3049 Tasting Notes
I had this hot instead of iced, but it came in a large teabag packet (like 9 × 9 cm or so) and inside was a silkish sachet.
This is an ok green. There is some vegetal bitterness and some citrus peel flavour. I don’t get a lot of ginkgo but I can taste things other than just the green tea. It has that herb cupboard dried citron peel (not fresh zest) vibe to it (almost dusty pomelo ish). I enjoyed trying it but would not drink it again.
Flavors: Bitter, Citrus Zest, Grapefruit, Green, Vegetal
Preparation
2025 Steepster TTB Tea
This has a high quality base, and it fairly malty and smooth. I get grainy notes. No sweetness at all from the tea. There are some cinnamon and vague pumpkin spice notes, but no pumpkin or buttery/cakey ones, which is what I was looking for. Even some vanilla would have been nice. Now, I did use just under a tsp of leaf for my cup (300 mL) since it is a small cup and I want to leave enough tea for the next person who receives the box. Maybe with more leaf it would have been a bit more well rounded. I tried brewing for quite a while (6 or 7 minutes) to compensate. I’m drinking this was a dash of unsweetened soy milk and wishing I had some agave or maple syrup to sweeten it with.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Grain, Malty, Pumpkin Spice, Tannin
Preparation
This is one blend I’m keeping out of the TTB because I love it so much and it doesn’t appear to be popular with others.
I normally dislike hibiscus, but I actually like this one hot and cold over ice. I’ve had it hot several times. Although it is acidic and tart, there is also a lovely flavour in the green rooibos/green tea base. It’s quite fruity with melon and citrus notes. I’m finding it quite unique and an enjoyable summer cup.
Flavors: Fruity, Hibiscus, Melon, Pear, Tart
Preparation
I really like prickly pear cactus apples (yes, the Opuntia species) and enjoy the sweet red juice and pulpy chew. So it was disappointing to see, after initial excitement, that this tea contains none of that, but instead rooibos and hibiscus, with pear bits. Still interesting, assuming I canget past the rooibos!
I think I was mostly just disappointed that this tasted like melon and not prickly pear ha ha. So lazy.
Opuntia are one of my favourite genera of all time (I’ve got a bunch, it’s too hard to pick just one!) I like products made with opuntia fruits, but I’ve never really enjoyed the fruit outright. It would have been nice to at least get some dried prickly pear chips in there (they sell it as a snack in markets sometimes here, so it must be available in the US too). I know for a fact PP products can be found in Arizona and Nevada because I’ve bought some cactus goods there before like jams.
After double checking the CITES list, it looks like Opuntia humifusa (the species often used in food production) is under CITES Appx. II protection in Canada and is listed as vulnerable in a few US states. I suspect they avoided prickly pear fruit because of the hassle of shipping products over the border containing the plant. They still should have used flavouring from prickly pears since syrups, jams, and flavourings not containing seeds is not regulated.
Call me a cynic, but I would guess it’s for cost reasons.
Yeah that sounds about right
This blend is good, but it has this weird sweet flavour at the end that throws me off. It’s the same fake sweet in blackberry leaves or stevia. I drank this with some vanilla soy milk and 1/2 tsp sugar. It has a creamy cardamom flavour and a dark coffee bean note. Lightly roasty. White tea is a very odd choice for this blend because you can’t taste any of the tea over the flavouring. A black tea maybe…but a white tea is just too delicate. It’s delicious but not a tea I plan to re-buy. The fake sweetness makes this blend much worse than it could have been.
Flavors: Artificial, Cardamom, Coffee, Sweet
Preparation
Another sipdown of a sample that has been sitting around for a while in my cupboard.
This has an amber colouration of the brew and needle shaped silvery leaves with a very tender, young bud texture. The brew is somewhat thick, lightly sweet like unripe apricot but also has tannins present. It isn’t bitter if steeped right, but it is flavourful. Lightly vegetal and a bit fruity. After taste has darker cocoa notes.
Flavors: Apricot, Tannin, Vegetal
Preparation
Steepster 2025 TTB Team
While I was hopeful that this would be a nice well rounded floral tea, I found it very rose-heavy in a perfumy way. I do like rose, but this is too much rose for something called cherry blossom. I do get fruity cherry notes, astringent green with some vegetal notes, and a touch of jasmine. I would have preferred something less artificial tasting and a less bitter green base. I added milk and let it cool, which was a huge improvement to having this straight and hot.
Flavors: Artificial, Bitter, Cherry, Floral, Perfume, Rose, Vegetal
