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Sipdown, 248. This one comes to me thanks to Tea Sipper!

I have been a bit curious about Teavana’s Earl Grey and variants thereof, but never enough to actually seek them out. But Tea Sipper included a sample of this, so I get to try it.

My first impression immediately after it was finished steeping was that of cleaning solution. Uh oh. There is just something about the bergamot that seems off. I feared Bitter Bergamot Syndrome in the taste of this one, but actually it turned out alright. I mean, it’s not terrible, but it’s not really good, either. Despite the fact I used slightly more leaf than I normally would for this cup, the flavor is kind of bland. The cream is nice in the aftertaste but not great in the main sip. The bergamot is kind of meh and more typical of mediocre Earl Greys, not fruity and citrusy and lovely. All in all, not a bad cup, but not one that I will look for again.

Sipdown, 248. I put all my single-serving-left teas in one box this morning, so I can finish them off quickly and feel extra good about stash reduction. As it is, this quantification is making me feel pretty good. More than 10 teas in less than a week, yay!

I am extra tired this morning and could really use a boost. This tea seemed like just the ticket! And it is extra delicious today. Citrusy and sweet and very creamy. Sometime after I have stash-reduced more, I will certainly make an order for more of this tea. It is nice to have something besides strong blacks in the morning that I know will wake me up.

Sipdown, and swap-down. 249! I’ve swapped a bunch of samples away, plus I am sipping down this one that is actually two. I had a tiny bit of Winter Palace Marzipan from a local tea shop in Port Jefferson, NY, and some of this, which I got in a swap from Sare (thanks!). I think they are the same blend, and this pot was mostly this tea, so it’s getting logged here. I also put a lot of rooibos in the pot because these samples are both fairly old, and it’s hard to oversteep rooibos.

Mmmmmmarzipanny! The fruityness that rooibos often provides is interpreted here as apricot, which of course always works well with almond. I can definitely taste the coconut in this one as well, which lends a creamy quality to it that is nice. This is a nice evening tea, and I think that roobois is best with nutty flavors like almond. Glad to have this one this evening.

This is a big sample, and it’s getting up there in age, especially for a white tea. I really need to drink it down!

I put a big pile of this in my gongfu teapot and steeped it for somewhere between 10 and 20 seconds. Not a lot of precision here, but the result is quite lovely. Sweet, honeysuckle-y jasmine, yum. My second cup is not my favorite… I think the white tea is overtaking the jasmine, somehow, and I think I prefer a green base (rather, a pearl base) for jasmines overall. But still a delicious jasmine tea.

I was so super psyched to see this tea in the Verdant Reserve Club box this month. Laoshan Black is one of my all-time favorite teas, so a super-special version of it? Awesome. I wanted to try it right away but I’ve been so busy I haven’t been able to get to it until today. An I certainly wanted to make sure I had the time to savor and appreciate it. I am steeping this gong-fu today.

The dry leaf is beautiful, and smells like chocolate and toasted caramel. This being so limited, there is not much of it, so I intend to savor every drop. Thus, I am certainly drinking my rinse. And what a rinse! It is very pale golden in color, but so flavorful already. Incredibly sweet, with a flavor that reminds me a bit of roasted, honeyed, cocoa-dusted nuts.

My second steep (only 5 seconds) is considerably darker, a lovely amber color. It is out of this world. It smells kind of like cayenne chocolate, or at least chocolate with a little spice, and caramel. There is still a lot of sweetness, and now there is some rich graininess and molasses notes along with the chocolate.

Third steep smells even more like spicy chocolate, but this time it smells like spicy milk chocolate instead of spicy dark. Interesting because there is no hint of spice to the flavor, but for whatever reason my mind thinks “spice” at that aroma. This steep is where the chocolate is at. I mentioned it before but in the previous steeps it’s just been flirting around the edges, never taking the main stage. But here it is, in this steep!

I just realized that I am brewing this weaker than suggested (I used only 4g in my 6oz teapot), but I wanted to stretch my leaf. It is still amazing!

After many subsequent steeps, I think I have tapped them out. I totally lost track of how many I got, but it was almost more than I could hold. :D In a related note, perhaps I am getting better at this whole gongfu thing.

This tea is amazing and it makes me sad that this one small ounce-ish is all that I will have of it.

Steepster, you are killing me this afternoon! You only load like every other page.

Anyway, sipdown, 261. This is a sample thanks to Kasumi no Chajin!

I continue to be enthralled by these Kenyan teas. A Kenyan green is particularly interesting because almost all the tea you see coming out of there is black. Steeped up, this tea definitely smelled buttery and nutty, with a bit of grassiness to it as well (but not too much). The flavor was initially lackluster but it built on my palate as I drank it and is now pretty delicious. I particularly like the aftertaste of lilacs… the tea itself is not floral at all, but then a few moments after swallowing the sensation of lilacs fills my mouth and nose. Delightful. Not sure that I would rebuy this one based soley on this tasting, but it is very pleasant and a lovely tea to drink.

Sipdown: 262

The last time I had this one I brewed it at the recommended time/temp, but was wanting more flavor so I decided this time I would go hotter/shorter. Not sure that entirely worked for me, as now it is edging on bitter. Not quite at that point, but maybe I went too hot this time. Ah well. In the end, I’m still not really a fan of dark oolongs, but I do like trying well-rated ones occasionally just in case my tastes have changed.

Sipdown: 263. Since a good number of those are samples, I’m hoping to get down to 200 in a relatively short period of time. I’m taking a trip to San Francisco in about a week, and will definitely be going by the Lupicia store there, so I want to feel ok about stocking up on tea then!

This one was nice and pumpkiny and spicy today, and I will definitely miss it. I might have to restock it next fall!

I had a small sample of this waaaaaaaay back when Butiki was first starting out and Stacy offered a few free samples to some Steepsters. Guess that makes me old, in Steepster terms.

But now I have a new pouch of this, which has probably changed since I last had it, thanks to Azzrian! I haven’t been the biggest fan of rooibos, in the past, but I have to say this one is pretty delicious. Coconutty and creamy, with a hint of bright fruitiness from the rooibos. Not sure how old this is, but it seems like it might have benefitted from an even longer steep, since it is a bit less flavorful than I would have expected. Nonetheless, it is still very tasty and a nice evening drink.

I got this one in a swap quite a while ago from SimplyJenW… sorry it took me so long to get to it, and thanks for the tea! I so rarely think of having tea at night, but tonight after taking my inventory I thought I would have some.

Between more tea I discovered at the office in the afternoon, the Verdant Reserve package, and the mostly herbal blends here at home, my final count is 264. Whew!

This immediately smelled Paris-y and lovely. Yum. I might have over-leafed my teapot… I still haven’t figured out the optimal tea amount for this pot. Nevertheless, this tea isn’t bitter, just a little overly perfumy almost. The black tea is definitely decaf, in that there isn’t much flavor to it. But it’s pretty tasty nonetheless, and a nice to have what seems to be a black tea at night.