New Tasting Notes
Fresh order from LP! This one was made/selected purely for the vibes. Almost no discernible taste to it. I am finding that a sizable portion of LP’s offerings are curated in this manner.
The liquor is a very clear pinkish orange. Mouthfeel is fairly thick, but not particularly unique. A touch of pleasant bitterness at the forefront that fades to hui gan. This is where the tea shines – the aftertaste is long and complex with tingling sensations on the tongue and roof of the mouth extending back to the soft palate. If that is what you are looking for from your puerh, then this tea is a nice semi-aged option. However, I prefer a better mix of flavor and mouthfeel. Sadly, I will not be caking this one, but I am glad to have the opportunity to try it!
Flavors: Bitter
Another sample from my EOT order. I agree with beerandbeancurd’s assessment that this one is a bit hyped up on EOT’s website. It is very easy to drink, but there isn’t a ton to latch on to. It definitely has a nice and aged flavor to it with some storage notes, just nothing that stands out or is particularly strong. It does have great longevity, but won’t be caking this one either.
Flavors: Camphor, Cooling
Got my first order from EOT today and gave this one a try. It’s not too bad! I can definitely tell this is quality leaf material, and I think it has great potential. It must have seen mostly dry storage as it is the youngest tasting 2004 tea I’ve had. None of the notes or flavors are off putting, and the mouthfeel is nice with a bit of cha qi. I just don’t think it’s overall my style, at least yet. Great price for the age and quality, but probably won’t be caking this one.
Flavors: Bitter, Fruity, Honey, Sweet
Sipdown! (18)
One of the selections from the December subscription. This is fine, but even overleafed it seems quite bland to me. Super mild hibiscus and a strawberry-esque fruitiness, plus a hint of clove. Not unpleasant, but seems lacking in flavor to me. At least it doesn’t taste like the dry leaf smelled, which was straight up bubble gum LOL! It’s so odd to me how S&V seems to stumble a bit on their holiday blends, when they have so many other teas that are so good…
Flavors: Clove, Fruity, Hibiscus, Musty, Strawberry, Sweet, Tart, Thin, Watery
Preparation
Sipdown! (17)
Polished off another of my oldest teas! This was actually a gift from my mom, she sweetly sent me a set of Stash’s holiday collection (in January of 2022) after I complained that no stores near me seemed to carry holiday teas. This was the last tea from that box!
This was a very pleasant infusion, especially since I don’t generally like chocolate teas, and lavender is iffy. Mostly this is mint though, with lavender as a sidekick and a bit of creamy cocoa in the background. Not something I would repurchase, though I don’t tend to buy teabags in general. But mostly because I would rather blend my own version at this point.
Flavors: Chocolate, Cocoa, Creamy, Floral, Lavender, Light, Mint, Peppermint, Smooth, Vanilla
Preparation
Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – January 2025 Tea #3 – A tea you plan to buy again
I would very much buy this again, but it looks like Fusion doesn’t have it anymore. It was definitely a favorite rooibos blend! A rating of 97!! I will miss it. Though I won’t miss this old coconut. Not too bad here, but still. Old coconut.
2025 sipdowns: 2
2025 unique sipdowns: 1
We dressed up in mild cosplay and went to a Star Trek themed afternoon tea at a local tea shop, and it was so tasty and cute! They carry teas from NM Tea Co, and we got to try two of them along with our treats! Unfortunately, this chai was pretty weak. It had no power, just meh and forgettable.
finishing zipin bing hole sample to chase away the bugs after holiday travel. ended up being a bit too strong though and felt a little dizzy after.
5.3g, 90 mL ZZZ, mixed water
wet: smoky, vegetal, sweet, BBQ, mint
1. smoky, bitter, resolves to sweet floral finish but still a bit pond water tasting
2. medicinal
3. lingering fruity note but upfront pill like bitterness
was distracted after but steeped a couple more times before the tea was mostly dead. some warmth, but this was after a turbulent morning flight and was already sort of nauseous to start.
5.7g, 90 mL ZZZ
wet leaf: berries, campfire smoke, BBQ, inky sweet
1. spices. woody, fruity in throat. spaced out heady. some underlying bitterness
2. dark, medicinal, smoke, woody, grassy. something sour incense like lingering sweetness in throat
3. greener in taste. mushroom-y finish
4. indistinct woody
5. softly sweet. mugged
I like this tea, though longevity leaves something to be desired across a lot of my BYH teas. Split a partial cake with a tea friend and haven’t seen more full cakes offered by TWL since the initial offering in March. Though given the cost (1.30/g after shipping), I would not go out of my way to buy more.
5.7g, 135 mL zini.
wet leaf: medicinal, barnyard, smoke
1. root beer sweetness. sugary aftertaste, some plum
2. woody bland, a little sweet
3-5. similar
nothing too exciting, but for 13c/g can’t complain. KL’s heichas are mostly background teas and not worth devoting time to brew with care.
4.1g, 135 mL zini
smells a bit musty and minty
1. medicinal, menthol. that and TeaDB’s leather shoes a la Payless comment is 100% fitting
2. woody, same payless leather shoe undertone and a bit chocolate-y
3. payless chocolate milk. brown sugary aftertaste. cozy.
had to stop since i was pretty sick and felt awful. short changed myself here and need to stop being tempted by my best teas when I’m sick.
5.4g, 90 mL ZZZ
in line w/ trad storage history, there’s visible frost on the leaves, though maybe not to Yee on extent. rinsed a bit longer because the spout clogged from the broken bits.
wet leaf: woody, aroma carries a bit of cheesy funk that some of the Yee on teas also have. some toad skin texture.
1: shou-like color, a welcome change from the lighter than expected brews of the past few days. good texture. root taste, some beet and bitterness. Quick light sweetness after
2: sweet, some generic root-y taste. cozy
3: good texture. flat taste w slight bitter edge. some cooling in finish
4 and 5: similar
6: herbal taste. mugged it after
given that most teas are not liquid assets, preference obviously matters in building a collection since a lot of modern hobbyists seem like hoarders. While I don’t find this tea especially compelling, that’s due to personal preference. And plenty would disagree it seems, since this tea has sold out several times on Hou De’s site. Unlikely to cake this.
Adagio sent me a “we miss you” envelope with four samples in it, but they didn’t include adequate postage, so I had to pay $4 to retrieve it from the post office. When I complained to Adagio, they didn’t care. It’s only $4, but it’s funny to me that their attempt at goodwill has instead made me not really want to order from them again.
I’d already had three of the teas previously, but this one is new to me. I taste the tang of the citrus. It’s decent, but the green tea below is pretty meh. It was a little straightforward for me and not as well done as something like 52teas could have done.
Wowww, that’s terrible customer service! Definitely leaves a sour taste.
Goodness sakes! Maybe a one-off accident to just you. But likely not. I would hypothesize that one manager sent out the “come back” samples to a substantial number of clients, all of whom got the postage due notice. So what was meant as a positive gesture was at best a slightly insulting one to those who paid and didn’t bother to call. The incompetent (possibly disgruntled, ex-) shipping clerk gave the company a black eye by causing embarassment. As customers called in about it, the CSRs were unprepared for the situation and their Mgr may still be out on vacay or assessing the scope of the problem. The original Mgr wants to fix it, but has no authority. And the front line is without guidance, hence the seeming indifference. It will be interesting to see how they ultimately try to recover, which may depend upon the scope of the original blunder. If it was my company, I’d firstly apologize to those who call, and credit their accounts with $5 toward merch or shipping. To the rest, I’d send a postcard (so they needn’t open any envelope) acknowledging the mistake “which you may or may not have received” with a unique coupon code for a further free sample on any order from their account in 2025. But if it was just you or a few, I would send another sample AND a $5 credit on account, whether you called or not. That would be my minimum response. But Please let us know of any developments! Anyone else experience this?
This happened a few months ago, and I never heard anything else from them, but I also didn’t push beyond the initial email because I figured it wasn’t worth the time. The person who responded was the opposite of apologetic ha. But yeah, it definitely seems like different teams not communicating with each other.
AJR, that’s a pity. A few months with no followup!? Someone wasn’t a team player. Or perhaps they had some chaos. Hopefully nothing tragic.
Sipdown! (9 | 9)
Definitely making better progress on sipping these Obubu teas since I made it one of my goals for the year (and made a tracker spreadsheet, obviously). I have a lot to go through, and I’m not sure I’ll ever get to the point where I’m keeping up the tea club shipments, but it would be nice to be only a year or two behind LOL!
Anyway, this still tastes delicious despite being from September of 2022. This is one of their hojicha that’s made from sencha rather than bancha, I want to say a summer sencha in this case? So it definitely has a grassier, greener, and sharper flavor to it IMO. Not overly sharp, but moreso than their basic hojicha. A bit more intensity as well, though I did also overleaf this cup so I wouldn’t have the dreaded half-cup’s-worth of tea left over. Anyway, still nicely toasty and woodsy with a little bit of roasted nut in there as well. A cozy tea for the cold weather we’re having here in Austin.
Flavors: Dry Grass, Earthy, Grassy, Mineral, Nutty, Roasted, Roasted Nuts, Toasty, Woodsy, Woody
Preparation
Color of liquor: Orange-golden
Aroma: Fruity, muscatel
This tea is perfection. I cannot think of anything else I would be looking for in a Nilgiri frost black tea. There is no bitterness at all, and just the right amount of astringency to bring you back for more. Forward flavors of fruity muscatel, with a slight petrichor/wet rock flavor that I have always found highly appealing in many Indian teas from the Nilgiris, Darjeeling, and Kangra districts.
I am disappointed that this is now sold out on the website, but will watch and hope it shows up once again.
Flavors: Fruity, Muscatel, Petrichor, Wet Rocks
Preparation
Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 21
Realizing I never logged this one! AJRimmer included two generous cups’ worth in the baggie; I made one on the actual advent day and one last night. It feels quite thrilling and naughty to have something so coffee-esque at like, 11 p.m.!
I continue to enjoy the Teeccino base, though the flavor profile here is not my favorite — there’s just something a little slick and on the verrry verge of cloying that doesn’t quite work for me. It’s not overpowering, at least.
Honestly it’s probably because I love coffee but drink it black (unless I’m getting a really fancy latte), so a sweet version of a black coffee dupe is jarring to me. Glad to try this one, though!
Flavors: Cinnamon, Sugar, Sweet
Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – January 2025 Tea #2 – Your newest tea
This was just delivered in a 52Teas order, so it is my very newest tea. A part of me felt I needed to buy this one, as I MIGHT be the person who has asked Anne to reblend Frank’s Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qu Hao the most. Probably definitely. It was still in stock on the site after a few months, so I decided to order! It might be my favorite of Frank’s blends. Definitely top five. So I was thrilled that Anne tried to recreate a similar blend! The Qu Hao base used in the original blend is rare, impossible to find when it isn’t expensive, so I understand it won’t be the SAME blend. But I also was very happy that Anne aimed to recreate it. The base in this blend is Gu Zhang mixed with Assam and Yunnan. Sounds good to me! Though I am not sure I have ever actually had another Gu Zhang leaf before. (A quick search of all the teas that I have rated in my Steepster lifetime tells me no, no Gu Zhang in my tea drinking history, at least directly in the name.) I’m wondering if Anne has ever used it before? So I have no idea how the Gu Zhang tastes on its own. But I was also thrilled that Anne still has the original recipe for the Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qu Hao… as sometimes I hear many of Frank’s recipes were lost. So there was a chance the flavoring would be similar! AND IT IS. The base probably isn’t as deep as the Qu Hao, but the flavoring is spot on. It’s like a silky smooth mix of chocolate/ marshmallow/ vanilla and kahlua. You know… exactly what the ingredients contain… minus the kahlua. But wow, the flavors really meld together so well and very balanced. (One of my favorite combinations of flavors is chocolate/marshmallow, so this is very much my thing.) It’s amazing that the flavors are so spot on to the original blend. It seems like a simple mix of flavors, but I have only ever noticed this exact flavoring with Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qu Hao before. The third steep (milking the leaves for all I can) is quite good too — smooth, never harsh. In a mystery taste test, I would definitely compare the two blends. So… mission successful! I was so blinded by the lack of Qu Hao in the tea world, that I didn’t realize something similar could be recreated, especially by someone with Anne’s talents! Thank you! Very glad you put this together!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 23 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 10 minute steep
Also, I can’t remember if I have ever had Pinwheel cookies, so I can’t say if the name is accurate or not. Though I trust Anne’s judgement on that!
Daughter who lives with us LOVES Pinwheel cookies, and actually prefers the Publix brand version because of the size. I made most of her advent this year with Pinwheel cookies as the daily treat!
@tea=sipper thank you, I’m so glad you enjoyed this tea! When I realized you were the one who bought the last of the Pinwheel that I had in stock, I was glad, because I had blended this with you in mind, hoping you might like it, because the blend of teas was about as close to the Qu Hao that I could manage without this blend costing WAY too much.
@ashmanra – pinwheels were my favorite as a kid, and it wasn’t always the pinwheels that were purchased, I think Nabisco also makes Mallowmars? which are basically the same thing. Which is kind or weird, actually, because Nabisco makes both cookies but I think they’re both basically a cookie base topped with a marshmallow and then it’s all covered in chocolate. I’ve always loved anything chocolate and anything marshmallow, so these cookies were a bit of heaven for me. :)
ashmanra – I love that! And I loved hearing about all of the advent details of your fam this year. :D
52Teas – Ah, Anne, thank you. I had a feeling you MAY have had me in mind in creating this blend, and your comment just warms my heart. :D I saw Pinwheel was still on the site after a few months of giving anyone else a chance to grab them, so I just went for it and purchased. Another BIG thank you!
January Sipdown Prompt – your newest tea
I decided to go with whichever tea shows as most recently added, but we had our Christmas gathering yesterday and I received NINE EXCITING NEW TEAS! I opened the gifts from my son and ChelseaR first, and the ones from Superanna and her husband next, so this was put in cupboard last!
I read reviews and saw that several people found it to be subtle so I made sure not to underleaf. I have a three minute rule with French black tea blends as they have a tendency to be finicky. (I’m looking at you, Marco Polo. So delicious when prepared just exactly right and so infuriating when there is the slightest deviation from your perfect time and temperature.) I observe it for the first time making a French tea and adjust subsequently if needed.
I made biscuits and bacon for breakfast with daughter this morning and she made eggs. We had a new, locally produced apple butter that was a gift from yesterday as well. It was very different from the White House Apple Butter I grew up with and very tasty. Texture more apple sauce-y and a dash of vinegar in the recipe lends it a brighter, fresh apple flavor.
I did not find this tea to be subtle. It is a elegant, rich tasting tea that made breakfast feel extra fancy. It is called Melange and that is what the flavors have accomplished here – no single ingredient stands out boldly but rather they are thoroughly melded together with an overall impression of cinnamon and almond. I would not have known there was bergamot in this, so this will be a safe tea to offer Ashman, who isn’t wild about Earl Grey teas. I concur that it is slightly reminiscent of Pleine Lune but it is much less almond-y.
It does have enough heft from the base to take milk and sugar if you like to add those, but I drank it plain and will continue to have it that way. It can serve as a lovely breakfast OR afternoon tea. It would go exceptionally well with cookies or dainties, even cupcakes or cake. It would be brilliant paired with something frosted or iced.
