THEODOR

A sample from ashmanra’s cabinet — thank you <3 — that I drank during the bork. I didn’t look up what this was before I tasted it, and my notes are all over the place. I loved this tea.

Smells like minty/menthol, blue flowers (violet?), cedar/incense/wood essence. Steeped, I smell candy… as if the blue flower has turned sweet, like a peach Jolly Rancher. Tastes like fairies (what, there’s no fairies tag?)… mint but not minty, candy but not sweet… white grapes, plum… sugarplum fairies! There’s something ethereal here, and something that reminds me of a childhood thing I can’t place — some kind of translucent candy (maybe it is just Jolly Ranchers?). Lemon chiffon — fluffy without being creamy. Just really well-balanced.

Theodor almost certainly intends this to be steeped western, but I went gong fu. I don’t know why. The non-tea flavors went pretty fast, and the black tea base came up front. I don’t regret the gong fu, though, because that first steep was heavenly. Now it’s crisp, citrus, astringent.

I finally looked to see what this elixir was made of. I have pulled down so much bergamot in my lifetime that I think it’s a difficult flavor for me to pick out anymore, actually (oops). So I can taste it if I focus, but I wouldn’t have guessed this was an Earl Grey base — it makes sense that the plum and yuzu were creating most of the magic for my palate.

Y.U.M.

TTB Review #32: Curious flavors here. I’m getting almost gin vibes. It certainly has this liquor-y taste to it but mixed with juniper berries and/or flowers. Yes, definitely gin. Would have preferred more sweetness to offset the alcohol-ness of this tea.

March Sipdown Prompt – a tea I won’t repurchase

A sipdown! This is my second Theodor sipdown in about a month.

And yet there is no note here from me? This was my oldest green on shelf currently, best by date was 2018, although there may be one or two that are tied with it. The age should be a good indicator that I didn’t drink this often. It just isn’t a flavor I reach for, and I think flavored greens tend to hang around here longer than other teas, except for fruity greens. Plain or fruity greens go pretty fast.

It tastes like what they said – vanilla and rich biscuit. How do the French companies get that rich pastry/cookie aroma? It is incredible. It reminds me of Cookie by Lupicia so much, but Cookie is a black tea. Cookie makes great lattes, and if I had been drinking a lot of those back then that is probably how I would have used this one.

Shipping is so high for Theodor that I would opt for buying Cookie if I want this flavor. It is a great tea and tastes exactly as described, but so hard to get.

Ah. This smells of summer. Ripe fruits and fancy florals. Farmers markets. The wet aroma is kind of bland. Not inspiring. Dirty water. The pour after a minute reveals fruity notes, slight minerality, and floral notes but they are all a bit subdued. More time is needed. But as I add more timing the drying on the palate increases. Less time is better. But overall, not one I would buy.

Saved a sample of this from the last TTB. This is an intriguing one. It tastes like white grape juice with floral elements. I don’t usually enjoy oolong, but it’s the perfect base for this flavor profile. I’m drinking this one cold, and I’m almost wishing I’d saved myself more than one serving! In general, I was pretty impressed by the Theodor offerings I got to try in the TTB, and I hope I come across more in the future!

Advent Tea!
This one is super smooth and nicely smoky. A little less smoky on steep #2 but still very drinkable. I would buy this one if we ever run out of Uptons Imperial LS, but that is unlikely as its my dad’s favorite tea.

Wavering in how I perceive this tea. The first sip went from yum yuzu to gross disinfectant. And now I’m stuck on this reminds me of a yuzu candy. The black base rounds the tea out nicely but the citrus notes are too much for me. I am at the end of this small cup but I literally am having trouble trying more.

It is difficult to taste an artificial peach these days and not think of my grandma, well more specifically the scent in my grandma’s bathroom. It’s the only place she used it and It. Was. Strong. The black base is nice and adds a move mellow tone to the peachy notes but the melancholy behind the notes is a bit too much for me to completely enjoy it. Though I do imagine this would be good with a spot of cream… Interesting. I added oat milk. It’s reminiscent of peach cobbler.

The liquor reminds me of some type of cookie dough. Sugar cookie or snickerdoodle maybe? Not big on the taste at first as it enters your mouth. Sort of artificial.
But as it lingers a bit I get a sense of lemon cookie, sugar lemon cookie, with bits of wood accents and malt o meal. The wet aroma is much the same as the dry. It’s good and I’m glad I tried it but I don’t know that I would buy it.

I drank the cup of this made pretty quickly and forgot to take notes so here’s a mini-review for now. Age hasn’t seemed to have impacted the flavor of this tea. This was a really yummy earl grey type flavor profile. I’ll have to do a more extended review next time I drink it. I made a cup for my grandmother and she approved of it as well.

I realized that I had two unopened bags that I still hadn’t tried from this company back in 2020 I believe when I bought some from Dustin. So this one and Perseus are getting opened up today.
The strawberry flavor of this one reminds me of Lupicia’s strawberry. I think I prefer Lupicia’s because I remember it being slightly sweeter and more candylike probably due to the sugar candy mix-ins that their blends have. It also has that perfume like quality to it. I think it reminds me slightly of Lupicia’s Neptune tea as well with the honeyed fruit notes. However, I sadly am not tasting any exotic fruits ex. mango, papaya, or passion fruit.
I made this cup plain without milk or sweetener and the black tea base was rather brisk. I’m going to have to try it with a shorter steep time and maybe some milk added next time. In terms of other french strawberry teas, I really like Jardin Bleu and so I don’t think I’d purchase this one. Glad I got the chance to try it and that it still tastes flavorful!

Sipdown!

Way past the best by date because I have trouble getting to flavored greens. Must do better.

Four years ago, Cameron had some from this very tin and found it lacking macaron but good on the berries. These last three pots this week have been the opposite. The first one was all biscuit and nutty flavor, so for the next pot I dialed down the temp of the water to just 160 and got a bit of berry back in there.

Final pot today was really mostly a nutty green tea with biscuit flavor. My bad for letting it hang around so long. It was a good tea and deserved to be drunk sooner than I have done.

I went poking through the tea shelves today and decided I should make a foray into greens because we have been hitting black tea hard. I was surprised this tin was nearly full and even more surprised to come on here and see that I have not reviewed it and it wasn’t in my cupboard. It is definitely a gift from Superanna and may have been given along with other teas and got lost in the mix. I have four of their green tins so I guess it just blended in.

The important thing to note is that this was excellent this morning. That classic “biscuit” flavor that you find in Dammann Freres and THEODOR teas is here, and lots of fruity goodness to accompany the cherry vanilla bagels. I will definitely be reaching for it more.

Edited to add: I found a duplicate listing for this tea and that one IS added to my cupboard, but no note from me under that listing, either.

Hot, this didn’t taste like much. Cooled, it tastes like chocolate or other desserty flavors. The flavoring could definitely be less mild, but my cup of this was pleasant enough with milk and sugar. It was sort of cookie-ish. Thanks to the TTB for this one!

This tastes much better as it cools. The flavor is subtle. To be honest I wouldn’t be able to guess what flavor this is supposed to be, but I saw some flowers in the dry leaf, so I guess I can see some floral leanings. The black tea is high quality, and I’m having a nice time despite the flavor that’s a bit more subtle than I usually prefer. Thanks to the TTB for the chance to try this! Oh apparently this is supposed to be peach…I guess I can see that?

This has sort of an EG vibe, but a little fruitier. The floral flavor and black tea go really well together. The tea is really smooth and just hearty enough. I haven’t tried other Theodor teas before, but this is definitely a nice first impression from the TTB! I sort of want another cup of this, but I don’t want to overdo it with the caffeine!

This was such a delicious smoky coldbrew. It tasted a lot better than a lot of other lapsang teas I’ve tried in the past. I have yet to try it hot. Longer review to come soon.

Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge: a tea that reminds you of an alcoholic beverage

Lapsangs always remind me of whiskey, so I figured this was a good fit for the prompt.

This tastes smoky (obviously)- like hickory smoke. Definitely not an everyday tea, but it fits a need. A need for smoke.

We had first Christmas today as my son, his wife, their twins, my daughter and her husband came. This was one of my gifts from daughter Superanna. She gave me Laponic White a few years ago, and I believe Laponic Black but I don’t see any notes from me on it. Hmm.

This one smelled great from the get go. Chamomile and citrus hit me first. And the blend is so pretty! The chamomile sets off rose petals and deep pink peppercorns, and lemongrass adds visual texture.

Best of all, it tastes good! Laponic White and I had an odd relationship. I drank most of it, but it was just so….odd. I couldn’t figure that tea out at all! This one is much easier. Very nice and very easy drinking.

Main flavor is chamomile, then lemongrass and a bit of sweetness, with the occasional zip from the pink peppercorns warming things up but really just zippy and not HOT HOT. It is a very sweet and gentle blend but with color, to the eye and the taste.

Superanna and I finished off a really big pot as our celebrations were drawing to a close. I look forward to more of this one, though I do wonder how much of it I can have with the licorice root in it considering that my blood pressure has gone unruly again of late.

Superanna dislikes both licorice root and lemongrass, but seemed to really enjoy this blend.

Advent tea
A nice mild but warming cup with orange, clove, and pepper spices. A fall spice pallet, without the cinnamon. Easy to drink, not fussy to brew, I’d certainly enjoy more of this tea if I had the chance, boy my list of new to me tea companies keeps growing.

Advent calendar day 3
I thought this tasted a bit citrusy on the first steep and then muted peach on the second steep. I’m enjoying the second steep more than the first. Not something I would gravitate towards for a purchase, but perfect for a cup in an advent!

I cold brewed this one.
I’m missing the mango here as the main note is citrus specifically lemon. It’s also quite floral likely from the rose and perhaps even the mango? I don’t like this particular lemon flavor. I prefer this one hot but didn’t care for it brewed either way. I like lemon and lemon teas just this particular lemon flavor is one that never works for me.