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Saturday sipdown! I have too many samples of tea to drink. Decided to hit this one hard today, since it’s been grey all morning followed by a hard downpour. Without adding any maple syrup to it, it ends up tasting like a pretty normal black tea at this point.

My sister gave me about a half an ounce with a bunch of other teas for my birthday last fall, and I’m just now getting to this one. She bought it about a year ago, so I’m guessing it’s not as strong as it was then.

I was surprised by the golden color when the brew finished. I expected it to be darker. The chocolate flavor was not over-powering, and I only got a vague hint of cherry when I thought about it. This is a nice morning wake-up tea with enough sweetness that I added only a drop of cream to dull the tannins.

My sister got this in a mixed set (nice find at TJ Maxx over Christmas break) and gave me this one. The flavor is much more interesting and complex than I expected. I prefer more orange and clove in my warm holiday flavors, but this has enough of similar ideas to satisfy.

Finally digging into the samples my sister gave me for my birthday.

I steeped for about 3 minutes, after reading comments here that 4 seemed too long. I tasted the tea plain, and the maple was very subtle, but present. Otherwise, a nice black tea. Added some half&half and a dash of maple syrup from the bottle I had just purchased this morning.

Rich without being too sweet, spicy without being overwhelming. I like it.

I really like Teajo’s Black Manas (http://steepster.com/teas/teajo-teas/30729-black-manas), and my supply is getting very low, so I thought I’d see if my local tea shop had anything similar. I asked for a malty black, and of the three offered, this one smelled most like the Black Manas. I brewed a cup this morning, and I enjoyed it, but not as much. It will do for now, though. I mainly wanted a nice black for mornings when I don’t feel like having coffee.

Mom & Dad brought back a box of this for me when they went to Ireland last summer. I’ve been slowly sipping my way through it. This has become my morning coffee alternate when I don’t have time to brew a cup of pour-over coffee or my travel mug is dirty. It’s not too bitter, particularly when I add a little honey and milk. I don’t know if I’ll buy another box when this one is gone, but I am enjoying it for what it is.

Thanks again, Shmiracles!

The orange is very subtle. I added a bit of milk, and the tea blossomed into a chocolate milkshake. The color from the pu-erh adds to the aura of chocolate drink. Definitely a flavorful snack for when I’m craving sweets.

Another sample from Shmiracles.

This one smelled… funky, in an almost unpleasant way, when I opened the package. Once brewed, it tastes okay, but only vaguely like cookie dough. I added some honey and cream, and it’s closer to cookie dough, but I don’t know if I’d identify that if the label didn’t tell me it was supposed to be cookie dough.