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September Sipdown Prompt – a tea from Taiwan

My mind was blown to see that I haven’t reviewed this yet on here. It was a gift from Superanna and we tried it together.

The thing is, we tried Sakura and Berry first and it had totally knocked our socks off. When we drank this one, she was super unimpressed by it but I really felt that it had a lot of merit. So much so that I immediately bought another pack of it.

It is very different in mood, type, and flavor from Sakura and Berry, but moods and cravings change. This is far more contemplative. It is a gentle tea with lovely light plum flavor. You definitely taste the green oolong and it is a somewhat floral one so those notes mix with the plum. I really love it and I consider it to be one of my “treat”teas for special occasions, like wanting to feel extra cozy while I read.

September Sipdown Prompt – a tea Miss Piggy would drink

It had to be French. I wasn’t sure if she would drink this or Jardin Bleu because I can really hear her voice saying Jardin so so high pitched and sweetly and following it up with her classic guttural tone for BLEU. Bit this was foofy and floral and Miss Piggy would love that.

“Oh, Kermie, could you pass me another macaron?”, she would simper. Then “It’s soooo GOOD!” A full octave lower.

I had the jelly first, and knew I wanted to try the tea. So many flowers on a light green oolong? Yes, please. Full and rich floral flavor, this is not for the faint of heart when it comes to floral tea. Lighter than Evening In Missoula but I still don’t know that Ashman would enjoy it. He likes jasmine, so maybe he would like it.

September Sipdown Prompt – a tea Animal would drink

I am so glad this is available at Tin Roof Teas, semi-locally. My first batch of it came from White Antlers and was from TeaGeschwendner but Tin Roof carries lots of their teas and I am thrilled I was able to replace my gift bag of it when it is was empty. It is so rich and chocolate-y. I drink it plain but I bet as a latte it would knock it right out of the park as the sugar and milk magnify the chocolate and boozy notes. It is delicious. You could add a little sploosh of whisky, and Animal would, I am sure of it. But that isn’t really a good idea at 6:45 a.m.

So why do I think Animal might drink this? Well, we know he drinks alcohol because he and other Muppets have been shown with beer. In fact, there is a great deal of alcohol consumption amongst the Muppets. Check out their Wiki!

In one show (one of the movies or specials, I think) he is chanting “NOG!” as he downs his beverage. So he likes rich, alcoholic beverages. And this is the closest thing I have.

In a Lipton ad, Animal gets in trouble with Miss Piggy because she has served water at her outdoor dinner party, and he yells, “NO TASTE. BORING!” or some such and spits out his water, hitting the pasta entree she is bringing out. Kermit saves the day by producing a big pitcher of iced tea, which Animal enjoys. Of course, that was for the paycheck.

I think Animal would also dig raw puerh. He would get into the bitter ones and totally trip out on the chi.

September 22 Sipdown Challenge Promot – a fall tea

This tea is only available in fall and I try not to miss the sale. I don’t drink it often because it is seasonal and I can’t purchase it all year, plus it is one of the few teas I love that I do not resteep to stretch it. It is just too good as it is, and Ashman doesn’t care for it, so that leaves it all for me! He dislikes pear flavor in tea, and I guess I have to put apple in that category now, too. That’s okay – more for me!

This is a tea I treat myself with on fall days, so I had it this afternoon with a lighthearted murder mystery (The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman) and a Milk Chocolate Whole Hazelnut bar from Ritter Sport. This is living. Mwah.

Hearty black tea and delightful apple flavor with LEAVES. Apparently Momijigari is the Japanese tradition of taking time to view the changing color of the leaves in fall, so perhaps a variation of forest bathing. Wonderful.

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This is another tea sent by Youngest – many thanks!

A while back we had a tea called Watermelon Oolong from Frasier Tea. The watermelon flavor was KAPOW and we really liked it. Over time, the flavor diminished as we didn’t drink it down as fast as we thought we would, since we craved it in summer but also summer was too hot to drink it much. We should have made it iced!

We did drink this one hot, and mostly at breakfast time in late summer so it wasn’t so insufferably hot outside.

I really like the watermelon here. It is strong enough but not KAPOW, the scent being stronger than the flavor. There is a fresh coolness to it that reminds me of cucumber without tasting like cucumber, just a whisper of lightness that runs alongside the watermelon. You do taste the oolong, too. It isn’t buried in the flavoring.

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I received the rest of Youngest’s stash of this team which was most of it – many thanks!

It smelled so fruity and delicious and it is still so hot here, that I prepared it by the carafe as a sweet iced tea. I got lots of fruity flavor and not a ton of rose, but Ashman likes that better!

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At last, the pound I bought about ten years ago is depleted. I had good intentions to drink it at night, to sprinkle it in the storage room as a mouse deterrent, to make bug spray. A bit of that happened but not enough to warrant – or use up in a timely manner – a pound. Peppermint is light and a pound bag is bigger than you think.

It was good tea, I just don’t drink plain mint very much.

September Sipdown Prompt – a tea from China

This is one of my favorite teas from China right now. It steeps quickly at a low temperature so everything about making it is faster in that respect. I can make three steeps so I only need one teaspoon for breakfast, making it last longer. Even making three steeps, it is ready faster than some other teas I enjoy at breakfast and I don’t have to wait too long for it to cool enough to sip.

Although the color of the tea isn’t very dark, the flavor is rich and full. It is one of the creamiest black teas I have had. It will definitely be a re-order, probably something for Ashman to put under the Christmas tree.

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This is a nice black tea with caramel notes. I drank it plain but it could handle milk and sugar if you like it. It is a tiny bit like Cookie by Lupicia in overall vibe, less nutty.

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Such a rich mouthfeel! Lots of coconut makes for lots of oil floating on your cup and it is delicious. Everything is really well balanced here and this is rich and flavorful.