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Tea Thoughts Winter Countdown: Day 2

I’m a day late for this one… I opened it yesterday evening, but it was on the late side for caffeine and I didn’t really have time to savor it anyway. I’m glad the Tea Thoughts countdown alternates between tea and stationery, because it eases the tea-drinking pressure just a lil bit!

This is verrry smooth and mellow. I honestly think my palate is broken, because I don’t get any floral notes, and definitely not jasmine. It’s a bit nutty and a bit toasty, laced with a smidge of earthiness I can’t quite identify. It steeps up a gorgeous amber shade, like a light whiskey. I’m drinking it in a mug from a 2022 Düsseldorf Christmas market; the mug is clear glass with the Düsseldorf skyline in white, little white dots of “snow,” and golden stars. The tea looks so pretty!

I’m perplexed about the taste here, but maybe I’ll get something different in the next steep! It’s still really nice, just not what I expected. Again… something may be wrong with my taste buds.

Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar: Day 3

Ooh, I like this! The blueberry flavor is so bright and intense, but really nicely balanced with the green base. I’m not sure I can pick out the oatstraw, but all the ingredients in this cuppa are playing together perfectly well. It’s smooth and soft and really yummy. I’d definitely purchase this one.

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 3

Deb always does the most with her blend names… and this one is actually quite restrained! :D

I have an odd weekly schedule these days. I’m at my internship M/W/F, then home T/Th for freelancing, homework, etc. Today is a home-day Tuesday, so I’m snuggled up on the couch with two dogs, one blanket, one cup of tea, and one bowl of oatmeal. It’s a bright, sunny day, but windy and cold, and I feel super cozy.

…however! After settling in, I got started on some freelance editing and neglected my tea and oatmeal. So I’m only just trying this tea now, and it’s lukewarm. Ah well. All the better to taste the flavors.

First impression is that this is a pleasantly mild spice tea. I’m getting ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon most predominantly, but they’re not overwhelming. The rooibos comes through very faintly, and more in scent than taste. There’s definitely a lightly bready note that’s evocative of cake (oops, sorry, “snack cake” XD), but I’m not getting any caramel except on the verrrrry back of a sip, and the vanilla is also minimal.

It’s interesting that this is a black/rooibos blend, because it really lets the spice cake flavors shine. I think I’d prefer a smidge more black tea to give it a bit of backbone, but that’s personal preference.

Overall it’s pretty smooth and pleasant, and not too sweet despite the maple and sugar. Deb suggests making it as a latte, and I bet it’d be excellent that way.

A very nice and seasonally appropriate mornin’ tea!

Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar: Day 2

My nighttime tea! I’m live-reviewing it.

OK, this is… interesting. First impression is that it smells a bit funky, but that’s fine. Flavorwise… the hibiscus hits first, and I’m worried it’s going to overtake the rest of the blend. But then it recedes, leaving something herbaceous laced with a bit of smooth honey. It’s interesting that they use agave flavor — it tastes like the honey flavor 52Teas uses in a few blends.

Oh, right, the base — the green rooibos disappears under everything else!

So, a bit tart/juicy, a bit smooth/honeylike, and a bit herbaceous. I probably wouldn’t pick up more of it, but it’s also quite unique and different from most of my herbal blends. A fun one to try.

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 2

Whew, this has been a DAY. Not a bad day, just a long one, with thing after thing after thing. It’s now 10:15 p.m. and I’m fiiinally writing this tasting note!

I was so happy to unwrap Manoomin Maple this morning, after wanting to try it for quite a while! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but — whoa. There’s a lot going on here. So much toasty vanilla maple goodness! I couldn’t suss out the berries or the coconut, but I’m sure they were contributing to the super interesting flavor profile.

There’s this one vegan marshmallow company that makes maple mini marshmallows, and honestly, that’s what this blend evoked for me most strongly! It’s soft and pillowy and sweet… but with a bit of depth from the wild rice.

It’s just sliiightly on the sweet side for me — I couldn’t see myself downing a giant mug — but it works really well as a dessert tea to savor.

Super happy to have tried this one!

Simpson & Vail Advent Calendar: Day 1

I ordered this calendar a month-ish ago and hadn’t unboxed it until today, and I was so pleased that it’s an actual hanging calendar! Very fun, and this way it doesn’t take up valuable counter/table space. I also think it’s quite charming that the foil pouches are hand-numbered on the back. It reminds me of the people behind the products!

Anyway, given my dislike of Earl Greys, I’m quite glad that this one is up first and out of the way! I’m not really giving it a fair chance, however, because I’m drinking it after eating some fairly spicy onion pakora, and bergamot + onion is… not great.

OK, I let my mouth cool down a bit… the bergamot is decent, but it’s just never going to be a favorite of mine. The base is quite thin, with juuust a hint of “wet dishrag,” but not enough to be offensive. I’d say this is probably a perfectly serviceable and pleasant Earl Grey if you like ’em!

Homemade Advent Calendar from AJRimmer: Day 1

Hello advent/countdown season! I’ve been thinking about it all week, yet this morning, I completely forgot it was Dec. 1 and made a pot of non-advent tea for myself. Oops! Guess I’ll just be extra caffeinated today!

AJRimmer and I swapped homemade calendars this year, and today’s tea is a heavy nod to Steepster as it’s Roswell Strange’s custom blend from 52Teas!

This blend is so tasty! I like the delicacy of the smokiness; to me it’s quite mild, and it’s really nice with the undercurrent of lightly jammy fruitiness.

Very satisfying!

Where did I get this tea? A TTB? A swap? A homemade advent?! I don’t know! But I’m glad I found it while preparing my lil basket of seasonally curated teas, because it was exactly what I wanted with lunch today.

The sweet, buttery, almost toffee-like chestnut flavor reminds me SO strongly of the caramel almond brittle pieces in Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy ice cream of the same name. In a good way, because that ice cream is delicious. I wouldn’t have expected to enjoy this flavor palette on a sencha, but I really like the contrast between the sweet chestnut bits and the gently grassy base. It’s all very smooooth.

I will say that the sweet chestnut flavor is almost at the edge of cloying for me, so I’m glad I made a small cuppa for the afternoon! But all in all a nice holiday-feeling tea that’s not just like, cinnamon and cloves. Heh.

2024 Sipdown Challenge | November | Cookie Monster’s Birthday: You know what to do!

Yeah, yeah, it’s not November 2, but who cares when the tea is so perfect for the prompt?!

After nearly a year of being very demure, very mindful when it comes to buying tea, my restraint has officially gone out the window! So now I’m cramming new teas into my tea cupboard and realizing I need a better storage solution.

As I was putting together my homemade advent for the swap, I had a lil brainstorm and decided to pull a bunch of seasonally appropriate teas from my stash, put them in a basket, and leave said basket out by my tea/coffee corner where I can’t miss it.

This approach is helping me (1) get into the seasonal/festive spirit, and (2) be intentional about sipping through my stash! Usually it’s out of sight, out of mind, and I have to go digging through my entire stash to find something that appeals in the moment, which means I often just default to the daily drinkers and old standbys. But now, I have a carefully curated basket of seasonally appropriate blends ready for me.

All to say that this tea made it into the holiday basket, and I finished it up yesterday evening. I never quite got a hit of that iconic buttery sugar cookie flavor when drinking it, but I enjoyed the playful sprinkles and the mild sweetness. And, yes, now I want real sugar cookies. :)

2024 sipdown count: 41

After sticking to my tea-buying hiatus pretty faithfully this year, all bets are off! I ordered Simpson & Vail’s advent last week and felt obliged to add a few teas… for the free shipping, of course. ;)

This is S&V’s newewst “literary blend” and it sounded very appealing to me on paper: lapsang, whiskey, and wild cherry? Right up my alley! But I tried it this morning and did not love it. :( I have a pretty high tolerance for cherry flavor — even when others describe something cherry-flavored as “medicinal,” I rarely feel the same way. Yet I really struggled with the hibiscus-enhanced cherry in this blend. It’s cloying and almost chemical, and I don’t feel like it complements the smokiness.

The flavors just kind of sit next to one another, and not in an entirely pleasant way. I’m also not getting any whiskey, which is a shame.

I may have overleafed this cup, so maybe I’m not doing it justice. I want to love it! I’ll have to give it another shot.