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Sipdown! (6 | 6)

Ooh, getting a really lovely rich cacao flavor in this last cuppa!

I never really got much marshmallow from this, despite there apparently being both leaf and root. But it is a nice mix of peppermint and dark chocolaty notes. Often I can’t really taste cacao much in teas, so I appreciate that it has a strong presence here. So much better than chocolate flavoring!

It’s tasty, but not something I would reorder due to the price ($9 for 1 ounce). I might have to try creating my own version with mint and cacao nibs one of these days.

Sipdown! (5 | 5)

Another swap sample from a kind Instagram tea friend.

Wow, is this a sweet tea! Oodles of brown sugar, honey, sweet corn, some spun sugar as well. A bit of a toasty popcorn note as well, along with rich dried stonefruit notes that remind me of apricot fruit leather. Among these is also the more usual clear mineral notes and thick, sumptuously silky texture that I often find in greener oolong. There’s a touch of gentle floral as well, especially near the end of the sip.

Reading the description, I can totally taste the crystallized ginger note as well, even if I’m not astute enough to describe it on my own he he. A very interesting and unusual oolong, and I’m thankful for having a chance to try it because of the kindness of friends! :3

Sipdown! (4 | 4)

So I have a swap sample labeled “Spearmint Lavender – Best Living Brands” and I can’t seem to find this brand or tea anywhere on the Interwebs, so I’m just going to put my note here rather than creating a new tea entry.

I admit, I’m a bit apprehensive about trying this one because, as we all know by now, lavender isn’t my thing. However, the spearmint smell upon opening the pouch was wonderful, so mixed feelings ha ha.

It’s quite good. The spearmint definitely dominates the flavor, luckily for me. It’s sweet and bright and refreshing but somehow avoids tasting like chewing gum. The lavender is just there as an accent, adding a very light, slightly savory citrusy floral note. It does give it more of a sleepytime sort of vibe.

Overall, very enjoyable. Maybe I’ll have to try out some lavender blends when I eventually order some herbal tisanes from Harts of America…

Sipdown! (3 | 3)

This is very unusual for a white tea, it definitely tastes closer to a black tea. I guess that makes sense given it’s from the same cultivar as Red Jade.

It’s very savory-tasting. The strongest note for me is green bean, and it’s a very cooked green bean that reminds me of these stewed green beans with bacon that my grandmother used to make. But then I can also taste those lovely dark caramelized brown sugar and malt notes that I would expect from a Taiwanese black tea. The hint of cinnamon is there as well. It’s almost a little sweet potato-y, like a Yunnan black tea? And a bit of astringency on the tail end.

It’s yummy! I don’t get the eucalyptus or camphor mentioned in the description, but it is on the older side now (though it was a sealed packet). An unusual and fun one to try for sure!

Sipdown! (2 | 2)

I like the idea of this one. And I like the peaches & cream part of it too.

But there’s too much ginger IMO, and it throws the whole thing off. The dried ginger root makes it taste too sharp and almost earthy, and takes it in a more savory direction. Also, there’s no cinnamon, which is odd when something like peach cobbler would generally have cinnamon. Maybe Deb was afraid it would be too similar to Peach Crumble Cake if it had cinnamon?

If she had reduced the amount of ginger and added some cinnamon, I think I would’ve liked this a lot more. As-is, it’s not a winner for me.

Sipdown! (1 | 1)

First sipdown of the year with a New Year tea! Happy New Year, tea friends!

This is Obubu’s version of obukucha, or good fortune tea. It’s a tea traditionally drunk around the new year to bring good luck. I’ve had a few different versions before, some having genmaicha or other bases, and usually with some form of gold flake to symbolize prosperity. This one is a sencha base – their Sencha of the Wind to be exact – and then it comes with little packets of dried ume and konbu knots to add into your cup, and then gold leaf to sprinkle on top.

It’s tasty! Sencha of the Wind is a shaded (or kabuse) sencha, so it has a slightly intense deep umami flavor with a good bit of sweetness. Not quite to the gyokuro level of intensity, but halfway there. Very deep and rich spinach notes that make you feel like you’re drinking a healthy smoothie, in a good way. And then the ume adds a nice tart fruity note to it, and the konbu adds salinity and a slightly different umami note. There’s also a nice, almost slippery silkiness that’s probably coming from the konbu as well.

Obubu sends this one out every year in their December box, and I’m actually still a year behind, so I’m drinking the obukucha I received at the end of 2020. I’ll try to remember to sip down my new 2021 packet this year so I’ll be caught up next January, ha ha! :P

https://www.instagram.com/p/CYNFEC8uOng/

Sipdown! (30 | 519)

One last sipdown for 2021! And it was my oldest tea, too. Hooray! \o/

Anyway, I really like this one. Anastasia is a lovely tea to begin with, and the bergamot and refreshing citrus really go well with a white base as well. Apparently there’s a bit of green tea in here as well, and I suppose I can taste it a bit. The white tea is quite flavorful, with nice grainy hay notes. I love how the lemon makes the bergamot veer a bit more citrusy here. I don’t think I taste orange blossom?

I do still have most of a tin of the original Anastasia, so I’ll have to get through that before I decide which version I would rather restock…

Sipdown! (29 | 518)

I really don’t drink matcha often enough. So it feels really good to finish off one of my pouches from 3 Leaf!

I’ve been preparing these cold in oat milk, and it works really well for this flavor. So convenient in my milk frother as well. This is probably my least favorite of my current flavors, but only because I just tend to prefer fruit flavors in general. It does have a nice, rich cake flavor to it that’s not overpowering. The matcha itself is also quite smooth with only a touch of bitterness at the end of the sip. I also added a light drizzle of vanilla syrup to this glass, which gives it a nice subtle sweetness and enhances those yummy cakey notes.

Tasty! Not sure if I’ll order it again though since there are other flavors I like more. But variety is always nice too.

Sipdown! (28 | 517)

So, I was excited to try this when I saw that it’s pineapple and passion fruit flavored.

However, I’m finding the flavor a bit too subtle. There is some nice tartness and pineapple-esque fruitiness. However, the base is a totally generic Chinese sencha that just tastes like a big ol’ pile of dry grass. And that just makes it taste rather flat for me overall. I feel like the flavoring needs to be stronger to compete with the grassy base.

Not loving it, but the overall rating is quite high so I guess I’m in the minority. :P

Sipdown! (27 | 516)

I’m not sure what I was thinking when I ordered these samples from Zhi Tea, since I ended up with three coconut teas and it’s never a favorite flavor of mine…

This one smells a bit odd, I thought I was smelling stevia at first, and then changed my mind to licorice root. But neither of those things appear to be in this tea, so not sure what’s going on. It also tastes a bit odd. The base is coming off very earthy, when it’s apparently an Assam. Not sure what’s making it taste that way to me, maybe the ginger? The coconut is very light in comparison to the spices IMO. I mostly taste cinnamon, and it’s somewhere in between Red Hots and bark. I probably would have guessed clove as well, but there is none. Not really picking up on the cardamom either.

An odd experience, as it really doesn’t taste like I would expect from the ingredients list. I would probably swear up and down that this has licorice root in it if I didn’t know it doesn’t. Hmm.