecream. Yes! I definitely want to try making a milkshake with this one! Vanilla icecream, milk, and pumpkin pie matcha! Mmm!

Huge thanks to aisling of tea/De for sending me so much of this one! Prior to tonight I’d only had one cup of it (courtesy of Kittenna), but I adored it and figured I’ve never get a chance to have more. I’m so SO happy to be wrong!

I just sent some of this to VariaTEA today along with a giant package of other teas which has been steadily growing the last month or so, and I couldn’t resist making myself some of this as soon as I got home.

I’d forgotten how cloudy/murky this is from the yogurt (I’m hoping that doesn’t turn off VariaTEA too much), and am really happy that it still tastes as amazing as I’ve held it up to be in my head. Delicious creamy/mellow and maybe even a teeny, tiny touch smokey/malty peach taste! Delicious!

Sipdown (203/205)!

I’ve done a really good job with sipdowns today! Yay me!

Anyway, made the last pf my sample of this from VariaTEA in a timolino and drank it on the walk home from work. That means it sat in the timolino for a good, solid 8 hours. I point this out because it wasn’t even the SLIGHTEST bit bitter – so that’s fantastic.

However, as far as the other taste goes I found it nice, if maybe a little too floral (I don’t mind floral teas too much, but I dislike that flavour quality a lot in black blends specifically). On a whole, this is SO generic though! Like, if I hadn’t made it myself and known what it was there’s nothing about this tea that distinguishes it enough for me to go “Oh yes, that’s a cup of Marco Polo! Nothing else like it!” and for that reason most of all I’m glad this is gone and out of the way.

Sipdown (204/206)!

Cold brewed overnight and half drank in the morning and half at work in a timolino. Total cold brew time was 12 hours.

I’m pretty excited to see this gone because it was an older tea and yet another unnecessary DT blend to keep around, especially since I wasn’t too impressed with it. However, I will say that it was better cold brewed than hot; it had a stronger banana flavour overall, although the oolong was still very unpleasant and floral.

I can’t help but wonder if this would have been much better if I’d acquired it fresh. I suppose that’s something I can revisit should DT ever decide to bring this back – but for now it’s out of cupboard and out of mind.

Sipdown (205/207)!

The sample I received of this from aisling of tea was the perfect size for a cold brew, which made me really excited because that’s why I had it in my shopping/wishlist in the first place. In total, this cold brewed for nine hours.

I brought it to work today to leave at my till and drink in between customers. It’s definitely more refreshing keeping cold brewed teas around than hot, though I appreciate the hot tea at the end of my shift when I’m cashing out/doing the closing paperwork and on the walk home.

This one was REALLY good. It definitely came across very strongly of berries, and I specifically tasted the sweet acai berries, and the blueberry. Sadly, the Juniper berries were kinda lost in the other strong flavours despite there being so many of them; I’m sure that they contributed something to the flavour on a whole though. This also reminded me a little of Blueberry Jam, which I also thoroughly enjoy.

Once my cupboard is better maintained and I’ve finished off a whole bunch of other DT blends, I’d TOTALLY stock this one up just for cold brewing; I think the key difference between this and Blueberry Jam is that Blueberry Jam didn’t make for a great cold brew where as this one totally did. It’d be interesting to try this hot and see if the reverse it true as well…

Sipdown (206/208)!

Again, thank you Cavocorax for the sample! I think this one actually grew on me the more I drank it, and I’m going to have to bump up the rating a little bit now that it’s gone.

I had this for my morning tea, mostly to get an extra sipdown in because, the side effect of working nearly fulltime, it appears I’ll be doing less tea drinking now that I wont be home as often. That’s a little bit sad, but an important sacrifice if it means that I’ll be paying my rent on time.

This cup was nice though; very rich and fudgey and with a lot of anise flavour (probably thanks to the almost completely intact piece of star anise). I don’t think I’ll miss it terribly – but we had a good run!

Sipdown (207/209)!

I’m glad this is gone; getting Christmas teas out of the way is definitely something that I welcome and besides I’m really getting sick of this one, which is sad because I liked it so much the first time that I had it. But take this cup for example; total let down!

I even sort of got the soggy cracker flavour that VariaTEA was experiencing so strongly with each cup. So, on that note I’m sad to be finishing this off on a slightly sour (rather, soggy) note and to feel like I need to be lowering my rating…

A lot.

I picked up milk on the way home from work because I was super excited about all the new matcha and just HAD to get some so I could try at least one of them today. It was a hard pick, but eventually I settled on this one.

So, 1/2 tsp. of matcha whisked into cold milk. I was a bit concerned because it hardly frothed up at all but it seems to be completely blended/mixed in so that’s good. I’m practically done the cup and haven’t encountered any lumps.

Taste wise; this starts of as kinda sweetened/sugary milk with is a bit disappointing but then in the aftertaste you get more of a true cotton candy flavour – and it works pretty well with the cold milk. In addition, there’s also a slight vegetal taste in the first part of the sip though it’s not too much or anything like that and it’s only a tad bit noticable. I’m not sure what flavour level this is, but I’d wager it’s either delicate or possibly distinctive.

Overall, this is nice and enjoyable though maybe a little average when it comes to sweet flavoured matches. I wish the cotton candy was maybe a bit stronger – but I’m very happy drinking it as is too.