Sipology by Steeped Tea

From Cameron B! Thanks again! Wooee, to make this “caramel” I think they doubled down on the sweet elements. It’s cane sugar. But also stevia. I think they wanted to rely on both of these things to carry any hints of caramel. It should also be “salted” and I don’t notice any of that at all. When I’m looking for an almost too sweet, almost cloyingly sweet cup, I’ll go for this one. I like it, but just barely! If it was ONLY stevia, oh no, that would be bad. It’s interesting, because the Sipology pumpkin matcha I had the other day didn’t have cane sugar or stevia. So I guess I can appreciate that one even more now. Sipology also has a Caramel Rooibos Latte blend that uses fenugreek to sweeten it, and I think that works really really well.

I super enjoyed… more than usual… which is a lot… my leftover slice of pumpkin pie for breakfast this morning, so I thought I’d follow that delicious pie with some of this.  From Cameron B!  Thanks so much!  I always think I over"leaf" matcha.  This is a little harsh… murky green in color.  I like that this matcha calls itself “pumpkin spice” rather than “pumpkin pie” because I’m certainly noticing the spice.  The pouch says there should be vanilla bean here, but I don’t notice that at all in the flavor. If there are spices chopped into the matcha as the description suggests, I don’t SEE anything other than matcha really. I don’t have much matcha at the moment, so I will appreciate having this around. Nothing can compare to actual pie though. FYI: Hannaford’s pumpkin pie is acceptably delicious for grocery store pie.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 24

Hmm, two puerh in a row, and not really a festive tea… You’re losing points for this, Sipology! XD

This is nice enough, sort of a mellow chocolate caramel puerh. Nothing is overly strong or sweet or artificial. However, there is something that is distinctly reminding me of sesame sticks? Which is sort of a weirdly specific association ha ha, I guess I should say it’s reminding me of sesame in a savory way. Must be some combination of the sea salt and the fenugreek? As I don’t see what else it could be. It’s still good, just maybe a chocolate-covered sesame brittle ha ha.

As far as this advent goes, it was maybe my least favorite of the bunch? A lot of very strongly flavored and artificial-tasting teas, though there were also a few that I enjoyed. Only two stevia teas, so I can’t really ding them for that, since I know they offer many others. Oddly high amount of coffee-themed teas, I think there were 3? Which I don’t personally mind, but seems like an interesting choice. The variety seemed decent though, good amount of different flavors and bases, and many festive blends. I think it mostly comes down to I just don’t vibe with this particular style of flavored tea, in the same way that I don’t vibe with DAVIDsTEA. And to be honest, a bit relieved about it since they seem expensive and also the MLM angle is a bit shady.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 23

I may or may not have groaned audibly when I saw this… XD Chocolate teas are already not my favorite, and I also don’t generally love chili in chai, and I’m very hit or miss on flavored puerh, depending on how funky it is… So not a great combo ha ha!

Honestly though, it’s fine. The puerh base is nice enough – mellow, deep, and earthy without any fishy or funky notes. Don’t love the chocolate flavoring, it’s quite strong and has that trademark boozy note that I just can’t get behind. The chili isn’t very noticeable, the only indication really is a slight tingle/warmth at the back of the throat, it doesn’t taste spicy on the tongue. But honestly I don’t get a ton of spice in general here, mostly just chocolate with a touch of cinnamon and the chili.

So I don’t love it obviously, but it’s drinkable. More of a Mexican hot chocolate vibe than a chai IMO, but would probably be enjoyable for someone who loves chocolate teas more than I do. :P

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 22

Not sure what’s that wintery about this, it seems to be a classic Moroccan mint, just with peppermint instead of spearmint.

It’s nice enough, smooth and mellow with a cozy toasty flavor from the gunpowder tea. Definitely tasting a lot of peppermint, and it is a tad bit more herbaceous than I would prefer, but still has a crisp, refreshing finish. No wet rag notes though, thankfully.

A fine tea, just a bit underwhelming, especially so close to the end of the advent.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 21

Ugh, lol. Still, I’m thankful that there are only two “naturally sweet” teas in this whole advent. It could’ve been much worse ha ha.

This one is an odd choice for stevia IMO. Mostly tastes like a smooth black base with a lot of powdered ginger, and the earthiness of the ginger is a somewhat odd combination with the sweet stevia. I could see honey or sweetness going well with more of a ginger root type taste, like those instant ginger honey crystals. But here it’s weird IMO, since it’s definitely the powdered type of ginger flavor.

Honestly not undrinkable though, the stevia is more subdued than I expected. But definitely not something I would want to drink again. :P

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 20

There’s something about this that smells like spoiled coconut, yet there is no coconut here at all. It’s less noticeable in the taste, but still there’s a hint of something acrid.

Nope! :P

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 19

This is a pleasant enough cinnamon rooibos. I do get a tiny bit of maple richness in the finish, but mostly the rooibos overpowers it. Wasn’t there a tea in this advent called Cinnamon Sugar Donut? I feel like that name fits this tea better, since there’s nothing really waffley about it.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 18

This was quite nice actually. I’m always disappointed by peppermint bark style teas, for some reason they often include cinnamon and it makes no sense to me. This has a nice strong and fresh minty flavor to it that reminds me of candy canes. The white chocolate isn’t overly strong but I do taste it, and there’s a nice creaminess. Surprisingly I like the rooibos base with it.

I’m not sure I would go out of my way to purchase this, but I would say it’s one of the best renditions of a white chocolate peppermint tea that I’ve tried. That lingering cool peppermint finish is so nice! :)

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 17

Lol, there is absolutely nothing crème brûlée-ish about this. It mostly tastes like a fruit tisane with a big hit of cardamom on top. I get the apple and the hibiscus, the cardamom of course, and quite a bit of sweetness from the sugared fruit. And then a whole lot of artificial-tasting flavoring that doesn’t really taste like anything specific, and some bitterness.

Just not great, and definitely doesn’t fit the name at all.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 16

This is fine, the usual generic hibiscus-y white tea blend. I taste a little bit of cherry, but mostly it just tastes like straight hibiscus with a bit of mustiness from the white tea. Something in the smell is reminding me of rancid coconut, but luckily I don’t notice it in the taste.

Drinkable, but not exciting.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 15

So many coffee teas in this advent! Not that I mind ha ha.

This one is on a puerh base, so it’s very deep and rich. Doesn’t particularly taste like a macchiato to me, more just like plain coffee with a hint of sweetness and a dash of cinnamon. Dark and toasty but still very smooth.

It’s nice! Wouldn’t go out of my way to get it, but I’ve been spoiled by Old Barrel when it comes to coffee teas… :P

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 14

Okay, so this one is just straight-up horrible.

It tastes like a pile of chemicals, and there’s a cloying mouth-coating sweetness coming from somewhere. I don’t understand where since there’s no stevia or monkfruit or licorice root listed…

The beginning of the sip is apple, and from then on I feel like I’m drinking nail polish remover. Definitely one of the worst teas I’ve ever had… :X

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 13

GAH far too much work happening today, and not nearly enough tea drinking!

This is actually really good, definitely my favorite from Sipology so far. The flavoring is quite restrained, so I’m getting a lot of the actual peppermint leaf and coffee bean flavor. Not noticing a ton of chocolate, but I’m also bad at tasting natural chocolate/cacao notes in tea.

Nice smooth black tea with coffee and mint! Too bad I love Winter Cabin from Old Barrel much more, or I would be considering ordering some of this. :P

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 12

I steeped this one quite strong as fruit tisanes usually need it IMO, and wow did it come out sweet ha ha! That candied fruit is coming on strong. :P

Other than the extreme sweetness, there isn’t a ton of flavor. I do get a mild raspberry-esque fruity flavor, but there’s not really anything “cream soda” about it IMO. It’s more of just a very sweet, vaguely fruity tisane that lacks hibiscus. There is hibiscus in the ingredients list, but there certainly wasn’t much in mine, and I can’t taste it at all.

So sweet but not much else! :P

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 11

I used to be excited by the prospect of a cranberry tea, but in my experience they very rarely taste like cranberry specifically, more like generic red fruit or just hibiscus.

This one is a bit more cherry-like to me, though there is a nice tartness to it. Overall it tastes a bit bland, with a woody rooibos base and a mild tart red fruit flavor over the top.

It’s not bad, just needs a bit more oomph in my opinion.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 10

Oh, boy. Ha ha, so this is pretty much one of the worst tea combinations I could think of… At least there’s no stevia. XD

Thankfully, the almond here isn’t super strong. I’m still not a fan, just because the amaretto combined with the rooibos comes off very medicinal to me, similar to cherry and rooibos. But I am thankful that it’s restrained enough to be drinkable. :P

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 9

Okay so… This actually does remind me of chocolate chip cookie dough, which really surprised me ha ha. It has that same buttery quality and sweetness with a bit of chocolate mixed in.

I will say though, I feel like puerh is an odd choice for this type of flavor? Maybe it’s just me, but I find it weird to pair puerh with desserty flavors. Chocolate makes sense, since the dark flavor of the puerh enhances it, but cookie dough? Not saying it’s bad, I just find the deep earthiness to not make a lot of sense with the buttery and sweet flavoring.

Pleasantly surprised overall though!

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 8

This is an interesting one – cider makes me think of apple, but here they meant cider spices apparently. There is apple as well, but just as a filler. It ends up being quite strong on the ginger, which is not necessarily what I think of for cider. It actually reminds me a bit of a cranberry ginger ale. It’s cherry, not cranberry, but still similar.

I hate to say it, but I feel like this could use some hibiscus? It doesn’t have any at all, and I feel like because of that it tastes rather flat. There’s no real dimension to the fruit flavor, if that makes sense. Still an enjoyable blend though.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 7

This actually has a nice, deeply roasty coffee flavor. Sadly, I can’t drink it due to the stevia being very noticeable.

Oh well, I count myself lucky that there are only a couple of these “naturally sweet” blends in the advent.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 6

When I saw this, I was reminded of a similar tea from Teavana that had something to do with macaron. I think that one was an herbal though, and this is a white tea. Neither was actually anything like a macaron lol.

To me, this tea is more cotton candy, with a side of fruitiness. It has a powdery sweetness to it, and the beet root makes it steep up a pretty medium shade of pink. There’s a slight raspberry candy-esque fruitiness going on, but mostly getting that airy cotton candy sweetness. I barely taste the white tea at all, perhaps just a touch of a hay flavor.

It’s fine, but not something I would drink. A bit sweet for me, and that powdery quality is reminding me of fruit-flavored Tums LOL.

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 5

Ooh I love maple and I love butter rum and butterscotch things… And it’s a rolled oxidized oolong!

Sadly, all I can really taste is the rum. It smells quite weird in way that I’m having difficulty describing… I definitely smell the rum flavor, but it’s almost kind of weirdly earthy and a bit savory? Taste-wise though, it’s a bit bland IMO. I just get rum and a bit of a vague sweetness, nothing that reminds me of butterscotch or specifically maple. Oh, and there’s clove as well.

Oh well. So far it doesn’t seem like Sipology and I are a good fit. :P

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 4

And again with the cinnamon! Pralines don’t even have cinnamon normally, do they?!

This one just has way too much flavoring in general – it’s very over-flavored. And mostly it’s cinnamon, which doesn’t even make sense given the name. I do taste something resembling pecan, but there’s not even much of creamy note really. It’s more like candied pecan? There’s also a weird fruity acidity from the quince pieces, which doesn’t fit at all with the other flavors.

Weird tea, and just so much flavoring.

ETA – It occurs to me that Sipology is a Canadian company, and maybe praline means something else there. But I still don’t like it! XP

Sipology Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 3

I was excited when I saw coffee beans in the little Sipology tin this morning! And I do love tiramisu, so even better.

However… I don’t understand what they were thinking with this blend. There is so much cinnamon, it’s by far the strongest flavor. And unless I’m mistaken, tiramisu doesn’t even have cinnamon in it? So a strange choice IMO.

So it ends up being more of like a cinnamon coffeecake paired with a cup of coffee to me? I do taste the coffee beans, but they’re somewhat subtle compared to the sweet and even the apple.

I do like it, but it’s not tiramisu to me. More of an apple cinnamon tisane with a touch of coffee.