Featured & New Tasting Notes

Coconut is the strongest flavor, but the kukicha gives it a hearty backdrop. This was best sweetened with milk. I taste coconut and marshmallow and that’s nice, but a little simple. The next two times I had this, I found it too plain for my tastes. The flavors didn’t shine anymore for whatever reason.

Why I didn’t multiple cake this 7542 replica when I saw it in years past on other vendors websites, or most recently on Liquid Proust’s…

Oh well. At least I know what well aged, humidish-stored puerh tastes and feels like. This brews rich and does great with less leaf and moderate steeps in a 200mL duanni pot. Taste and energy are strong enough that only 2-3 pours leaves me satisfied. This current pot is on day 3!

Once I let this cool and added milk, it tasted super nice and sophisticated. The anise is the strongest flavor, but it combined beautifully with the base, and a bright, yet desserty hit of orange comes next. This flavor profile really surprised me – I didn’t expect to be such a fan, but I really enjoyed my bag.

Steepster TTB 2025

I have to admit that my tea drinking in 2025 has been pretty uninspiring — I’ve barely written any Steepster notes, and I’ve mostly been drinking old favorites. That makes the TTB’s arrival extra exciting for me!

Mmm, smells delicious. This is malty, astringent, and maple-y, but I’m not getting much blueberry at all (or bready notes to evoke pancakes, for that matter). Blueberry as a flavor is hard to capture in general, I think. I do have a soft spot for brisk breakfast teas, and I love maple, so I’m not complaining here. But “blueberry pancakes” is a stretch!

There’s not much left in this packet so I’ll probably keep it and try it again with some oat milk — that might add some pancake-y heft to the flavor.

From CameronB! Thanks very much! The flavors are unique here, as in I don’t think I have had this particular blueberry/lemon flavoring before in another tea. It’s a bit like candy… so not really tangy fruits. The blueberry is more like a muffin sort of blueberry. Neither fruit is very distinct. The green tea base isn’t taking over at all and I didn’t even notice the rooibos. It’s an okay blend.

I go through matcha phases. Sometimes I don’t drink it for months, sometimes I drink it everyday. I’m going through a daily matcha phase right now, of course when there is a global shortage and it’s difficult to restock.

This is nice. Very light, no bitterness when made as an iced americano. Really bright and grassy.

I do miss having these sachets available in my stash. I liked the packaging quite a bit and they were waterproof, unlike many others. Plus, the sachets looked fancy.

This is the last (unless another one is hidden away somewhere) I have and it is no longer being made so I guess this is a sad goodbye.

This chamomile is reliable. Lightly citrusy with the typical fresh chamomile flavour. It held up well over time without getting a dull or flat in flavour.

This is one of the teas that made me want to try Savoy, but I wish it had ended up as tasty as it sounds! It had some random chai-ish flavors, but it’s not that good. The quality of the black tea is just okay. It was all way too mild, and nothing made me think of pumpkin or muffins.

Another sample from the Chicago Tea Festival. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a Gunpowder tea. This brings back memories from when I went to China on a study abroad with my college. The Temple of Heaven is quite amazing.

Dry Appearance: Some shiny, some dusty. Tightly rolled into balls. Dark, greyish green. Smooth to touch.
Dry Aroma: Drying. Plaster?
Quick Rinse. (They say you should rinse the majority of the Chinese teas you buy)
Rinsed leaf aroma: Already experiencing some deep and complex notes. Dark fruits and marzipan.
Flavor: Roasting notes of charcoal and composting leaves.
Wet Leaf: At first, it seems somewhat plain, and you wonder if it was stored wrong but they are just complex notes braced with in roast. Deep fruity notes that hide amongst the plaster, and almost a slight cologne note.

Am I sure this is a good tea but I remember now why I don’t typically drink it.

On a side note: I had those business spam callers. Absolutely annoying.

A sample from Teavivre! The leaves are lovely – long and half golden. The resulting tea with just a teaspoon and a half of leaves is certainly deep and complex enough for me. It’s dark and rich, but it’s also sweet. Hints of tomato soup, but really this reminds me of Ruby 18 but deeper but also another specific tea…. had my mind on it but it slipped. Notes of black pepper like to linger. It’s a good one! Not describing it well enough! Exceeded my expectations. I think Teavivre’s teas in recent years have had lighter flavored harvests, but this is darker than I thought it would be. Love that.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep

I taste pineapple and other fruits. It’s really pleasant sweetened with milk. It’s supposed to taste like Fruit Loops, but the quality of the fruit isn’t quite like that. It’s light and juicy.

Another tea from afternoon tea! This is pretty nice! It tastes marshmallowy and desserty. It’s light and pillowy. Warm with sugar and milk, it was lovely, but I bet cold would be even better.

I’m quite sad about this. This tea is ancient. I guess I ignored it in the stash,thinking it was a subpar Keemun — weaker, flavorless. BUT I had it recently and it was quite good! Perhaps it has aged well. Perhaps recent Keemun harvests have been even more disappointing than this one. Anyway, the flavor now is rich enough for me, a bit smokey. I wouldn’t say it distinctly has Keemun flavor notes, but that could also be because of time. Delicious for such an old tea that I expected nothing from. I mean… I never even wrote a note for it! But it was a nice surprise. Two delicious steeps.

Recently had another lovely afternoon tea at Ivy! This was my least favorite tea from the meal. I taste brisk black tea along with caramel flavor. I don’t taste the cherry. It’s nice, but not exactly my sort of thing.

Backlog: April 9, 2025

I hadn’t managed to get very many notes from this session due to the crazy work week + everything kinda went blank. Thankfully, I managed to make notes, but most of the tea sessions felt “automated.”

Tasting Notes: I noted, “nothing beyond the texture.” I remember the tea didn’t have a lot of flavors (or anything I could pinpoint). At essentially $4 per session, I felt it lacking.

Sipdown

Da Hong Pao is a favorite oolong. I have had one that was sent by some family members to the owner of a local Chinese buffet. All writing on it was in Chinese so I don’t know what kind it was, but it was rich and chocolate-y. It smelled like a cup of cocoa. That was the exception to most DHP I have had.

This one is more like what I expect. A little woody, baked bread or grain, a hint of a ghost of soft cinnamon, minerality…rich flavors mostly on the bass side but not heavy. The mouthfeel is thin to medium.

Absolutely delicious, a favorite of Ashman, and it will be missed. Fortunately I picked up some Ting Ting at Tin Roof Teas yesterday to occupy this tin until more DHP is acquired. They have similar profiles and suit similar pairings to me.

I tasted mostly orange peel, and the base tea wasn’t that delicious. It just tastes pretty unsophisticated. I shared this with my dad, who tasted plenty of vanilla but nothing else.

I picked up this Japanese black from Tealyra at the same time I grabbed their Benifuki black. This tea also has that sweet, fruity quality I get from Japanese blacks that I really enjoy. The body is more on the medium side for a black, tasting of warm cinnamon bread and autumn leaves, with a subtle stonefruit note that leans a little citrusy in the aftertaste. It’s very tasty, but I do think I enjoy the Benifuki variety better of the two, as it had a little more oomph in its flavor notes. I’ll probably try experimenting more with my leaf ratio and steep times to see if I can push this tea a bit more.

Sigh. I hate change. Such as the marketing email I received from Savoy this week announcing that they are closing their physical storefronts. Online only. No doubt my favorites (like this one) will still be readily available, but there’s just something about that first step inside the door of a favorite tea shop, that first whiff of leaf, that makes your blood pressure drop and your smile slowly curl up at the corners like the Grinch.

Braveheart isn’t for the weak-minded. Stout, brassy, rye-bread goodness. I hope a packet delivered by mail tastes as good as one you’ve carried out of the store with your own two hands. I have doubts.

Sharedown

I bought this believing I would have a soothing cup of tea before bed often and I just find that I never reach for this. I prefer plain lavender and have tons of it, so it was time to send this to a new home before it gets too old.

I taste a sort of burnt caramel with an okay black base. The second time I had this, I tasted some dessertiness, but nothing else stood out to me. It was nice enough with milk and sugar.

Another teabag from my old misc. collection of samples.

The teabag smells great! I’m coldbrewing 1 teabag, 4 minutes, in 350 mL cold water.

It smells very aromatic, which is nice to see from a very old teabag. The liquid is vibrant red-purple. I’m getting a lot of various berry notes. I can pick out blueberry, strawberry, and general mixed berry flavour. I think there’s another red fruit in there but it is not distinctly raspberry or any other berry I can make out. I get the hibiscus flavour a bit because of the longer brew. I find this tea sour, as most hibiscus teas are. It would make a great addition to a pitcher of lemonade or ice water with sugar in the summer.

I must thank ashmanra’s mention of the April Sipdown Prompt – mix two of your teas together. I have never done this onsite before, so hope I am doing it properly. (If not, I’m sure I will be informed—nicely, I hope!)
At any rate, I’m tickled pink to share this blend which I love and drink often: 3 teabags EACH of Celestial Seasonings’ HONEY VANILLA CHAMOMILE and Republic of Tea’s EMPEROR’S WHITE (100% WHITE TEA). I make it in my coffeemaker’s well-cleaned carafe, which holds 57 ounces.
Unorthodox, I know, but boiling the water in my electric kettle, putting the 6 teabags in the ‘coffeepot’, then pouring in the not-quite-boiling water works for us.
Yum! This is one of our go-to blends for our evening pot of tea! The Honey Vanilla Chamomile is sweet and light and blends perfectly with the Emperor’s White. There’s not a lot of caffeine, and it’s warm, sweet, light and comforting. I’m very glad to be able to share a blend I’ve enjoyed for at least 2-3 years now. May you all like and enjoy it as well!

I may have overleafed the last of my small pack, but there is an astringent taste after the blueberry, lemon, and ginger that is a bit too harsh for my liking. I like the idea of this tea more than the actual tea.