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__Morgana__ drank Grand Yunnan Imperial by American Tea Room

2036 tasting notes

Sipdown no. 23 of 2020 (no. 618 total). A sample.

It’s with a wistfulness that I sip down the American Tea Room samples I have left.

I rated this one particularly high, and yes, it deserves it. Yunnan is likely to be my favorite black tea forever — the richness, the maltiness, and here, the sweetness that reminds me of molasses. I was very sad when ATR went away.

And I’m sad that this is gone.

But the really important question is — did anyone ever find a substitute for Brioche? I still have a sample of that I really should sip down but if there’s no substitute I don’t know if I can bring myself to do it any time soon.

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tea-sipper
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YES Simpson & Vail’s Almond Sugar Cookie is VERY similar to Brioche.

Mastress Alita
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Morgana, looking at the ingredients listed on the Steepster listing of “Brioche”, I believe it is the wholesaler blend “Candied Almond” from Wollenhaupt. Source: https://www.wollenhaupt.com/en/product/candied-almond-1093603/

This means many different tea shops will source this tea under different names, and the easiest way is to Google by ingredient list (Black Tea, almonds, cinnamon, safflower, flavoring). For example, The Tea Smith has it as “Almond Biscotti”. Good luck!

__Morgana__
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Right — teavana and another company (specialteas?) also had this but both are now gone. I will look into these, thanks!

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tea-sipper
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YES Simpson & Vail’s Almond Sugar Cookie is VERY similar to Brioche.

Mastress Alita
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__Morgana__
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Right — teavana and another company (specialteas?) also had this but both are now gone. I will look into these, thanks!

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I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes