New Tasting Notes

Always a dilemma: too much at the bottom of the pouch for one cup; not enough at the bottom of the pouch for two cups. Dump-it-and-run usually wins. Result was a beastly grizzly bear of a bitter cup, but a little milk tamed the beast and made a really nice tumbler of berries with cream. This will be on the list when we visit Chabom again.

Only very brief notes as today’s workday was a busy one, but for this session I used approx 6g of 2024 “Rock Spirit” which I received as a free sample with a resent YS order. As usual, I started with a 10s rinse.

1st steep (10s) – smooth, savoury-sweet, brothy, raw wood
2nd steep (15s) – ditto
3rd steep (20s) – ditto, developing creaminess
4th steep (25s) – creamy and sweet. Brothy/woody flavours diminished
5th steep (30s) – ditto
6th steep (40s) – ditto, liquor paling
7th steep (50s) – ditto, liquor paling and creamy sweetness also diminishing
8th steep (60s) – watery

Overall impression; pretty nice, didn’t last quite as long as I expected it to before the flavour faded, but I’d be willing to give it another go sometime. I enjoyed the more savoury notes in the initial steep, which were a nice change of pace from the sweeter shous I’ve been drinking lately.

I don’t know if this is the same tea but mine is called baked apples. couldn’t find on the site but it is in the advent calendar. as usual…no flavor. Couldn’t detect apple at all…..highly forgettable.

Packaging and marketing. It’s annoying how you can take the same tea put it in two different bags and depending on tons of different factors one will sell good and the other won’t. But do you see the tea beforehand? Sometimes that can change it too. This bag is splashy and fun but I wasn’t expecting a good tea to be honest.

Dry appearance: shiny and dark brown.
Dry aroma: Dark cherries and chocolate
Infusing aroma: malty. Milk chocolate for hot chocolate.
Mouth feel: Perfect amount of astringency.
Flavor: Woody. Slight chocolate covered berries.

cute name, flavorless tea

Labeled as popcorn tea in my advent calendar but a quick search showed the same notes as their Halloween tea. I’m not a fan of repackaging a tea like that for an advent. Is it just a way to get rid of old tea? IDK. Anyway, drank this hot because anything with notes of caramel seems best suited to hot. And …no flavor.

Another tea with no flavor….I think this brand just might not be for me. But I will continue drinking through the advent. There was nothing memorable about it. Drank it cold since it has fruit notes.

Sipdown
January Sipdown Challenge Prompt – a tea you prefer with additions

Yes, I am aware that this is not a tea, but a tisane or infusion!

We have changed how we drink this lately, adding just a bit of warmed up half and half and some sugar. Delicious, but I have lots of Vanilla Nut and an unopened bag of French Roast to go through before I buy any more.

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2025 – Day 21
Theme: A nostalgic song
Song: I Wonder as I Wander by John Rutter

Another one that is very light on flavor, similar to Ciao Amaretto. They were both in DIY teabags, so I wonder if that had anything to do with it… Anyway, I do taste a bit of the promised blackberry flavor, but I certainly wouldn’t know there was supposed to be bergamot or cream here. Mostly it’s a very mild blackberry black tea, with a rather acidic base. There’s a hint of an herbaceous or green note as well, maybe the foliage of the blackberry bush?

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=mF3s_yCWYm0&si=mutH71xx8j4VTu6q

TTB 2.0 If you want to drink tea, be very careful about what you eat beforehand. For example, dried oranges. Espeically ones with little to no sugar. They will grab your palate and punch it raw. I might have to revisit this tea. It has a decent aroma when wet, but lordy, I can’t even taste the grassiness.

As the orange invasion dissipates, I begin to sense more grassy notes. With some creamy notes. But mostly grassy notes

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2025 – Day 20
Theme: Do You Hear What I Hear?
Song: Do You Hear What I Hear? by Bing Crosby

A throwback from Deb! I know I’ve had this one previously, but couldn’t remember what I thought of it. It’s a pleasant enough tea, and I appreciate that there’s no maple or brown sugar, as most of her teas seem to include it. I do taste hints of panettone – a slight butteriness, a touch of orange, and a hint of syrupy sweet raisin. But they are all quite mellow, since there are no added flavors, so mostly it’s the black base with a slight suggestion of panettone. Very pleasant and mellow cuppa though! Thankfully the base is smooth and has decent flavor. My previous rating of 68 stands!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=FhTnDaEmA5k&si=oPr_1gZmLttDKtp0

Herbal TTB! I taste some tart fruit along with a hint of spice. It’s pleasant, and I definitely see the flavor inspiration here! It’s still not special enough to seek out though.

Finished off a single serving teabag of this one a day or two ago, and then realized I forgot to write a note! It was pleasant but the flavors were far too subtle in my opinion – mostly I tasted the rooibos/honeybush base with just a touch of sweetness and a hint of what tasted like nutmeg at the time, but must have been cinnamon. It was fine, but hardly a warm hug!

This tea is much too astringent for me. Although listed as tea bags, this tea was in plastic mesh pyramids. I will not purchase again.

My original reviews for this were written 14 years ago. I can’t remember what I did before breakfast, so no wonder I thought I hadn’t tried it yet!

A friend brought a box for the communal tea caddy at work. I snagged a bag, expecting an herbal version of Constant Comment. (Then I wondered why Bigelow thought they needed to improve on Constant Comment, especially when they have a good decaf version.)

CC doesn’t have hibiscus, rose hips, or chicory; this does and that’s what distinguishes it. More fruity than spicy, but not so tart it’s painful. I’m not regretting the revisit, but I think I’ll leave it for my coworkers.

TTB Round 2. I passed this up the first time after reading about the stevia… But I decided to give it a go this time. The smell is nice and reminds me of a tea I used to get at a breakfast place when I used to visit my grandma. And not many places I know of use fig as an ingredient. But these two do.

I think I steeped it too long. It’s blanketing like cough syrup and too sweet. Overall, it’s nice but too sweet for me. But my daughter likes it. Just kidding… She did the same thing I did. The first sip was like oh this is nice… but then it quickly changed to Nope, that’s too sweet.

Advent Calendar 2025 – Day 9

The idea of this is intriguing, sort of an elderflower chai. In reality, the taste is dominated by elderflower and ginger. I don’t really pick up on the other spices or the honeysuckle. I do like elderflower, and the ginger isn’t so strong as to be too much for me, so it’s still a pleasant blend. Sort of effervescent in a savory way – not quite beer, but getting there. Definitely a unique one!

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2025 – Day 19
Theme: An instrumental song
Song: Fantasia on Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Coconut and almond again… Here, the coconut is slightly past its prime, and I’m very sensitive to rancid coconut, so I was not a fan ha ha. The coconut was definitely the strongest flavor in the couple of sips that I had, with the almond in the background. And, of course, the soapy notes of old coconut!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=tQxINIyBejY&si=n5HLQAajuT9EwO8X