4337 Tasting Notes
2023 Ode To Tea – Part II – P
I decided to sipdown this precious tea. The flavor is, of course, still amazing. I really get the “candy” aspect of this truly unique flavor at this point in the tea’s life. I definitely have not had a tea with this flavor before. Fruity, sweet, a bit floral, and really fantastic and perfect on this down to earth yet light green base. I will miss this!
2023 sipdowns: 70
Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – August 2023 Tea #1 - August 5 – Campfire Day
This was my smoky pick today for this prompt! I was going to go with one mixed with honeybush, but my throat was already scratchy today… didn’t need help with that from scratchy honeybush. Anyway, this tea has a ton of flavor. It’s aging wonderfully. Smoke and Earl on a hefty black base. Yum.
Another from StarFevre! Thanks very much! The pieces of the blend are chopped up extremely small. And the scent from the leaf smells like rose potpourri. Usually rose in a blend does not usually have that distinct potpourri note, but this one sure does, which definitely translates to the flavor. Potpourri! The second steep tastes more like tamarind or lychee… maybe more of the jasmine. The green tea is astringent though. I wish there was more of a balance of jasmine. Not a bad blend, if you can tolerate the… potpourri!
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 33 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 29 minutes after boiling // 2 min
From Daylon R Thomas! Thanks so much for that excellent tea delivery! I wanted to accomplish a few sipdowns before diving into the box. I was extra thrilled to try these Trident teas, ever since I read about them when Daylon originally tried them. Though Trident specifically says this is an assam from India, it most definitely reminds me of a Taiwanese assam. The flavor profile is the same as a PTA – Premium Taiwanese Assam. Somewhat starchy, malty. Maybe slightly different tasting from a Taiwan tea, but in an unlabeled taste test, I bet I would guess a PTA. This is quite delicious and DEFINITELY high quality from this shop. The leaves are huge.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons // 22 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 1/2 min steep
I’m so glad you loved that one. PTA’s are more fruity to me when I try them, but that one is more toffee sweet and drying for me despite having a lot of layers to it.
Yes, I can definitely see that! PTA is usually strawberry to me, with caramel. This also reminded me of a Ruby, which usually is like the nougat in certain chocolates. So this tea was like a mix of those flavors!
2023 Ode To Tea – Part II – M
This looked like a great blend and sounded like a great blend in theory, but the flavor was always off. Especially now that it’s older. (Are you all getting sick of these repetitive “this tea is old now” notes that I keep writing? I know I’M sick of them.) So I’m glad it’s a sipdown.
2023 sipdowns: 67
2023 Ode To Tea – Part II – L
4,000th tasting note here! (Is that all?! It seems it has been WAY more than 4,000…)Finished off one pouch of this one (the sample) but luckily bought some more for backup. Nice lemon rind flavor. On another lemon note, I could drink gallons of the Simply brand lemonade, to any lemonade fans out there… it is by far my favorite lemonade. There is SO MUCH lemon pulp in it. It’s so good.
2023 sipdowns: 66
2023 Ode To Tea – Part II – K
Not a sipdown but I forgot all about this tea, so I thought I’d include it for ‘K’ that isn’t a letter with any actual close sipdowns at the moment. The flavors have faded but this tea is now 5 years old. I was happy to see this chutney tea originally! Would love to see more chutney teas!
2023 Ode To Tea – Part II – J
I was hesitant to sip this one down already, but Jun Chiyabari usually wins the award for ‘Complex flavors, that change/age the fastest’. So I finished this one today! Why wait? Even the second steep tended to lose a ton of flavor, but again, no fault of this tea. Only my hoarding.
2023 sipdowns: 65
