Cameron B. select Send Message

Sipdown! (8 | 149)

Finished off the small packet of this from the literary sampler.

It’s a nice enough minty black tea. I think if I were a lavender lover and had purchased this based on the tin, which features lavender prominently, I would be disappointed. I honestly can’t really taste the lavender at all here, maybe a tiny hint, but only because I know it’s there. Mostly, it’s a very mellow peppermint black tea with the smoothness of vanilla, but not a ton of actual vanilla flavor (to my tastebuds).

Nice, but not something I would need to order. I’m not a lavender fan, but I think they need to increase the proportion of lavender here to make it taste more unique.

I was really excited to try this one, with its orange, pineapple, and spice flavors.

I don’t understand why they had to go and ruin it by adding hibiscus. It has a weird flat, metallic tartness and tastes thin. I’m hoping maybe I just got a lot of hibiscus in my scoop, because none of the other reviewers mention it at all…

Sipdown! (1 | 142)

Sipped this down earlier in the month but never wrote a note. I picked up an ounce in my last order to try. It was fine, a mellow EG but I couldn’t really detect any orange. Pleasant enough but nothing special IMO.

Fall subscription tea.

This combo sounded weird to me, but it’s actually quite pleasant to sip. I mostly get the chamomile, cinnamon, honeybush/rooibos, and a touch of mint. I think the rose and lavender were the parts that seemed odd to me, so since I don’t taste those, it’s perfectly soft and cozy without being too spiced. Would be lovely for a before-bed cuppa.

Hi friends! Sorry I haven’t been writing any notes the past couple of weeks, I’ve been dealing with a minor wrist injury and obviously typing is not an ideal activity for recovery ha ha. I’m still here and reading! Just not writing much.

Anyway, I placed an order from S&V, mostly because there were some teas I wanted for my DIY swap advent. So I picked up some holiday teas and green rooibos blends I liked from last year’s advent, and a few other bits and bobs, including this. This is actually the same tea as their Charles Dickens literary blend, but available in smaller sizes (for some reason literary and National Parks teas are only available in 4 ounces). I remembered really enjoying it in the advent, so got a 1 ounce bag to try.

It’s delightful. Perfect balance of flavorful yet smooth black tea with an interesting mineral note from the rolled oolong, and just the right amount of blackcurrant. Just such a nice combination for an everyday tea. I’ll definitely be putting the full-size tin of Charles Dickens on my list for next time!

This is one of S&V’s new fall releases. I ordered their fall sampler, which included a pouch of this tea, Apple Pie Chai, Pumpkin Spice, and the also-new Witch’s Brew.

As I might expect, I am not a big fan of this. It’s not bad per se, just too buttery and cloying for me. I find that I don’t tend to love overtly desserty blends anymore, at least not those with notes of butter or cake. Weird since I do love desserts ha ha, including the maple sandwich cookies that this tea reminds me of.

Into the rehoming box it goes!

I haven’t historically been a huge fan of Republic of Tea, but after enjoying their s’mores tea, I thought I would give this a shot. Plus, I can never resist fig-flavored anything…

Thankfully, it’s quite good! The bergamot is the strongest note but doesn’t overtake the other flavors and doesn’t taste too floral for me. I definitely taste the fig (yay!), and it reminds me of fig jam. I’m not sure about whiskey, there’s maybe a slight smoky woodiness going on in the background. The vanilla and caramel swirl together into a sort of crème caramel flavor with a custardy, slightly buttery character.

Overall, I’m happy with it. I thought it might be too many flavors going on, and admittedly I would just as soon omit the vanilla and caramel altogether and add more fig, but it doesn’t taste too muddled and I can still pick out the fig notes.

I wasn’t sure I would like this one since it has almond, but the combination sounded too interesting to pass up. It has chocolate, smoke, almond, and cinnamon.

It smelled very almondy in the pouch, but honestly all of the added flavors are quite mild in the cup. I mostly taste the lapsang, which is mellow since it’s blended with other teas. Then there’s a bit of almond/marzipan and a touch of chocolate, along with a very subtle sprinkling of cinnamon.

Overall, it’s perfectly pleasant, but I feel like it needs a little more oomph from at least one of the flavors, as it’s a bit too subtle to me. There’s a bit of a whiskey barrel character to it that could be interesting if it were a little more balanced.

More Dryad. This one is pleasant but overall a bit too light on flavor. I do enjoy the hazelnut and cream together, it reminds me a bit of chestnut cream in a fluffy French pastry. The cinnamon is nice enough. I just feel like it needs more of everything.

Another spiced tea from Dryad this morning.

This is supposed to be cranberry, orange, and cinnamon, but sadly I’m not getting much in the way of fruity notes. Even the cinnamon isn’t all that strong. It’s not bland per se, but definitely very restrained in the amount of added flavor. I get a little hint of dried cranberry, no orange at all, and then a dusting of cinnamon on top. It’s not unpleasant, but certainly not what I was hoping for – more of a mild cinnamon toast type tea.