1945 Tasting Notes
Sipdown no. 8 of September 2019 (no. 99 of 2019 total, no. 587 grand total). A sample.
The last of my backlogged sipdowns from September. Alas, I missed the mark again, but only by two this month. Now that it is getting cooler, we’ll see what happens.
It really is quite nice for a flavored earl grey, but it isn’t my favorite creme version. Hence the rating. I can’t really improve on the original note except to say that while it remains a solid earl grey creme, I have had others since the original note that I liked better.
Sipdown no. 7 of September 2019 (no. 98 of 2019 total, no. 586 grand total).
I made the last of this cold, and it is surprisingly pleasant that way. I worried that the rose would be soapy, but it wasn’t.
My impressions of it hot can’t be improved upon in the original note. Though I do think it grew on me a bit over time.
Sipdown no. 6 of September 2019 (no. 97 of 2019 total, no. 585 grand total).
As a cold tea it was a little more tart than I was hoping. I did enjoy the last couple of spoons hot. See original note for hot experience description.
I have to say that a lot of these David’s fruit blends seem similar to me. I think that’s because I drink them infrequently and not back to back, so I’m just remembering generalities from past tastings while I’m drinking.
Sipdown no. 4 of September 2019 (no. 95 of 2019 total, no. 583 grand total). A sample.
Wow, this was one of the very first loose leaf tea samples I acquired about 10 years ago! I am not sure how I never got around to drinking it all before, particularly since the tin is so small. My only explanation is that I likely hoarded it because I thought it was good.
Believe it or not, it was still good. I took it to work a couple of days last week, brewed Western, and that was enough to polish it off. It was toastier than my initial description seems to indicate, but nutty was still an apt adjective.
Feels nice to clear the decks, even though I’m nostalgic about this one.
Sipdown no. 2 of September 2019 (no. 93 of 2019 total, no. 581 grand total).
Made the last of this as a cold brew. Because I didn’t have enough to make a full pitcher, I eyeballed the water measurements for a half pitcher.
It’s unclear to me whether my impression of this as weak, not sweet Kool Aid was because I got the measurement wrong or not, but it wasn’t a great cold brew. No. 2 initially said he liked it, but later tried to put sugar in it, and when that resulted in something disgusting gave up.
I’m bumping the rating on this one down. It’s not bad, just not anything special compared to the myriad other fruit blends I’ve had.
Sipdown no. 1 of September 2019 (no. 92 of 2019 total, no. 580 grand total).
I seem to have a fair number of fruit blends and herbals at the lower end of my rating scale still in the cupboard, so I’m taking steps to clear some of those. I made this one into a cold brew for the last bit.
It’s nice cold. Both kids quite liked it. No. 1 said it tasted “like Indian food” — I am not getting that, though I think the juxtaposition of the mint with the tartness of the gooseberries may explain it.
Every time I drink a non-tea tea, I think pretty critically about whether I should boost or drop the rating. This one seems to have the rating right. I wanted to rate it higher because I love the idea of gooseberries (and I don’t think I’ve had another with that as an ingredient) but the overall flavor, while pleasing, isn’t enough to invite a boost.
Sipdown no. 5 of August 2019 (no. 91 of 2019 total, no. 579 grand total).
Given my poor sipdown showing last month, I’m trying to squeeze in a few on this very last day of August to get myself back to a respectable level. I’ve already bettered my July total with this one, but that isn’t saying a ton. I just don’t have it in me to sipdown 5 more teas in one day, so I’m calling this month a miss as well.
I remember liking this a lot more when I drank it way back when, but maybe it just hasn’t aged well. It was good cold — No. 1 really loved this one and drank it by the pitcher full. If I was looking for a Constant Comment-like tea but with a French twist, I’d buy it again.
