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I don’t generally like Darjeeling teas, but this one was actually rather pleasant. Enough so that I have water heating for a second steep, which never happens. I added milk and sugar because that’s what I do with black teas and it was pleasantly sweet with no bitterness or astringency and the muscatel notes weren’t overwhelming me like these teas usually do. I think I’ll actually keep this and drink the rest of it, rather than donating it to the free tea box at work. Kind of amazing actually, maybe I should rethink First Flush darjeelings.

Thus confirming that I don’t like aged tea. Sipsby Box for July 2018.

Well, that last tea ended with a bunch of curdled milk in my mouth so that wasn’t so pleasant. What better to recover than with the most boring standard of black tea. There is nothing special about this tea other than you can find it in most supermarkets and it holds up decently well to abuse. A palate cleanser.

Considering how much I loathe hibiscus, this was….surprisingly good. Still not quite something I’d reach for given a choice of other good teas, but not cringe-worthy. Admittedly I put a bunch of sugar in it and also some milk like the packet recommended (well cream), although it curdled immediately so that wasn’t so nice. Still, overall this is more berries than hibiscus by a tiny tiny margin. I’ll have no trouble drinking this cup.

This was the third tea of my July Sipsby Box. I’m a bit behind.

SIPDOWN

I don’t get many sipdowns, not readily anyway. This one I definitely worked for. I didn’t measure the matcha, just dumped the remainder in my sieve and into the mug, added a bit of sugar and hot water and waited for the sugar to melt before I frothed, then added a cup of hot skim milk. Delicious. Tasted really good, this last time too. I will miss it, but I have more matcha in my freezer still, ready to be brought in, should I decide to increase my work matcha collection to 5 again. Down to 4 now.

Not sure it was a terribly good idea to have caffeine today though. I increased my adderall dosage today (with doctor’s permission of course) and the last time I did that, I got the brain zaps for the first day. Haven’t so far today but I have a terrible headache that Aleve isn’t touching. Not to mention still recovering from gallbladder surgery a week and a half ago. Alas, back to work.

I liked this so much that I actually bought more of it, even though I need more tea like I need a hole in the head. I used a bunch more in my steeper this time and it’s soooooo chocolatey. Delicious.

Second Sips By July 2018 Tea.

This is a very interesting tea. I can’t decide if I like it or not. It ticks the savory aspects of rosemary and mint. The lavender is an interesting choice. It smells like my shampoo, to be honest, and that might be influencing how I feel about this tea.

The taste is rossemary and lavender with a touch of mint, and it overwhelms the black tea base. I tried it with and without milk but I still can’t decide if I like it or not, which probably means I don’t. Still, an interesting experiment.

First tea from my July 2018 Sips By Teabox.

Not too enthused with my box this month, 3 out of 4 teas are bagged, and one has a first ingredient of hibiscus but I thought I’d start out with the black teas since it just feels like a black tea kind of morning.

This is about what I would expect from a citrus black tea that isn’t bergamot. The lemon is pretty strong, though the lime is sort of overwhelmed by it. The tea base is pretty solid but nothing to write home about. The lemony taste lingers in the back of my throat in a pleasant way after every sip. I’ll enjoy this tea, but I don’t think I’ll be purchasing it.

A mug of this this afternoon just hits the spot. The mulberry is more subdued this time, I think because I only got a single mulberry in the dry leaf so the taste is mostly genmaicha with a tiny subtle hint of berry sweetness, mostly mid-sip. And I won’t notice if the green tea gives me a headache today because I already have a headache but I can’t take any painkillers that work because I have surgery scheduled for 2 weeks from Wednesday. Boo. Good tea though.

Not sure what I keep doing to my matcha this week. I thought I prepared it the way I always do but it was a little bitter today compared to normal. Perhaps I should use less matcha, though I thought I usually use half a teaspoon. Otherwise good.