3986 Tasting Notes
Sipdown! (36 | 397)
Been nursing a mug of this all day and just now getting around to writing a note… Way too much work happening today, ha ha.
This was one of my favorites from this series! Nice balance of smoky, savory lapsang with rich hazelnut and a touch of spice. Couldn’t possibly be more autumnal if it tried! The smoke is very present but not overwhelming, and it just makes for a surprisingly tasty combo with the almost creamy hazelnut flavoring. I think the spice and hint of apple helps bridge the gap a little, too.
Very nice, and one that I would consider ordering.
Flavors: Apple, Cinnamon, Clove, Creamy, Hazelnut, Mineral, Nutty, Rich, Savory, Smoked, Spices, Sweet, Woody
Preparation
Sipdown! (34 | 395)
Picked up a sample of this one with my matcha advent order, because I hadn’t tried it yet and it was sold out the last time I ordered. Super cute with the heart sprinkles!
It actually reminds me of a Dessert by Deb tea, ha ha. The flavor is very buttery and almost caramel-y, and that combined with the toasted rice and the rooibos base is making me think of one of Deb’s many similar caramel or caramel-adjacent teas. Like Salted Caramel Pancakes or that caramel custard rooibos one.
Anyway, it’s decent, but doesn’t necessarily taste like wedding cake to me. I get more of a buttery caramel tea than a cake one. But fun to try!
Flavors: Butter, Butterscotch, Caramel, Rooibos, Smooth, Sweet, Toasted Rice, Woody
Preparation
More Ghibli, this time it’s a blend inspired by Castle in the Sky! One of my favorites (though let’s be real, they all are) and one that I actually watch fairly often. I love the robots and I think this is such a sweet inspiration for a tea blend.
So this one is a blend of green tea, aged black tea, and flower petals. I actually quite like these particular black and green teas together, the black is quite mineral and earthy yet smooth, and the green is more vegetal. It came out a touch bitter with my parameters, so maybe I should’ve stopped it a bit sooner, but still very pleasant. For the florals, I mostly taste a bit of the rose, and it’s more of a dry, dusty rose note. It goes surprisingly well with the mineral notes of the black tea. I don’t think I’m tasting jasmine, but in my experience dry jasmine flowers don’t really taste like jasmine-scented tea anyway.
It’s a nice blend. Probably not one I would order since I’m not a rose fan, but I did enjoy it. I think a little hint of fruit or maybe cinnamon would’ve been a nice addition here as well.
Flavors: Creamy, Dust, Earthy, Floral, Grassy, Mineral, Rose, Smooth, Vegetal
Preparation
I am seriously late to join the Ghibli fan club, but … why didn’t somebody tell me how enjoyable they were sooner??? Castle in the Sky was the first one I watched.
I love them all! They definitely run the gamut of fun and whimsical to dark and serious though ha ha. Would recommend Ponyo and Kiki for lighter ones and Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle for somewhere in the middle, to start! Totoro is a classic as well, but has never been my favorite. :P
I’m that weird anime otaku that has never liked Spirited Away and is constantly judged for it, while a lot of the Ghibli movies I like are not “popular” ones (like “The Cat Returns”). “Kiki’s Delivery Service” and “The Secret World of Arrietty” (based on “The Borrowers”) are probably my favorites.
Oooh I always forget about Arrietty, love that one too! I like the less popular ones too, like Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns. But I just like them all ha ha, except for maybe Grave of the Fireflies and Pom Poko.
“Grave of the Fireflies” is what a YouTuber I watch describes as a “vegetable” movie… movies that are good for you and you should see them, but no one wants to when they can have a “popcorn” movie.
It’s a soul crusher. T.T
If you liked Howl’s Moving Castle you should read the book it was based off of by Diana Wynne Jones. There’s two other books in that universe to read as well.
Loved Howl’s Moving Castle and “The Cat Returns” is sitting on top of my DVD player.
Ah, Princess Mononoke… It will always have a special place in my heart as the first Ghibli film I ever saw, and honestly probably one of my first experiences with anime in general? I don’t watch it often, because it’s quite long and serious, but every once in a while I’m in the mood for it. :)
Anyway, the tea. This has butterfly pea flower and glitter, for obvious reasons. Not a fan of the gimmick but at least it makes sense for the inspiration, and the glitter is well-restrained. I admit black walnut makes me nervous, I remember hating it in the past, but I feel like I’m just traumatized by my grandmother making oatmeal cookies with black walnuts that had been in the freezer way too long ha ha. So maybe it’s just stale, freezer-burned black walnuts that I don’t like… XD
It’s a bit of a moot point anyway, because I don’t notice any walnut here. I pretty much just taste the green yaupon base, maybe with a hint of dandelion root. I didn’t even see any hibiscus in my sample so definitely not getting that. I do like yaupon a lot, so I’m still enjoying it, but was hoping for more of the other flavors.
Flavors: Dry Grass, Earthy, Grassy, Hay, Herbaceous, Honey, Roots, Sweet
Preparation
Sipdown! (33 | 394)
Sad to say, another one from Magic Hour that sounded good but I didn’t end up loving…
Mostly I think it’s the orange oil – it’s quite sharp and has that “essential oil” taste to it. That plus the pomegranate reads a bit medicinal to me. It’s worth nothing though, I often have trouble with berry flavorings tasting a bit chalky to me, and I’m getting that with the pomegranate here. The cinnamon is sweet and pleasant, I’m surprised that I don’t taste much vanilla given there were large pieces of vanilla bean in the mix. It is a tiny bit spice cakey, which makes sense given the fruitcake description. Caramel though? I’m not tasting it.
So yeah, not a winner for me unfortunately. That orange essential oil just takes over and it makes me feel a bit like I’m drinking either medicine or a cleaning product. Sigh, Magic Hour and I don’t seem to be a good match so far.
Flavors: Berry, Chalk, Chemical, Cinnamon, Citrus Zest, Ginger, Medicinal, Orange, Orange Zest, Spices, Sweet
Preparation
Sipdown! (31 | 392)
This was nice, one of my favorites from the bunch. Tastes like gingerbread, heavy on the molasses, plus then there’s extra dried ginger which gives it a spicy kick. And since this is the last cup, with all the extra ginger bits at the bottom, it’s even spicier ha ha! I don’t taste the chestnut or vanilla outright, but I feel like those sweet and rich flavors are probably contributing to the cookie-esque quality of the gingerbread.
I already have some other gingerbread teas I love, but this one is very nice also. Especially for a slightly spicier take on gingerbread!
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Caramelized Sugar, Clove, Cookie, Earthy, Ginger, Gingerbread, Molasses, Rich, Spicy, Sweet
Preparation
Sipdown! (30 | 391)
A classic herbal tisane with a bit of a twist. The chamomile is the primary flavor, but the elderflower lightens it up and adds a more ethereal, effervescent floral note. Then the mint comes in in the second half of the sip and it’s bright and fresh, no wet rag here. It helps keep the chamomile from becoming too musty or heavy, and also gives a clean, refreshing finish.
Very well-balanced and a nice combination of flavors. I’m not sure whether I would reorder it, as I haven’t really been drinking many herbal tisanes lately. But it was definitely very relaxing and enjoyable.
Flavors: Chamomile, Cooling, Effervescent, Elderflower, Floral, Fresh, Honey, Menthol, Peppermint, Pollen, Smooth, Sweet
Preparation
Next up from the Studio sampler, this Totoro-inspired tisane.
It’s okay? All I taste are some musty dry leafy notes that I assume are coming from the olive leaf, and then the earthy flavor of burdock root. Not sure if the mulberry leaf is coming into play, since I don’t know what that tastes like.
Overall, this tastes like a very earthy and herbaceous tisane. I definitely don’t get the lemon or the pepper. The description mentions cereal milk, which is like… what? It’s not bad, just very musty and grassy, without much else going on.
Flavors: Burdock, Dry Grass, Earthy, Herbaceous, Musty, Roots, Straw, Sweet
Preparation
Sounds like an interesting tisane given the ingredients. Too bad it didn’t fit the description.
Yeah I was expecting something more, but then again I’m not familiar with the taste of olive leaf or mulberry leaf… Would’ve been nice to taste the lemon and pepper though.
Sipdown! (29 | 390)
An oldie but a goodie from Deb. This was a 100g tin that I won in a giveaway a couple of years ago. Just now finishing it off!
I don’t love fruity red rooibos teas in general, but this one is really well-balanced IMO. I taste orange, I taste apple, I taste a touch of cinnamon… The hibiscus adds a nice juicy tartness but doesn’t overwhelm, and the woody rooibos is there in the background. There’s a perfect amount of sweetness, just to take the edge off the tart flavors and round it out.
Quite a nice herbal blend, and from back when Deb didn’t use any flavored teas in her blends. I think I might have preferred that era of her teas, but obviously that’s a personal preference. I’m not sure I would order this again, because even though I enjoy it, I didn’t reach for it and mostly finished it because I wanted to sip it down.
Flavors: Acidic, Apple, Cinnamon, Fruity, Hibiscus, Juicy, Orange, Rooibos, Round, Sweet, Tart, Woody
Preparation
Don’t ask me why I ordered this one, I don’t even like chocolate teas…
I feel like I was drawn in by the guayusa base, as I love all of those holly-based “teas”. Sadly, I feel like I can’t even tell this is guayusa. I guess there’s a hint of earthiness in the finish? Mostly it tastes like a chocolate and strawberry flavored herbal tisane. I don’t get anything from the elderberry or blueberry, I think I’m mostly just tasting the flavoring here. Also, I’m confused why they would add green rooibos to a guayusa tea that they’re calling “energizing”. A bit odd since cutting it with more caffeine-free ingredients would make it less energizing…? There’s also monk fruit in here, but thankfully I can barely taste it. I must not have noticed that ingredient when I made my order.
Anyway, this is going to the rehoming box. Tastes like a somewhat generic chocolate-covered strawberry tea to me. Hopefully someone else will like it more.
Flavors: Artificial, Chocolate, Strawberry, Sweet
