Strawberry Sangria

I’m pretty impressed with this one. The strawberry flavor has the quality of strawberries you might find in a drink, but there’s something like carbonation or juice in there too. I think it really captures what it’s trying to. You also get the honeybush flavor, but it tastes pretty good here. This is another one I wish I had more of!

Cuppageek Advent New Year’s Day Tea

I was lazily reading tasting notes in front of the fire when I saw one that said something about the final Cuppageek tea. The final tea! I forgot there was one more left! I drank the others but lost momentum posting notes the last fews before Christmas. I hope to figure out what I had and review them, but I do remember that several of them were teas I already owned and have reviewed.

I jumped up and pulled out the last packet. Serendipity! It is caffeine free which is great because it is after 10 pm. and it sounds like a festive flavor one would drink…well, maybe more for New Year’s Eve than New Year’s Day but I didn’t really do anything last night and we are kind of celebrating tonight by having pizza and watching Taskmaster. We are wild. Off the chain.

I wondered if it would be hibby heavy cuz other people would have done that to us, but not Nichole. The coolest part to me was when the water hit the blend and I sniffed and said, “oooo strawberry and then ROSE!” I love love love that rose was the second strongest for me in this.

Sipping it, it really is strawberry-ish. Kiki described it well when she said it was like strawberry jello when you are making it and it is still warm. I also taste a bit of apple-y flavor and then the rose, and the rose is sticking around in the aftertaste for me. The apple and hibiscus comes across as that feeling on your teeth when you bite a strawberry and it is a little tart, more a tooth feel than a taste or mouth puckering tartness. I bet this would make an awesome summer iced sweet tea. Again, I can see this in pretty glasses with little girls gathered around me having cookies.

Edit to add: i made three steeps so it took a while to finish, and as it cooled the mint comes out more. Very fresh!

A very pleasant ending to my Advent calender! Thank you, Nichole!

Day 17 advent
Enjoyed this one tonight after a terrible no good, very bad day. Honestly i need a break from work. it’s been non stop since june and the project is taking it’s toll on me. I care too much and this project is absolutely the worst employee and customer experience i’ve ever been a part of in 15 yrs at the company. I broke down today in the middle of a call with my team and had to hang up because i was just crying after far too many random surprise bombs went off at work today. so tea was nice. calming and a way to try and unwind after i went outside in the snow to play with my kid and calm down before returning to work. This has a nice strawberry flavour with a bit of tang to make it have that sangria taste. really enjoying this advent

CuppaGeek Advent Calendar – Day 4

Made this one iced since it seemed like it should be cold but I was already using the bottle I use for cold brewing for Strawberry Lemonade.

It’s nice. It’s not sangria for me, but its nice. What it does have is a lot of strawberry flavour. Natural strawberry flavour which is pretty uncommon since strawberry tends to be sweet and candy-like or milkshake-esque. This is more true to the fruit and thus not overly sweet. I do like it. With that said, there is something else here that I don’t like so much. It’s sort of medicinal and that leaves me sad. I wish this was just that strawberry flavour.

Advent Day 1, From the Depths of the Grab Bag.

I bought the advent grab bag for my housemate because she liked the Cuppageek teas that ashmanra sent me. I brew for my housemate either caffeinated or herbal tea every evening. All of my upcoming Cuppageek reviews will be straight from her mouth unedited :) She has no idea of the ingredients in the teas and I will be telling her the name of the tea and ingredients after she finishes her mug. I have a very willing blind taste tester. This excites me.

“The packet smells like raspberry and orange. The brewed aroma smells like strawberry jello, like when you’re making it, it’s still warm. The strawberry tastes like the peach does in Celestial Seasonings Country Peach Passion, kind of fake but I kind of like it! You can almost taste the white pith of the strawberry. It’s got a little minty something on the tongue. I enjoyed it. Burrrrp. Burrrrp. Burp.

7.5/10 because you know there are some peppermints that I really like, like that one you made last night. That was like an A, maybe like a 95. I like the peppermint more than this one and I still like linden flowers more."

Sangria it is not. But strawberry? Strawberry it is. This is my last tea of the night today as I wrap up tasting notes, and I’m enjoying the simple tart strawberry notes – not too much, but just the right about a juicy tart bite to remind me of an actual just ripe strawberry.