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A sample from Cameron B! Thanks so much! This is one of those blends from David’s I have wanted to try for years. I used half the sample, a little over a teaspoon. I’m glad I did, because the entire sample might have been cloying. This is sweet sweet coconut. Any more sweetness would have been too much! I can hardly tell there is anything here other than coconut and sweeteners but it’s not a bad cup. It fits for a dessert blend that will also put you to sleep. I’m glad this is only a sample, as I can tell this would NOT be a blend that would age well. haha.
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for a mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 5 minute steep

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – September 2023 Tea #3- Your oldest non-puerh tea

This one is actually tasting its age at this point.  But as the oldest tea around here, I wouldn’t expect it not to taste old.  It still has a glimmer of that lovely flavor that makes this the second or third favorite CS tea.  Next time, a sipdown.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – September 2023 Tea #2- A tea from a favorite vendor

Had to do it.  No other tea shop could probably possibly ever unseat Butiki from THE favorite.  I like to revisit this one in summer.  I think I have a few summers left of it.  The flavor is still so spot on amazing.  The third steep was probably the best, making me regret tossing the leaves before a fourth. It’s coffee, it’s melon, it’s that incomparable base. sigh. I was going to actually finish another Butiki tea but I guess I recently misplaced it! oh no. But I’m sure it’s around somewhere.

I really didn’t buy this for flavor — more that I wanted the stress and anxiety reducing properties of GABA and I didn’t have any GABA teas around.  One teaspoon of these tiny bundles is enough to unravel in an entire steeping basket.   The flavor is quite different from any other oolong I have tried.  It’s butternut squash and only butternut squash.  Second steep?  It’s summer squash and only summer squash.  Third steep looks as dark as a black tea and tastes like a variety of squash.  I was dreading it being a one note of roasted flavor, but I’m not tasting a roasted note at all.  As regards the GABA, I think…. I was feeling the normal levels of stress and anxiety.  I also slept about the same, so it didn’t change my sleep.  Maybe my stress is too much for ANY GABA to handle.  I wouldn’t use more than one teaspoon to find out.  hmm… at least when I’m craving a tea with the flavors of squash, there is a definite tea for that.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 1-2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep 
Steep #3 // 2 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Harvest: 2023

I was lacking more than one sticky rice option!  So I thought I’d try this. Four ounces of this tea is 15 tuochas in the case of my pouch.  These are fairly big disc shapes, with a line down the middle.  Possibly indicating you could cut it in half to save for later.  But Teavivre’s instructions say to use one piece for twelve ounces.  And I like my puerh thick, so I definitely went with a whole piece for a mug.   The sticky rice scent is definitely abundant here and it’s very quick to unravel!  I’d say the sticky rice flavor is so strong that it kind of overpowers the ripe puerh, even if the brew is dark.  But there is a lingering coffee flavor following the sticky rice.   There was plenty of sticky rice flavor throughout all the steeps.  The last one having like a creamy quality to it.  I think the focus here is more the sticky rice flavoring, as the puerh is quite mild, even with my standard mug size. Though the infuser is almost FULL of unraveled leaves.  I might like that long fourth steep the best with that creamier smooth quality.   I’m glad I have this in stock for the sticky rice craving, but I might not reach for it when I’m craving nuanced shou.
Steep #1 // 11 minutes after boiling //  1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 11 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // 11 minutes after boiling // 4 minute steep
Steep #4 // just boiled // 16 minute steep

additional notes: dashboard is back working! I was taking the Steepster break to drink some old favorites anyway, especially summer favorites, as I will be leaving my tea collection to help take care of Grandma shortly. It’s always fun packing some teas for the trip. THIS tea is miraculous. An amazing balance of Just Enough flavor to not be overdone and hide the oolong. Some might call it suntan. I call it SUMMER and DELICIOUS. :D

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – September 2023 Tea #1- September 4 – Eat An Extra Dessert Day

I wish I had ONE dessert today, but this tea will have to do (and my excellent glass of my most favorite lemonade — so good, I will count the lemonade as dessert on this hot day.)  Finishing this sample!  I will miss this one as I miss most of the glorious marshmallow root blends from 52teas.  Chocolate marshmallow — one of my favorite flavor combos. So good.
2023 sipdowns: 83

okay, no, edited to add —I had a cherry poptart for dessert. Hey, it’s Labor Day. why not. Also, I see the dashboard is froze.

additional notes: whyever would they change the name for this tea? I loved when they called it Rice Moo-long! It made sense. It was cute! Anyway, I always love the balance of the genmaicha flavor with the milk oolong flavor. Neither overpowers or is obnoxious. Perfect, as is. Raising the rating from 91.

additional notes: I forget how great this one is, how much I love it. It’s fruity, but with some interesting notes of pepper and tulsi, all in a lovely balance on a take-the-backseat green tea base. Good stuff!!

I loved the Dessert By Deb tea I had a couple days ago, so I had to run and find this among the teas Cameron B sent. Thanks, Cameron B! The scent from the pouch is true to name. I didn’t even hesitate to bypass reading the ingredients list since it smelled so good, other than to check that the base is houjicha. Sadly, the steeped tea is FULL hibiscus. Just drowning in it to the point that I then had to read the ingredients list to see if there was anything else in it other than hibiscus… and houjicha. But there are plenty of lovely ingredients here! Even if coconut seems really weird with some tart fruit flavors — the problem is mainly the hibiscus. I really would have liked this if the hibiscus had been left out. Maybe I shall pick some of the hibiscus out in the future? The second steep seemed toned down on the hibiscus but the other flavors were still missing. What a shame!
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons // 20 minutes after boiling // 2-3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 min