Cathy Baratheon Send Message

Sample sipdown!

Many years ago I visited the Blue Mountains in New South Wales. They had this quaint little ice-cream shop with Aussie bush tucker flavours like wattleseed, quandong, lemon myrtle and even emu.
Wasn’t game enough for emu ice-cream but I happily tried the wattleseed and haven’t had a frozen dessert so lovely since.

This is such an underrated T2 blend. Didn’t even know it existed until it popped up on Steepster. It tastes like waffles and sweet cinnamon and of course, wattleseed, which has that specific nuttiness unique to the Australian wattle tree. This will be a definite purchase.

Heading back to the Blue Mountains in a couple of weeks. Maybe this time I’ll be brave enough for the emu ice-cream.

Excellent!

The notes seem to change quite significantly depending on the steeping parameters though. Made it a few times with slightly differing temperatures, timing and vessels (yixing teapot, ceramic teapot and infuser flask) and each cup has been really quite different. Varies from choc-vanilla French pastry to malty dark cocoa cracker to slightly peppery cherry fudge.

I can’t quite remember what parameters yield which results so it’s almost like a new experience every time. One time though, it was a cold day and for a few hours there was a bit of liquid left amongst the leaves in my yixing from an earlier brew. Not wanting to waste it, I drank it and wow, it was like a cold super concentrated vanilla liquor with zero bitterness at all.

I find myself coming back for cup after cup of this multiple times a day, and while it’s not entirely obsession-level love, there are twelve other Whispering Pines teas I have yet to try and I’m sure at least one of them will inspire that enduring, unending tea love I’ve been searching for.

Personally, I find that bergamot teas can be somewhat divided into two categories; the refreshing, sweet kind or the mature, stuffy type. I love them both equally.

This one falls into the latter category. It utilizes T2’s Yunnan blend, which is smokey, leathery and complex, paired with a noticeable dash of the classic Earl Grey flavour. I do take a tiny bit of issue with ‘flavour’ being an ingredient, as opposed to ‘bergamot’, which is listed in other T2 blends but I wouldn’t really have noticed the difference anyway.

This reminds me a lot of Harney & Sons’ Earl Grey Supreme, which I do think is slightly superior to this one. I won’t be purchasing T2’s Earl Grey Royale, but I will buy the plain Yunnan blend, having thoroughly enjoyed the samples.

Yes, sweet potatoes. Not a fan of sweet potatoes but somehow a massive fan of this tea.

Smooth and drinkable and refreshing. It’s so light and lovely that I find myself making pot after pot of this, drinking it as if it were a replacement for water and deluding myself about the caffeine content, justifiably paying for it at 4am when I’m as awake as an owl.

Very mixed feelings about this one. Many popular teas on Steepster live up to their hype, so I was expecting big things from Teavivre’s Golden Monkey, especially after having just tried and loved their Yun Nan Dian Hong Golden Tip.

First try was with my new yixing clay teapot, which had been recently seasoned with an oolong at the tea house where I’d bought it. Was concerned that future cups of black would taste like oolong but the shop owner assured me that it would be fine. Steeped 3 minutes at 90C per instruction. The result seemed to be rather undetectable medley of flavours, perhaps some tobacco and leather but bold and smooth with a tiny bit of astringency. Can’t say I enjoyed it as much as I thought I would though.

So I tried again with my porcelain teapot, same temp and timing. Seemed smoother and minus the slight smoke detected with the yixing.

Leaves were still in the yixing so I steeped them again, this time for five minutes. While it was clearly still the same flavour profile, there were now certain, specific notes making their appearance with gusto. The first thing that struck me was how much it tasted like honey water. Honey water with flowers. Rather too sweet and floral for me, but this would be absolutely delicious for someone who likes honey and flowers.

Brewing a third steep, seven minutes. More honey water and flowers. A little lighter now. Would make a great, naturally sweet iced tea.

Perhaps today I was after something different to this. I do have a feeling it might grow on me though, and am happy to try it again at a different point in time.

Again with the mediocre black tea base. Otherwise, add some milk and this tastes a little like those Bounty Chocolate bars all covered with coconut. As the tea cools down, it kind of reminds me of watery Bailey’s Irish Cream, which isn’t so bad either.
There are a few flavoured blends from Tealux I’ve really enjoyed and will reorder, but probably not this one.

This was a total impulse buy. On a bright and sunny day, I was ill and freezing at work. What I wouldn’t do for some hot tea.
T2 had just released their awesome tea flasks; the black one with the built-in infuser and leak-proof lid. It was limited and it’ll be a while before they come back instore again.
The moment I saw it I was like, ‘that is so mine.’ Then I asked the girl if she minded brewing something inside the flask for me, gosh I felt so cold and sick, and it really made my day when she handed it back with Melbourne Breakfast.
Went back to the store later in the day feeling much better and bought a 100 gram box.
Tastes like a chocolate croissant with vanilla sugar. Having said that, I wouldn’t say this is a sweet tea. It’s actually a little bitter but in a refreshing way, and it can get astringent if oversteeped but yay to T2 for making awesome loose leaf blends readily available in Australia!

Mmm does smell like a lovely praline.
Yep, pineapple. Yep, chocolate. Chocolate as in cocoa peel though, not sweet milk chocolate.
Wasn’t a huge fan of the tea base; rather boring and even a little astringency coming through. Fixed with Paul’s Lactose-Free milk as that usually fixes most things. This particular brand of milk is seriously delicious though.
Now it’s a hot pineapple chocolate milk. Quite enjoyable, but any tea that I can only enjoy with milk isn’t one that I’m likely to repurchase.

My first Steepster sipdown!
Does it count as a sipdown if I have two huge packs of this left as backup? Sipdown is just when you finish a pack right?
Ohhh soursop. I love the lingering tang it leaves. Goes on for quite a while after you take a sip. It manages to be sweet and bitter, tart and smooth at the same time.
Have had this for years and it will stay permanently in my cupboard for as long as they continue to make it.
Get your hands on it if you can; when they sell out, they take ages to restock.

Surprised that no one has added this to steepster yet!
Was in the Melbourne Lupicia store last month literally sniffing every tea they had on display. Bought a hefty amount purely based on what my nose had to say about each one.
The Emerald Earl Grey really caught my attention with what I can only describe as a sweet, fruity bergamot (vs the stuffy kind), but really there is more to it that I just don’t really have the words for.
The blend of creamy oolong with refreshing white tea really is a delicious combination and does taste elegant like the description says.
Accidentally brewed for double the recommended time and it still turned out so delicate and delicious.
If your Lupicia offers this blend, I highly suggest you go and enjoy it too!