New Tasting Notes

I put four different teas in the fridge to cold steep overnight, so when I pulled this one out I absolutely couldn’t remember what it was. Not to worry, I remembered as soon as I opened the jar and was hit with a blast of coconut aroma! This is very nice as a cold brew. Crisp, vegetal green oolong with creamy coconut.

2025 TTB #23

This didn’t really taste like tiramisu, but it did have a pleasant, light chocolate and vanilla flavor, with the hojicha adding a bit of nuttiness and depth.

Sipdown! (5 | 44)

An oldie but a goodie! And one of many full-sized tins from S&V that I need to sip through…

I’m not very into dessert teas these days, as I often find them to be over-the-top. But I still enjoy this one, as it has a lighter buttery-creamy flavor that isn’t cloying. And unlike most almond teas, it tastes nutty and not like marzipan. As usual, S&V’s black base leaves a bit to be desired, but serves well enough as a mellow base for the flavoring.

Not sure whether I’ll reorder this, since, like I said, I don’t reach for dessert flavors often. But I am keeping the tin in case I decide to refill it later.

The last black tea from the March subscription.

As expected, this taste quite similar to a late flush Darjeeling. It’s pleasant enough, just not my favorite type of tea. Very smooth and woody/haylike, with hints of dried fruit and oats. A slight cannabis note, which is something I also often taste in Japanese black teas. Another one for the rehoming box.

A sipdown! (M: 3 Y: 43): prompt: an herbal tisane

Thank you Kaylee, finally I have drank the other session of this tea- First of all, it looks just wonderful. Small citrus slice, lots of buds and flowers and that’s it. Smells wonderful too.

After approx. 10 minutes steeping, it is nice, mellow and flowery tea. Flowery also in the taste. A little refreshing, I assume because of the lime.

I mean, it is totally fine caffeine-free blend, but nothing I need to have again.

I have promised more detailed note, but I just couldn’t pick up more thoughts.

Nothing says adventure like trying a random black tea from a vrbo share area in America where tea is not well taken care of. I fear for the flavor simply by looking at how crunched and smashed and broken the leaves are. Also they were sitting in a plastic bag. The aroma is next to nothing for the dry and wet aroma of the leaves. The flavor is heavy with cigarette and dark woods. Bland.

The hibiscus should really be toned down (though if hibiscus is in the name, maybe that’s an unreasonable request). There’s not a lot of depth, mostly just the tart flatness with a bit of spice. It’s okay cold, but it does need a lot of sugar. My sister received this as a gift, and she was happy to have me help her use it up.

I love this tea and I have kept it in stock for years. It’s a very forgiving tea with oversteeping or adding creamer. It’s warm and comforting with the blend of spices. I’ve been trying to get through my bag of it recently and am coming close to a sip down. I’ll likely reorder it in the future, but for now I’m ready for a break and more room in my cupboard.

2025 TTB #22

After the aggressive “berry” chai this morning, this one is a welcome reprieve! Mostly, this is a beautiful fluffy white tea, almost effervescent on the palate with sweet notes of warm hay. I get just a whisper of strawberry in the sip and then a hint of marshmallow in the aftertaste. I’m enjoying it hot, but I think it would also be lovely iced!

2025 TTB #21

I don’t recall having tried a fruity chai before. In theory, I could see it working…something like a cinnamon-spiced berry crumble? But this one didn’t do it for me, sadly. Both beetroot and hibiscus are bringing a lot of berry-red color but an unfortunate tartness and earthiness that is overwhelming whatever berry flavor might be here. And the spices are very light for a chai…just a whisper of cinnamon and ginger, mostly in the aftertaste.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – March 2025 Tea #2 – a good resteeper

Any good puerh could and should be resteeped.   One steep would be a waste.  This is the last of my samples on this one, so a proper sipdown.   It was an okay puerh.  A VERY slow unraveler. So I’m not even sure by steep #3 if the leaves have given their all. So yes, definitely a re-re-re-resteeper.   Fun to try but nothing I need a cake of.
2025 sipdowns: 13
2025 unique sipdowns:12

2025 TTB #20

I definitely tasted both the lemon and the lime, but nothing about this blend was saying “cheesecake” for me. The honeybush did add a bit of natural sweetness, but nothing tangy or rich or creamy. But once I got over my disappointment about the missing cheesecake note, it was a lovely bright, fruity cuppa! I think it would be even better iced.

One of my favorites from this company. I make mine with sugar and cream and it reminds me of the lilac cordial filling from a local chocolatier

3g in 300ml cold steeped overnight and into the afternoon. Hot damn, this is good! Gorgeous clear medium gold liquor, nice floral aroma when I go to sip even though it’s right out of the fridge. Tastes like a bouquet of flowers and fresh crisp watery vegetables. Very refreshing.

2025 TTB #19

I’m not sure if this sample was contaminated or if I’m just tasting something that isn’t there, but this had a distinct smoky flavor to me. Beneath the smoke, definitely some cocoa notes…almost a s’mores flavor if I use my imagination a bit!

2025 TTB #18

Labeled: “Apple Jack Festival” from Ellen’s Tea House

This blend has a STRONG green apple aroma/flavor that reminded me of Jolly Ranchers! There’s just a hint of cinnamon that comes through in the aftertaste. I brewed it like a black tea, but it tasted more like a green tea; very light and smooth. I think it would better iced.

2025 TTB #17

I liked this more than I was expecting to! The matcha gave it a rather unpleasant murky look in the cup and the stevia on the ingredients list scared me. But the actual flavor was quite ice cream like without being cloyingly sweet. I think it was the nuttiness of the almonds that saved it for me.

2025 TTB #16

This certainly isn’t the most original flavor combination, but this company does it well! The puerh adds a nice depth and richness to the chocolate flavor and the peppermint is present without being overpowering. Even my husband (who isn’t much of a tea person) commented that this was really tasty! May be hanging on to this one.

2025 TTB #15

The name sounded like a yummy dessert tea, but what I actually got was a chai-reminiscent blend of cinnamon and ginger with a weirdly tart aftertaste from the rosehip and hibiscus. This is easily my least favorite tea of the box so far.

2025 TTB #14

Stevia, ugh! I really need to learn to check the ingredients on David’s Tea blends before trying them, because so many of them are ruined for me by that nasty stevia aftertaste. This one did seem to have a pretty enjoyable chocolate orange flavor, but the artificially sweet aftertaste just messed everything up.

2025 TTB #13

Had to look at the tea description to see what the “cloud” in the name meant…marshmallow, apparently? Unfortunately, I didn’t really taste any marshmallow in the blend. The cherry flavor was quite mild and natural-tasting (which I appreciated, because I do NOT enjoy that overly artificial cherry flavor that reminds me of childhood Triaminic!) and the base tea came through clearly with a nice chocolatey note. Would have called this one something like “chocolate-covered cherry”, personally.

Sipdown of an herbal tisane for ashmanra’s sipdown challenge. I got this from a TTB a while ago and was definitely hoarding it because I like it so much. Sweet, minty, creamy, excellent as a latte. Part of my effort to drink through anything with coconut in it before the coconut turns.