Cameron B. select Send Message

Sipdown! (8 | 411)

This is such a nice nutty tea. It has the rich, creamy, buttery flavor of chestnut and a bit of a caramelized note that adds a nice candied nut vibe. Then there’s the grassy green base, and the matcha adds a bit more sweetness and richness to it.

Overall just a yummy tea that I’ll have to reorder next fall. Lupicia does chestnut so well! :)

Nordqvist Moomin Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 17

Another Earl Grey! This is meant to be a black tea with bergamot and orange, but sadly I’m not really getting any orange. Perhaps a hint of orange zest on the tail end? But mostly it’s a pleasant Earl Grey with a smooth base, good level of bergamot, and a hint of a citrusy edge. Tasty and very drinkable, but nothing special.

The Tea Practitioner Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 17

Sheng puerh again! I steeped this gongfu style in an adorable little grey ceramic houhin with mountains on the lid.

If I’m honest, I felt like I was missing something with this one. Not to say it didn’t taste pleasant, but I didn’t find a lot of complexity in it and that flavor didn’t change much for me over the course of the session. It reminded me of a combination of aged white and Chinese green tea – with cozy woody and lightly musty straw notes, hints of stonefruit, and a slightly astringent finish. I enjoyed sipping on it, but I guess I was expecting more? Then again, I don’t have much experience with sheng heh…

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

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 17

Kept my steep a bit shorter for this one because I noticed it has CTC black tea in it.

It smells like cinnamon candy, but in the taste I mostly get clove and star anise, with a bit of sweet cinnamon in the background. There is some creamy vanilla, but it doesn’t stand up well to the strong spice flavoring. Not being a huge clove fan, it’s not my favorite, though the star anise does help detract a bit from the clove and take it to more of a licorice-y place.

Definitely preferred their other spiced teas, especially the gingerbread one. :)

Dammann Frères Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 17

So I do enjoy bergamot, but if I’m honest, plain Earl Grey isn’t my favorite. It’s not something I buy or drink often, I tend to prefer Earl Grey with extra citrus or other fun additions.

But this one is lovely! The bergamot here is very citrusy, and it’s not super strong. It almost tastes like there’s lemon added, which is perfect for my preferences. The black tea is smooth and slightly earthy, which pairs nicely with the bright citrus.

I’m not sure I would buy this one, as I think I prefer their Grand Goût Russe, but it’s still a delicious tea!

Provence d’Antan Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 16

So vanilla white tea sounds pleasant enough, but I’m not a fan of this. The white tea is just so musty, like I steeped a chunk of compacted hay that had been sitting in the corner of the barn for ages. Not getting much from it other than musty, musty hay. There’s a touch of creamy vanilla, but it doesn’t pair very well with the tea.

Not great for sure.

Nio Teas Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 16

So my packet doesn’t say shincha, but this is the only tea I found on Nio’s website that matched the name. So hopefully it’s the right one. :P

This is a fukamushi sencha, with very small pieces of leaf. The first steep actually came out a bit bitter, but otherwise it has a sweet and fresh grassy flavor with underlying spinachy vegetal notes. The end of the sip has a bit of umami, and a short finish with a touch of astringency to it.

The second and third steeps are not as sweet, but still have that refreshing grassy flavor along with stronger vegetal and savory notes. These steeps also came out slightly bitter, not sure if that’s due to my steeping parameters or just because of how tiny the leaf was.

Anyway, a pleasant tea but not my favorite.

The Tea Practitioner Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 16

Steeped in a sort of casual hybrid style, also known as me lazily putting some leaf in my glass steeper, going “sure that looks fine,” and then doing multiple steeps that aren’t timed and are judged solely on the color of the liquid. Oh, and never reheating the water, so it just gets progressively cooler as I go… ^^’

Seems to have worked just fine for this tea though ha ha. This is a lovely bai mudan, so smooth and soft with airy notes of sun-warmed hay and raw oats and mild honey. Some steeps had so much natural sweetness to them, some had hints of grass or cream or or cucumber. All were delicious and were greedily slurped by yours truly. :P

Definitely the best bai mudan I’ve had, so smooth and gentle, without any sharp edges. I’ll have to order some when they get it added to the site!

Nabo Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 16

Ooh, another interesting one from Nabo today! They do seem to like their berry teas, don’t they…

I do like it, but I don’t love it. I think it’s because the raspberry is quite candylike to my tastebuds, which doesn’t go as well with the savory rosemary as a fresh, tart raspberry would. It also makes it taste just the teensiest bit medicinal to me, and it’s not decidedly raspberry. The ingredients do say berry flavor, so maybe it’s not quite as specific as the name implies.

A pleasant tea but not a favorite for me!

Dammann Frères Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 16

Yay, this is one of the ones I was most excited to try from the advent! I happen to love yerba maté, so I’m always happy to see it in flavored blends.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this one, not being a cherry fan, but I’m actually loving it. To be fair, the flavoring is quite subtle. A lot of the flavor is coming from the maté itself, which I really like, so I’m not complaining. It has such a softly earthy, herbaceous flavor with notes of hay and dry leaves and dark honey. It’s a really, really tasty green maté base, and then in the background I can taste the cherry and lemon being layered in. The cherry is more on the tart side, thank goodness, so it doesn’t end up tasting like a cheap lollipop or cough syrup. I wouldn’t call it authentic per se, but more like a cherry Jolly Rancher sort of flavor, which has more tartness to it than a traditional cherry candy. The lemon is soft as well, and helps lighten up the cherry but also stands a bit on its own in the finish. It’s not a sour lemon, but it’s not candy either, maybe a bit like lemon peel but without the bitterness?

Regardless, this is easy my favorite from the advent so far and I need to buy more! :)