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October 20 Sipdown Challenge Prompt – Fall Leaves Appreciation Day

The most important thing to happen so far today – I saw the first white-throated sparrow of the season on the bird bath as I drank my tea! <3

For my made up holiday, I decided to go with what I think is my largest leaf tea. This was a gift from Superanna. Many thanks!

These leaves are so long, twisted, and lovely! I did not use an infuser because I wanted them to have lots of space. I used a glass teapot to watch them steep and then poured them into another pot so I could drink my tea outside. I have made two 16 ounce infusions so far. No straining was necessary because the leaves are so big that they stay put if you pour slowly.

They unfurl to long, soft leaves, nice and full. The aroma of the steeped leaves is greens and orchid. The aroma of the steeped tea reverses to orchid with a hint of greens. I used to call this aroma magnolia, or even baby powder, but since the company says orchid and I don’t know the scent of orchid, I will assume that is the best name for this smell.

Drinking the tea, I do not find it highly floral in taste. There is a light minerality, much less than a Dong Ding or Da Hong Pao, and also a bitter floral scent and taste like thembitter part of the aroma of lilac which I LOVE. I can definitely see why they refer to the bush as a narcissus scent because paperwhites have that same bitter (good) aroma. I just happen to have lilacs in bloom right now so it reminded me first of them. And there is a bitter nuttiness like chestnut, and Bellocq points out a flavor of chestnut honey. I have never had chestnut honey but I can see a comparison to the taste of chestnuts. Second steep flavorful with floral aspects dialed back and nuts, minerals, and greens dialed up a bit.

A lovely tea on a lovely day.

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October Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a tea you prefer plain

I drink almost all of my tea sans additions, so practically any tea would have done well for this prompt. I chose this one because it is not only a sipdown but it is so well liked that I already have two on the way – one for my house and one for a gift.

Superanna and her husband came to my house Friday evening. AliasHali had made cookies as a gift for Ashman and we all had tea and cookies together.

Ashman absolutely loved this tea with cookies and said it was a perfect pairing. That surprised me because I wouldn’t have considered the two complimentary. I made this because SuperAnna drinks mostly green or white tea and when offered a selection, chose this one.

Usually we finish one pot of tea and move on to a different tea. She requested more of this one! So I have ordered a tin for her and a refill bag for me.

Today I had the last teaspoon and a half of leaf made for breakfast. Even resteeping and combining this was so sweet! I think a ton of blackberry leaf must have settled to the bottom of the tin. Hopefully in the future I will remember to give the tin a little shake, but it was still good!

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Ashman prefers this one, but when drinking tea sans additions I prefer Almond Black.
If I were adding milk and sugar, this one would win but I rarely do that. I do like this one and I understand that Almond Black is just a bit “one note” for Ashman but as an accompaniment to a meal or tea time snacks, Almond Black is good for me.

Not sure why, but the cookie teas like Cookie by Lupicia, White Christmas by Lupicia, and Almond Sugar Cookie from S&V all have really deep bass pastry notes that I have to be in the mood for.

October Sipdown Prompt – drink a hot latte

Mixed a mug of hot moo milk with about a scant tablespoon of powder and two teaspoons sugar. It makes an awesome latte as satisfying as a cup of hot chocolate. It is best to treat this the same way as cocoa powder – make a smooth paste of powder and hot water, only a tiny amount of water. Then add your hot milk of choice and sweetener and stir stir stir.
We are all adults here and no one can stop us from adding whipped cream, although I didn’t this time.

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This is a lovely little black tea from Dammann Freres that might be too delicate for breakfast to most people but that is when I often drink it. It is a great afternoon tea, as well.

This is not a powerful strawberry tea, but more delicate. I don’t know what wild strawberry tastes like but they list that as one of the flavors along with strawberry and rhubarb. I get a cinnamon vibe – very light – from this, but I don’t think there is any cinnamon in it so it must be a natural note in the base coming through.

A lovely tea with good memories attached – I will probably have it in cupboard again some day.

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A sad sipdown! This was a delicious black tea with a hefty base that made its presence known, nicely balanced with the rich caramel flavor. I drink it plain but I think it would make a fantastic latte. With milk and sugar, it would be dessert. We had it for both breakfast and lunch today. It is a definite repurchase for some day.

October Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a flavored green tea

I finished my tin of the black tea version of this, and now the green is getting low. Both versions of this have marvelous flavor and I love them both for breakfast – the most common time I reach for them. They would do well at any time of day, though.

This is definitely a tea I would repurchase. The fruit flavors are balanced by the vanilla and caramel notes, and the base for each type is very nice.

October Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a tea you prefer with additions

I thought this was going to be waaaaaay more chocolate-y than Mocha but I do not find it so. When I first opened the bag there was a big lump of cocoa powder that I had to break up.
Because there is so much chocolate, I overleaf just a little to be sure I get the “coffee” taste as well.

I like it a lot, but I do like Mocha, Vanilla Nut, and French Roast more. And this always gets a bit of milk and some sugar. It was smashing with oatmeal pecan tea cookies.

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October 10 Sipdown Challenge Prompt – World Mental Health Day: drink a tea that calms or soothes you

We made a little road trip to the coast today and I don’t like to have caffeine when I am going to be on the road for some time. I was shocked to see that we have very little of this tea left and next time will be a sipdown. There is about a heaping teaspoon left, but I decided this will be a sooner rather than later re-order. It makes a wonderful nighttime tea when I want something light instead of Teecino.

The chamomile has such fresh, bright apple notes. It is sweet and tastes a little similar to their Carrot Cake Cupcake tea, but without the vanilla/cream cheese frosting vibe.

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I probably should have been shaking the bag! Every pot of this has had plenty of chocolate flavor, but this last three teaspoons had so much chocolate that I had to pour, wait for the water level to go down as the chocolate melted, pour some more…over and over.

As you may guess, this is extra extra chocolate-y today. I don’t add anything but I bet milk and sugar would turn this into a chocolate bomb. I don’t like things overly sweet and I am pairing this with some top secret oatmeal pecan cookies that I am making for a gathering tomorrow night. The cookies are also not too sweet since one guest is watching both sugar and sodium intake, so they go nicely together.