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A sipdown! (M: 4 Y: 44)
Another bagged tea sipped down and my stash of black tea, especially bagged seems on its historical minimum. And as of plain black teas… it’s so hard to find any.

This tea is good enough for mindless drinking if you would like something less common and savoury. But sadly, as mentioned in previous note, it fades very quickly.

I have decided to gongfu 4 grams of this black tea from Bhutan; steeped as suggested by vendor, that’s 85°C water; 30, 40, 60, 90 seconds and followed by longer steeps with unknown time.

Sadly, this time I don’t notice any flavours that vendor suggests, see below:
Fresh and rich fruit note, mostly orange, peaches, rosehip, hints of cinnamon and light astringency in aftertaste.

Yes, it is fruity somehow, definitely more than I would expect; and some astringency saying this is a black tea is there for sure. But overall it tastes a bit flat…
I wonder if it is because hard water I have at home, but on the other hand I know this water well and I am used to it.

There are a few of you that tried green tea version; and I would like to compare both side-by-side. Sadly, the black tea version was a dismal for me. At least its spring 2023 harvest.

I took another Mini, probably my last one to steep.
At first I did a long rinse, I believe it was about 30 seconds long; and steeps were starting on 30 seconds too. I tossed the rinse out and let it absorb the humidity for about 10 minutes.

After first steep, the dragonball was already broken up. And taste wise it was mellow sheng, with stonefruits taste, a little astringent, like unripe stonefruits are. There were hints of bitterness.

Next steeps were equally tasty, with similar flavour profile; but somehow there wasn’t much to focus on this tea. It was just a good, basic sheng. When steeping long, astringency was a little lingering; but that’s pretty much expected I guess.

A sipdown! (M: 3 Y: 43): prompt: an herbal tisane

Thank you Kaylee, finally I have drank the other session of this tea- First of all, it looks just wonderful. Small citrus slice, lots of buds and flowers and that’s it. Smells wonderful too.

After approx. 10 minutes steeping, it is nice, mellow and flowery tea. Flowery also in the taste. A little refreshing, I assume because of the lime.

I mean, it is totally fine caffeine-free blend, but nothing I need to have again.

I have promised more detailed note, but I just couldn’t pick up more thoughts.

A sipdown! (M: 2 Y: 42): prompt: your freshest green tea.

I have used remaining 2 grams in my teapot; which was a maybe too little; but 90°C water (which is in my opinion a bit too much) and 3 mintues steeping time produced a good cup.

My impressions were pretty much same like last time, nice grassy sencha without a note of seaweed. It has faded a bit and it’s past its time of “freshly cut” grass, it is “just grassy”. A huge change of flavours for me as I got it after I finished my gongfu session I wrote about in my previous tasting note.

Finally, I have tried this gongfu; and I have just enough for one more session.

4 grams / 125 ml / 90°C

My steeping times were mostly around 30 seconds, give or take 15 seconds. This seemed to extract the most flavor without the tea becoming exhausted too quickly or the steeps being too weak.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the absolute best steep, as they were all exceptionally pleasant, warming, smooth, and creamy. The complexity of flavors, aromas, and aftertaste is remarkable, making it hard to capture everything.

However, I’ll do my best:

The flavors were delightful, with light roast, buttery tastes, and sweet honey, mixed with flower notes. There was no smoke this time. A bit of a powdery feel showed up in the later cups.

Aromas… whoa. Spring flowers — lilacs, lily of the valley, daffodils — all the notes I detected in my previous western-style steeps were present. It’s a perfect spring tea. Hints of honey were also present, along with the subtle woody and incense notes mentioned by the vendor. The incense became more prominent in the final steeps.

Aftertaste is very long. Somehow reminds me milky oolongs, which is something I would not expect in Dong Ding, especially when charcoal roasted. Refreshing and mild, mouthcoating. The final steeps tasted slightly vegetal, like cabbage and lettuce.

It was an expensive tea back then, when I was buying it. However, after this gongfu session, I can confidently say it was worth every penny.

While not quite finished, I only have one sachet of this tea remaining. Interestingly, I chose it on a whim, without intentionally seeking out a woman-owned brand. It just felt like the right time to revisit Tielka tea.

Describing this blend is straightforward: it’s dominated by fennel and aniseed, offering a refreshing, herbaceous eucalyptus note, and a subtle lemony touch from lemon myrtle. Despite having it for over a year, it tastes remarkably fresh and remains a personal favorite. This is exactly what I envision in an herbal blend – locally sourced ingredients and a nod to traditional, native-inspired recipes.

I understand that the prominent fennel and aniseed flavors might be intense for some palates. However, I found them surprisingly enjoyable, far more than I anticipated. I can easily see myself keeping a few sachets on hand for occasional enjoyment.

To put it simply, if you enjoy the sweet, licorice-like flavor of fennel and aniseed, combined with refreshing herbal notes, you’ll likely love this tea. It’s a bold and flavorful blend that stays true to its natural (and organic) ingredients.

Note: I received Tielka teas, included in this (and following) tasting notes, free of charge in exchange for a tasting note. I will do my best to remain unbiased, but of course, I am very grateful for this opportunity.

This tea was the very first one I bought so far in 2025!

My stash of black teas is running low. I am not sure if I should wait for new harvests; there are already a few first flushes available. Or grab some from last year.

I was hoping for more. I notice both… bergamot as well as vanilla, but it is, base tea including, tasting somehow flat and thin. Quite boring if you ask me. It’s not much memorable tea and that’s something I consider as its biggest dismal. I am not fan of heavy vanilla flavoured teas; but this is too low level, and the very same applies to the bergamot.

A sipdown! (M: 1 Y: 41)
There are venodrs, which sparkled my interest several times; only to find they are from North America and shipping gets just crazy expensive. But when you’re doing swap, I get teas I wouldn’t try otherwise. This seems that isn’t the case, but it is still outside the EU. Thank you Courtney for this oolong.

I have prepared it twice, once in a tea pot for my family using 4 grams; and it was fine, though a bit astringent.

Today I prepared it for second time and using gongfu method and it is much better. I did steeps as suggested — 30, 40, 60 seconds and then 15 seconds increments.

I notice exactly what is mentioned on the baggie — “Vegetal upfront, sweet slightly unripe peach aftertaste”. Yes, it started a bit vegetal, but following steeps were sweeter and sweeter, with hints of astringency as described as slightly unripe peach. As I do prefer those peaches, it was perfect for me.

Last steeps were just grassy, green oolong in flavours, which weren’t bad, but alas, a bit boring.

I wasn’t so good in filling the prompts during February, but again here is a list of those teas that were removed from my stash (sadly also in way I am not proud of):

A sipdown! (M: 10 Y: 26): Magic Nights by Basilur
A sipdown! (M: 11 Y: 27): Organic Nonpareil Ming Qian Dragon Well Long Jing Green Tea by Teavivre
A sipdown! (M: 12 Y: 28): Glücksmomente by Echt Entlebuch
A sipdown! (M: 13 Y: 29): Z Perskiego targu by Pod Lampionami
A sipdown! (M: 14 Y: 30): Darjeeling White Tea by Teehaus Shila
A sipdown! (M: 15 Y: 31): Affogatea by Bird & Blend Tea co.
A sipdown! (M: 16 Y: 32): Wilde Hilde by La Cucina
A sipdown! (M: 17 Y: 33): Vánoční dobroty by Oxalis
A sipdown! (M: 18 Y: 34): Linden-Raspberry by TeaCoffeeMarket; prompt: Your oldest black tea
A sipdown! (M: 19 Y: 35): 2017 Yun Tai Mountain “Sentinel Mountain” Fu Zhuan Brick Tea by Yunnan Sourcing
A sipdown! (M: 20 Y: 36): Jasmine Pearls by Imperial Tea Court — thanks derk, I believe it is from very first swap
A sipdown! (M: 21 Y: 37): 2013 “Bamboo Aroma” Tian Jian Hei Cha * 200 grams by Yunnan Sourcing
A sipdown! (M: 22 Y: 38): Nepal Jun Chiyabari Himalayan Imperial Black by Klasek Tea
A sipdown! (M: 23 Y: 39): Bitter Gourd stuffed with roasted TGY by Liquid Proust Tea
A sipdown! (M: 24 Y: 40): Kaneroku Matsumoto Tea Garden: Yakushima Cedar Wood Smoked Hojicha by Yunomi; prompt: A tea best for afternoons