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Next up from the Studio sampler is this Spirited Away-inspired blend.

It’s an herbal tisane, a mix of lemongrass, apple, sage, and rose. The lemongrass is definitely the strongest flavor to my tastebuds, and somehow over it ends up tasting a bit like cucumber. I do taste a touch of sweet-tart apple, and then an undertone of savory sage. The rose comes in in the finish, and fortunately for me it’s quite light and fresh.

It’s nice enough, just not super exciting.

I got my Compagnie & Co advent calendar today, yay! It’s so very pretty, a stack of 12 boxes that you can rotate individually, and each box has two numbers on different sides, and has two numbered wrapped sachets inside. Can’t wait to open it this December! Anyway, of course I couldn’t resist also ordering several teas while I was at it… When I opened the box, everything smelled like grapefruit, so of course I had to try that tea first.

It’s a really lovely grapefruit flavor, bright and zingy and fresh but without being too pithy or bitter. I do wish I could taste the lychee (this is a grapefruit & lychee black tea), I don’t notice it at all because the grapefruit flavor is quite strong. The base is very smooth but has a nice, almost biscuity flavor to it. There’s a little baby hint of bitterness in the finish, not sure if it’s from the black tea or the grapefruit flavor, but I actually find it fitting for this blend.

A very refreshing grapefruit tea! Looking forward to trying another of their teas tomorrow. :)

This one is quite interesting because it has wakame in it.

Dry, it smelled very dill-like to me, which was odd. I love dill, so I wasn’t mad at it lol. Steeped, it smells very strongly of seaweed, and I was a bit nervous to try it to be honest. I do like wakame in things, but I wouldn’t really want to just drink a wakame infusion if that makes sense.

Luckily, the taste isn’t super seaweedy. I definitely get those briny marine notes in the beginning of the sip, while the middle is more of the vegetal, beany green tea base. I do taste a hint of tangy sea buckthorn in the finish, but I wish there was much more, and the same with the nashi and orange. I think if there was a somewhat stronger fruit presence here, this would potentially be a reorder for me, but as-is I don’t think I would purchase it again. A fun and unique one to try though, and I do love Ponyo!

Last one from Sips by!

I like the idea of this blend, but the anise/star anise combo is just way too strong IMO. I can taste a bit of the tulsi and ginger at the beginning of the sip, and perhaps a touch of orange, but mostly it’s just a big ol’ pile of licorice.

So not a favorite for me.

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I haven’t been drinking much matcha in recent months, so now I’m trying to make an effort to sip through what I have, so it doesn’t just languish in a drawer until it’s sad and brown lol…

Apparently I’ve never written a note for this one? It’s one of my favorites from 3 Leaf! I usually prepare my matcha as an iced oat latte, but this one is also delicious as a matcha lemonade, as you might expect. The raspberry flavor tastes very authentic to me, and has a nice balance of sweet and tart notes. It’s very present but I can still taste plenty of matcha, and their matcha base is smooth and flavorful, as always.

This is also fun to mix with their peach or lemonade flavors!

This is an interesting one, it’s very creamy and smooth with a light pumpkiny flavor to it. There’s honestly not much spice going on, just a subtle warmth in the background, particularly the clove. And then the honeybush base is mellow and woody.

Not sure how I feel about it just yet, though I like that’s it’s more unique. I think I might try it with a drizzle of honey or maple next time, to see how that affects the pumpkin flavor.

Picked up a 50g pouch of this with my matcha advent order, and I’m so happy to be reunited with it. This was one of my first loves from Bird & Blend, and remains a favorite. I don’t even generally like fruity rooibos, but here the rhubarb is tart enough that it doesn’t give weird medicinal vibes. The cream is quite light but sort of rounds the edges and contributes sweetness.

Just yum. :)

Sips by tea number 3 for October!

This is a pleasant enough white tea. It has a light strawberry sparkling wine sort of flavor to it, with a touch of deeper berry or maybe pomegranate. The flavor is nice enough, fairly juicy-tasting, but I can’t help feeling this flavor profile would be better with a touch of tartness, maybe from a sprinkle of hibiscus. Or even as a fruit tisane?

Anyway, enjoyed it well enough, but not something I would order.

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This one is fine. It’s a green chai with hojicha, and supposedly vanilla. I do taste a little bit of the hojicha toastiness, but mostly it’s just the same “spice flavoring” as every other blend, but this time on a green base. I don’t notice any vanilla to speak of.

Meh!

Another October Sips by selection.

This one is just okay. Maybe I’ve been spoiled by Old Barrel’s yummy coffee teas, but I’m not loving the coffee flavoring here. The Assam is quite brisk as well. I get a little bit of maté earthiness, but would love a bit more.

I think part of the problem is, it tastes a bit like hazelnut coffee creamer, of which I am not a fan ha ha. It’s decent, but there are other coffee teas I like much more.