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Is it weird to have a favorite SIZE of tea leaf?  When you see it in the tea scoop and you just know it is going to be tasty with the best resulting flavor…  This one is not a large leaf, it’s not a CTC sized leaf.  It’s tiny but not too tiny and a little golden.  And I see it and I know it will be a flavorful cup for this rainy day.  It’s delicious!  Peppery like a yunnan, definitely dark and deep enough for a black tea that I want to steep up again and again.  Then the second steep has a fragrance of syrup, like I added some to the mug or something (I did not).  And I will say it might have a hint of smoke.  This is a good one from S&V.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – August 2025 Tea #4 - A spicy tea

It was sipdown prompt crunch time, here today on our last day of August, though this was not an actual sipdown.  I also finished my older batch of Simpson & Vail’s Vanilla rooibos.  Sad, because I bet the new batch is slightly different.  THIS tea is great.  Just spicy enough, just sweet enough.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – August 2025 Tea #3 - A green oolong

Finished one of my samples of this today.  STILL probably my favorite oolong… and I really don’t expect the flavor to be this amazing from a six year old tea, but it astounds me every time I steep it up.  I really need to get some fresh at some point… it’s just floral perfection, this one.
2025 Sipdown total: 50
2025 unique tea sipdowns: 39  

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – August 2025 Tea #2 -A berry tea

I am utterly slackin on sipdowns this month. argh.  This one has berry in the name!  The last of this was extremely more hibiscus and earthy and tart than berries or chocolate.  ho hum.  It’s surprising I gave this a rating of 84, but it’s older now, and I probably overleafed the mug to finish off the awkward amount that was remaining, meaning hibiscus strong. So, it probably isn’t the teas fault! Also, it’s good to have the dashboard back!
2025 Sipdown total: 48
2025 unique tea sipdowns: 39  

additional notes: Accidentally oversteeped this one but it is QUITE delicious anyway. Super minty, with a creaminess that just matches a candy cane, so the name for this is definitely accurate. I would think the green tea would take over on an oversteep, but it isn’t really noticeable under the mint. Thanks to all of you that have kept trying to alert the Steepster team of the problems on the site lately. sigh. It has been A WHILE now.

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – August 2025 Tea #1 - A tea with hibiscus or rooibos in it

This has hibiscus AND rooibos AND it’s an actual sipdown.  It was always decent enough, especially with hibiscus and rooibos. :)
2025 Sipdown total: 46
2025 unique tea sipdowns: 38

I bought this a few months ago.  Had to stock up on some marshmallow root teas. :)  This isn’t WOWing me as I thought it would, as I have dearly loved almost all other banana teas from 52Teas.  I do love that this seems more like green underripe banana in the flavor, as that is when I tolerate bananas best.  Though that is probably just the green tea making me feel like this is a more underripe banana.   The green tea though…. it is very finely chopped… or very crushed or both. And I can’t really tell if there is matcha in this or if it is just the very tiny green tea “leaves”. hmm.  No green tea from 52Teas has been like this before.   And it has happened every time I steep this up, so it isn’t a matter of not mixing the bag.  I think it is the very small green tea leaf that is making this seem like there is hardly any banana or marshmallow flavor here… at least much less flavoring than in usual 52Teas blends.  And I made SURE to get a piece of banana in the infuser.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 34 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 36 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep

edited to add: I looked at the Steepster description and it looks like this blend IS made with matcha genmaicha.

So why not steep this one up the next day, after questioning if I have had it in the past…. This was also from my S&V order a few months ago. This is black tea from Columbia with cacao and also what looks like cacao shells in it. Even from the fragrance of the leaf, I’m very surprised there isn’t flavoring here, as it is super chocolate scented. Much more than the occasional cacao piece would hint at. The flavor is great on both steeps. Very chocolate/ cocoa/ whatever you want to call it. Dark chocolate. I COULD wish for a deeper black tea base for the chocolate, but it could also be worse. It’s a mid-depth black tea. A little astringent on the second steep, just like the Colombian tea yesterday. But I can live with this base. But this cup also doesn’t have the candy strawberry flavor that the Colombian tea yesterday had, so I doubt it is the same base. I wonder if cacao/cocoa shells could make me love most tea bases if they are just average? It’s why I’m still sad that S&V stopped offering their cocoa shells….
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

I loved the Columbian teas I have had from other sources. I could have sworn I had Bitaco’s Cacao Kisses tea before, but it looks like any existing note I may have had has disappeared. Very weird. Maybe it was the Andean I’m remembering. ANYWAY… this has quite the sweet candy fruit fragrance coming from the mug! The flavor is the same. Candy fruit strawberry, most similar to a Premium Taiwanese Assam. But I wish there was more depth to these leaves. Well, it’s also malty. The second steep went for a tame three minutes but still seemed a bit harsh and astringent. This is an alright leaf, I suppose, but I would rather just go full PTA when I’m craving that sort of thing.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – July 2025 Tea #6 -  A floral tea

Why yes, I AM trying to cram some final prompts and sipdowns into the last day of July.  Wow, this year is flying.  This one is a true sipdown and one I will miss.  Luckily I have a little more from Angry Tea Room remaining, which is telling me this is an Adagio blend.  So I have a little more before I feel the need to restock, which I most certainly will at some point. :) It’s a nice balance of the intended flavors.
2025 Sipdown total: 45
2025 unique tea sipdowns: 37