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This is from the “sipdown-in-progress” box. To be honest, I was hesitant to try this one, as I find myself not enjoying smoky teas as much lately as I used to…

But I actually really like the smoke here, it pairs so nicely with the bergamot. The overall taste is a bit light, I think this would be ideal for afternoon tea. The bergamot is not overpowering, and has a nice citrusy zing. The smoke is fairly light as well, a nice savory smoked food sort of note. I’ve never had a longan fruit, but to me the fruit here tastes quite a bit like lychee, with that unique juicy sort of floral tropical flavor. It seems an odd pairing with the other two flavors but goes over well, happily I am a fan of lychee in general.

Raising the rating a bit here because I like this one more than I remember. Happily, I see that the US website still offers it, in the case that I find I need it in my cupboard later on.

In other news, I seem to be amassing quite a stockpile of freeze-dried miso soup. I fell in love with it a few months ago after I think discovering it through Kickstarter? So now I’ve ordered some alternate brands through Amazon and am in miso heaven. The freeze-dried variety is so much better than the instant kind I’ve had in the past, with actual big chonks of veggies and such. And the flavor variety is amazing! Today I had an eggplant version that was delish… (drool)

Another one from Sips By. Clearly they really wanted me to try some Indian black teas… XD

I actually steeped this one twice, the first time with a conservative time of 2.5 minutes. It came out quite bland, so I steeped a second cup for 4 minutes. I tend to err on the side of shorter steeps with Indian black teas, but maybe that’s not necessary for Nilgiri?

Anyway, it’s still rather lightly flavored. There is zero bitterness or astringency, which is rather shocking to me. Mostly there are soft notes of hay, malt, a bit of wood and earth near the end of the sip. Perhaps some tobacco and leather in there as well, and a hint of dark raisin. It reminds me a bit of a cross between Assam and a Chinese black tea?

Nothing spectacular, but very drinkable.

After being disappointed by the last tea, and still feeling like a green base, I figured I would treat myself to an old favorite…

This is quite possibly my favorite tea from Dammann. I’m not the biggest ginger fan, but it is so good in this blend. There’s such a great balance of ginger, lime, and passionfruit that’s not too sweet but not too spicy either. And I can still taste the base tea, which is sweet and mellow with dry grassy notes.

So. Effing. Good.

Hmm…

I think this one is suffering from age, it’s surprisingly weak given the amount of leaf I used for the mugful. I do taste the pineapple this time, along with coconut (eyeroll).

But that’s about it, aside from a vague sweetness. Another one for the list of samples to order again for a second try!

So I finally went through my (physical) cupboard earlier and pulled out a few teas that were getting low into a sipdown box. I’m hoping to get a cup or two of these teas in each day until they’re gone, because I just have way too many teas. And I have a small box full of unopened teas that I’m planning to leave that way until I finish off a few things.

Anyway, this is the first of those sipdown teas! This is one of a few David’s teas that I still have kicking around, I don’t tend to buy their teas anymore as they’re just not my favorite, especially for the price. That’s not to say I don’t like some of their teas, and this is one of them.

This is a nice sweet and orangey tea that I find both relaxing and refreshing. The maté is mildly herbaceous and sweet as well, so they make a lovely pair. I find myself enjoying green maté blends lately, I really should order some plain to try. There is a somewhat odd tongue tingling sensation at the end of the sip, I’m not sure what that’s from?

Anyway, a very pleasant tea that I am happy to sip down.

Made this as a latte, because it’s getting chillier here lately and because I can!

Anyway, this is a delicious mug of sugar bomb. I also used vanilla almond milk, so extra vanilla! Mostly it tastes creamy and über sweet with vanilla and mild spicing. I definitely get clove, anise, and maybe ginger, not so much cinnamon. There’s a tiny bit of warming heat on the back of my palate too, so perhaps black pepper or chili?

Mostly it tastes like a mugful of cookie, and I’m fine with that.

Oops, just realized the tin is expired by about two weeks. So now another tin is on its way to me! XD I chose the plain Tiger version this time…

Another one from Arby (I think). I’ve never had a yellow tea that I can remember, so this should be quite interesting. The leaves are long and spindly, with a mix of dull grey-brown and light gold. They look fairly similar to a Yunnan black tea, and smell a bit similar too.

This is certainly an interesting one. To me, it’s like a mix between a light Yunnan black tea and a dragonwell tea. The beginning of the sip is more Yunnan, with bread and some malty notes, and a light stonefruit flavor. In the middle of the sip, a strong buttery quality appears, and some nutty dragonwell-esque notes. The end is a little bit bitter, and I probably should’ve steeped this at a lower temperature… A light floral hit in the aftertaste as well?

It’s definitely interesting. Holding off on rating until I can try the rest of the sample with a lower water temperature.

Good morning, Steepster.

This one is from an old Sips By box. I’m actually getting quite close to finishing all of those, right in time for my new box to arrive I’m sure. ;)

I felt this had quite a peppery scent dry, which was certainly unusual for an Assam. Then when I poured the hot water over the leaves, I was struck by a lovely aroma of honey and golden raisins. Ahh…

In the cup though, it mostly tastes as I would expect for an Indian Assam tea. The notes in the forefront are malt, tobacco, and raisin, and even though I kept the steep short, it has a fairly strong astringency. If I look, I do find some nice subtle flavors of honeyed figs and hay though, which are quite pleasant.

It’s tasty enough, though Assam is never quite my thing, and I also have a very good one in my cupboard already for when I get a craving.

It’ll be quite interesting to see what I get in my first Sips By box after re-signing up. Since I think a lot of the partner companies are different now than they were before, plus I took the survey again and I’m sure my tastes have changed…

I really don’t understand…

I get a strong coconut flavor from this. I do taste pepper, and milk chocolate, and maybe a hint of pineapple at the end of the sip. But the strongest note is coconut.

I feel like I’m crazy, because not a single tasting note mentions coconut at all. But I can’t imagine how this would’ve gotten contaminated, it’s in a sealed sample pouch in a drawer with other sealed sample pouches…

Clearly I am losing my mind. And clearly this tea is not for me!

I’m still finding this one quite bland.

The green tea is bland, the maté is bland, I can’t taste the cacao, and the coffee, while pleasant, is very light.

It’s not bad per se, just bland, bland, bland.