1216 Tasting Notes

79
drank Holiday Pudding by 52teas
1216 tasting notes

Lately I’ve been working through a large package of a white chai, but this morning I was really more in the mood for a black tea and pulled this one out. The smell in the package is lovely… it really does give a strong “holiday spice” vibe and the fig adds a sweet fruitiness to the aroma.

The steeped aroma is similar, though there is something a little citrusy about it, despite no citrus in the blend. The flavor is very warm and cozy… the spices are gentle, and I think the citrusy note I’m getting is from the clove, which has a nice aftertaste. The flavor overall reminds me a lot of the “Tea and Scones” blend, just less grapey, and I think that’s because dates, figs, and raisins all sort of hit the same “sweet and fruity” notes to me. Perhaps just a hint of something reminescent of vanilla or cream. It’s a nicely balanced chai between warming spices and gentle sweetness.

Flavors: Citrus, Clove, Cream, Fruity, Spices, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

86

I’ve really been enjoying this tea. The aroma of stonefruit and lavender is so complimentary. The flavor is too! The apricot is a little more subdued to the lavender, which is pretty strong in this tea. I like lavender and am fine with it, but I think it might be a bit much for those more sensitive to florals. I think a little more balance between the apricot and the lavender would elevate this a lot, especially if the apricot had more of a “juiciness” to its flavor. Still a very relaxing evening tea and a shame it was recently retired on Plum Deluxe’s website.

Flavors: Apricot, Floral, Honey, Lavender, Stonefruit, Woody

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

2

After learning my lesson about free tea left in the breakroom at work from the stinky feet Cinnamon Horchata tea (which I finally managed to finish), I only grabbed one bag of this instead of the whole box. So glad I did. The ginger is waaaaaaaaaay too spicy for me, making it one of the few cups that was simply undrinkable for me. And the flavor just tasted like one of those medicinal honey cough drops. Bleh.

Flavors: Ginger, Medicinal, Spicy

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95

I received a sample of this tea from Derk, thank you!

It is so good. It smells like a pine forest in a cup, and it is so relaxing. I love pine notes in tea, and this is just pure, wonderful pine. I will have to get some of this sometime!

Flavors: Pine

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
derk

It’s ridiculously expensive, unfortunately. Freaking $17 at Whole Foods (it’s the only store I know of that sells it). Juniper Ridge’s website lists $15 but $50 free shipping threshold. You can probably find dried fir tips on Etsy for much cheaper.

Martin Bednář

But I agree it’s delicious and, eh, amazing cup of tea.

Todd

Ooh, I’ve gotta try mine

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Rating: 76

This is a tea I was gifted from Todd from his China trip. It says “Meng Ding Shan Cha” on it, but I don’t know the brand or shop it came from. There is a panda on the front of the package and “Fangxiang” possibly is the brand? Inside are a bunch of individual plastic wrapped packets of loose leaf Chinese green tea. Each packet is about 4.5g of tea.

I tried one packets in a liter for cold brew and it came out a bit weak, so on my next try I used two packets for a liter which came out just right for me. It’s crisp and vegetal, I get notes of leafy greens and cucumber, as well as a sort of wet metallic note that makes me think of spring water and mossy rocks. It’s a quite refreshing cold brew.

Flavors: Vegetal, Green, Cucumber, Metallic, Spring Water, Wet Moss, Wet Rocks

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

95

This has been such a stressful few months. Started with weird partial power outages, after the first of which the compressor on my fridge died. This weekend culminated in my water heater element burning out, and the main breaker on my power dying. I have one of those brains that just can’t “shut off” when something is disrupting my status quo and I can’t fix it immediately, but the water heater install should be this morning and hopefully then I can finally calm down and get back to situation normal.

This tea was the perfect fit because I wanted a nice caffeinated breakfast option, but also something calming… so lavender Earl Grey, and what a nice lavender Earl Grey it is! The bergamot is tasty but doesn’t overwhelm the cup, and with the added vanilla note it leans into a sort of “lemon cream” aftertaste on my tongue. The lavender is just the right amount, potent enough to be an easily noticable flavor but not so strong as to wash out other flavors or make the cup bitter. The tea itself lends a malty and somewhat brassy undertone and goes down real smooth.

Delicious and just what I needed this morning.

Flavors: Bergamot, Citrus, Cream, Floral, Honey, Lavender, Lemon, Malt, Metallic, Smooth

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 12 OZ / 350 ML
ashmanra

Sorry you are having all those problems! I hope you can enjoy lots of relaxing cuppas and de-stress!

Kelmishka

Ugh, that’s so stressful, and I know what you mean about not being able to ignore it when things are off-kilter! I hope the install goes well.

gmathis

Oh yeah, and the shut off is equipped with an overflow trigger that activates even more activity when your head hits the pillow at night ;) Sorry for all the appliance woes!

Leafhopper

That sounds very frustrating! I’m the same way when things need to be fixed. I hope you can get everything resolved.

tea-sipper

ick — I’m hoping that’s enough broken stuff in your future for a while!

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

5

A box of this tea was left on the up-for-grab’s table in our library breakroom, so I decided to take it home. The name sounded great… cinnamon horchata? Yum!

…………….

Welp, I now know why this tea was being given away for free. The teabag smells like stinky feet and cinnamon, and the steep cup… just smells like stinky feet. I’m not exactly sure how to put the taste into words, except HORCHATA THIS IS NOT. This is a musty damp basement where a lone cinnamon stick was left forgotten in a corner.

It’s so bad, but I can’t bring myself to take it back to work and put it on the up-for-grab’s table, passing it on like the curse from “The Ring.” If I have noticable sleep benefits from it, I’ll probably try steeping a teabag with something stronger (like some roasted buckwheat or Teeccino, maybe hot cocoa) to use it up. If my sleep still sucks after drinking this monstrocity of a cup, it’s gettin’ tossed.

Flavors: Stinky Feet, Mold, Dank, Cinnamon(?)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
ashmanra

I have heard that valerian smells like sweaty socks. It is also used as a sleep aid. Does this contain valerian?

Roswell Strange

I had the same thought re: Valerian!

Mastress Alita

No valerian at all. The main ingredients are ashwaghanda root and passionflower.

Todd

Wow, this is quite a review. “Pairs well with Limburger and durian fruit.”

Martin Bednář

Maybe it’s old and forgotten in someones cupboard. Eh, I meant drawer with socks, or dirty clothes?

Mastress Alita

No, not old. Just bad.

Leafhopper

Did it at least help you sleep? If not, I think this feet tea won’t be missed.

Mastress Alita

I did get drowsy, but I’m uncertain if that was due to the tea or just a very long work week. I’ll continue experimenting. Tonight I brewed the teabag with a bag of roasted buckwheat, and it’s better, but not quite strong enough to fully hide the feet stank.

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

85

Tonight I’m finishing off my packet of this tea. The aroma is spot-on chocolate cherry. The chocolate flavor is a bit boozy, but it compliments the cherry nicely, which, thankfully, is not veering into medicinal territory. The honeybush is sweet, and I’m getting notes of oats and that pepper note I always get from honeybush, which is blending with the chocolate to give sort of a Mayan chocolate vibe. The flavors are just really harmonizing well together!

Flavors: Alcohol, Cherry, Chocolate, Fruity, Oats, Pepper, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 8 min or more 5 g 12 OZ / 350 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

88

This is a decadent tea; the caramel note is very spot-on, and I love the noticable hint of saltiness in the aftertaste. It has a very buttery and creamy taste and mouthfeel, and leaves a strong coating sensation. It’s also very sweet. I’m sure a latte would make this even richer and creamier, but honestly, it doesn’t need it. Dessert in a cup. Should I feel guilty I’ve been having this for breakfast recently?

Flavors: Butter, Caramel, Creamy, Salt, Sweet, Thick

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML
Nik

Nope. =)

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

70
drank Peach Oolong Tea by Bestore
1216 tasting notes

Todd gave me one of the pre-sealed packages of this tea he got from his China trip. It is a sachet-style teabag and smells strongly of the artificial peach found in candy. As it steeps, I start to get some aroma notes of minerals, greens, butter, and baked apple.

The oolong was coming off quite strongly right after removing the teabag, but the peach starts to come forward and the flavors smooth out as the tea cools a bit. The oolong has a leafy vegetal flavor and is slightly buttery. The peach comes in about mid-sip and lingers in the aftertaste. It is definitely that artificial peach candy flavor, but not nearly as sweet. The apple note blinks a bit in the background, but is hard to pick up on.

It reminds me of a poor man’s version of Lupicia’s Momo Oolong Super Grade.

Flavors: Apple, Artificial, Butter, Fruity, Green, Peach, Vegetal

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 350 ML

Login or sign up to leave a comment.

Profile

Bio

Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

Contact Info:

Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

Location

Idaho, United States

Website

https://teatimetuesdayreviews...

Following These People

Moderator Tools

Mark as Spammer