Paper & Tea
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I added this to my paper and tea order because Ros and Martin liked it so much. Sorry to say the tea has changed formulas and the fig flavor is no longer there. I had hopes that the black currant flavor was of similar quality, but although it does taste like berries, there is a weird after taste that is not pleasing. They use bourbon vanilla flavoring in a bunch of their teas, I’m wondering if that is the offending flavor. Its going into the give away box.
Flavors: Black Currant
I got a larger portion of this in my advent purchase, and this is a mixed bag to me. There is just a lot going on here and it all becomes a bit muddled. I do taste chocolate and orange and bourbon notes, but there is a floral note at the end that just doesn’t belong in my opinion. The second steep has less of a rosy note, so the tea was slightly redeemed, but I won’t drink this again because of the aftertaste.
Flavors: Alcohol, Bourbon, Chocolate, Orange, Rose
Advent tea
This strong black tea is certainly astringent. I probably used too much water to leaf ratio for the first steep. I used more water for the second steep and the infusion became a bit smoother. I only have one packet to brew so I don’t know if the first brew could be less harsh, but I can think of strong black tea that is more tasty and less astringent.
Flavors: Astringent
I finally caught up with my Paper and Tea order that I thought I would enjoy with my Dad over Thanksgiving. It took them 4weeks to ship my order, but it actually arrived rather quickly when it was finally shipped from Germany. I told my Dad to open it, and he tried a few, but he didn’t continue, he is used to black tea in a full pot, not individual cups.
So I get to do an advent now and this one displays the joy and heartache of Advent tea, you get to try new teas and there will be some you don’t like. If this wasn’t a Yunnan base I would not have tried it, but hey I gave it a shot. It is bergamot to start and chocolate Yunnan to finish so I am torn, do I grimace with each sip to get to the Yunnan underneath or do I just toss it? If you like both flavors, this is a very nice EG, but it’s not for me.
2023 sipdown no. 33
I’ve been low key searching for a White Rhino replacement and don’t often order white teas, but this one intrigued me. For anyone interested, this isn’t a decent replacement, but it’s fine as a tea in general.
The tea itself was very unique looking, noted as a “stem tea” on the website, and it’s like tiny driftwood twigs! The taste is very clean and balanced. The flavour notes are meant to be “wild honey, stewed apricot, lychee” and I’m not sure I’m getting any of these.
Preparation
Not yet a sipdown, but filling sipdown prompt — February 2 – Groundhog Day: drink the same tea (or type) twice!
I am quite heavy drinking this recently, and always I prepare two steeps (that’s the prompt for me) of it. Not any diffrently today. Breakfast cup, same leaves and second steep studying cup.
I believe it could make more steeps, but two are flavourful enough. How? Continue reading :)
Although it is almost one year old, it is really flavourful — grassy, seaweed a bit, sweet and chesnuts. A little buttery too.
One must be careful about steep temperature though. Higher temperature makes it much more unpleasant (more buttery notes); also longer steeping time make it bitter. 2 and 2 minutes, both with 70°C are just exact steeping paramters that suit this tea best. Hopefully I will finish it before the end of February.
Preparation
2022 sipdown no. 63
I had a few sample teabags of this one from my Paper & Tea order and it was the one I was most excited about. I barely got any flavour here (I am inclined to blame the hard water here). So I can’t say much except that I can’t order this one until we live in a different spot with soft water I suppose.
Paper & Tea 2022 Advent Day 19: Moroccan Mint
Lovely mint tea. As if the case with all P&T, a smooth cup! I’m really not a fan of mint tea and generally only drink it when I’m not feeling well. As I make my way through this teapot, it just tastes more and more like the rubber sole of a new sneaker.
Paper & Tea 2022 Advent Day 18: Golden Earl
A wonderful EG! I enjoyed P&T’s Red Earl as well as their bergamot is insanely smooth and seemingly complementary to all things. The floral notes are more mellow than others, yet the overall taste is very clean and almost crisp. We’ve been drinking these completely out of order, so although Emerald Earl was day 16 (and this is day 18), I haven’t yet tried the green base. I am quite excited to get to it. This one I would happily keep in my cupboard.
Paper & Tea 2022 Advent Day 16: Emerald Earl
I really enjoy the bergamot/EG flavour from P&T and was quite excited to see it here. While this is a lovely tea, the green tea base came through just behind the bergamot and wasn’t my favourite. There was a definite grassiness that I’m not a fan of. Nonetheless, I finished the entire cup and did enjoy it.
2023 sipdown no. 72
Freshly steeped, this smells summer sweet, like fresh nectar from a flower. However, as the tea cools, it just doesn’t sit quite right with me — that sweetness borders on cloying (as much as a completely unflavoured tea can) — I’m being quite picky here, but this one steeps up either perfectly, or in this weird way. I do think there’s something to be said for drinking this as soon as it’s at a drinkable temperature (as hot/warm as possible).
Nooo! The fig was the unique element of this tea!
Definitely disappointed in the lack of figgy flavor here.
I was in their store in Lepzig and saly I have to confirm they changed the formula from fig to black currant. I have a sample, so I will definitely test it out, but I am sad about it for sure.