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January Sipdown Prompt – your oldest tea

I am not counting teas that age like pu-erh norma couple of ancient herbals. This seems to be my oldest camellia sinensis and I am a little peeved to see that I didn’t even have it listed in my cupboard after all these years.

I really like this tea and have liked all the Russian style blends from Kusmi pretty well. This is essentially a white Earl Grey. The best by date was in 2021 and here it is 2024 and still flavorful. The level of bergamot is really good for me as I don’t like it overwhelmingly strong. This is moderate, so if you don’t like bergamot it probably won’t be your cup of tea,

I guess I need to focus on this one for a sipdown since it is older than I realized.

January Sipdown Prompt – a small business blend

We have finally had some really, genuinely cold weather and too many gray and cloudy days, sunrise to sunset. It has been, as gmathis so eloquently puts it, truly Janu-weary.

So last weekend when we were having a big salad for lunch, I suggested a bright and fruity green tea with it to bring a little sunshine in. It worked! This is super sunny and bright with luscious tropical fruit flavor. I asked Ashman how he liked it and he said it was VERY GOOD, with emphasis.

Even as I was drinking hot on that cold day, I knew I had to try it iced sometime, and I hope to do so in just a couple of days as we are supposed to be in the 70’s later this week.

I will add a new note for that, but I can already tell it is going to be stellar.

Sipdown

A lovely, very grown-up, chocolate flavored tea with a rich black tea base. Civilized enough to drink plain, strong enough to handle milk and sugar if you want it. None of the fake mildew aroma like some chocolate teas have.

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I thought I didn’t love Japanese green teas but I am changing my mind. This is unbelievably fresh and the color of leaves is stunningly vibrant. It is a green so bright it shouts of life and early spring and rich, new leaf flavor.

Even though I am using a very fine infuser basket (Stump teapot) there is a fine green powder on the bottom of the teapot that it almost makes the tea look milky/savory…like a miso soup instead of a clear green tea at the bottom. First cups are clearer but you can still see the delicate particulates.

Though this is a sipdown, Superanna brought me some lovely green teas from her recent trip to Japan, so I won’t panic about this one being all gone. Yet.

Sipdown

A lightly flavored darjeeling with clove and orange.

January 20 Sipdown Prompt – National Coffee Break Day

This is the only flavor of Teeccino I have left, and I have about one a half bags. I thought this was my favorite flavor but I also love Vanilla Nut, which I just finished, and Hazelnut. Wwhen I run out entirely I plan to be sensible and buy only one flavor, but which???

Delicious, coffee-like but still tastes great to this coffee hater, and enjoyed in true coffee break fashion during a brief few moments alone today with two Vienna Fingers cookies.

Wow.

I got this tea for Christmas and I was good and did not sneak a sample before Christmas. Today is my second time drinking it.

Big surprise to see a black breakfast recommend 176F but I did it and kept the steep short as they recommended. I have tasted single steeps and combined steeps.

This tea comes out slightly light in color like Darjeeling and some Ruby 18’s do, but the body. Oh wow, the body. This is creamy and thick with smooth sweetness, not a hint of astringency, no briskness. Layers of lovely notes ranging from an almost minty high note that flits by to woody notes reminiscent of a super creamy and utterly non-fishy shu. Fall leaves. Maple. Fall sun. So nice.

If you are looking for builders tea to get you going, this isn’t it. If you want a cup of tea to accompany a mindfulness session, here you are. Lots to think about in this cup. I got three lovely steeps off one teaspoon this time and combined them after tasting individually to make sure it did t lose much flavor in the resteeps.

Would definitely purchase again.

This is one of the teas that Superanna gave me from her trip to Japan! Thank you, Superanna!

The tin is adorable. Lupicia’s tins are so pretty! This is only available at Disney Tokyo if I understand correctly.

There is a prominent berry scent and I would say it is recognizably raspberry and not generic berry. The white chocolate notes are similar to the yogurt notes in Anna’s Blend but less tangy, of course. They have the same milky richness, though.

I drank it without milk or sugar but I think it would be stellar with both. I did not find it overly sweet as another taster did. I did combine two steeps so that may have decreased the sweetness but it was certainly still very flavorful. The berry is not overpowering but decidely present.

Delicious!

Sipdown!

This was a great breakfast tea for me. I don’t remember if I ever tried it gong fu and I probably should have.

I would love to repurchase it one day, and I see that amandastory516 says it is her least favorite of Verdant’s Laoshan options, so when it is time to reorder I may add a couple of their others to the order to compare!

Sipdown

And it looks like we had it with biscuits the other two times I posted a note, just as we did tonight. I promise we are not eating biscuits every single day, but we tend to have them at night and this tea is a good, caffeine free accompaniment.

Also, I am below 100 teas (as long as we don’t count samples or tea that came in really small amounts to begin with) but I expect it won’t stay that way long. I have to get 35 sipdowns without any replenishing or new purchases in order to meet my goal for the year. The sipdowns won’t be a problem. But I am not making any rash promises about tea coming in…

This one will almost certainly be a repurchase, so I am keeping the tin to refill it this fall from the more affordable packaging option.