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Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – October 2023 Tea #3 – October 14 – National Dessert Day

Not QUITE a sipdown, but perilously close to finishing this one.  This is probably one of my oldest “dessert” teas.  Tons of flavor here.  It sure does taste like dessert.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – October 2023 Tea #2 – Have a chai!

I always forget that the second steep is much better on this one, once the stevia sweetening elements have wisped away in the first steep.  It’s an enjoyable chai without that stevia!  I’m actually surprised how quickly I’m drinking through the large amount that TreeGal sent over a while ago.  I think I have a few more cups before it’s gone. A white chocolate chai sounds nice in theory, and I’m not even someone who even remotely likes white chocolate. It’s just not how I want to acquire my diabetes…

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – October 2023 Tea #1 -October 4 – National Cinnamon Roll Day

Had to throw this cinnamon tea in the mix today.  Could there BE a more cinnamon tea?  NOPE.  I always want to gulp it right down. 

additional notes: Steepster dashboard is still down after ten days?! argh. Anyway, I just wanted to write a quick note for this lone teabag from Cameron B — thanks very much! Easy to take this one along on the trip, away from the tea stash. It’s a favorite and I can’t say enough about the star here — that lingering strawberry flavor that only seems to get stronger even on the third steep. Usually if I steep a puerh for many minutes on the third steep, any flavor that would be present is overpowered by the base, but not this lovely strawberry! Raising the rating from 85.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – September 2023 Tea #7- September 21 – World Gratitude Day

I thought I’d throw this note into the abyss.  I hope the one person in charge of keeping Steepster going is having a swell vacation.  Anyway, I’m grateful for this tea during — from what I have heard — is chai day.  YES chai!  I’m especially grateful to this blend because it is a seasonal, therefore rare blend to get ahold of, especially if us in America don’t want to spend a ton of money just for shipping.  I can never tire of this blend!  Perfection.

Back note from before I left town, but also… I see Steepster has been down for three days. sigh.

From Cameron B!  Thanks again!  Sometimes I like the idea of tasting a black tea at night, and that is when decaf is helpful.  But really I think it is just the light base here for showcasing a super strong cherry flavor.  This cherry is not particularly medicinal OR the candy type… so I like it.  It’s almost like if black cherries were treated like maraschino cherries.   It’s Lupicia cherry, I guess!  As their flavors are usually on point.  So when I’m craving cherry, I will go for this one.  I’m glad I like it!   … Didn’t notice I should have been tasting peach until I read the description… this is full cherry to me.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 1 – 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  just boiled // 3-4 min

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – September 2023 Tea #6- A tea with natural cocoa notes

I wanted to try these, as they remind me a little of one of my favorite teas – Phoenix Pearls!  Looking at these though, these are almost grayish in color, covered in tiny trichomes, while the Phoenix Pearls I know are very shiny and have no trichomes at all.  Really, all they have in common is being rolled black tea. The scent of the dry leaf is  exactly like toasted rice or or genmaicha or buckwheat or oats - all of these scent notes very unlike most black tea, so very intriguing!  A five gram sample has a little over a teaspoon and a half, so I went with a full sample pouch for a mug.   The brew does not get dark like I suspect… it’s very light.  The flavor is mostly like a cup of unsweetened cocoa with a hint of smoke.   The second steep is much the same and especially when cold, the mug is full cocoa.  I can’t help but love Phoenix Pearls more, but this seems to have a slightly different flavor profile than Teavivre’s other Dian Hongs.  Though I wish some of the scents from the dry leaf resulted in the flavor… I think I used the proper amount of leaf for a mug.  I wouldn’t use less but I wouldn’t be opposed to trying at least two teaspoons.  This tea is weighty though! I think I love it best as the leftover tea, cold the next day. I love that Cameron B notices french fries here (-my dinner last night. haha) I didn’t expect this tea to fit a prompt when I steeped it up, but since this cup is full cocoa, it can and it shall. :D
Steep #1 // 1 3/4 teaspoons for a full mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep
Harvest: 2023

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – September 2023 Tea #5 – A tea you regret buying

This tea definitely comes to mind when I think “regret buying”.  It’s such a confusing tea!  So muddled, especially with the three bases.  I’m not sure what I was thinking when I bought it… I usually do not like combined base teas with various tea types.  Green tea with black tea?  AND some sort of oolong  AND at least four different flowers No thanks.  At least there are supposedly real vanilla bits here?  Unfortunately, this is definitely not a sipdown as I started with 100 grams. And of course, with it aging, it’s just getting more boring blah. (This is also stored in that bottom box I mentioned yesterday — the hardest to reach box.)

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – September 2023 Tea #4 – Your hardest to reach tea

“Hardest to reach” for me means a stack of three boxes of tea.  This tea is in the bottom box — I have to move the top two boxes.  The bottom box is mainly my box of teas for teas I have extras of, that I like to stay out of the way — like a large amount of Tiesta’s I Gotta Colada when I knew they were discontinuing it.  This tea is fine — it’s aging now into a muddled generic fruit flavor.  But at least there are two different black teas here — one being a CTC.

No other tasting notes for a Whispering Pines tea?!?! This is from Daylon R Thomas!  Thanks so much!  I have been drinking so many Nepal teas lately — all of them different tasting, yet so elusive in describing, that I’m skipping writing tasting notes for many of them… for now.  This one is very good.  Twisty black leaves with only a hint A HINT of auburn.  (But it also looks like my sample has a stray sickle of white tea in there.)  The flavor was surprisingly smoky in that first cup!  I didn’t expect smoke at all. The brew is crisp, clear, sweet.  A medium strength black.  The next morning, finishing the dregs when the cup has cooled, the smoke is gone. The flavor is so different this morning that I forgot I didn’t steep a second cup yet.  The second steep is much less smoky.  I can appreciate the clearness of this tea, the crisp cleanness, which seems the opposite of what otherwise, is mostly a tea with a smoky note.  Not bitter or murky at all, though usually I would prefer a murky tea, this one is just a gem.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a mug // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  just boiled // 4 min