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Sipdown

I’m not typically into mate. I had a non-tea friend mention that this was their favorite from Ohio Tea Co. Naturally, I got a little curious. I bought their 1oz bag at the shop, brewed it up, and was immediately hooked. Mate is normally mildly bitter and unfriendly to my tastebuds. The mango in this blend really mellows the tea out a tad and it is bearable. However, the game changer is when you brew it iced. I taste mango and peaches. I liked it iced to the point that I went back to Ohio Tea Co the following week and bought 4oz.

That was in the summer and had allowed the remaining 3 teaspoons-ish sit in the cabinet since that time. I honestly forgot about it. This was a rare situation where I wasn’t hoarding a tea because I didn’t want to finish it off (it’s local, so I could drive the 15 mins if I really needed more). I discovered it while gathering teas for the work week at the office. I needed a jolt of caffeine to power through the remainder of the training week, and today happened to be the day that I needed it the most. I love this tea. I sipped the rest cold brewed in my thermos and had comparable notes to previous sessions. I’ll definitely have to grab more when we head over to the shop next week (it’s a monthly journey where my wife stocks up on her tea…and I try new teas, too).

I’ve been on a bubble tea kick lately while at the office. It’s the one thing I have to motivate me to be there. I’m the only person alone in a 2500 sq ft space for the past month, so it’s all I have. Hopefully they’ll send me back to remote working next week. I’m starting to lose my cool. ;)

Anyway, back to the bubble tea. I’ve had several teas that were really really amazing. I noticed a new barista, so I asked my age old question, “What do you recommend?” They said to try the “Black Cream Bubble Tea,” so I went with it. I disliked it. A lot. It reminded me of Lipton tea with cream and very little sugar. The tapioca was the only thing keeping me from throwing the cup away, but that was barely.

So, it looks like I’ll just stick to my Brown Sugar Black with pudding balls or the Kiwi Strawberry.

I had two sessions with this tea today. The first, I grandpa styled this morning while attempting to get motivated to go out into the rain to the grocery store. It was mildly chilly, but not as much as it had been the past couple of days. The tea held up nicely while running errands. I’ve a soft spot for heavily roasted oolongs, so this was quite nice with getting the day started.

The second, I gongfu’d for a little while. I’ve been trying to read more often, so tea was much needed to get the reading going. I stacked the first three infusions on top of each other and sipped at my leisure. I allowed the tea to cool a few times, and it wasn’t harsh or unpleasant. If you are a fan of heavily roasted teas this would be a good one to try. There are subtle dark chocolate notes plus a touch of nuttiness.

Sipdown

I had to go back to my previous notes to see what I thought about it before. I apparently liked it at the time. I noted that it was buttery and had strong raisin notes. Maybe I did something with this last cup. I used 195F water, steeped 3 minutes, and sipped. I tasted raisins, but the tea was a bit bitter. I left the cup to cool down, while reading, but when I went back to the tea, it was extremely bitter.

I’ll pass giving it a rating on the account that I liked the first cup, but this last cup wasn’t for me. I haven’t had it too long, so I don’t think it went bad or anything.

Gifted

The aroma from the dry leaf is sweet rose petals and a slight tinge of cinnamon. I think about the champagne gummy bears that my wife and I get from our local Marshall’s when we’re feeling bourgeois.

The wet leaf has more of the black tea base jump out, less rose than the dry leaf, and a little more cinnamon. They should make this into a perfume.

On the flavor, I tasted heavy black tea base (smooth & mildly malt), definitely the rose, and an ever slight hint of marshmallow (the marshmallow when cream is added). I definitely find this tea to inspire a bit of poetry or perhaps a moment to write a postcard to a friend (yes, I write/collect postcards)! Quite a lovely session. :)

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A few months ago, a friend had been gifted two teas from Moychay, and unfortunately, was allergic to ginseng. They asked if I wanted to take the tea off their hands—I, of course said that I would. I’ll admit that I’ve not had ginseng often. Maybe twice in my life. I’m indifferent to the flavor, but I don’t go out of my way to grab it.

Gifted

I see the potential with this tea. Power punch of honey and floral notes. It’s a little too sweet for me, so I may use less leaf to water in the future. I don’t think I’d like this one iced, but I’m willing to try it. Maybe that’ll decrease the sugary sweetness of the tea.

I would grab it if I weren’t feeling well. I’m sure when those Spring allergies knock me down, this’ll be a good tea to sip. I tend to lean toward honey + tea during that seasonal change.

I was kind of distracted while sipping on my first cup of this during my morning follow-up with the Wheel of Time Season One on Amazon and I was left disappointed (with the show). Never watch your favorite books on the screen.

Anyway, I don’t remember grabbing this before heading out this afternoon (It was an antiquing day, so this must have been the tea on hand at the time), but there we have it. I brewed it 200F, 3 minutes, and tossed it into my tumbler. It took us 30 minutes to get where we were going, so I was able to give this one a proper slow sip. It was very refreshing and minty. We had temps in the low thirties, so it seemed fitting for the cup at hand. My wife commented several times about the mint aroma overwhelming the car in a good way. I definitely look forward to possibly making this a daily late morning cup until I finish the bag off and find the next good late morning tea.

Sipdown

Trident’s Darjeeling was recommended to me by a friend. They were drinking the 1st flush gongfu style when we were sipping together, which seemed odd to me at the time. I’m not 100% familiar with Darjeeling teas, but I’ve dabbled. I decided that I wanted to give their Darjeeling teas a try, so I bulk ordered all of them.

Out of the listings at the time (2020) of ordering, they had 3 or 4. I drank all of them down but the last of the Red Thunder. I’ve held onto the last 2ish teaspoons of this leaf. I decided to throw it into a teapot, tossed 195F water on top, let it steep for 4 minutes, and poured. I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood on this cold morning since I was actually motivated, and the warm cup of tea was an added bonus!

Alas, to the review….It’s quite beautiful. It’s malty and layered with floral notes on the front, and there remains a lingering grape note at the finish. I added a teaspoon of honey to get these flavors to pop out more. I was hopeful when checking out Trident’s black teas, but this is no longer listed; which I’m not surprised since I ordered it in 2020. It was a good run and it’s good to finally sipdown another tea.

Alright, I like it. It’s an odd combo of cranberry juice and sour hibiscus, but it’s quite lovely. I’d compare it to sour cranberry candy, hold the sweetness.

I brewed it up hot. Maybe not ideal, but it’s really working for me, in a very odd way. I’ll probably drink the remainder of my 50g bag (less now) iced. I typically don’t drink cold stuff in the winter (with the exception of cold filter water), but I can get behind it. My wife will probably go crazy that I’m making tea HER WAY. ;) She’ll definitely enjoy this, too. Maybe a lot.