407 Tasting Notes
Steepster TTB 2025
This is Bitterleaf’s 2024 Shifeng Longjing/Dragonwell Green, Qihuo Grade Preming, #43 varietal, and I am too lazy to make a listing for it!
Steeps up pale yellow with a hint of peachy-pink undertones. Smells fresh and the slightest bit leafy. Tastes a smidge nutty, with a hint of sweetness and a teensy bit of buzzy astringency toward the end of the slip. Very soft, with a nice gentle mouthfeel. An easy drinker!
Flavors: Astringent, Fresh, Nutty, Soft, Sweet
Steepster TTB 2025
Yes, this is my first time trying this one! Chocolate teas are not my favorite, and this blend has the typical thin, artificial, almost sour flavor I associate with them. That said, the hazelnut flavor is pretty nice, and the cup is going down easier than expected.
Flavors: Artificial, Hazelnut, Milk Chocolate, Sour, Thin
Steepster TTB 2025
I’ve been watching old seasons of Top Chef, and in the one I’m currently watching, there’s a chef who is notorious for using a LOT of ingredients in his dishes and always doing THE MOST with what he presents. I feel like that’s what’s happening with this tea. We’ve got pu-erh, orange, cocoa, apple, blue cornflower, honeybush, lapsang souchong, rose, red peppercorn, cloves, safflower… not to mention various natural flavors (cinnamon, orange, hazelnut). I can imagine this blend happening if I took my nephews to a tea-blending bar (Do those exist? They should!) and let them loose to create their own blends.
I’m not familiar with the wizard who inspires this blend — which seems unfortunate (for me), as the Black Lotus website includes this quote from him: “Well, my social anxiety is getting the best of me. I’m taking a walk; goodbye.” Been there, friend. Been there.
So anyway, there’s a LOT happening. Arguably too much. My biggest impressions are cocoa and orange, with the spices (cinnamon, cloves) warming up the back of the sip. It’s not bad, to be fair, and it reminds me of a Christmas-inspired blend. But it’s all a little muddy (…dirty?!). I think I would prefer some editing to the blend.
On a related note, that one guy from Top Chef got sent home in the last episode I watched. So there’s that.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Cocoa, Orange, Spices
Steepster TTB 2025
Wrapping up my time with the TTB and trying to squeeze in more samples!
This one is quite lovely — very delicate and fruity, with the hibiscus used to great effect without being overwhelming. I share *Kaylee*’s sentiment that the name is misleading, though — there are no white raspberries in the ingredient list, even though it’s described as a “smooth blend of white tea and rare white raspberries.” Hmmmm. I actually get more of a mulberry flavor!
Still, it’s nice and bright and jammy, with just a hint of tartness. Goes down easy! I finished up the bag on this cup, but maybe I’ll try to cold-brew the leaves — I bet it’d be very refreshing cold.
Flavors: Berries, Fruity, Jam, Mulberry, Tart
Steepster TTB 2025
Too intriguing not to try, and worth the sample. I’m mostly getting a candy green apple flavor with a bit of chamomile and hay, but gentle hay, not overpowering. There’s maaaybe a smidge of grassiness from the green base, and then I guess the unidentifiable note (to me) is the sweet woodruff. I wouldn’t say this is bubblegum-y, but I can understand why they included that descriptor, if that makes sense (it doesn’t)!
This might be a keep from the TTB.
Flavors: Apple Candy, Chamomile, Green Apple, Hay, Sweet, Sweet, Warm Grass
Steepster TTB 2025
There’s some cinnamon, some [dried] fruitiness, and a bit of tang, but also an aggressive hibiscus sourness that mars the whole thing. Not sure I’d identify hot cross buns as the inspiration here!
Flavors: Cinnamon, Fruity, Hibiscus, Raisins, Sour, Tangy
Steepster TTB 2025
Drank this one on my final (!) day at my field placement/practicum — I’m sooo close to being done with my grad program! Just one more semester to go.
My hastily jotted notes indicate that this tea was a bit too sweet for me, but it did have a nice, jammy blueberry flavor to it. I wanted a little more cinnamon to really evoke the streusel element, and possibly a slightly stronger base. Not a bad dessert-y blend, though!
Flavors: Blueberry, Jam, Sweet
Steepster TTB 2025
I have to admit that my tea drinking in 2025 has been pretty uninspiring — I’ve barely written any Steepster notes, and I’ve mostly been drinking old favorites. That makes the TTB’s arrival extra exciting for me!
Mmm, smells delicious. This is malty, astringent, and maple-y, but I’m not getting much blueberry at all (or bready notes to evoke pancakes, for that matter). Blueberry as a flavor is hard to capture in general, I think. I do have a soft spot for brisk breakfast teas, and I love maple, so I’m not complaining here. But “blueberry pancakes” is a stretch!
There’s not much left in this packet so I’ll probably keep it and try it again with some oat milk — that might add some pancake-y heft to the flavor.
Flavors: Astringent, Brisk, Malty, Maple
