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Had to steep this one up today. Made sure to get a corn kernel in there… a cute little pea in there… but the flavor is mostly peach! It’s another cute, unique blend. I don’t think I have ever seen another tea with peas in it. (But corn, maybe a couple.) I will also be drinking Bird & Blend’s Hot Cross Buns later (though it does have some black tea in it.)

edited to add: I just noticed that when first submitting a tasting note, the NEW note I wrote is shown instead of an older note. That happened forever. So it’s nice to see that SOMETHING is changed. Maybe the new Steepster team is working behind the scenes?

Happy Easter to whomever celebrates! THIS is a cupboard staple at this point. Good to see it is at least on their VIP page (if anyone is interested!) I have quite a lot left, but it better be available when I’m out of it. I’m just such a choco/marshmallow combo fan. Plus that genmaicha! So toastiness, deep chocolate and natural sweetness and not stevia. So this tea is good stuff. Unique blend!

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2023 Tea #3 – A finicky tea

This is definitely what I think of as a finicky tea!  Basically because I only steep it for 45 seconds on that first steep, so the black tea doesn’t overpower the SPOT ON flavors of sherbet here — with the lime, orange, and raspberry equally represented.  Quite possibly my favorite from SBT.  It will be missed.
2023 sipdowns: 45

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2023 Tea #2 – April 5 – National Caramel Day

From the caramel prompt day! This was one of six teas in a Davids sample set that is almost gone now!  I haven’t written a note yet for this one.  It’s pretty straightforward — a caramel flavored rooibos.  The rooibos pieces are fairly larger than I usually see.  An occasional tiny square of caramel.   The resulting cup is a deep red, so be prepared for full rooibos!  The sweetness is there.  Sometimes it could seem like vanilla.  Sometimes rooibos itself has a hint of vanilla all its own, which I’m just now realizing.  It’s a straightforward recipe that I don’t think has stevia, so it’s good enough for me!
Steep #1 //  1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  just boiled // 5 minute steep

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2023 Tea #2 – April 5 – National Caramel Day

A really great caramel puerh.  I think a caramel puerh is definitely a cupboard essential for me.  The deep puerh flavor with the sweet caramel is the perfect combination.  Love it.  Another caramel tea note tomorrow!  When I finish the second steep! oh cool – both the teas today I have 96 ratings to! Definitely some old favorites today!

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2023 Tea #2 – April 5 – National Caramel Day

oo goodie – three caramel teas today!  This one is one of my most ancient, yet dwindling down now.  It has always been a nice, unique flavor profile on a deep black tea.  But I always forget it isn’t usually caramel tasting.  Or isn’t anymore.  But the praline is still there.

So many years ago now, as a gift I received a big tin of a variety of teabags from Lifted Cup Tea containing 120 teabags of six different teas. The set so old now, the tasting note so late, the tin is no longer available, but here it is:  https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lifted-Cup-120-Ct-Tea-Collection-Tins/339220520.  Here are notes on the six flavors in the tin (5 black teas, one plain green tea):

Raspberry:  Surprisingly great raspberry flavor!  It’s very good and lasts for two steeps.  Probably the best raspberry TEABAG I’ve ever tried.

Orange Spice:  more orange than spice, and more like the fluoride flavored orange from those school days.  

Earl Grey:  I wouldn’t call this a traditional bergamot, it really tastes more like grapefruit but it isn’t anything too unpleasant.  I don’t think it hits the craving for bergamot though.  But it’s a change for the tastebuds – Earl adjacent maybe. 

Elevated Green: luckily the only green tea of the bunch because it is…not good.  Really I felt as though I were merely tasting the teabag itself, it was like paper flavor…maybe with a hint of matcha.

Peach: A decent peach black!  Not the worst peach flavor and not the best.  In the mid-range between candy peach and authentic peach. 

English Breakfast: Ending on a high note, as I did NOT expect this to be this delicious!  I thought it would be an unflavored version of their Just Okay flavored base for their black teas, but this is definitely a stronger black tea with more depth and nuance than the flavored teas.  Honestly, any other English Breakfast I have is not usually this tasty.  I’m sad I threw out the teabag after one steep (but have like 20 more). 

Overall, I would say the only tea that I DID NOT like in this set was their “Elevated” Green.  The next least favorite was Orange Spice.  But the Raspberry, Earl Grey, Peach and English Breakfast are very good, considering my low expectations (and low amount of leaf in the teabags). Favorites: Raspberry + English Breakfast. Also, A+ for this flavoring on lasting so many years later. If anything, I’m grateful to this tin that will forever be a nice filing system for random teabags.  Once I ever get through the 120 teabags…honestly it’s already FULL of other teas.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – April 2023 Tea #1 – Your “fanciest” tea

Another month!  When I think “fancy tea”, for some reason the first that comes to my mind is this one.  Not sure why.  Maybe because it is the ONE tea that I notice that never has a sale on Teavivre greater than 10%.  And probably one of my pricier teas?   Or it just has a flavor that says “fancier”?  I don’t know.  I only have a couple samples of this remaining, and I’m not in a hurry to finish it.  The flavor is always deeper than I think it will be, while also being very nuanced. I always expect the pricier teas to be annoyingly light in flavor. Very fruity (peach) but a nice depth to it.  Amazingly, this sample was from 2016.  I DID finish the sample anyway, but not the second one in the pair.

Thanks to MiepSteep for being extremely generous upon seeing a note I wrote for this tea, when professing my love for the wonderful cantaloupeness of it, MiepSteep then sent me their stash.  It is truly appreciated!  Thanks so much!  Even better… steeping it up, it is VERY SIMILAR to the tea I have and already love (that is quickly running very low at this point), so I’m very glad the formula has not changed since I acquired mine!  It is the worst thing when a tea that should be the same changes so drastically, but I’m very glad this has NOT.  It still tastes amazing.  This flavor + this white tea base = perfection.  Three steeps! Full flavored! Such a lovely tea on a rainy day.    And now I don’t have to hoard the small amount I had left, thanks to MiepSteep.   Awesome. 

additional notes: Sipdown. Not enough of a deep black tea for me AND the snowflake sprinkles are cute but they do not dissolve AT ALL even with boiling water for many minutes. eh. I’m glad this was just a sample. Lowering my rating of 77.
2023 sipdowns: 43