Stash Tea

Sipdown! (31 | 247)

A melon green tea? Sign me up! :P

This is a very pleasant bagged tea. The honeydew tastes like it’s on the underripe side to me, so it has more of a refreshing cucumber-esque note to it, rather than a syrupy and juicy ripe melon like Lupicia’s. The green base is mellow and grassy, which goes well with the lighter, more crisp melon flavor.

Not one I would order, just because I always have Lupicia’s Melon Oolong in my cupboard and I think one melon tea is enough. But if I wanted a convenient bagged version, I would consider picking this up. I bet it would be lovely for cold brew too, and much more cost-effective.

I made two lattes tonight using sample teabags from Stash. I have had these for about nine months, so they are not fresh but not too old, either. Honestly, this one smelled pretty bad to me, and now I realize it was the sarsaparilla. If you love sarsaparilla, you will probably like this more than I did. But it was mainly the aroma of the dry tea bag that I disliked.

I tasted this one before handing it off to Ashman, who said he really liked it. He has a real sweet tooth and he is working late and has a lot still to do, so after tasting it and finding it to be a bit bland, I jazzed this up with half water, half milk, our homemade vanilla extract, lots of sugar, and whipped cream on top.

The thing is, this is what it would take to make this enjoyable to me. It is not a tea I would crave or relish as a plain, hot cuppa. Not something I plan to order, but thankful for the sample, and so glad that he enjoyed it on his work break.

Note not about the tea: has anyone tried Bakers Tennis Biscuits and are they worth hunting down?

This is a sample teabag that came in an order about nine months ago.

Ashman is working late at home and feeling peckish, so I made a cheese and cracker plate and thought it was a great time to get rid of these two decaf samples as nice, filling lattes.

Sadly, when I opened the little wrapper the tea (both this one and Cinnamon Vanilla) had a strange and unpleasant aroma. It was a familiar smell, and I think I have decided it is mildew. Like someone threw a wet swimsuit in a hamper and left it and you don’t find out for a week. Ick.

I steeped it strong in just half the water called for and then added sugar and milk and tasted…and added more sugar and some vanilla, because there wasn’t much flavor. The strange smell was nearly gone, although when I tipped the mug back to get the very last of the drink, the smell hit me again. But at least it tasted better than it smelled.

Maybe it is just an off night for my taste buds or something, but this was very non-spectacular. We would have been better off having a cup of hot milk and adding our own spices.

I guess this is technically a sipdown, and I could technically count it under the “chocolate tea” prompt for the monthly challenge, but I only had a single bag from a TTB, so it seems disingenuous to count it!

Anyway, I’m a sucker for any chocolate-mint combo, and this bag smells divine! Brewed, it’s definitely more mint than chocolate, but it does have a hint of cocoa to boost the mint and give it some body. I added a bit of Not Milk (that’s the brand; my current fave alt milk!) and now it’s super creamy and delicious. There is no discernible oolong to my palate, but the overall effect of the base tea is perfectly fine.

I’ve had a sore throat for a few days and this is helping. For a bagged tea, it’s more than serviceable.

I don’t get a lot of chocolate from this, but I taste some herbal mint and a little something else, maybe more like white chocolate. There’s something about it that I don’t love, possibly the oolong base, but it’s all right. It reminds me of a less gross version of S&V’s white chocolate mint tea. Thanks tea-and-cats! I think this is my last sample from our Christmas swap!

The green base is very mild so you can’t really tell it’s green tea. The spices are quite mild as well. This one is pleasant, but it doesn’t have a lot of character. The spices blend so that none are stronger than the others, but it would have been nice if this tea had a little more intrigue. It was nice to try a single bag from a TTB anyway!

Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge
August 2022 → A cheap tea

I didn’t actually compare prices, but Stash comes to mind when I think of cheap tea so here we are. I don’t have anything against bagged tea, there are some that I really love. I think Stash seems cheap to me because there aren’t many Stash teas I’ve had that I’ve actually liked. Maybe only one or two. I’ll have to go back and confirm that.

This ones not bad at all though. It’s an Earl Grey without any bells and whistles but sometimes that’s all I want. It’s all I want this morning. I decided on an Earl Grey because I read that EG is good paired with prunes and I just finished making some spice muffins with prunes mixed in. Doesn’t sound at all appetizing, but I like prunes so they turned out to be really tasty. And a good match for this Earl Grey!

This has a nice, gentle flavor. I taste the cocoa shells and a light floral touch from the lavender. I’m drinking this cold sweetened with milk, and it’s a pleasant enough cup that I’d actually consider buying a box of it. Everything combines to be a little desserty and very relaxing. Thanks tea-and-cats!

I received a sample of this tea in my order last November or December and am just now getting around to trying it, thanks to my recent tea reorganization bringing it to the front.

I made this at about 1 am since I wasn’t sleepy ( I am about to fall off my chair with grogginess now) and sipped it in my rocker. It was sweet to be up all alone, in a mostly dark house, with everyone quiet and that contributed to the enjoyment of having tea, but the tea itself was just okay. It was a bit thin body-wise but at least it was not heavy on the clove. The mint was okay, as I prefer spearmint to peppermint anyway,

An acceptable cup, not one I want to buy, but nice to have another sample off the shelf.

August Sipdown Prompt – an impulse buy tea

I threw this in the cart a couple of years ago when I was buying Stash White Christmas for some friends and family who love it.

This tastes like those banana flavored Circus Peanut candies. Not bad, and certainly a fun tea to have explored, but I just don’t reach for it and I find it a little difficult to pair with anything, plus Ashman wouldn’t like it so I end up drinking it by myself.

Probably not a repurchase unless it is on impulse again!

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge – a tea that reminds you of a family member.

This is pear tea but it tastes and smells like those soft orange peanut-shaped candies that we call Circus Peanuts. Why are they called Circus Peanuts when they are not peanut flavored? Why banana? And why does this pear tea taste like banana candy?

My mother loved those Circus Peanuts so when I was in a store that had them (they were rather hard to find) I would buy her some.

The tea is fun and tasty, not an expensive tea and easily accessible. It would have been a good tea for the “cheap tea” prompt, too.

I was going to make it for lunch to go with our salads when I remembered that Ashman doesn’t like pear and says it tastes floral to him, so I ended up having this and he got Glazed Lemon Loaf.

This is a sample from last year’s Christmas order. I have a student who loves Stash White Christmas and a daughter who probably has it running through her veins. They both usually get some Stash tea for gifts.

I fell asleep at 7 pm last night and woke at 11:40 pm unable to sleep again, so I decided to grab a good book and make a cup of caffeine free tea and get rid of a sample.

At 2 am, this is a surprisingly decent tea. It is nothing worthy of comparison to Cuppageek blends, but there we have it. The chocolate was in front for me with mint running alongside, and the lavender was very mild.

I would possibly even buy a box at Christmas if I didn’t have so much other tea I need to finish.

Bit more of a kick than I thought, nice lemon flavor as well and mint and green tea, perfect chilled for an afternoon tea.

Weak, especially compared to Whittard of Chelsea’s bagged Earl Grey.

This tea turned out super mild. I taste an intermingling of ginger and mint, but it’s not spicy. I don’t taste the white base at all. I would have guessed that it’s an herbal tea, in fact. It’s just a little too basic and mild to have again. Thanks for sharing tea-and-cats!

Anybody have a clue where I got this? Me either. All the same, it’s a decent, low-fuss bagged green tea with a nice fresh-cut vegetal flavor. Today, when the AC choices (I use the term choices loosely—our environment is controlled remotely by capricious thermostat genies) at work are “hot soup” or “cold soup,” it worked well both hot and iced.

I’m enjoying this more than I expected. The only ingredients are supposedly black tea and jasmine tea, but it tastes like there’s more in there. Maybe it’s just because the black tea is sort of interesting with good depth. Regardless, sweetened with milk, this tastes pretty nice. Thanks tea-and-cats!

Geek Steep S2E25 – The Music of John Williams

This episode was an incredibly fun one! I mean, I always enjoy our episodes but I think this was the most excited I was to record in quite a while because we went all out with our pairings not just for this “fandom” in general but for specific compositions of William’s.

The only con, really, was that we recorded about six hours before I was going to be on a flight to LA – so I was really in that sort of pre-flight nervous energy mode where I had completely washed all my dishes and done all my laundry and just didn’t want to start anything new at all. So I kept my tea pairing as simple as possible for recording – a bagged tea that I would be able to sip while dirtying the fewest amount of dishes possible! It was kind of just a nice bonus that there’s a musical motif to the ENG/FR name of this blend.

It’s a good tea and I’ll write a nicer tasting note about the flavour some other time because I think there’s something pretty interesting and unique here about Stash’s decision to take such a novel type of pear and bring it to grocery shelves. For now, I think it suffices to say that this one does really taste a lot like pear but in a sweet and juicy sort of way, and where I actually don’t hate the green tea base as much as I would’ve expected to.

This definitely tastes lower quality than the usual EGs I drink, but it’s okay. I taste the bergamot and a nondescript black tea. At the end of the sip, I get a sort of strange tang that I wish weren’t there. I sadly didn’t taste any lavender here. I don’t think I’d like to drink this one again.

This chai is a little boring. I taste some clove and not much else. I wouldn’t say it’s spicy or has much depth. It’s decent sweetened, but not amazing. Still, thanks for sharing tea-and-cats!

This black tea is pretty weak and not full of delicious depth like a high quality black tea would be, but I guess that’s not too unexpected from decaf. I don’t taste hazelnut specifically, but I get a mild chocolate. It makes an okay drink sweetened with sugar, but I wouldn’t buy this.

Sipdown!

I used the remaining bags to make a pitcher of iced tea. We have had wretched weather since January 1 with a nice day here and there, and today was supposed to be mostly cloudy but instead was barely partly cloudy. Every moment I could spare was spent in the backyard on a blanket with Sam. It was a sunny lemonade kind of day.

I love lemonade and make it often, usually with added rose water or orange blossom water and salt. Lemonade has a lot of sugar, though. This tisane is nice and lemony but requires a lot less sweetener, so that is a big point in its favor.

It has nice lemon flavor, the hibiscus isn’t too tart, and it isn’t one dimensional. I didn’t think it would be a repurchase when I first bought it, but I might buy it in summer just to decrease the sugar intake as compared to lemonade.