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Preparation: Western (no additional additives)
Tasting note: The first time I tried this tea, I had it as a latte and it did not have very distinct flavors. This time I decided to forego the addition of oatmilk. The black and rooibos tea base goes well here, I think that both balance each other out. I can taste a maple-y sweetness that isn’t overpowering. Without milk this tea is more focused on the caramel-maple-vanilla notes which is nice. I do get the sense that it is a cookie but more of caramel-maple cookie than I would say short bread. I enjoy this tea much more straight than I did with oatmilk which is good.

I think that ever since I had Nadeshiko by Camellia-Sinensis I am not as excited by many flavored vanilla teas that I have encountered since and I don’t think that this tea has changed that. So in short, I like this tea but it doesn’t amaze me, so I don’t think I would buy it again for that reason.

I made as an unsweetened latte (or no additional sweetener added).

Preparation: Western + oatmilk
Tasting Note: It was kind of fun to have this as an unsweetened latte. It looked like a blue milk from my childhood. The oatmilk made the coconut, butterfly pea tea, and lavender much less potent and seems less sweet. It was a lightly sweet and floral dessert tea.

Preparation: Latte with oatmilk and honey. Also, honey drizzled on foam too.
Tasting note: Yum, the foam is like a banana-y marshmallow and the tea is rich, chocolate, nutty banana. This is a nice dessert tea.

Sipdown theme: April: Favorite Jelly Bean flavor

I am actually not sure what my favorite jelly bean flavor is, it has been way too long since I have had one. So my tea pairing today is riffing off what teas remind me of fruity candies. So Watermelon Sugar sounded like a good option. I was really excited when I looked over the ingredients for this tea, it was Tieguanyin, apples and watermelon flavoring. I haven’t had an oolong blend in awhile.

Preparation: Western- Straight
Tasting Note: This is really interesting, it reminds me of watermelon jolly ranchers and the freshness of Tieguanyin. It’s really nice and refreshing. It is plenty sweet on it’s own which is to say the tea base has its own sweetness and the watermelon flavor does the rest.

I am having a lot of nostalgia with this tea and there is one specific tasting note that almost reminds me of pop rocks, that sort sugary effervesce. Don’t worry- there isn’t actually pop rocks or that fizzy candy, but a part of my brain just is reminded of it because of the watermelon flavor.

I think this is going on my wishlist.

Sip down theme: Caramel tea.

Preparation: Western + brown sugar and oatmilk
Tasting Note: I took a couple of sips of this straight and didn’t love it. Unfortunately, the sample size wasn’t large enough to try another cup with less tea for a straight cup. I immediately added oatmilk and brown sugar to this to make it more enjoyable. The initial tasting note was a rich black with slight chocolate notes. I did notice the lingering aftertaste did have a walnut taste too.

Overall, I didn’t get a whole lot of caramel from this, it smelt more of caramel than it actually delivered. I don’t think I would buy it again because the caramel wasn’t more present.