Queen Anne Blend

Sipdown (122)!

Thanks MissB! Sadly this marks the last of the tea blends from you, but probably just as well given I have samples that predate your package (from months ago) that I need to try as well.

I wish I was finishing things up on a positive note, but I really wasn’t a fan of this one. It had some nicer malt/bread notes that I can see going well with milk and sugar but it was also very, very astringent and bitter and more-so read to me as a lower quality, generic bagged black tea. Not so much my thing…

Alas, you can’t love ’em all! And this is one less thing in my cupboard.

And now bed time, since it’s nearly 4AM…

Backlog time! Sorry everyone, posting a lot fairly quickly. Taking advantage of downtime while visiting Ottawa (it’s too cold to walk around, so we’re lounging and relaxing instead).

Thanks to MissB for these teabags – they’ve been a lifesaver at work lately, since I haven’t had much time to brew tea at home, and all my infusers are still full (and a big hassle to bring to work). Bonus – I have some time to write notes and email them to myself, although I admit I’m in a rather distracting environment, so the quality of the notes may not be all that wonderful.

I drank this tea completely blind, meaning that I have no idea at all what it was, other than a black tea. As it turns out – a fairly pleasant black tea! I still have no real idea what it was (I’m writing this tasting note without regular internet access), but I had a sip plain, and it tasted like a reasonably high-quality bagged black. I drank the rest with a splash of 2% milk and some sugar, and it was really quite tasty. A very good example of a bagged black. I’m curious to see which teas it’s a blend of (if that info is available).

From the GCTTB3.

This one came in bag form. I was anticipating it to be either bitter or astringent.

But it wasn’t. It was actually quite smooth. The black base is very bold and strong, with only a slight but of astringency. There is a creamy quality to the tea, which was nice as I was anticipating having to add some milk.

Better than I expected for a tea bag.

Thanks MissB!
I had this a few days ago. Backlog.
SOoooooo peach?? Nu uh. I don’t get it.
Baked bread? Yes, that makes sense to me! A pleasant cuppa. On the mild side. I’d buy it, maybe

This was one of several individually wrapped tea bags that Sil thoughtfully included as bonuses in her “swap” package (she never told me what she would like in return!). I don’t usually gravitate toward black tea blends for whatever reason, so I’m glad others see fit to send me samples of them! This one is apparently a blend of Ceylon and Assam. Mine is a traditional paper tea bag, so obviously the leaves are extremely broken. Dry scent is mildly fruity.

This is actually quite good for such small leaf pieces! Fannings, really. It’s not bitter or astringent, which surprised me a lot. It does have a bit of that “generic” tannic quality to it, but it’s softened by some lovely soft stonefruit, specifically peach, notes. There’s also a tiny bit of breadiness to it. Overall, pretty good, especially for a tea bag.

Last tea of the night since it’s getting rather late.
This is nice on the front of the sip, but horribly bitter at the back. I can’t really even drink it. And the astringency is pretty awful. Maybe it’s an error on my part, but I didn’t do anything off the company’s suggestion except maybe brew a smidge cooler than recommended.
Bleh.
(1.5tsp)

Drinking this one at work this morning, and it’s a bit too finicky for work. Even slightly over steeped this gets astringent. With a fairly short steep – approx 2 minutes, there are lots of stone fruit (preach – apricot?) notes to it.
I think this would be ok for me at home when I had time to treat it right, not so good at work. Thanks Sil for passing on a sample of this to me.

Sil kindly sent a bit of this my way. This is a decent blend. Clean and nice. It has a bit of strength behind it but at 3 minutes it didn’t get too bitter. Thanks, Sil! :)

Sipdown 389
One of Sil’s contributions to the BBBBox, which is currently headed my way to thwart all of my sipdown efforts. I’m sipping this one while warming up for the first of 2 weddings that I’ll be playing at today. I’ve still got about a half an hour before I need to get dressed (have I ever mentioned that I mostly live in my pajamas?), but this will be my last cup of tea this morning, as I don’t want to be water-logged at a wedding! This is earthy, bold, & actually very bright, with a kind of oaky tannin quality to it.