1711 Tasting Notes

I gave up on my advent tea a few days back. Now I get to focus on Xmas teas! I got the small subscription to Almost. This is a branching off from the Universal Yums box from the same company that we have had a subscription to off and on for the past three years. In that box they pick a different country for each box and choose snacks and treats that are well known in that country or are unique to that country. That subscription has entertained the entire house! When they decided to do tea, I was really excited. The thing for this subscription is they pick a favorite dessert maker of theirs, have samples sent to their tea blenders and try to match the flavor of the tea to the sweet. I thought it would be six treats from different companies that the teas were blended to match per month, but it’s six sweets from one bakery. The tea is on the pricey side, but fun for a gift. The small subscription is two tea bags of each of the six tea. The bigger one is five bags of each of the six flavors. For this mix they have two blacks, two rooibos, one puerh and one honeybush. They come in pyramid bags without a string.

This smells really good dry, steeping and in the cup. The instruction said to use boiling water, I ignored it. The flavors were a little more intense when first steeped and seem to loose a little of the magic as I write about the tea and let my cup cool. The sip is very blond brownie like, but light. It’s a little buttery and a touch underwhelming. Then the finish arrives and the brown butter richness really kicks in. I’m betting this would taste amazing with a little sweetener to round out the flavors and make it super brownie like. I think I can pick up on the bourbon part, but that is one of the flavors that eludes me a little unless it’s overpowering. I’m having a hard time picking out the puerh on it’s own. I think it’s making for a nice depth to the cup without standing out with that earthy damp flavor that puerh has. Adding sugar amplifies the flavors! It’s making whole thing more rich, especially the butter part. There is something distracting at the start of each sip, but it passes so quickly that I can’t pin point it. The sugar really makes it more decadent and full.

There is a little pamphlet that comes with the tea giving info on the maker of the dessert these are based on and it’s tempting to order some of the brownies to see how well they match the tea. They have a little QR code and I wish it took you to a page with all the flavors of brownies represented in these teas in a premade sample pack. It looks like they have a lot of seasonal and rotating flavors and two of the flavors of corresponding brownies were not available. If this box picks up in popularity it would be an interesting way to cross sell desserts and teas between companies.

I’m really enjoying this cup. I’d gladly drink another cup any time, but the price point of $30 for 30 sachets if I wanted to buy more is a little on the pricey side. If I really loved one of their teas I’d be more likely to consider buying more if it was 15 for $15 or if they had a mix and match $1 per bag with a minimum of 10-20 bags. As it is, I think two servings in the subscription to try out a new tea is perfect for this tea fanatic.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 15 sec
Cameron B.

So glad to see someone else trying this company too! ♥️

tea-sipper

oh what a concept. yum :D

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drank Love Life by Casting Whimsy
1711 tasting notes

Advent Day 19
I think I lost a day in there somewhere. Things have been hectic and confusing lately, but here we are on Dec 19th! I’m not ready for it to be this late in the month and this cup of tea isn’t helping. It’s green tea with lemon verbena, basil, peppermint, ginger and lemongrass. It’s like this cup can’t decide if it’s tea or a light broth. The flavors clash. It’s brothy in scent, confusing in the sip and muddled mint tea in the finish. I keep wincing with each sip. This is a NO for me.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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drank Matcha Green Tea by Tea Drops
1711 tasting notes

Tea Drops seemed like such a gimmicky way to sell tea, but I am very tea curious so I wanted to try. First ingredient in this is sugar, second is matcha. It dissolved easily in my cup of warm water. It just tastes like match. Sweetened matcha. It’s not particularly good. It’s boring and not that convenient for a mediocre cup.

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drank Koala Tea by Casting Whimsy
1711 tasting notes

Advent Day 18
I was super busy yesterday and didn’t even have time to drink my cup! Took a few sips, liked it and left if out for today. It’s cold now, but it’s still interesting. It has very bright notes to it with an underlying taste that I can only describe as light tobacco, but not. It’s probably the yaupon and I noticed we don’t have a category for yaupon in the Steepster choices for categorizing new teas. The lemon and eucalyptus are the strongest flavors. It also has clove and ginger, but they are playing perfect supporting roles to the others that it’s hard to pick them out in the sip, but they shine through a little more in the finish. I kinda like this one. Maybe not enough to buy more at this point, but if I came across another chance to drink it I’d take it.

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drank Eskimo Kiss by Casting Whimsy
1711 tasting notes

Advent Day 16
How did we get to 16 already?! This is an almond peppermint green. It’s weird and I’m not sure what to make of it. I love love love almond in my tea, but I’m used to it being paired with flavors of cinnamon, cookies and other really warming and sweet things. But peppermint?! I dunno. My first few sips were almond first and peppermint later in the sip, but a few more sips in and they switch up on me. Later in my cup they sort of merge, but in a slightly clunky way. My mouth is left chilled by the peppermint while a little of the green tea flavor kicks in. It has settled into a mostly peppermint tea with a hint of almond fighting for recognition. I don’t find them meshing well and complimenting each other. It’s an interesting flavor combo, very bold and unusual, but it doesn’t work for me.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Cameron B.

Most years advent calendars go by too quickly for me, this year I’m ready for them to be done because I have too many and am taking photos of them all rofl. >.<

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drank Eldarin's Finest by Casting Whimsy
1711 tasting notes

Advent Day 15

The package says this tea has black currant and chablis flavors. I had to look up what chablis was (wine made in the colder Burgundy area of France). It does have a fruity floral scent to it. It’s light and mellow both in scent and flavor. It lacks deeper lower tastes and is more in the mid to high range. The currant is the most prominent flavor with the grape following. The more I sip the more I get an almost dusty flavor behind it, which I’m guessing is the tea. My mouth feels dry after every sip, which I’m not a fan of. It’s an okay tea. Probably not something that I’d have again, but not because it’s bad, but because it’s just not to my tastes.

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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drank Dark Gold by Casting Whimsy
1711 tasting notes

Advent Day 14
No. Nope. No ma’am. Just no. Hibiscus you sneaky little bastard! When I read it was a cinnamon vanilla rooibos I was willing to give it a try despite rooibos, but it wasn’t until that metallic hibby tang hit my tongue and defected in my mouth that I realized this has hibiscus. So not cool. The flavors behind the yuck were okay as far as I can tell, but I am prevented from enjoying them. I don’t understand how hibiscus fits into a cinnamon vanilla flavor profile, I mean… * I * believe it doesn’t, I’m just not sure how other people think it’s okay. Anyway, enough about my flavor nemesis. Taking a deep breath and moving on.

Dustin

Right?! Hibiscus can take a long walk of a short pier!

Nattie

I would feel pretty cheated if I were expecting cinnamon and vanilla and got hibisuc instead! (I’m really tired and accidentally misspelled hibiscus, but I’m going to leave it like that because it’s true)

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drank Toil & Trouble by Casting Whimsy
1711 tasting notes

Advent Day 13
I skipped day 12 because the first ingredient was hibiscus and I wasn’t willing to put myself through that kind of torture.
This tea is a blend of green and black tea, which I’m not sure how I feel about in this tea. The teas in the advent didn’t come with steeping instructions so I’m guessing on parameters. The dry tea had a strong scent to it. Once steeped I can clearly smell and taste the grassy notes of the green tea. The caramel apple flavor was more prominent when my cup was hot, but now that it’s has cooled they are toned down and my cup is more tangy and green. I think this is a perfectly fine tea, but it has the misfortune of being paired in my mind against another caramel apple tea that is perfection IMO and had bolder flavors which I favor.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 2 min, 0 sec
Skysamurai

XD Hibiscus of torture

Dustin

Right?! I’ll talk, I’ll talk, just stop making me drink hibiscus!

tea-sipper

(what is your perfect caramel apple tea?)

Dustin

Caramel Apple Betty from Arthur Dove. :)

tea-sipper

Oh cool – I happen to have a sample of that around here I haven’t even tried yet. Will do that soon!

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drank Currant Events by Casting Whimsy
1711 tasting notes

Advent Day 11
I was worried when I smelled the dry tea. It smelled like currants with some sort of mint and it was jarring. I was relieved to see there was no mint in the ingredients and proceeded with caution. It’s a black based currant tea with an undertone of orange. It’s nice enough, well balanced, has the currant front and center, but I wish it had more going on. I said in one of my other CW reviews that I wish the blend was more dynamic and I feel the same about this one as well. Perfectly good tea, just not that exciting. I don’t know what you would pair with currant to make it more magical, but I’d like it to have something.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Nattie

Oh how I love a punny name.

Dustin

Brutaliteas has fantastic puns for their tea names!

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drank Radar by Casting Whimsy
1711 tasting notes

Advent Day 10
Carrot cake rooibos. I’m trying to think of what fandom has a Radar in it and all I can think of is Big Bird’s teddy bear on Sesame Street. That or some guy on MASH. This smells and tastes VERY carrot cake like. It’s pretty dead on. So much so that I’m not even bothered by the fact that I’m drinking a rooibos. It has a bready baked carrot flavor with the right amount of spices. I’m kind of impressed.

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 4 min, 0 sec
AJRimmer

I love carrot cake teas! I’ll have to look for this one.

Martin Bednář

If it is a fandom related tea, then first which comes into mind is certainly Radar from MASH.

gmathis

At our house, we practically have the entire M*A*S*H lineup memorized, and I’m at a loss to reconcile Radar with carrot cake :) Maybe because he took care of rabbits and guinea pigs?

Dustin

I barely remember MASH, but it was on in our house quite often when I was young.

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Profile

Bio

My name is Dustin and I like tea.

I’m an added flavor kind of tea fan, but have had a growing appreciation for plain. I want my tea to remind me of cookies and cakes with coconut and almond slices with a hint of chocolate drizzled on top. I want dancing ponies and flying monkeys shooting off fireworks! And no hibiscus. Hibiscus is the devil.

Location

BA, CA, US

Website

https://www.instagram.com/dre...

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