Various Artists

I’ve been drinking teas but nothing really new or needing a whole note of its own.

Aiya Ceremonial matcha – as usucha/thin tea, not life-changingly good or anything but it’s drinkable, definitely worth the $8/tin clearance price, froths well when whisked, it becomes bitter if you veer into thick tea territory (didn’t measure, just dumped some in my bowl), lacking traditional Japanese tea sweets I’ve been having it with little maple sugar leaf shaped candies

Bonne Maman Serenity – my favorite of the Bonne Maman teas, nice before bed tea

Bonne Maman Dream – second favorite BM tea, nice before bed

Tea Drops Glow Sprinkles – much better than the sugary Tea Drops, cinnamon very prominent, grabbed several boxes when I thought this was being discontinued but it looks like they were just changing it from the powder packets to a solid “drop” like their other teas

White2Tea Planetary Shark Feed dragon ball – these are aging nicely, less young ripe wet pile flavors now, more yummy sweet molasses-y flavors

Yunnan Sourcing Taiping Houkui – always a favorite!

First teaware casualties of the year :’(
Matcha whisk holder died in the sink while I was rinsing teathings
Dragon yixing pot now has a small chip in the top edge from clumsily dropping the lid

Sipdown Unknown Sheng from Grandpa Tong (?)

I’ve been a way for a while, but be ready for some backlogs. lol. My wife needed the laptop during work, so it sat at her office for a bit, until her new one arrived.

I really ought to write labels for my teas, but I’ve only realized this now, after 8 years in the tea game. This unknown sheng is absolutely stunning. I knew it was prior to dipping into the remaining 10gs, but I forgot a lot of the notes that jump around during the session.

Dry leaf: apricots, brown sugar,
Wet leaf: plums and black licorice.

Flavor: First few steeps, I noted peaches, pears, plums. I got lost in the the steeps between 4-15. I noted in my notebook (and transferred to IG and here): “An endless session of some of the unknown sheng (acquired in 2018ish?). Astounding longevity. I thought I’d’ve been done with this after an hour in, but I’m still going at 15. Plums & peaches. Sugary sweet on the nose.”

Bonus Poem Entry:
Liquid sugar,
Plum galore,
Keep it steeping,
I want more.

100/10

Backlog—2/14/2022

Rou Goi from Maunamoku

Grandpa Styled/Gongfu’d

I had two sessions during the shift.

Work notes (grandpa styled): Deep roasted notes. Toasted chestnuts. Warming the body. A lot of energy and great focus while drinking.

Work notes (gongfu’d): Cinnamon, caramel, and fruity (peaches). Roasted note present, but not as intense or noticeable as it was grandpa style.

Backlog—2/14/2022

Hermits Headstash from Wuji Tea Co.

Gongfu’d

I think this is a milk oolong, but it lacks that creamy/milky vibe. It’s still a beautiful tea though. It has notes of dandelion and pear. The session lasted approximately 10-12 infusions before the leaf was no longer capable of producing any flavor

“2007 Bulang-Sheng”
Sipdown

Sample provided by a friend via a swap. This tea has been steeping since 2:00 today. I’m quite tea drunk and been moving around a lot.

Notes: Deep mineral earth and a lingering bitterness that is actually not bad.

Ripe Mini—Grandpa Tong

Sipdown

Backlog 2/7/2022

Grandpa Tong apparently closed shop. That’s quite too bad on the account that the material that they carried was often quite lovely. I figured that the lack of content posted on IG meant that their days had ended. I purchased a 100g bag of these minis in 2018ish, and finally finished these off on Monday. My work notebook reads: Very deeply sweet cocoa and earthy undertones. Rich like hot cocoa. Perfect for the cold winter evening. Milky texture and lingering sweetness that I could cherish the rest of time. Good-bye dear tea. If only I had sipped more often. 9.9999/10

Backlog 2/4/2022

Tea Company: Senbird Tea
Tea Name: Hime Sencha

Sticky Note-Note: Dry leaf aroma: Grassy

Wet leaf aroma: mushroom, grass

I needed a boost at work. I wanted something other than black tea or puerh. I wanted a green tea, which is a rarity and limited in my stash. I pulled out the “samples” drawer, and found this HIME Sencha sitting at the top, from the December Tea and Me Blog Advent Calendar. Perfect. I brewed the leaf at 158 F for 2 minutes. The liquor drew out this green-vibrant Mountain Dew color. The liquor smelled grassy and sweet. The flavor had a sweet, grassy, and hint of umami flavor at the back of the mouth. No bitterness or mouth drying at all. I noted to look more into this company.

7.5/10

Backlog 1/30/2022

Sipdown

I brought out the 7g sample of the Puerh.uk’s 2003 Yiwu Wan Gong (later to be confirmed by the seller that it may be closer to a 2010 leafy material from unknown regions. They posted a blog on the mix-up/added an update to the name/threw a discount on the tea) during a virtual session with a friend. We’ve started to take time on Sunday mornings to sip and catch up for 30-60 minutes. We live a few hours away, so it’s difficult having the time to meetup with both of our work schedules.

I was given a coupon code to redeem some money after a specific amount spent, so I took the luxury to try some higher graded material that I’d typically avoid, due to my rule of “drinking good tea on a budget.” This was an inexpensive tea sample, but it came highly recommended by the vendor.

Dry leaf: Woods chips & timothy hay

Wet leaf: wood, minerals, campfire, timothy hay, pine sap

1st and 2nd infusions—Steeped at 15 seconds. Flavor profile: crispy like a pear and lingering woody notes.

3rd and 4th infusions—Steeped at 25 seconds. Flavor profile: Steamed fruits (pears and peaches) & hay. Starting to get mouth-drying.

5th and 6th infusions—Steeped at 35 seconds. Flavor profile: Lingering bitterness, very mouth drying; unsweetened pears.

7th and 8th infusions—Steeped at 45 seconds. Flavor profile: Hay, wood chips, lingering pear notes, impossibly mouth-drying, and no bitterness.

9th-13th infusions—60 seconds. “Losing track of all thought and spacing out. Super tea drunk. Energetic and tired. Might nap or I may venture out into the wilderness/run my errands.”

Tea Company: Asami
Tea Name: Ashanti Cocoa
Backlog 1/24/2022

Ingredients: Kenyan black tea, cacao shell, cinnamon, ginger root, clove, cardamom, black peppercorn, chili flake

Sticky Note-Note: Very spicy and sweet. Used two teabags and nearly coughed with so much chili. Very warming for the cold day. I want more of this when I run out. 9/10."

Tea Company: Asami
Tea: Zambia Untamed

I was offered a gift to try a few teas after reviewing another blend from Asami. I happened to be on their website at the time that they sent the message, so I told them which teas I had purchased; however, they wanted me to list four more blends to add to the order. This was one of the four blends they offered.

Ingredients: Cinnamon, ginger, red rooibos, cardamom

I forgot the ingredients after a few seconds. While this was steeping, I got distracted with work emails. I started to sip the tea and I tasted ‘lemon ginger.’ I was a bit confused on the account there was zero lemon in the blend. After a few moments, I realized that the reason my brain tasted lemon was due to lemon ginger chewable candies I eat for migraines or an upset stomach. I’m totally going to get some more of this when I run out.

8/10

I’ve been on a bubble tea kick lately while at the office. It’s the one thing I have to motivate me to be there. I’m the only person alone in a 2500 sq ft space for the past month, so it’s all I have. Hopefully they’ll send me back to remote working next week. I’m starting to lose my cool. ;)

Anyway, back to the bubble tea. I’ve had several teas that were really really amazing. I noticed a new barista, so I asked my age old question, “What do you recommend?” They said to try the “Black Cream Bubble Tea,” so I went with it. I disliked it. A lot. It reminded me of Lipton tea with cream and very little sugar. The tapioca was the only thing keeping me from throwing the cup away, but that was barely.

So, it looks like I’ll just stick to my Brown Sugar Black with pudding balls or the Kiwi Strawberry.

I tried my very hardest to figure out where this tea is from, but the ingredients are too generic, so I’ll have to just post it here. It’s from the TTB, and it’s called Very Berry. The listed ingredients are rosehips, hibiscus, chamomile, and rooibos. The flavor is pretty generic. I get a tart fruit flavor, but it still manages to be thin. It could definitely use some other elements going on here. It sort of gets gross the more I drink of it, unfortunately.

Unbranded tea bag from the last tea box. It says Hey There Blue-Tea-Ful, but I can’t find anything about that online! This one is a bit fake and astringent. You get some fruitiness, but it’s not super fresh or flavorful. It ended up being too fake for me, so I poured it out.

Unbranded Awa Bancha tea bag from a tea box. This is a pleasant tea. The person wrote on the ziploc bag that this tea is known for being sour, but I’m not getting that at all. For me, it’s pretty smooth. It’s not my favorite flavor profile, just sort of plain and green.

Unbranded loose leaf from the tea box labeled Peach Lemon Herbal. Luckily I don’t love it enough to buy, but it would still be nice to know the brand! It’s heavier on the lemon, which isn’t my preference. The flavors are light and decently authentic, but sort of weird for me. The resteep was even more lemony, which didn’t taste great. Not one of the better herbal teas I’ve had recently, but nice to try.

SF Herb Dragonwell with a half a spoon of spearmint. I do like a minty green tea, and this one starts out sweet mint and ends buttery, nutty grass. A strange combination but somehow it’s working for me this morning. I’ll try this again with less spearmint to see the green tea shining through a bit more.

I am back for 2022!! I haven’t posted since June 2021 but I’m still sipping away, still reading the discussion boards and tasting notes (I’m only 68 pages behind from being caught up), still posting a bit (and following a lot) on Insta, etc. I don’t know how often I’ll be posting notes here but I’m going to try to do them sometimes. Hope everyone is doing well. :)

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #238 overall / Tea #18 for June
Sunday 6/13 — Harts of America Super Antioxidant Green Tea 2 oz package 1 cold brew cuppa.
#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #236 overall / Tea #16 for June
Friday 6/11 — Good Moorin’ To Ya from Amoda sub box by Beach House Teas. I think I had this as 2 hot and plain cuppas to use it up.
#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #233 overall / Tea #13 for June
Thursday 6/10 — DT Forever Nuts/Carrot Cupcake. Single serving tins combined into one drink. Made into a hot latte for my boyfriend Micah I believe.
#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #231 overall / Tea #11 for June
Wednesday 6/9 — DT Pear Blossom/Wild Strawberry. Single serving tins combined into one drink; I think I cold-brewed a glass jar for a few days.
#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #208 overall / Tea #32 for May
Thursday 5/20 - pitcher Sabroso chai caffeine free sampler (started 5/18, brought home). 5/30—> I really haven’t posted in 6 days? Hmm. I guess I was off the last 3 (Thurs/Fri/Sat). I can’t remember this in any particular way but moving onward…
#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #205 overall / Tea #29 for May
Tuesday 5/18 - Sabroso Chai Naughty Guayusa which has 4 ingredients Guayusa Leaves / Hibiscus Flower / Cinnamon / Fennel. Refreshing pitcher to sip on double shift #2 in a row. Thanks for the sample so long ago Sabroso Chai (:
#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown

#tiffanys2021sipdown Tea #199 overall / Tea #23 for May
Friday 5/14 - sipology sugar plums and cinnamon & kiwi Passionfruit. Two samples with tiny bit (for an 8 oz cup each), put together and cold brewed. Non descript blah green tea, nothing worth remembering.
#tiffanydrinkstea #tiffanys2021 #tiffanysfaves #tiffanyinthe614 #tiffanysteasipdown