90

Happy National Creamsicle Day! Today (8/14… who knows when I’ll actually get to post this to Steepster since the Dashboard is broken again) the prompt is to drink a tea with orange or vanilla flavor notes!

I’m actually getting to that point of sipdown-ness that many common flavor profiles are now missing from my cupboard… orange/vanilla being one of them. I knocked around doing an Orange Ginger Pu’erh or a vanilla black chai, but then I found I had this… The only orange+vanilla tea in my cupboard! Still in the category of "new"ness that I’ve been avoiding to focus solely on my oldest teas, but I decided to brew it up anyway.

I used half the 15g sampler (7.5g) for a liter of iced tea. I steeped the tea warm and then chilled it, as I like the flavors of black teas better that way than cold brewed. I also added a bit of liquid sugar to the cold tea and carbonated it… this is also the only “soda” tea left in my stash so I wanted to go all out.

With just that little touch of sweetness and the carbonation, this tastes spot on like a cola. Strong cola flavor, natural sweetness from the vanilla, and a hint of citrusy orange toward the end of the sip. I could do with the orange being a bit stronger, but perhaps the added sweetness is cloaking it a bit.

What I wouldn’t give for 52Teas to have a “rotating soda tea” as a D’s Teas permanent blend… I love them so much, and they are so hard to find! (Does anyone know of some good, readily available/easily accessible soda teas?)

Flavors: Citrus, Cola, Orange, Sweet, Vanilla

Preparation
Iced 3 min, 0 sec 7 g 32 OZ / 946 ML
ashmanra

It is fixed! I see you! :)

Mastress Alita

I know. I wrote this (and many other notes) days ago. I write my notes on an external file and have been waiting for the site to be fixed to post them.

ashmanra

Duh! Now I see the date you put. Seriously, half the time anymore I barely know what month it is, much less what day. I should have paid more attention. I sure was glad to see the dashboard back!

Mastress Alita

Hah, I have a coworker who is notoriously bad at keeping track of the days of the week, so I’ve assigned her to keep track for me… I prefer her days since she often skips ahead a few. :-) I’m glad the site is working too!

tea-sipper

Huh, I don’t think I remember anyone else doing any soda teas, except for a Bird & Blend?

Mastress Alita

Yes, but Bird&Blend’s also isn’t a “core tea”/“permanent collection” tea… really looking for something I know I can reliably order at any time!

tea-sipper

Yeah, I figured…

52Teas

I’m thinking about it. Would you want it to be just “cola” tea – or could it be soda teas in general, including root beer – and any tea base? Because I have a feeling that some of the Crisp Cranberry Soda fans would like to have that one come out every once in a while. :)

Mastress Alita

Any pop/soda/cola/carbonated beverage-inspired teas would be lovely!

AJRimmer

I agree! Soda teas of any kind in the lineup would be great!

52Teas

cool – this may be coming soon. I do have a lot of things on my plate right now – working to get caught up while creating a new website and getting my hundreds of blog posts converted onto google docs – but please know that this may be incorporated to 52Teas/D’s teas soon.

Mastress Alita

Wow, amazing, Anne! (Also excited to hear about a new website, I noticed a while ago the blog posts weren’t displaying for me anymore, so I’m guessing that is part of the issue).

52Teas

Right – that is the issue. I was told by the ecommerce platform that I use that the template I purchased is no longer being supported – so I decided – OK – then I’m no longer gonna support this ecommerce platform. So, I’m working on something new.

Todd

Ooh, excellent news! I love your soda pop teas!

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Comments

ashmanra

It is fixed! I see you! :)

Mastress Alita

I know. I wrote this (and many other notes) days ago. I write my notes on an external file and have been waiting for the site to be fixed to post them.

ashmanra

Duh! Now I see the date you put. Seriously, half the time anymore I barely know what month it is, much less what day. I should have paid more attention. I sure was glad to see the dashboard back!

Mastress Alita

Hah, I have a coworker who is notoriously bad at keeping track of the days of the week, so I’ve assigned her to keep track for me… I prefer her days since she often skips ahead a few. :-) I’m glad the site is working too!

tea-sipper

Huh, I don’t think I remember anyone else doing any soda teas, except for a Bird & Blend?

Mastress Alita

Yes, but Bird&Blend’s also isn’t a “core tea”/“permanent collection” tea… really looking for something I know I can reliably order at any time!

tea-sipper

Yeah, I figured…

52Teas

I’m thinking about it. Would you want it to be just “cola” tea – or could it be soda teas in general, including root beer – and any tea base? Because I have a feeling that some of the Crisp Cranberry Soda fans would like to have that one come out every once in a while. :)

Mastress Alita

Any pop/soda/cola/carbonated beverage-inspired teas would be lovely!

AJRimmer

I agree! Soda teas of any kind in the lineup would be great!

52Teas

cool – this may be coming soon. I do have a lot of things on my plate right now – working to get caught up while creating a new website and getting my hundreds of blog posts converted onto google docs – but please know that this may be incorporated to 52Teas/D’s teas soon.

Mastress Alita

Wow, amazing, Anne! (Also excited to hear about a new website, I noticed a while ago the blog posts weren’t displaying for me anymore, so I’m guessing that is part of the issue).

52Teas

Right – that is the issue. I was told by the ecommerce platform that I use that the template I purchased is no longer being supported – so I decided – OK – then I’m no longer gonna support this ecommerce platform. So, I’m working on something new.

Todd

Ooh, excellent news! I love your soda pop teas!

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...

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