ETTE TEA

Sipdown 117-2021
The second to last of the Ette samples from Dustin. Very glad to have been able to try all of these blends.
The bergamot is definitely at the forefront, with just a touch of pandan in the aftertaste.

Sipdown 112-2021
Still sipping through all of the Ette samples Dustin sent. Very glad to have been able to try so many! This is probably one of my favorites of the Ette blends I’ve tried thus far. There is a prominent toasty/roastiness. The pandan and coconut peaks through at the end of the sip, with a tiny bit of spice lingering in the throat.

Sipdown 107-2021
Working through all of the kind Ette samples shared by Dustin. This one really intrigued me, as I love lychee. Once brewed, the lychee scent is really prominent. The lychee flavor, however, is much more subdued. I’m mainly tasting bergamot, with just a hint of lychee. Glad I was able to try it!

Sipdown 103-2021
Another kind share from Dustin. The scent is definitely chocolate and berries. I’m definitely getting deep, dark chocolate and some type of red berry in the flavor. Not necessarily cranberry.

Sipdown 101-2021
Another share from Dustin!
This smells lovely. Like sweet vanilla cookies and ginger. I get a bit of the vanilla/cookie in the flavor, with a bit of ginger and clove. But, it’s suffering from that odd ‘cola’ flavor that I’ve encountered in so many chai blends.

Sipdown 100-2021
Woot! Finally got to my 100th sipdown for the year. I was hoping to be to this point about a month ago, but better late than never.
This was a generous share from Dustin, thank you!
It smells super smoky. Like BBQ smoky. However, the smoky flavor is much more muted than I would have assumed. It’s still quite strong, but not as intense as the scent would lead one to believe. Other than the smokiness, I’m getting a bit of…vanilla? Something soft and sweet. I can’t really make the flavors out over the smoke.

This sample was kindly sent by Dustin
This one was ok, it reminded me of cocoa shells in flavor. Chocolate with a sort of fruity undertone that dark chocolate usually has. I would have never identified it as cranberry though. The tea had a bit of an oil slick on top as is common with teas that include chocolate chips. I don’t really remember much else about it other than it’s not one I feel the need to repurchase. Glad I got the chance to try it though!

April Sipdown Alphabet Challenge: “P” Tea
This Sample kindly came from Dustin

I really liked this one! It’s a really yummy earl grey. I don’t know what Pandan tastes like but I think it adds some sweetness in this tea. The bergamot is lovely and the sweetness almost adds a vanilla custard note as well. I need to get my hands on some more Ette Tea at some point. Though I’m not sure how since they never got back to me about shipping to the U.S. I ended up re-steeping my cup of this.

Another Ette sample kindly sent by Dustin

This one sounded really interesting from the description but in terms of flavor I don’t taste any of the chili. Without the chili it tastes like a dessert tea not like a savory one. It’s SO Good! The genmaicha hojicha base give it a nice and toasty flavor. The coconut is really yummy and possibly the Pandan make it taste like custard. I get Coconut Custard from this one and would definitely buy some more of this one.

Sipdown 38-2021
Another very kind share from Dustin.
This tastes like a straight kukicha. I’m not getting any added flavor or additional ingredients. It’s a perfectly fine green tea, but not quite what I was expecting.

Sipdown 40-2021
Not much has changed since the last cup- vanilla black tea with some orange notes. A nice cup in the morning.
I’ve been doing shockingly well with not buying any new teas, and focusing on sipping down what I have. Hopefully I can keep this streak up.

A sample from Dustin!
I’m mostly getting a vanilla/carmelized sugar flavor, followed by a very mild candied orange. No coconut, pandan, or spices. Apparently it’s also a green/black blend, and I’m definitely not getting any green tea flavor. Overall a tasty cup of tea and I’m very glad to have tried it, but I don’t think it’s something I will repurchase.

One of the Ette teas samples I received from Dustin.
I was looking for something to brew for the Lunar New Year and realized that it was tomorrow and I didn’t really have a tea that seemed fitting. I was debating between this one and Holiday (Harney & Sons) This one had a more colorful dry leaf based on the photo. I still made this cup today.
This one reminds me of an orange spice tea but it’s nice and soft vs. the typical in your face spice tea. It has Pandan in it which is not something I’ve tried before but have been curious about. I don’t know what Pandan tastes like but there is kind of a vanilla custard type note. that could also be from the coconut. It’s a bit drying as well. This is a fitting cup since Orange Spice type flavors tend to make me think of Winter and we may get up to 10 inches of snow here. Yay for snow!

I smell a lot of pandan with some mango behind it. Hojicha seems to pair so well with cinnamon that it’s hard to separate them, but I can smell them as well. This seems to have a very similar flavor profile to ETTE’s Mango Sticky Rice genmaicha. I love both those tea bases in flavored blends, but I think I like this one a little better than the Sticky Rice. There is some depth that the hojicha adds. I get mango in the sip and in the finish mixed with the cinnamon. The whole ensemble is very warming and lovely. I’ve been a little disappointed with several of the ETTE blends I ordered. The desire to explore more of their line was based on how much I love their Sticky Rice. So far this blend and the Lychee Kris Grey have been the two that stand out out of nine teas I hadn’t tried before. I was hoping for a higher percentage of winners, but oh well!

Thank you to Dustin for the share! I didn’t realize that this was a black/green blend, so used water that was a bit too hot. There’s a bit of bitterness because of that, but it’s still drinkable. This is such a Southeast Asian flavor profile. It very much tastes like a coconut jam, with coconut being at the forefront and some buttery notes that linger. The pandan is also quite present and lends a bright, green flavor.

Yay for samples with orders! This is mostly tasting sencha like while hot, but looses some of that bite as it cools. More hojicha like now? I just had a sugary fruit treat that was Turkish Delight like and it made this tea seem sweeter. It was a little bitter at the start, but has mellowed now. I think I can get hints of fruit in the finish once it cools, but I couldn’t name them. It’s nice, but not exciting enough to order. Water at suggested 205, 2 minutes steeping time.

A very big thank you to Dustin for sharing some Ette samples with me!
This blend is quite interesting. It’s very green and leafy tasting (like a fresh leaf, not a dried leaf). The pandan is definitely most distinct. Not really getting any mango, but it’s quite tasty!

I’m not into this tea. Today I’m getting tart/tannic flavors on the base of light preserved orange. They grow stronger as my cup cools. There is a flatness in there somewhere that seems to shift. A bit alkaline in the finish. I’m about ready to toss it in the “get rid of” bag. :(

Still just striking me as your average French melange blend that features orange. It’s nice and has an almost caramel undertone, but it’s really not something amazing or unique which is what I look for when buying teas that take effort to get from overseas. This blend will not be a reorder.

I haven’t been feeling well for the past few days which may explain why I read “singapore breakfast”, thought “singapore earl grey” and was confused as to why I wasn’t tasting bergamot. It has a light orange peel flavor to it. Lots of low notes make this a pretty mellow cup. I think I can taste hints of pandan, but they are subtle. The tea leaves my mouth feeling a little dry. There is a French tea that tastes very similar to this. Melange by Hediard maybe?
This blend is falling into the same category as many of the other Ette blends I’ve been trying which is that I feel like there is something more to this tea that I’m not getting. Going to be playing around with the steeping parameters for sure.