3986 Tasting Notes
Yep, more new teas. As I said, I’ve been really bad lately, heh… :P I saw Old Barrel advertising their Ginger Chai as a seasonal offering, and I’ve been loving chai and spiced teas lately, so of course I had to get it. And a few other teas came along for the ride, along with the Hatch green chile powder (which smells amazing by the way).
This was an admittedly risky choice. I haven’t historically gotten along with bee pollen, to me it smells and tastes a bit like a wet dog. But the mention of cake got to me, LOL.
And I’m glad I ordered it, because this is actually really nice. It’s smooth and sweet with a nice mellow vanilla cake/frosting sort of note, and the bee pollen actually tastes like pollen, and gives a bit of a honey vibe. Almost similar to chamomile, really. I like the rooibos too, the gentle woodiness goes well with the other flavors.
Tasty! I guess taking a risk paid off this time ha ha… :P
Flavors: Cake, Chamomile, Creamy, Frosting, Honey, Pollen, Rooibos, Smooth, Sweet, Vanilla, Woody
Preparation
Sipdown! (11 | 326)
The first of many teas from another Etsy company I found. There has been far too much tea buying for me lately, heh heh… But work has been very stressful, so I’m not going to worry about indulging in a little retail therapy. :P
Anyway, this wasn’t one I was super duper interested in, really I only added it to reach the free shipping threshold. But I do love yerba maté, which is mostly what this blend tastes like. I do taste hints of citrus, along with some other herby notes I can’t necessarily identify. There’s a bit of the tulsi as well.
Very pleasant and balanced maté blend. Not something I would reorder, just because I think I would rather have either a plain maté or a blend that’s a bit less subtle on the other ingredients.
Flavors: Citrus, Dry Grass, Earthy, Hay, Herbaceous, Musty, Smooth, Sweet, Tulsi
Preparation
Kelmishka: I’m going to use that if you don’t mind…HAHAHAHA! (I may have ordered a refill for a tea that is almost gone and accidentally added four others to cart BUT they are really so Ashman can have evening tea with me when it gets cold that’s my story and I am sticking to it.)
Ha ha thanks for the enablement, ladies! ;) Also, obviously I need to know where you ordered from, ashmanra?!
Simpson & Vail is relatively cheap compared to some other loose leaf companies so I think you’re actually SAVING money by placing this order!
Sipdown! (10 | 325)
This was a bit of a sleeper hit for me, and probably my favorite of the whole bunch.
I’m not even sure why, but it just strikes a lovely balance of mellow, sweet, and herby flavors. Love the tulsi, but then there’s a gentle sweetness (the fennel maybe?) and a hint of cinnamon, and an almost creamy quality. It’s smooth and calming and just tasty. Almost the teensiest bit carrot cakey somehow?
Will definitely consider ordering some more of this one.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Creamy, Dry Grass, Hay, Herbaceous, Herbs, Smooth, Sweet, Tulsi
Preparation
Sipdown! (9 | 324)
So this one sounded intriguing to me, it’s a mix of roots (dandelion, burdock, ginger, and turmeric) with cinnamon and peppercorns. So I expected it to be a bit like a rooty herbal chai, if you will.
However, in practice I feel like I’m only tasting the burdock root and the turmeric, along with a bit of a tongue tingling sensation from (I assume) the ginger. And I do love burdock root (in fact, I named one of my dogs after it), it has such a nice mellow earthy flavor to it and a very firm texture, and is great in stir fries. But I guess I was hoping for more of a chai vibe here, or at least more cinnamon.
Still a very pleasant tisane, but ends up tasting more like turmeric with a burdock foundation. Will have to jot down the idea for my own future creations though, ha ha…
Flavors: Burdock, Earthy, Ginger, Roots, Smooth, Spicy, Turmeric, Woody
Preparation
Sipdown! (8 | 323)
So this is mostly your standard hibiscusy mulled wine sort of tisane, the type that seem to pop up everywhere around the holidays. Not a favorite of mine, but they can be enjoyable in a seasonal sense. This one is slightly different though, in that I taste quite a bit of the star anise. It ends up being mostly tart hibiscus with an interesting black licorice note to it. Unusual combination for sure.
Not bad, just not something I would buy. I tend to only enjoy hibiscus-heavy tisanes iced, and these spiced iterations are always a bit odd that way IMO.
Flavors: Anise, Clove, Hibiscus, Licorice, Sour, Star Anise, Tart
Preparation
Sipdown! (7 | 322)
The last Wizard’s Tea, this one being for Gryffindor.
Nice enough chai. A bit strong on the ginger, as advertised, but also tasting the clove and allspice, and perhaps a touch of cardamom. Certainly nothing special as chai goes, but makes for an enjoyable fall cuppa for ginger lovers.
Flavors: Allspice, Cardamom, Clove, Earthy, Ginger, Smooth, Spices
Preparation
Sipdown! (6 | 321)
Another Wizard’s Tea, this time for Ravenclaw (I presume).
This has a lot going on – Earl Grey, lapsang, lavender, sage, rosemary, peppermint, and cardamom. Or at least it would, if I could taste all of those things.
Mostly I taste lapsang, mint, and those savory herbs. Maybe a hint of bergamot? It’s hard to say under the other, stronger flavors. The smoky lapsang predominates, with the mint coming in second for an interesting “fire + ice” sort of combo. The rosemary is especially noticeable in the finish, where it gives a piney, savory note.
Pleasant enough tea. The cardamom might as well just have been for looks, because I didn’t taste it at all. Though honestly, I feel I’ve had a similar experience with her other teas with cardamom? Maybe her stock is just old or something…
Flavors: Bergamot, Earthy, Herbaceous, Herbs, Mineral, Mint, Peppermint, Pine, Rosemary, Sage, Savory, Smoked, Smooth
Preparation
Sipdown! (5 | 320)
So I knew I had written a note for this tea, and I could see that I had rated it, but for some reason my note doesn’t show up in the list on the tea page. It does show up in my tea log if I page back to the correct date. Strange.
Anyway, this is a nice jasmine tea. I got it with a Frequent Steeper redemption, because I’m always looking for teas to spend those on when I earn them from teaware purchases. Nice sweet and natural jasmine flavor. The butterflies do take a while to open up, which always makes me feel bad since I don’t generally resteep my tea, and they’re never fully opened on the first steep. Ah well.
I think this is a high quality jasmine tea, but I certainly wouldn’t pay the $25 for 50g of it. It’s a good option for reward redemptions, although I recently bought a bag of jasmine pearls from Teavivre, so I’m set in that department for a while.
ETA: My previous tasting note shows up on the tea page now, but this one doesn’t?
Flavors: Floral, Jasmine, Mineral, Silky, Smooth, Spring Water, Sweet, Thick
Preparation
Sipdown! (4 | 319)
Brought this tea home from our Hawai’i trip last fall. Good memories. Unfortunately, not good tea ha ha…
This is just quite bland. There’s a subtle pineapple flavor to it, and the tea itself is sort of cardboardy, but also tastes a bit like hay or dry grass. A bit musty, but overall just lacking flavor.
Flavors: Cardboard, Dry Grass, Hay, Musty, Pineapple, Sweet, Thin, Watery
Preparation
Sipdown! (3 | 318)
This is a nice enough tea, but I find I don’t really love fruit and mint together. I mean, I do enjoy a melon salad with some honey, a squeeze of lemon, and a bit of fresh mint, but I don’t seem to love it in tea form. Maybe because the mint comes on much stronger? Also the green tea here is fairly strong and grassy, so maybe that’s emphasizing the mint for me. It’s also slightly astringent, even at a 2-minute steep.
Not a favorite from Dammann. I don’t find myself reaching much for flavored greens these days, though there are a few that I really love. This is not one of them. I think if they had included a bit of citrus, I would’ve liked this a lot more.
Flavors: Astringent, Dry Grass, Fruity, Grassy, Honeydew, Melon, Mineral, Mint, Spearmint, Sweet