Simpson & Vail

I’ve really been enjoying this floral-forward Earl Grey from Simpson & Vail (speaking of S&V, I won their summer tea giveaway, a tin each of “Blueberry Limeade” and “Summer Breeze!” I’ll have to get to those soon…) It is very aromatic, with the bergamot and rosemary hitting my nose first, followed by undertones of rose and lavender. The black tea base is a Rose Congou which is rich, malty, coppery, and floral, with the rose coming out more in the taste as the tea starts to cool a bit. The bergamot is a good strength, leaving the cup with a deeply satisfying citrus note that isn’t overpowered by the other flavors. The rosemary is the secret star for me in this blend, as it compliments the bergamot really well, helps the lavender notes pop a bit more, and leaves a very satisfying aftertaste.

This is definitely a tea for floral lovers and not those toeing the line; I fear the highly aromatic bergamot mixed with a lot of strong floral flavors will come off either perfumey or soapy to some. I have an extremely high floral tolerance and every now and then I’ll get a sip that leaves a bit of a pungent aftertaste. I also found the one time I tried making the tea as a latte it did taste a bit soapy to me, but I’m not sure if that was due to the strength of the leaf I used to offset the milk or that certain floral notes were hightened from the sweetened vanilla almond milk. Even then, I didn’t find it particularly unpleasant. But now I enjoy it hot and straight, and I really enjoy sniffing the steam as I go in for a sip.

Sip Down

Before May ends, I’ve decided to get ahead of the game, especially with the 3-day weekend. It’s wild to think we’re nearly 6 months in 2025 – such a strange era of life – however, I’m trying not to rush it any further!

I only noted on the back of the packet, “Your very standard tea. It’s good if you want to make a mug without needing too much thought. It does the trick for kicking the tea craving, but it’s a middle of the road brew. I’d definitely recommend something like this if you’re new to tea or need something for sun tea.”

Sipdown! (8 | 85)

From the April subscription.

It’s okay, mostly tastes like a harsh Chinese green tea. There are some beany and stonefruit notes, but it’s also quite earthy/strawlike, a bit smoky, and somewhat astringent.

Sadly, I am not getting this subscription anymore. For some reason, S&V started making 3 out of 4 teas unflavored in every box, and I am generally only interested in their flavored offerings. Oh well!

My friend bought me a tin of this from a local shop that carries S&V teas! It’s not one that I would choose for myself, but it’s always nice to try a new S&V tea. I don’t taste any chocolate at all. The green base is okay. The blackberry flavoring comes off as too fake for me. I shared this with my partner who said, “It’s like eating the entire blackberry bush.” It’s best cold with milk and sugar.

April Fools’ Day Sipdown Challenge Prompt – tell someone you are giving up tea. Then have a cup of tea.

I awoke and went to my daughter and stood before her and said, “I am giving up tea.” I don’t think she even looked up from her book. She simply answered, “You can’t do that.” And she went on reading. So much for my prank. She didn’t even realize it was April Fools’ Day but she still didn’t believe me.

This is the cup (pot, actually) of tea I had afterward.

I have been giving tea to a new friend and last week when she brought her children for music lessons, she was walking to a shrub in my yard. “Is this a lilac???”, she asked as she drew near to sniff. “It is!”, I replied. “I have two, but the other is in back.”

“My grandmother’s yard in Ohio was absolutely FULL of lilacs. I have never seen one since we moved south! I thought they couldn’t grow here!”

They do grow here, but they don’t necessarily flourish as they would somewhere with cooler weather, but I do get a spring and fall bloom from mine.

Since she had happy memories of lilacs at Grandma’s, I promised her a sample of lilac tea next time she comes, so when I was measuring her tea into a bag this morning I took the easy route and made it for my morning tea as well.

Authentic lilac aroma here, and lovely flavor. It is less floral than a violet candy or Harney’s Rose Scented, but still a good, strong floral scent and flavor.

The base is strong enough to be a breakfast tea but it is more akin to an excellent afternoon tea, which is when I usually have it. It is a nice afternoon soother and rumpled day smoother. I take it plain but I feel sure it could handle sugar (definitely) and milk (probably).

Sipdown/Backlog – March 15, 2025

We had friends over during the sipping down event with this tea. Based on the tasting notes from that session, we were able to manage to get results from our experience!

Aroma: Sun tea, honey, lemon, and peach.

Tasting Notes: Smooth, lemon, & sweet.

Rating: 6.5/10

If you live near a Smallcakes Cupcakerie, consider yourselves fortunate. We miss ours! Little boutique cupcake and ice cream place that changed its flavor lineup weekly. They had a moist, melt-in-your mouth strawberry cupcake that I could gnarf in about three giant bites, I liked it so much. Snowberry Frost is its liquid stepchild. Berries and buttercream, compliments of the lovely ashmanra. Thank you—I needed the smile!

Another sample from S&V — thank you! HAD to try this golden monkey. The leaves look like your classic, traditional golden monkey variety. Long, thin, about 1/3 gold in color. I might have steeped the first cup a little light. The flavor is light. But what is there is tasty. Hints of tomato soup. The second steep is a little deeper but sadly, I’m finding this tasting note lacking, as I’m sure all of you are, as there just isn’t the depth to this tea that I would wish. Not my preferred Golden Monkey, I guess.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 6+ minute steep

Oof, woke to more rain which is flaring up my migraine-head. I’m hoping it’ll subside by noon since I planned to try out a new Japanese restaurant for lunch for my birthday.

I was going to brew some genmaicha this morning, but then remembered I ordered this tea a year ago and figured I’d give it a try. The aroma of the dry leaf is a little strange to me, but I also can’t drink alcohol (see above about the migraines) so I can’t really compare to actual Irish Creme (I did used to enjoy the Irish Creme flavored Torani syrup in coffee, though). I definitely can smell the fresh green grassiness of green tea, but the flavoring… I guess it smells a little like a chocolate root beer? It’s not unpleasant, just different.

The flavor is pretty nice, though! I used 2g of leaf for a 12 oz. cup and steeped 175F water for only 2 minutes, and the green tea is smooth and flavorful and not a bitter mess. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a green tea and I’m finding the grassy undertone very pleasant. The flavor does have this sort of dryness to it that I imagine is a bit alcohol-esque, and tastes a bit like chocolate, but not abrasively so… it’s pretty smooth, sweet, and subdued. I do get a bit of a cream favor in the aftertaste. It’s quite nice… maybe not my first choice for a rainy day when I tend to go for dark and roasty flavors, but it is certainly the most thematic tea in my cupboard for today and I’m glad I tried it!

March Sipdown Challenge Prompt – an herbal tisane

Sipdown

For a tea that contains no sweeteners real or artifical, this is one of the sweetest tasting tisanes I have ever had.

Using my normal amount of leaf, the first pot of this was shared with Ashman and we did two steeps which we combined. Even that way, the flavor was incredibly strong. It was good flavor, mind you, but wow, was it strong. I agree that this gives the vibe of Carrot Cake Cupcake from the same company, with a sense of confectioner’s sugar and cream cheese frosting. How? I think it would be safe to back off a little on how much leaf we use when drinking it hot.

The second time I made it was when I needed a quick tea for Ashman. I put two teaspoons of leaf in a gravity steeper that holds seven ounces, steeped only once, and decanted it into a tea shaker full of ice. (Like a cocktail shaker but made especially for tea.) It got so frothy when shaken! does green rooibos have more naturally occurring saponins than tea? I poured it into a tall glass and added a couple of teaspoons of simple syrup. I tested a small spoonful of it to make sure it was sweet enough for Ashman, and it was light and fruity. He pronounced it very, VERY good and really enjoyed it. The crumble idea took a back seat slightly and this tasted more like jammy blueberry tisane to me. Nice.

We needed an evening tea for suppers so I made a half gallon with the remainder of the pack. This might need to be a repurchase for fruity summertime tea. It is chilling in the fridge now, but I will update when we drink it made that way, five teaspoons double steeped and combined going into a half gallon pitcher with a half cup of sugar. Hopefully it will be as good as the flash chilled tea.

A sample from S&V — thanks very much!   I know I have tried a Nahorhabi tea in the past.  Looking at the leaves, I remembered it a bit.  So much gold in them there leaves!   But not fully gold.  This is the look of leaf I find so promising and appealing before I steep them up!  The leaf also has a look that I would describe as “choppy”… whatever that means.  The flavor is just what I wanted today.  It’s assam, but not a super strong type — it’s sweet, fruity, layered, actually a hint of gardenia.  Maybe just a hint of tomato soup.  It’s bright, refreshing, maybe a hint of citrus like a marmalade or maybe just the barest hint of some other flavored jam  (strawberry or guava?)  So maybe a mix of marmalade/strawberry/guava jam?  Why isn’t that a thing? Then at times it most reminds me of Yunnan.  Delicious.   The second steep seemed much more like a traditional assam flavor, losing its uniqueness of the first steep for a bit of harshness.  Either a 3 1/2 minute steep was too long, or this one is just fine with one teaspoon instead of 1 1/2 teaspoons. The high rating I’m giving it is much more for the first steep than the second.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  just boiled // 3 1/2 min steep

The last black tea from the March subscription.

As expected, this taste quite similar to a late flush Darjeeling. It’s pleasant enough, just not my favorite type of tea. Very smooth and woody/haylike, with hints of dried fruit and oats. A slight cannabis note, which is something I also often taste in Japanese black teas. Another one for the rehoming box.

Another one from the March subscription.

Not a good match for me, it has too much acidic and metallic Ceylon for my tastes. Will put the rest of the pouch aside to send to someone who will enjoy it.

Sipdown

I’ve had plenty of subpar Dragon Well green teas in my life to know that this one wasn’t anything outstanding. I decided to change it up and brew the rest of this overnight in the fridge, as a cold brewed tea. Maybe the key to making an excellent green tea is to cold brew because this method seemed to help elevate the nutty tasting notes, and somehow, allowed the tea to be crisper and refreshing! Again, it’s not the most amazing green tea, but this cup was enjoyable, nonetheless.

February Sipdown

Aroma: Vanilla & cake/s

Color: Yellow

Tasting Notes: Vanilla birthday cake with added spices – reminded me of my grandma’s vanilla spice cake (cinnamon, cardamon, & nutmeg).

From the March subscription box. This month, 3 of the 4 selections are unflavored black teas. I do enjoy plain black teas, but just seems like a weird choice to have so many in the same category. Two of them are breakfast-style blends, and one is a plain Nepalese tea.

This one… I’m not sure I buy that there’s no scenting or flavoring happening here. They claim it’s just black teas and blue cornflowers, and in my package the flowers are quite scarce. Yet this has a noticeable floral taste to it, especially in the finish. It’s quite a heady type of floral as well, something close to rose. It’s not rose, but I’m not familiar enough with florals to identify it. I’ve had cornflowers in so many teas, and never noticed a floral note from them, so I’m hesitant to believe that they’re contributing such a strong flavor in this blend. Aside from the floral notes, it tastes a bit Lipton-y, which is usually an indicator of Ceylon for me. Definitely acidic, with a bit of astringency as well. I can’t tell what other teas are here, but I’m not getting a lot of malt.

Definitely not the tea for me, so I’m putting the rest in my rehoming box.

ETA: I finally realized what the floral in this reminds me of, it’s lychee! I think S&V carries a lychee-scented black tea, so I wonder if that’s one of the “black teas” in this blend?

Sipdown! (4 | 43)

This is fine. Very earthy and herb-y tasting, with no flavor in particular jumping out at me. Definitely tasting roots, so that must be the ashwagandha. Maybe a bit of oatstraw and tulsi as well, but mostly it tastes generically “herbal”. I don’t notice the mango flavoring.

Sipdown! (3 | 42)

This was pleasant enough, as breakfast blends go. Not typically my type of tea, but this one had enough Chinese black tea in it to smooth things out. Not something I would order, but far more enjoyable than the plain Ceylon from the same month.

Sadly, this month there are two breakfast-type blends in the box…

This is interesting because I really can taste the vanilla icing! It’s fake, but in the right way, so it’s enjoyable. Beneath that, I taste a nice rooibos. I like this sweetened with milk. To me, it tastes best cold. No cake, but lots of icing.

Sipdown

This was one of my gifts from my daughter who lives with us and I thought I had reviewed it before, but no note here.

We really enjoyed this new blend from S&V. The base is nice, not too strong but not anemic which is something that really irks me with flavored teas sometimes. I still want to taste tea even with flavors!

There is a vanilla icing vibe to this, with light berry flavor – no terribly prominent but it is there.

The rest of this is winging its way to gmathis to experience the glommy icing vibe! (As per another note and comment!)

Loved this one, perfect blend of oolong, black tea, and marigold petals (can’t taste the former). Steeped five with one cube of sugar, delightful.

I have been looking for evening decaf teas that are not always Roobios, which is iffy for me, although I seem to have plenty of blends. I generally adore most of Simpson & Vail tea, and I have had three of their standard similar black blends that are not decaffeinated – for some reason this one is WEAK. I have tried three times and it’s like weak store bag tea. Even the consistency of the leaves is almost a powder type. Very disappointing.

Sipdown! (5 | 39)

From the February subscription. I’m not technically sipping this down, but setting the rest aside to send to a friend who is a Ceylon enjoyer (unlike me, lol).

To me, this just tastes like a generic Ceylon. Sharp, tannic, with a high acidity and subtle grass-straw flavor. Not really sure what else to say about it, maybe there’s a hint of dried fruit if I squint? Not the tea for me. XP

A sample from S&V! I love to try as many Chinese black teas as I can. The leaves here are gorgeous – twisty and equal parts gold and black. The flavor is honey, milk, cream and butter, a bit of black pepper. Obviously lighter notes on the first steep! The brew itself is the color of honey. I love how a second steep of this sort of tea is entirely different, if I baby the first steep and stoke the second one. The brew is much darker and murkier and the flavor is almost like molasses. A bit of chocolate. Still pepper. All things I love about a great Yunnan. Maybe not the best Yunnan I have ever had, but it’s quite good and meets my expectations!
Steep #1 // 2 loose teaspoons for a full mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4-5 minute steep