1443 Tasting Notes
Logging a few more sipdowns! Almost time for our trip and more tea! Still about 3 weeks though — always time for more sipdowns and more cupboard space!
2023 sipdown no. 86 Mountain Stream (2023) Buttermilk Oolong
2023 sipdown no. 87 AC Perch White Pineapple
2023 sipdown no. 88 AC Perch Caribbean Star
2023 sipdown no. 89 DF Carcadet Pinacolada
2023 sipdown no. 90 AC Perch White Temple (officially the end of advent teas!)
2023 sipdown no. 91 Paper & Tea Nandana
2023 sipdown no. 92 Tante T Inka Chokolade (I picked up 2x 100g last year in Denmark ❤ and 1x 100g has been enjoyed, so technically not a full sipdown, but one package sipdown)
2023 sipdown no. 93 Tante T Grøn Mango (same story as Inka Chokolade!)
2023 sipdown no. 94 H&S Green Tea with Coconut (Bangkok)
2023 sipdown no. 95 Butiki Premium Taiwanese Assam (I discovered this when we were doing some cleaning this weekend and immediately enjoyed it, yay!)
Hot: This one is quite lovely. The green tea base is fairly neutral and the ‘cream’ aspect adds the most subtle creaminess here. The strawberry is very subtle, adding a bit more complexity overall. I have really enjoyed both these teas from Kaffekrukken and I’m not much of a green tea fan, so quite thrilled about that.
Cold: So, similar to the Jordbær Rabarber, the taste is fairly diminished with the cold-brew. There’s a definite creaminess here with very subtle hints go strawberry. This one doesn’t have any bitterness with the green tea base, so that’s quite lovely. Very refreshing!
Hot: This is a green tea with strawberry and rhubarb. The leaf actually has fruit chunks, which I love. There is just a hint of chalkiness, but it isn’t bothersome at all. There’s a lovely scent of strawberry once steeped, and hints of strawberry with the sourness of rhubarb that comes through in the flavour. The green tea base is nice here, mostly neutral, but I’m quite happy with that.
Cold: The very subtle chalkiness from the hot steep has diminished even more here, but the flavours of strawberry and rhubarb are a bit more drowned out. The green base borders on the edge of becoming bitter. Perhaps just from the actual temperature? I didn’t even realise how cold my fridge is? This is perhaps a degree above freezing haha! Nonetheless, very refreshing and nothing inherently wrong with the taste.
On our trip to Denmark last year, we picked up two teas (this and another) from a coffee/tea shop in a town near to where some of my family lives. The teas are ones they’ve sourced and re-packaged to sell in their shop, so unsure where this one is truly from, but they let me know their teas come from Denmark, other Nordic countries, and Germany for the most part.
I received this one a couple weeks ago and have had a few hot cups thus far, but thought I’d cold brew it to see if I preferred that. So, the taste is essentially the same hot or cold brewed. I would say this is very true of toast and jam, but, the toast is burnt? There is an edge of bitterness here that really reminds me of burnt toast haha! I am one of those people who toasts so lightly, I basically ‘steam’ my bread, so perhaps that’s an issue here XD. I shall do another note when I have a chance to sit down with a hot cup and write out some thoughts.
For my own reference, I’ve tried hot steeping this at 2 minutes, 2.5 minutes, 3 minutes, and 4 minutes.
I think one of my reviews mentioned that the toaster was turned WAY up on this one!
Hahah I love that — I’ll have to go find it. Thank goodness I’m not the only one!
Burnt toast notwithstanding, I love this stuff!
Yeah I got bitterness as well but thought because I overdid the brew. I will try next time with one bag and 4 minutes to test
This is also great with a little milk to tone it down.
I’ll definitely try that next time. :)
Hm, maybe I will try milk as well next time.
So I’ve been cold brewing 1-2 teas daily to get through some green teas and others in my cupboard and figured I would try this one cold brewed. Well…it tasted just like sunscreen. Remarkably so, in fact. Alas, it was dumped XD.
Also, life update: three weeks to thesis submission as of today!
2023 sipdown no. 85
Hot: So, it’s obviously just me since the rating is so high haha, but this tea isn’t anything to write home about. I primarily got this since I’m on a massive blackcurrant kick, but alas, it’s almost got too many flavours for my liking, they seem to get muddled together. Don’t get me wrong, I’d be thrilled to receive this as a sachet out somewhere, but I have teas I prefer in my own cupboard.
Cold: Okay, I wrote the hot portion yesterday and just took the cold-steeped cup out of the fridge to enjoy. This version tastes very similar, but the vanilla and bergamot are easier to tease apart. Sadly, the blackcurrant seems to be a bit lost in both the hot and cold, but I have H&S’ straight blackcurrant, so I’ll survive. :P
More of this for others to enjoy!
I’m not a big fan of Paris, either. I got it having heard it was similar to Theodor’s Perseus, but I was really disappointed. It’s fine as an iced tea, refreshing enough, so that’s how I’ve been getting through my stash.
I think I ultimately preferred it cold as well. Hopefully you make it through your stash quickly! :)
Life is so hard >.<
I love it both ways but there’s a huge difference between loose and bagged. It’s odd, I love the loose and despise the bagged
Really, wow! I had the loose haha and assumed it would be almost the same as a sachet!
I had the bagged!
2023 sipdown no. 84
The notes from MS include “honey, rose and dark oolong goodness”. I would say it’s mostly dark oolong with some honey. I didn’t get a lot of rose (but I’m not upset about that haha). The honey was lovely, but not as nice as some of their other offerings or other Taiwanese honey-like teas I’ve enjoyed. Overall a good cuppa, but not a permanent cupboard resident.
Preparation
The MS website says this tea doesn’t “taste” like milk, but instead “feels” like milk. Being vegan, I haven’t had cow’s milk in many, many years, but I can see how this has a milk “feel”. It’s perhaps slightly creamier than other green oolongs and there’s a sweetness at the end of the sip that makes me think of the leftover sugary milk at the end of a bowl of cereal I enjoyed as a child (in a very subtle way). Naturally, the vegetal flavour of a green oolong is there, but it’s fairly muted in this tea. An enjoyable cuppa, all round!
Also, we are going to see Bill Nye tonight and I just had to tell someone because we’re so excited!
Preparation
A few more sipdowns, even some advent calendar teas (AC Perch)!
2023 sipdown no. 74 Camellia Sinensis Shan Lin Xi
2023 sipdown no. 75 Crio Bro Venezuela Medium
2023 sipdown no. 76 Steam Tea Pink Grapefruit
2023 sipdown no. 77 Camellia Sinensis Mi Xiang Hong Cha
2023 sipdown no. 78 Mountain Stream 2020 Wuyi Black
2023 sipdown no. 79 T2 Melbourne Breakfast
2023 sipdown no. 80 New Moon (Bush Berry) Lemon Ginger Tulsi
2023 sipdown no. 81 Edinburgh Tea & Coffee Co Thistle Tea
2023 sipdown no. 82 AC Perch Nepal White
2023 sipdown no. 83 AC Perch Ceylon OP
A tea from Kelmishka!
I’m not quite sure what thistle tastes like, but I will say that this tea is quite smooth. I was fully expecting a bit of astringency, especially considering it was a sachet, but I was pleasantly surprised. There’s a hint of herbal-like flavour in the background — not sweet to fruity, but a neutral herbal flavour. There’s nothing wrong with this one at all. A nice black tea to enjoy without really having to focus on it.
Woohoo done with advent teas! That AC Perch calendar does seem like it has fairly sizeable tins…
And I count each package as a sipdown, especially 100g wow! :D
Those 100g packages certainly create space in the cupboard! I think I actually got that idea because of a sipdown you noted — thank you! ❤