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2023 Ode To Tea – Part II – I

Not too many teas representing ‘I’, so this is yet another tea that is not quite a sipdown.  What a quality puerh this is — it would be a great candidate for adding coffee beans to.  Very agreeable flavors here — coffee, cocoa, nice lingering aftertaste. It’s interesting my previous note (another note from nine years ago!) mentioned butternut squash.  I wish I were still tasting that.   The only difference in steeping parameters would be using 2 teaspoons instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons that I previously used and using cooler water this time around.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a full mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //   10 min after boiling // 3 min
Steep #3 //  5 min after boiling // 4 min

Sipdown! I wanted to taste this ancient tea to see if it matched my original note when I had this tea fresh from Teavivre (nine years ago!). It kind of did match! Originally, I said “Hints of vegetables, but I can’t tell what type. It has almost a savory quality – salty, brothy, soupy.”
This time around, I would have definitely said vegetal and salty. A little bit like brussels sprouts? I noticed another note from someone else mentioned ‘spinach’. Definitely not as sweet as many oolongs can be.
2023 sipdowns: 64

Another from StarFevre. Thank you! I steeped with my usual method of ripping open the teabag and taking a teaspoon out to make hot tea. The flavors are still going strong! Equal parts lime and cola. Very impressive for how old this tea is. Should have probably just cold brewed this, considering the crazy weather the world has been having this year. If this is the new normal for some places… The ocean in Florida is now a hot tub. Arizona cactuses are dying. I can’t imagine other places in the world… ANYWAY
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 40 second steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 1-2 min steep

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – July 2023 Tea #8 – A tea you regret not buying more of 

I have been hesitant to finish this one!  I loved the sample I was able to try, so I really wish it hadn’t disappeared from the website before I was able to buy some.  (Or maybe it will be brought back…someday…) It’s just SUCH a eucalyptus/aloe tea!  Cooling on a hot day!   A great mix of ingredients/ flavors… including the cucumber slice I spotted.   A perfect blend IMO.  I was worried waiting longer to sip this down would ruin it, but it tastes just the same as two years ago.  It’s so tasty!  Three excellent steeps.  I was trying to refrain from gulping.  Might be my favorite blend ever from Davidstea? If anyone has any of this they want to swap for, let me know…
2023 sipdowns: 63

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – July 2023 Tea #7 – A tea with more than 5 ingredients

I think this one has at least five types of Japanese green teas?  Not to mention other ingredients.  So I thought this tea would fit for this prompt.  I’m not sure if it is due to age OR that there are five base teas, but the flavor at this point is a bit muddled.  And definitely no strawberry left here.  I mean… I just checked and this tea is eight years old so I can’t expect miracles…. Next time is a sipdown.

2023 Ode To Tea – Part II – H

Not a sipdown, but I chose an ‘H’ tea that I tend to ignore because I really don’t reach for roasted oolongs. Of course, Teavivre probably has the best roasted oolongs, but they are still probably lost on me. This one is aging well, at least! It was actually more enjoyable than I would have thought. Either I haven’t had this type of tea in a WHILE or my tastes are changing. I doubt that. I think Teavivre just has a really solid tea here, much like most of their other offerings.

I wanted to make sure I wrote a note for the reputedly “only tea garden in the US” (so says their tea packet packaging… but this is an OLLLDD teabag… probably things have changed by now in the state of the tea world.) I know I for one, and probably many others here on Steepster, hope one day that derk will also have “the other tea garden in America”.  We’re all supporting you, derk! :D  I DO know that they have since stopped calling themselves a “tea plantation” which is a good thing and surprising that it took this long?  But I’m a Northerner and America is all over the place. The package also says this is tea grown in Charleston but originally from China and India… and I would say the taste of it leans more towards India.  It tastes like Ceylon to me!  Neither good nor bad in flavor.  It’s TEA.  Gets a bit bitey when cold.   I actually have been to Charleston as a kid.  I have a great aunt there. I really only remember that it’s close to the ocean! 

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – July 2023 Tea #6 – Your most unusual tea

I’m pretty sure Orzo qualifies as unique… especially as I believe I have only ever seen Lupicia selling it!   I like it.  It’s robust and as usual, the flavoring that Lupicia uses is delightful.   The little flowers are a bonus!  Very grateful I was able to try this.  I wouldn’t mind it hanging around in the cupboard full time.
2023 sipdowns: 62

This one is from Michelle by way of Rich!  Thank you both!  There was a big ol chunk of this that went into the infuser.  By appearance and scent of the leaf it seemed it would be a very dark shou!  However, the first steep was surprisingly weak sauce.  Almost no flavor at all.  Luckily, the second steep was much better — starchy, bready, with the richness I expect from a great shou with no negative qualities.  Same results with the third steep!  But for the amount of leaf I used, I really should have had more flavor here.
Steep #1 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10+ minute steep

Many leaves went into the infuser, but the flavor is light at this point. I should probably finish this sooner. A couple more sessions! It’s a yellow tea, but it seems like a very light black tea.