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Sipdown!! Yeah! Made my goal for the week.

I totally left this one on the kitchen counter this morning. Oops. But it was still mighty delicious when I came home for lunch.

I’m really excited because I got a CBD infused chai in the mail today. They even included a little CBD honey stick. How sweet! I’ll probably have a cup as my breakfast tea tomorrow. I’ve never tried CBD but suffer from anxiety and anxiety-related chronic pain in my shoulders. I’m hoping for some relief, as a few friends around me have started taking it and have had good results. We’ll see!

Sipdowns in 2019: 11

I got this a little while ago when I was super burned out on spiced and heavy black teas. I’ve made a pot of it before, but didn’t log it for whatever reason. Anyway, I made it again tonight.

The bag smells more like lime and peppermint than cucumber. As it steeps, the scent gets more minty and the water turns light tan. The flavor is mostly peppermint, with tart lime notes and I guess what’s supposed to be cucumber? I can’t really pick it out. I was hoping for something more refreshing and true to cucumber flavor. I suppose I will have to spend the money and get Tea Forte’s version, which is amazing.

Daily work tea. I haven’t made a single sipdown this week, (despite drinking 120 ounces so far), but I probably will tomorrow. And it won’t be this tea, though I am making my way toward the bottom of the jar. I’ll probably have this mediocre stuff gone by next week.

This was a free sample that came with my last order from Nepal Tea.

The first thing I notice is the actual tea to lemongrass ratio. There is certainly a lot. I like the idea of lemongrass in chai, though. It smells heavenly, spiced, and clean. There is also a considerable amount of citrus peel and coriander seed. As it steeps, the aroma reminds me of the citronella candles my mom used to keep the mosquitoes away. I used to smell those all the time on the back porch as a kid. So sweet and fresh. This tea could serve as aromatherapy, I swear.

The flavor is so comforting. Lemony with that well-rounded spice I’ve come to love from Nepal Tea. The spice especially comes through on the exhale. While I think a lot of the ingredients are muted by the lemongrass and peel, I can still taste (and rather feel) ginger, too. This is a masterpiece of a chai, much like their Nepali Breakfast. I’m probably going to end up trying every tea this company makes.

This is another from my Steepster wishlist that appeared in my Sips by box! Are they spying on me?

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to try this for a long time. The dry leaf sparkles with sugar, which I didn’t recognize at the time. I really need to start reading ingredient lists before I sweeten. Ugh. Along with the unusual addition of sugar, this tea is overwhelmingly cardamom scented. Just POW. So strong! There are both whole pieces and crushed chunks, mixed with a lot of cinnamon chips, lemon peel, and… coriander? That’s new to me. I also think I smell vanilla. This is going to be interesting to say the least.

Upon first sip, the first thing I notice aside from heavy cardamom is a decadent butter note. Creamy French vanilla follows, with notes of syrup. Not maple syrup, more like the American brown sugar kind. Cinnamon is also very up front, making this taste so much like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I didn’t expect to love this, since David’s Teas often come across as artificial and kinda lame to me. But this is a glorious exception.

Double sipdown!! That’s what’s up!

Finished up Fortnum & Mason’s Ceylon Orange Pekoe and Darjeeling. I’ve reviewed this combination twice before this entry, so I’ll spare you all, but… yeah! I’m done with these super strong teas and now it’s on to more fun stuff!

Sipdowns in 2019: 10

Oops. I didn’t have enough of Heirloom Tea Company’s Formosa Fame for a daily work tea. So, I went a little crazy with this one. Three teaspoons of Formosa Fame and three teaspoons of Joy’s Teaspoon’s Plum Crazy. Mmm, plum oolong. It came out a little tart and very fruity, but with the warm, toasty oolong notes. It’s like a baked plum dessert. This is really pleasant and satisfying. Experiment gone right for sure.

Sipdowns In 2019: 8

This is another from Sips By, one I had been putting off. It’s a bad habit of mine — ignoring unflavored whites or oolongs. I know they can be more delicate when it comes to preparation, and that always makes me hesitate.

The leaves are a little glossy and knotted into nuggets. There are also long, thin stems mixed in. They smell sweet and nutty. The package instructions say to give it 90 seconds, so I did, and it came out to a light tan. The leaves had swelled but did not have time to unfurl.

The flavor is a little lighter than I would prefer, so I will probably go with more leaf and maybe 2 minutes instead. Still, it is a smooth and toasty oolong. Much closer to a black tea’s fermentation than a green’s. And it has that creamy note you get with some higher grade oolongs. I do love that. I’ll probably take this as my work tea tomorrow to finish up the sample and get a better taste of it.

Daily work tea. This one is another sipdown target. It’s been in my stash for about six months and I’m ready to have it gone. (As delicious as it is — I’m definitely enjoying its chocolate-vanilla-nougaty-goodness right now.) I figure if I go in my usual pattern, I’ll have it knocked out by the end of the month.

Daily work tea. Two parts Fortnum & Mason’s Orange Pekoe, one part Darjeeling. Again, this is a dark, hearty, and strong cup.

If I make this again this week, it’ll be another double sipdown. There are still two black teas from this sampler I haven’t even tried, but I’ll probably just make one cup of each to review. A lapsang and a Russian caravan. I’ve kind of fallen out of love with smoky teas, so I’m not sure what I’ll do with the rest. I suppose I could give them away to one of you guys, if anybody’s interested.