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Mastress Alita drank Breakfast in Bed by 52teas

1257 tasting notes

So, while looking for a tea to use for the January sipdown prompt “bean flavor notes,” I have discovered that I already sipped down all my Chinese greens last year (which always have a savory “mixed bean” sort of taste to me). So I’m going outside the box on this one and have grabbed this 2018 tea that has vanilla bean in the ingredients!

I love rose black teas and I think this may be my last one in my stash before I’ve sipped all those down, too. The dry leaf has such a lovely sweet floral rose smell… it reminds me of the “Rose Vanilla Chai” by Tea Chai Te that I sipped down a few months ago, but without the cardamom/clove spiciness.

The scent of the steeped tea cooling in my cup is so fragrant and soothing. There is sort of a warm bready/citrusy background aroma from the base, with a really sweet aroma that somehow reminds me of sugar cookies or bubblegum from the scents of the vanilla and floral rose combined.

Lovely! Such a comforting flavor profile. The black tea is medium-bodied and a little citrusy, with goes very nicely with the rose. Those rose is the dominating aroma and flavor. I don’t find it perfumy, but I’m also a big fan of rose; I imagine those that are more sensitive to it would find this too strong/perfumy. For me, it’s just the right balance of a nice, strong rose flavor before it becomes overwhelming. The vanilla doesn’t come out super strongly, but I can certainly taste it… it sort of adds a sweet cream or “sugared rose dessert” vibe to the tea.

Very happy with this afternoon cuppa.

Flavors: Bread, Citrus, Cookie, Cream, Floral, Rose, Sweet, Vanilla

Preparation

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

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1 comments

tea-sipper
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There’s that vanilla BEAN tea for the challenge! Looks like we both rate it an 84. haha

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tea-sipper
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There’s that vanilla BEAN tea for the challenge! Looks like we both rate it an 84. haha

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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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