Featured & New Tasting Notes
This base is a combination of green tea and green rooibos, which go together really smoothly. The flavor isn’t as special as I had hoped. It’s just a sort of fake red fruit sort of vibe. It’s not tart, but kind of candylike. It’s refreshing cold, but pretty one-note.
I had same flavoured tea from Richard company and I have to say I like this one more.
Here are currants (black to be precise) definitely more distinctive, with their slightly tart flavour and mint is just a refreshing element. The base tea is fine enough, but not worth any further research.
Preparation
Oh, I adore blackcurrents! Enjoyed plenty of Ribena (packaged blackcurrent beverage) while I lived in the UK, and Absolut Kurant was my favorite unsweet vodka whilst they made & sold it here in the US. I bet this tea would be the proverbial “cat’s meow” to my taste buds! Is there a translation to the vendor name, Martin?
That sounds like a lovely combination!
TeaEarleGreyHot: Hmm, currant vodka, that sounds good. Yep, Ribena sp. seems that still haven’t recovered from former ban in the US. As of vendor name, I have seen only transcriptions, eg. Mayskiy or Maiskii. I believe it is Russian surname.
gmathis: It indeed is:
I have found Canadian vendor having that available — https://tastydeli.ca/products/mayskiy-tea-currant-with-mint-100-natural-25×2g
Calming in times of national peril. Fortifying when courage is required. So says the product description on the Rare Tea website. Considering family events of late, I’d brew this by the gallon on that guarantee alone :)
But fortunately, it has a lot going for it beyond the description. At just a two-minute steep (heresy!) it is strong, bready (dark pumpernickel), and slightly sweet. Those of you who prefer tea that doesn’t wear combat boots would want millk.
I thought it sounded right up your alley! I hope it fulfills all of its promises!
Daughter who lives with us said to tell you – adding milk is like girls who wear combat boots with sundresses.
Should I tell her that as a child I wore Dingo boots (advertised by Joe Namath and few people on here will remember those commercials!) with maxi dresses? I made my mother sigh a lot.
Cowboy boots with leg warmers here. ;)
A sample from S&V! I love to try as many Chinese black teas as I can. The leaves here are gorgeous – twisty and equal parts gold and black. The flavor is honey, milk, cream and butter, a bit of black pepper. Obviously lighter notes on the first steep! The brew itself is the color of honey. I love how a second steep of this sort of tea is entirely different, if I baby the first steep and stoke the second one. The brew is much darker and murkier and the flavor is almost like molasses. A bit of chocolate. Still pepper. All things I love about a great Yunnan. Maybe not the best Yunnan I have ever had, but it’s quite good and meets my expectations!
Steep #1 // 2 loose teaspoons for a full mug // 24 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4-5 minute steep
This is just okay. I don’t usually love hibiscus in black tea blends, and this falls into that category. Not getting any of the rum flavoring or plum bitters, which both sounds interesting.
Flavors: Hibiscus, Red Fruits, Tart
Subscription tea. Too much hibby in the first steep. Second steep is quite nice as the hibby is muted and the cinnamon comes through. Don’t need any more of this.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Hibiscus
This was a cheap option from S&V, so I figured… why not try? $1.90 for an ounce! The flavor isn’t great, isn’t bad. It initially tastes like a bit of gasoline to me. Maybe oats/cereal… a little like cardboard. Then I read the description and forgot this was black tea but also oolong, and that makes sense for these flavors… if it’s like a formosa oolong. I forgot all about those, as they aren’t my favorite, so I don’t really drink them anymore. The second steep was a bit more charcoal, a little harsher, metallic. I don’t regret TRYING it. Now at least I know it’s just an okay tea. A sad update about S&V: I reached out to S&V and they don’t offer rewards points for reviews anymore…. only rewards points for purchases. boo.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 22 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep
Gasoline… o.o
Gasoline makes it sound horrible, I suppose. But it could have been worse…
I used to leave reviews and had accrued a ton of reward points, but I’ve never used them because their prices are so cheap already, I’d feel bad getting an even better deal :P
yeah, I’ve tried not to use all my rewards points on each order for that reason!
Went to an Indonesian restaurant last weekend and enjoyed one of the best milk teas I’ve ever had, so I’ve been craving them. Soon after I saw a post about this particular Taylors variety that I hadn’t had before, and couldn’t resist buying some to try. Made a delicious sweetened oatmilk tea this morning- it’s lovely. Really nice, subtle biscuity flavor that works nicely with the bold black tea. So good with the oat milk.
This is a second tea that I have received from my Swiss friend last time; and I really appreciate the thought behind; this tea isn’t much for me.
I like Darjeelings and I like Earl Greys; but sadly this one is maybe too floral to me? Floral base tea, and strong bergamot; makes it a bit soapy in the mouth and powdery. Maybe I need to release a bit of the aroma to make it less strong.
But on the other hand it is one of the flavoured teas that I don’t have a lots of, so slowly going through will be a key. But I just had better Earl Greys, but definitely less reachable too.
Preparation
I started to do postcrossing again this year; with a hope that it won’t be that hard year and will have time for this hobby… and first postcards reached my mailbox. And yesterday, one a very full envelope from Finland too! And inside, there were 9 different tea bags in their outer wrappings! Every single one is different which is perfect and many teas to try (again) and tea bag form is sometimes welcomed.
Like today. I came home again later than usual (and work is not yet done!), so I grabbed simple ta bag and lemon flavouring was something I was craving for. I do have a lemon black tea in the office, but hopefully Moomin tea will be better.
Well, kind of. This tea has got a nice and mellow black tea base, but somehow not distinctive at all as I became probably more serious about tea since I was in Finland — it will be 9 years this fall. And lemon flavouring was a bit like lemon pie, but sadly with short effect and as the tea was cooling down, it dissappeared completely. That’s a shame, because otherwise I liked that note.
Unlike Cameron, my tea wasn’t cardboard-like; so I assume it was sadly an issue of their Advent back then. I completely with her other comments though.
Preparation
January Sipdown Prompt – a tea that makes you feel better when you are sick
Sipdown
This was a gift from whiteantlers long ago and it was a big enough sample that I have had it a few times now. Many thanks, friend! We miss you!
I am not sick, but I am drinking this tea with lunch as a preemptive strike because I am having red meat and I rarely eat red meat. My sensitive might rebel so I am going in early with the digestion help of puerh tea.
Does it work? It does for me. Years ago I had two pieces of pizza and then was daft enough to give in and eat the crusts dipped in garlic butter at the end. The food felt like an immovable insult sitting stubbornly in my belly and refusing to budge. At that time, I had only had puerh a few times and it was mediocre shu, but after sipping a cup of it the sun rose and the birds sang and all was right with the world.
This is really lovely. I think it has matured nicely into a very well-behaved sheng. I get a little smoke, some leather, no bite, no astringency, a little creamy/oil mouthfeel, and thirst slaking wetness. A hint of sweet soil follows. Really nice.
Edit to add: burger is finished and tea is going strong still. New note I notice without food obscuring it – minty minty minty! Some dry fall leaf crispness and aroma.
I used to think all camellia senisis teas were the same until I did a deep dive on the internet and found that ripe puerh has inulin, and your gut microbes feed on that. So not surprising that it aids digestion :)
I didn’t know about inulin in it , Michelle! That’s awesome! Inulin is in Teeccino roasted chicory drinks, too. According to webmd, puerh bacteria produce lovastatin, and the older it is and the larger the population of bacteria, the more lovastatin is produced. The lovastatin supposedly causes the system to “ignore” some of the fats by basically binding with them, and allow them to pass on through without being digested, speeding up the movement of the food and eliminating the heavy feeling. This is an explanation I saw, could be wrong. But it seems to work! Inulin is a pre-biotic, so win-win!
I seemed to have confused chicory for ripe puerh, but I thought I read somewhere that ripe produced inulin. Probably on some wiki page that is now rescinded. I think all three, ripe, raw and chicory are good for gut health!
I always wonder whether they are testing ripe or raw when we see the health claims. Often it isn’t specified. I plan to drink it anyway, and if it is good for me then that is even better!
@ashmanra, that is a good question indeed! Since (I believe) the orthodox process involves a heat-kill to dry and stop oxidation, we can assume that it has the effect of pasteurizing the leaves, which become maocha as a green tea, possibly with a further intermediate heating steps before being portioned out and compressed. Of course we don’t expect the work environment to be sterile. So, much like Belgian-process beers, further microbial activity in Sheng Pu-erhs is the result of uncontrolled environmental introduction of fungi and bacteria. I suspect some spore-forming bacteria may survive the cooking process unless it is very long — over an hour at >100°C (think of the canning process). Shou, on the other hand, is piled a meter or more deep, moistened and inoculated with a culture of (known or unknown) microbes, much like a sourdough starter. Those microbes would rapidly dominate the tea leaf microflora, outcompeting any environmental or integral species. Thus it is possible that the two processes (raw vs. ripe) could differ considerably in their probiotic content. It is also possible that the inoculum used in Shou is derived from isolates found in one or more Shengs, and thus having similar probiotic content. I do not know how the inoculum for Shou Pu-erh is prepared and/or maintained, and I suspect it is a trade secret among the various tea companies, as they are among brewers of beers. I do not know the scientific literature of tea fermenting well enough to say anything beyond this.
Sipdown! (32)
From the January subscription. The name of this tea made me laugh because it’s so vague compared to what I’m used to. Going to assume it’s a TGY since that’s the most common, but who knows ha ha.
It’s good though! Definitely on the greener side of things, but still has some nice bake-y sort of notes to it. Silky smooth with a nice balance of fresh green and sweet grainy notes and a touch of floral in the finish. I wouldn’t seek it out again, just because I tend to prefer Taiwanese oolongs, and anyway I generally buy flavored and unflavored teas from separate sources. But enjoyed my 3-ish cups!
Flavors: Clean, Floral, Grain, Green, Mineral, Silky, Smooth, Soft, Spring Water, Sweet, Thick, Toasty, Woody
Preparation
The peach flavor is the strongest. It’s candylike and a bit tart. Sweetened with milk, this is pretty tasty! The milk gives it more of the soft serve vibe. I’ve also enjoyed it cold without milk. Then it tastes like a combination of peach and red fruit.
2025 sipdown no. 5
ashmanra generously sent me her last cup of this. I’ve been waiting for the right time to steep this up and there never seems to be a fully right time, but this past Sunday I submitted an application I’d been working on for weeks and although my to-do list still had plenty, Monday seemed like the perfect day for all that.
I followed her instructions carefully: rinsed with boiling water (~8-10 seconds), let the leaves steam in my mug with a wee lid for 2 minutes, then steeped with boiling water for 1 minute.
1st steep, 1 minute: The taste is very clean, wet, sandy soil. As the tea cools, there is the most subtle whisper of sweetness from mid-end of the sip.
2nd steep, 1 minute: Very similar to the first steep, just as delightful.
3rd steep, 1 minute: I stepped this up before dinner and by the time I got to it, it was cold. Nevertheless, very tasty and soil-like.
4th steep, 1 minute: Taste is starting to thin out, the next steep I’ll increase the time. Still very soil-like. The taste is remarkably similar to the first steep, with only the depth changing.
5th steep, 1 minute 30 seconds: Sweetly soil.
6th steep, 14 minutes: The tea was light in colour and thin the previous two steeps, so I let this steep until I became impatient. The soil is still quite pronounced. This has been a lovely tea!
Thanks ashmanra :)
Bag from a TTB. This is much fruitier than I expected! The spearmint is pretty bright as well. The base is slightly murky, but not bad. I’m a fake sweetener fan, and even I can taste how strong it is here, so I’m sure that would bother some people. This isn’t bad, but it would need some tweaks for it to be better.
This Dan Cong is on the pricier side, but it delivers. It has a great complexity and depth overall.
The dry leaf aroma is nutty and flowery with additional hints of cookies and molasses. During the session, the smell gives a bunch of associations, such as purple corn, green pepper, Breckland thyme, and orchids.
The liquor itself is very fragrant as well, its smooth and tender character in the mouth quickly transforms into a strong presence with punch and astringency. The tea has a superb bitter and floral taste with notes of apple and sugarcane. Its aftertaste is also quite rich and mineral.
Flavors: Apple, Astringent, Bitter, Cookie, Corn Husk, Floral, Flowers, Green Pepper, Herbal, Mineral, Molasses, Nutty, Orchid, Pungent, Smooth, Sugarcane, Thyme
My first sip of this was a bit off-putting, but once I got the right ratio of sweetener and soy milk in there, I found it pretty pleasant! Nothing made me think eggnog specifically, but the flavoring was a little mild and milky in a way that is in the direction of eggnog at least. The base wasn’t my favorite here. I’d order other Teeccino blends again before this one.
Sipdown
There are lots of dried apple cubes in the rich brown tea leaves and pretty calendula petals, with an aroma of apple and spices, including cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla.
The base is really nice for pairing with food and is malty with slight briskness, which indicates that it could handle milk and sugar if you wish. We drank ours plain. There is a bright tangy spark that evokes the cider aspect of the blend. It really delivers the taste that the name advertises!
It tastes like generic melon to me, ha ha.
So no resemblance to prickly pear cactus apples, which I find so delicious? :-(
I’m not sure if I’ve ever had one, but usually I find prickly pear flavored things more tangy? And it is not that ha ha.
Ha I brought prickly pears back from a hike near my house once, but the spines ended up intimidating me, so I didn’t cook with them. I’ve had a few prickly pear flavored things before, but I don’t remember the flavor being super distinct.