1711 Tasting Notes

drank Sencha Claus by TeaGschwendner
1711 tasting notes

Advent Day 5, Sencha Claus. Heh heh heh, clever. Dry this smells super fruity, like fruity cereal. The almond comes out much more in the cup with a slightly bakes flavor and mixes well with the fruit flavors. The tea base is light, but has a mouth drying sensation after each sip. I don’t quite get what I think of as sencha in this cup, but it’s a pretty tasty cup.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5v9VMAAvwo/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Edit: Awwww crap. I opened door 6 instead of 5. Advent fail.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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drank Butterbotch by BrutaliTeas
1711 tasting notes

Day 4 of advent. Very rich butterscotch candy scent when dry. I steeped it for just over three minutes, but I think that may have been too much. In addition to a strong butterscotch flavor there was also a tanic bitterness. Adding in cream helps mellow out that bite and blends well with the butterscotch flavor.
I love the wacky names that this company comes up with, but some of them I don’t know the reference for. This is one of them. Is there a band I’m not aware of? A meme that I missed? A horror movie I never heard of?
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5rFfGrgifl/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 15 sec

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Advent day 4. Plain, this tastes a little malty and like bread, but has a slightly bitter bite towards the end of the sip. I figured it was a good candidate for cream, but I’m not sure if that was the right choice. There is an almost peanut shell taste. Once I sip on past the shock of the flavor change I find a slight fruitiness to the cup. Is that right? Was my steeping basket contaminated from last night’s cup of Fireside Mocha? It’s hard to tell, but I have drank to the bottom of the cup as I ponder it all. It wasn’t a bad cup, but not quite remarkable either.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5rFCmhgX9C/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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drank Fireside Mocha by DAVIDsTEA
1711 tasting notes

I think this makes my 5th cup of tea today? I didn’t think I’d have any room left after the days advents, but I needed something to put some Bailey’s in and this happens to be the perfect thing! The flavors of the two drinks meld together perfectly and gives me a little booziness to take the edge off a really crappy day that could have been way worse.

MadHatterTeaDrunk

Here’s to hoping for better days ahead!

Dustin

Indeed!

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drank J.C. Absolu Oolong by THEODOR
1711 tasting notes

Advent day 3! Three bags of this tea are in the 3 slot, another plentiful sample. I’m not usually a fan of oolongs, so I’m always surprised when I find one I like and doesn’t have that flat taste I associate with them. When opening this bag I was struck by how fruity and juicy it smelled. It’s just as delightful steeped. The pear and peach are the dominating flavors, but there is a slight sweetness that rounds out the fruit flavors. I’d guess this would be delicious cold steeped and might take a little cream well. This is a tea I’d totally buy!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5oQeHNgXGz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Preparation
175 °F / 79 °C 3 min, 0 sec
ashmanra

Good to know! I adore their J E Milky.

Dustin

Same! I’m a little surprised I like both of their oolongs that I’ve tried. I wonder what the letters JC and JE stand for in the names.

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drank POLTERSPICE by BrutaliTeas
1711 tasting notes

Advent day 3! Polterspice, LOL! I love the name! It is full of spices, that’s for sure, but there is a deeper scent like the spices were baked. I can pick out some heat, maybe cinnamon or cayenne? The spices blend together well enough that I can’t pick them out individually. There is something almost, but not quite soapy in the finish. It has a slight sweetness to it, something slightly earthy. I’ve almost consumed the whole cup sipping away and enjoying it! I’d take a second steeping of this!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ofGntAyzK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
tea-sipper

Name made me laugh.

Dustin

So many of their tea names are hilarious and clever!

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drank Tropical Fire #985 by TeaGschwendner
1711 tasting notes

Advent day 3. I’ve been cheating . I’ve been opening the next day’s tea in all 3 advents the night before to plot my course of action for the morning cups. I’ll open them and smell them and tuck them back away. When I opened this, there was so much tropical fruit scent that I feared it must have hibiscus in it. I was relieved when I steeped it that the water didn’t turn that tell tale pink! It’s been a stressful morning and I have been sipping this from my travel thermos while distracted. Now that I’m sitting for a few I’m noticing a lovely passion fruit flavor. Lupica used to have a passion EG, Loke Lani, that was wonderful and this brings that tea to mind. I can taste a bit of the tea in the sip, but the finish is all passion fruit. I’d consider a purchase of this and I’d be tempted to add a little Earl Grey in the mix. Not sure where the “fire” in Tropical Fire comes from, but this is a solid tea either way.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
Maddy Barone

I don’t think I’d call that ‘cheating’. More like, planning. Go, you!

tea-sipper

Exactly. Good planning. haha

Dustin

In that case, I’m about ready to do some more planning for tomorrow!

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drank Ginger Orange by TeaGschwendner
1711 tasting notes

Advent day 2! I didn’t like this when it was hot, but now that it has been sitting around for several hours it is better. I can smell an almost fermented orange. Reminds me of the preserved orange peel candy in Asian markets. This has a similar taste with the earthy addition of ginger. It’s not a ginger with any sort of bite, it’s an older ginger. I’m trying to think of nice things to say about this tea. I want to like it, but it isn’t doing it for me.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5mXYPVALxY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 30 sec

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drank Assam a go-go by BrutaliTeas
1711 tasting notes

Day 2 of advent. Dry this smells like chocolate covered red fruit. It has a deep rich scent that I can’t quite put words to. This steeps up dark and reminds me of Lupicia’s Chocolate Strawberry Puer, which is one of my favorites. It smells like puer too. When sipping, I first get the puer taste that I can only describe as musty cave flavor that is toned down from other puers I’ve had. It sounds unflattering, but I don’t mean it that way. There is a red berry flavor in the finish along with something that hints of chocolate. I assume from the name that this must have assam in it. Maybe that is what is toning down the puer with a touch of malt? It was a good cup and I’d say it was like that Lupicia tea with the berry toned down and puer more center stage.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5l7XQfAIZP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec
tea-sipper

Now I feel like mixing some assam with some rich pu-erh…

Dustin

It was an interesting combo that seemed to work well!

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drank Travel to India by THEODOR
1711 tasting notes

Day 2 of the advent contained three teabags of this! It smells rich like liquor and raisins. The steeping suggestions say 90c which is around 198F, lower than I usually steep my black teas, but I tried it anyways. My first cup was on the light side and the second at a higher temp was a little richer, but I think a hotter first steep may be a better way to go. It still had that depth to it, but the flavors on top of that seemed muted. I could taste a chai mix, but it was more of a murmur. Luckily, with Theodor being so generous with their advent servings, I have two more bags to test steeping parameters on!

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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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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