6106 Tasting Notes
Review is for “China – Black Tea Zhen Qu”, from Stacy at Butiki when she sent out a box with a bunch of unflavoured tea samples around the time Butiki closed up.
I believe I’ve had a Zhen Qu before, and my recollection was that it was pleasant and chocolatey, not overly strong or roasty. That’s about how this cup went – pleasant, hinting towards chocolate, and smooth. Nice, and on the side of my preferred black tea profiles, but I like others better (though age/storage could be a factor here).
(52teas (Anne) 2022: 208)
Similar to Banana Marshmallow Treat, I found a half-packet of this as well, and have a full packet that was already recorded on my spreadsheet. This has to be from 2016, as I don’t believe this tea has ever been reblended.
Nice to have come across another lime tea so soon after yesterday’s Lemon-Lime Meringue Kukicha! This one has the bonus of a reasonably tasty oolong base, and is a little less citrussy, with a bit of a herbaceous component (unsure what, exactly). I don’t really taste cookie, and I do believe that this tea used to have more flavour, but it’s still pretty good.
Sidenote: has anyone else noticed that teas with lime flavouring tend to get a rotten flavour if they sit in the cup too long? I’m notorious for letting tea cool down and sit for probably up to a day; it was either this tea or the kukicha that I just let sit overnight and sipped in the morning – yuck! Tossed it. Not an isolated incident, either, and also not isolated to 52teas – same thing with Butiki’s Lime Marshmallow.
2022 Sipdown 98/365!
Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge March 2022: Tea that makes you happy
Review is for “Taiwan – Oolong Shan Lin Xi #1”, from Stacy at Butiki when she sent out a box with a bunch of unflavoured tea samples around the time Butiki closed up. I don’t know where that box ended up, but I did hang onto 5 or so 1-cup samples to enjoy later (didn’t intend to be quite this much later).
I’m currently a bit out of touch of the different types of oolongs and which ones I actually like best, but I was pretty sure Shan Lin Xi was one of those – and I was right. Creamy and smooth, this was just a delicious cup. It has suffered from age a bit, and was lighter in flavour than I would have preferred, but the smoothness was just heavenly. Definitely one I need to get more of later.
(52teas (Anne) 2022: 207)
Found an old packet of this; it pre-dates the birth of my son (Oct 2018) so I think it would have to be the original 2016ish blend of this tea (I had previously found an unopened packet of this as well; I’ll have to check to see if they actually look to be from the same batch). Anyhow, you’d never know it was verging on six years old except that the banana is pretty light: it’s delicious. Creamy, marshmallowy, toasty and decadent – just needs more banana and it would be perfect. A nice find!
(52teas (Anne) 2022: 206)
Another ancient tea (I have it pegged from around mid-2016). Delightful creamy lemon-lime aroma; flavour is a little lacking but I can forgive the tea given its age. I wouldn’t mind a revival of this one, although I believe there have been a few other lemon and/or lime marshmallowy teas somewhat recently that fill a similar niche.
(52teas (Anne) 2022: 205)
Oof, couldn’t smell the rancid sunflower seeds and missed picking them out, but they definitely are affecting the flavour. It seems like it would have been tasty when it was fresh (my rating suggests that, too), and even now, the maple is present and tasty. The sunflower seeds are just causing an unpleasant staleness, and I can’t really taste much of the base tea (or cream) either. Fairly mediocre cup as a result, but attributable to age.
(52teas (Anne) 2022: 204)
2022 Sipdown 97/365!
Pulled out some (more) undocumented teas, and found a couple gems, including this one! And, it’s worth the find. The banana is light, but the spicing is so good. It tastes like more than just cinnamon; I don’t know exactly what it is but it’s quite lovely. Too bad there was only the one cup!
(52teas (Anne) 2022: 203)
2022 Sipdown 96/365!
Y is for… Yunnan Eggnog!
Again, the name on my packet is different from Steepster. shrug Anyhow, this is the end of my 52teas alphabet challenge, as I have no X or Z teas! Hurrah, I made it, and only 3 days late. It’s nice that the last tea in my countdown was also a sipdown, one of very few this month that weren’t matcha. Probably will do a DavidsTea or other company alphabet challenge later in the year.
Although I enjoyed the base of this tea, I got very little in the way of flavouring. No eggnog at all. I wouldn’t mind seeing this reblended, though!
I love zhen qu. My source is gone!