Cookie

This is the weirdest tea… I don’t know how many people are familiar with a Chinese pickled radish-y vegetable called dai tau choy, but when I brewed this tea and took a sip, all I could taste was a lingering flavor of dai tau choy. The tea bag smelled like caramel, sweet and malty… but once brewed, there was none of that. Just salty, pickled radish, and me sitting there feeling more and more confused with each sip.

I only had one sample bag of this, so I don’t know if this is just how the tea tastes. But this is definitely the most unique flavor I’ve experienced in a tea.

Of all the things I’ve lost, I think I miss my mind the most. My mind, and this cookie, er, tea. Which I’ve never had, but which I realized with my first sip that I’ve missed, very very much. I’ve been homesick all my life for this cookie flavor I never knew existed. Mysterious!

I know, because of the description here and on the US site, that it is supposed to have almonds, but it does not taste like a straight almond cookie to me. The French site did not list almonds, which is good, because I might not have bought it, since I have a nearly full bag of Pleine Lune from Mariage Frères that I should get through before going in search of any more almond teas. (And also, almond isn’t really my favorite flavor.)

It is absolutely a cookie flavor, though; the “cookiest” tea I’ve tasted so far, and since I do tend to like “patisserie” tastes, it works very well for me. My favorite cookies are not gooey or chocolatey or frosted or filled with nuts or fruit … they tend to be more like shortbread or snickerdoodles, so this is right in my cookie sweet spot. Now, if only I could figure out this enigmatic flavor… I’m reminded a bit of warm buttered toast I used to have as a child, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, though if there’s cinnamon here, it’s faint. This isn’t really the flavor, but it’s the feeling. I get a toasted brown sugar flavor, probably some vanilla, definitely “caramel,” but not chewy, gooey, sticky caramel … more like praline? Maybe? And the nut flavor. Like, maybe if you took almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias, and pecans and ground them into a flour and added a bit of that to your cookie batter?

I just don’t know! We need a forensic pastry chef! At any rate, a delightful discovery for me and definite re-order.

Dark black tea leaves with chopped almonds. Has a wonderful almond aroma, like those almond cookies or almond biscuits. Light almond-cookie flavor. Sweet but definitely not oversweet. It was more almond than anything which can never really be a bad thing. They suggested having it with milk but I usually never add anything to my tea. Luckily I have more of it, and maybe I will try it with a splash of heavy cream next time. :D The sweetness was more like brown sugar, caramel not honey or artificial flavoring. Had a pretty strong buttery aftertaste (which I liked), and a long finish. I wouldn’t call it thick feel though, nor a buttery slickness but more just the nice taste of butter. I think that’s what makes it cookie-like. No astringency, no bitterness (not even the dark chocolate bitterness), malty, nutty, smooth. I look forward to trying it with a splash of cream next time. I think this would make a great cup of tea after a salty meal in place of a dessert.^^

Apparently I’ve rated this tea before? I’m pretty sure I’ve never had it, so that’s strange. My previous rating is right, though! It tastes a little bready, but mostly like plain black. I like black tea, but I would’ve liked to taste some of the cookie it’s named for. I added some vanilla, milk, and sugar to spice it up. That made it taste nice, but they would make anything taste nice. Thanks to Cameron B for this one.

Thank you to Cameron B. for this sample. I’ve loving these Lupicia teas. I’ve already fallen in love with their mango oolong and muscat decaf black thanks to my last purchase, so now I’m adding some new flavours to my favourites list. I’ll be picking up some of this next time I order.

This reminds me a lot of Fiona’s coffee shop “Toffee”. I get some nutty but also sweet caramelised sugar flavour. The malty black base is lovely. I added a touch of soy milk, but I think this would have been just as creamy and decadent plain. The toffee flavour, brown sugar, and sugar cookie flavours are absolutely impressive. Next time I’m in the US, I’ll have to purchase a large tin of this blend. <3

I’ve been working my way through my samples from Ost, but foolishly not logging many of them. Suffice it to say that I’ve been enjoying them. :) This is my second time trying this cookie tea from Lupicia. It has quite a rich black tea base, with notes of toasted almond and burnt sugar. Quite tasty and true to the name.

Sipdown – If you can call threw the whole tin away.
Flavor – disgusting. The only time this ever tasted okay was when I was sick and couldn’t taste much. I took it to work, but I couldn’t stomach it there either. The flavor just didn’t work for me. Lupicia’s flavors don’t really work for me overall.

Sipdown no. 27 of 2021 (no. 647 total).

Big news: we got a puppy!

I haven’t been drinking as much tea as usual because two weekends ago, we did a whirlwind road trip down to Southern California to pick up Reggie, our baby Basenji. Down on Saturday (one cup of tea in the morning) and back on Sunday (no cups of tea). Baby is very fun, and very smart — he’s already learned “sit” and is learning “down” — and potty training is going pretty well. After he goes potty outside, he comes over like “bruh, where’s my treat?” which is exactly the point.

Last weekend I had an early haircut appointment on Saturday — following strict covid protocols — so also didn’t get any real tea drinking in because I wasn’t back until the afternoon.

I did drink a bit of tea on Sunday, which enabled me to get into sipdown range with this for today.

I have to say, I’m conflicted about this. I mostly stand by my original note, it’s just that my current thinking would put something described in my original note as lower than an 84. So I’m bumping it down.

As I mentioned, it suggests cookie, but it’s not very sweet, which makes it not quite as cookie-ish as I’d expect. Yes, some cookies are sweeter than others, but most of them are pretty sweet or they wouldn’t be cookies. AmIright?

What kind of cookie? Slightly almondy, slightly shortbready, I guess. Not bad for the right mood. I guess I’ve just become more of a hardass on my grading scale.

Had this twice in the Lupicia store but wasn’t convinced, but decided to bring it home anyway. It’s so much better with milk added. I taste almond, caramel, and a very smooth buttery-milky flavor. It’s basically a liquid cookie. Had it with Hokkaido milk pudding tonight, and it brought forward the malty tones and boosted the creaminess. Did not add sugar since it’s sweet enough with the pudding.

I adore this tea. When I opened my happy bag in the mail and saw they including a 2 oz pack of this I was so excited. I had only received a sample tea bag of it before and was dying to get more of it. It’s such a yummy buttery tea. Very smooth and always a delight to drink. When I run out of it I definitely plan on keeping some in my cupboard from now on.