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January Sipdown Prompt – your newest tea

I decided to go with whichever tea shows as most recently added, but we had our Christmas gathering yesterday and I received NINE EXCITING NEW TEAS! I opened the gifts from my son and ChelseaR first, and the ones from Superanna and her husband next, so this was put in cupboard last!

I read reviews and saw that several people found it to be subtle so I made sure not to underleaf. I have a three minute rule with French black tea blends as they have a tendency to be finicky. (I’m looking at you, Marco Polo. So delicious when prepared just exactly right and so infuriating when there is the slightest deviation from your perfect time and temperature.) I observe it for the first time making a French tea and adjust subsequently if needed.

I made biscuits and bacon for breakfast with daughter this morning and she made eggs. We had a new, locally produced apple butter that was a gift from yesterday as well. It was very different from the White House Apple Butter I grew up with and very tasty. Texture more apple sauce-y and a dash of vinegar in the recipe lends it a brighter, fresh apple flavor.

I did not find this tea to be subtle. It is a elegant, rich tasting tea that made breakfast feel extra fancy. It is called Melange and that is what the flavors have accomplished here – no single ingredient stands out boldly but rather they are thoroughly melded together with an overall impression of cinnamon and almond. I would not have known there was bergamot in this, so this will be a safe tea to offer Ashman, who isn’t wild about Earl Grey teas. I concur that it is slightly reminiscent of Pleine Lune but it is much less almond-y.

It does have enough heft from the base to take milk and sugar if you like to add those, but I drank it plain and will continue to have it that way. It can serve as a lovely breakfast OR afternoon tea. It would go exceptionally well with cookies or dainties, even cupcakes or cake. It would be brilliant paired with something frosted or iced.

sharedown

We don’t love it and usually drink it iced. There isn’t a lot left, but my son has been cold steeping small servings lately and I thought he might enjoy this one with the sweet licorice root which is strong enough that you don’t need to add any sugar.

Double Sipdown!

I blended the last of the peach and vanilla teas together and got two more sipdowns from the advent calendar knocked out. It is a cold day, so lots of hot tea is being drunk. The fruity black tea blends are the ones we look forward to most in the Fortnum advent. I am tempted to just ordered the small scented black tea assortment next year and cycle through them during the advent season.

Sipdown

This is a favorite from Fortnum & Mason. I have never bought a tin on its own but look forward to the 25 grams in the advent. It is simple and is exactly what it says, but the strawberry flavor is on a Chinese base (Keemun) which is so much smoother.

It resteeps well so we get several big pots of tea from the little tin. It is not finicky and has never been too harsh but maybe I have been attentive enough with it. We drink it plain but it can take milk and sugar if you like. Great with breakfast, on its own, or with a snack .

January 3 Sipdown Challenge Prompt – J.R.R. Tolkien Day

Today we were supposed to have tea with a hobbit meal…but I forgot. My daughter texted me as we were on the way to pick up Sam’s thyroid meds (like his wolf ancestors) at the vet office, so I missed my opportunity to do Second Breakfast. Never mind! Afternoon tea it is!

To make it more hobbitlike, I used an old pewter pot I inherited from my godmother and two clay cups. I prepared a plate of gingersnaps and we ate them outside on a blanket in the grass. It was a chilly day but very nice as long as you were out of the wind and in the sun.

I narrowed down the 140+ choices to two and told Ashman to pick from those two, and he chose this one. It was what I expected the Cookie Monster to do.

This resteeps nicely so we had a nice big pot to share and plenty to go with our cookies. I like this one very much and I am a bit torn as to whether I prefer this or Almond Black. I think this one might be more up the Ashman’s alley, while Almond Black edges ahead just ever so slightly for me. It really is a powerhouse of almond flavor, whereas this one is a nice mix of the almond and cookie flavors. Both are great!

January Sipdown Prompt – Happy New Year! Drink a favorite tea to start the year off right!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope everyone here and everyone who ever reads this has an amazing year and dreams come true and more goes right than you ever believed could go right!

We are partying hard tonight! That means homemade ice cream, Fortnum & Mason Biscuits, and TEA! And since it is evening we are having decaf because we are PARTYING but we are not INSANE.

Tea is absolutely delicious with ice cream. I love Lapsang and hojicha with ice cream already, but I was so surprised at how wonderfully delicious Decaf Carol was with it. Yum!

I love you guys!

This tea was a Christmas gift, and we have been working in Fortnum Advent sipdowns so hard that I didn’t try my newest tea yet!

This is described as having a light aftertaste of blackcurrant, and the description is 100% accurate. I chose this partly because I thought Ashman would like it a lot, and he did. He likes Paris okay, but I think the flavoring is a little strong for him and he isn’t the world’s biggest fan of bergamot. It is safe to say he only tolerates small amounts of bergamot.

I thought he would like this because it has black and oolong teas (like Paris) but no bergamot and the flavoring level is dialed waaaaay back. I found it quite nice, and can see it being a good tea for a quiet morning or even more – a lovely afternoon tea with a good book and a wee snack like fancy chocolates or nice biscuits.

December Sipdown Prompt – your favorite winter tea

Why did I write such a prompt? Teaheads have trouble picking a favorite tea. Favorite for the mood, for the season, for the type – there are so many favorites!

This is old faithful, the stand by, the stand-by-me and hold me up tea. The familiar aroma made me make yummy noises at my mug when I wrapped my hands around it and inhaled. My daughter said it was getting weird. Three Chinese black teas with a hint of natural toasty/smoke flavor. No additions needed but she can take it. Long live the Queen!

December Sipdown Prompt – get a final sipdown for the year

Apparently this exact blend is no longer available. This was a sample from the Communitea pack for Dec 27, probably for 2022 or 2023. It came to me as a gift so I don’t know how old it is, for sure. There is a tea by this name on the site but not with these ingredients, and another tea named Warm Up By The Fire, also not with these ingredients.

And that is a shame! This is one of the first blends by Adagio that I have rather taken a cotton to! Ginger and clove made me dread it, but they were both so tame they didn’t offend. Maybe that was die to age. It was a true cold weather comfort warm up mug of tea, and I enjoyed it for breakfast.

Since it was only a sample, it wasn’t listed in my cupboard and therefore the numbers don’t go down but nevertheless the number of grams of tea in the house DID go down.