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Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – January 2024 Tea #4 – A winter inspired blend

S&V’s flavors usually last quite a while — more than most teas.  But this one is just not aging well.  Understandably! This is at least five years old!  Tea is not immortal!   But the flavor is leaning more towards a plastic note at this point, for some reason, that was not there when the tea was fresh.  Just a note to not let this one age very much.  Next time is a sipdown.

Just a note to say this is another bergamot I can’t do. Sorry, Dessert By Deb.

Edited to add: A big thanks to Tiffany for sharing this, as I can still appreciate checking off a tea on my list and saying “I don’t need to drink this — it’s not the tea for me.” Sometimes it is a relief to NOT find something a favorite. :D

Just a note to say I can NOT do this bergamot. Who would ever think this is a good bergamot to use?? A rare tea I am dumping. But thanks for allowing me to see it isn’t for me, Tiffany!

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – January 2024 Tea #3 -January 12 – National Hot Tea Day

I couldn’t go with a tea that was CLOSE to a sipdown… I had to go with an actual sipdown!  I was hesitant to finish this one, but it was time to finish it.  It’s a good one!    It has richness that I LOVE and hints of cacao that I honestly can not tell of it’s the cacao added or the rich dark chocolate notes of the tea leaf itself.    I got this sample from a teabox long ago but I’m pretty sure that Simpson & Vail has this blend, so I will stock up when I order from them again (also almost out of Apple Cinnamon French Toast! NOOOO!!! and a few more favorites from S&V…)
2024 sipdowns: 5

The next puerh to try!  There is plenty of gold in this leaf.  The scent of the dry leaf is also bready, but not quite as “raw bread dough” as the sample from the other day.  NO negative qualities here in scent or taste.  It’s delicious but also hard to describe, other than a very high quality ripe.  A solid, standard representation of amazing puerh.   No extra flavor notes, like the extreme bread dough flavor of the other day.  JUST CLASSIC PUERH. All of the steeps are quite consistent, though the fourth peters out a bit. I feel like Teavivre’s ripe puerh hits me like the best coffee does, to the biggest coffee fan.  It’s so addicting.  I would never drink coffee when Teavivre’s ripe puerh is far superior.  So so good.
Steep #1 // half sample (5grams) for medium sized mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – January 2024 Tea #2 – Your oldest tea

This is definitely one of my oldest teas.  It might be the oldest tea I have that a tea shop sent me as a freebie to try, so it was time to sip it down.  And it’s still very good.  It’s always better than I remember it being.  I expect it to be cloying after not steeping it for a while, but then that first sip reminds me it’s a favorite.  The unique flavors meld with the oolong base.  Rich and creamy with a hint of citrus — though 1,000% different than an Earl Cream.   I’m sad this shop has disappeared but I think the blend itself can be found elsewhere.
2024 sipdowns:  4

This poor poor tea! I never wrote a review for this ancient blend and it’s actually quite good. The citrus and peppercorns are the perfect flavor combination. So the name is very accurate. It’s lemon. It’s “pepper” as in peppercorn. I think it would have been interesting to have other pepper in it. There is something effervescent about it — it could be a lemon soda tea. It must be the precise spices to make it seem like soda, melding in with the lemon and peppercorn. The black tea seems darker than a typical Della Terra base. I can’t believe it has any flavor at this point.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons // 23 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 min

A sample I always wanted to try from David’s!  Thanks so much, Cameron B!  I used half the sample, so about a teaspoon and a half.  The scent of the dry leaf is very true to the name!  The first steep was less thrilling than the scent…. the cappuccino flavor was there (not much vanilla) but it’s such a weak steep — not too much black tea in the blend itself, and I’m sure it isn’t strong anyway.  I liked the second steep better —  still plenty of cappuccino flavor, which I didn’t expect for the long second steep if it is mostly relying on added flavoring.  This blend is like the caffeinated version of Fireside Mocha, which is another one l like more for that added flavoring.  It fits if I’m craving cappuccino!   Thankfully, I didn’t notice rosehips AT ALL. Not bad, but not a cupboard staple.  This is why I love trying samples of teas I’m dreaming about. :D
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 7 min

So now that it’s 2024, I wanted to try one of my Teavivre puerh samples I ordered last year. There are six of them.  I wanted to try them close together but not all in the same week, so one a week sounds like the perfect plan. These samples are mostly Fengqing.  I wanted to try the Fengqing that Teavivre had, because I was a very huge fan of their Fengqing Golden Buds Ripened Pu-erh Cake 2013  but also their Fengqing Ripened Tribute Pu-er Cake 2013  that they no longer carry.  Hoping I like them because they are Fengqing and not just because 2013 was a lovely year for puerh.  I’m expecting greatness from these samples!  And I started with the 2014 Anniversary Cake. 
It is very easy to break these leaves apart from the cake.   But also the 10 gram sample doesn’t seem like much.  In the past, I would probably use all 10 grams in a mug, but I don’t want to overdo it for these initial taste tests.  I’m going to try to steep them all the same!This was harvested in 2014 and produced in 2018.  Aroma of dry leaf – very bready, almost like raw pizza dough. Just the way I like it.  And this is also most of the flavor profile — very bready and doughy.  Very sweet throughout — maybe a couple drops of coffee. Very delicious — NOT A HINT of any negative characteristics.  This is certainly an acceptable puerh to me.  The second steep was the strongest flavored.  The fourth was a bit weak for my tastes. It would be ultra delicious if I had used all 10 grams.  I might just revisit my favorite from 2013 again, to see how they compare at the end of trying the six samples…
Steep #1 // half sample (5grams) for medium sized mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 7 second rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // 3 min
Steep #4 // just boiled // 10 min

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – January 2024 Tea #1 – January 1 – Happy New Year
First sipdown of the year!  I would say this isn’t the particular Golden Monkey I would want to drink all year, but I definitely wouldn’t mind drinking some sort of Golden Monkey all year.  This almost tastes more like Keemun to me.  I love that the description says there were only 70 of these teas made back in Frank’s day.  I may have gotten 2, 3, or 4 of those 70 samples made in grab bags when the end of Frank’s era inspired a sale.  Still have one sample left (which I just realized still has a fortune in it…)
2024 sipdowns:  1