Connoisseur's Blend

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – October 2024 Tea #3 – A brisk tea

Sipping this one down for this prompt.  Despite the name being a little cheesy/tea snobby, I did really enjoy this one.  It’s strong without being harsh. One teaspoon goes a long way.  The “breakfast tea” descriptor is accurate!  market spice still carries it, and there are actually a couple other teas I would like to stock up on from them… so maybe that will happen at some point. (cinnamon orange black and cranberry cream).  They are priced fairly cheap!
2024 sipdowns: 72

Not sure it lives up to the hype, but this is a nice basic English Breakfast blend with a pleasant sweet, smooth flavor. Good on it’s own; better with milk. I like it, but it’s nothing special.

Another sample from Inkling. This is decent for a breakfast blend, but where’s the lychee? Minus points for false advertising, yet again. That said, if I hadn’t been expecting something different, I can’t say I’d have any real complaints about this one, though it’s not the most complex or exciting blend of straight black teas.

Out of all the teas I’ve never drank, this is the second to make my stomach hurt. Not sure why since it is just some black tea… but, it was no fun.

Grabbed this when I was at Pike Place Market maybe sometime last summer (?) when I ran into Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes in the elevator of my hotel room. Fun!

This seems like a straight black blend from the description, although I’ve yet to hear of a varietal called Lychee (like Ceylon or Assam). The staffer told me this was her favorite tea (I always buy a small sample that the person serving me suggests when traveling), so $0.81 and about, um, 12 cups worth and a year later, Í’m trying it.

Actually had it yesterday.. going on memory.. was surprisingly sweet on it’s own, full bodied like an English Breakfast, and quite lovely. Very different than most straight blacks I’ve had, with zero maltiness, just a sweetness that I can’t quite place.