A Quarter to Tea

When I was a kid, we had a small fig tree that would produce one fig a year. The six of us would split that one fig, and it was always so wonderful. I haven’t found a store that carries fresh figs, and I don’t like dried ones, so anyway, maybe fig tea will do the trick? Actually, this one tastes entirely like roses. I thought it was fun that the blend had oats in it, but all I can taste is rose. Since I’m not a big fan of floral teas, sadly this is not a winner for me. Still, thanks to amandastory516 for the sample! Can’t rate it too highly because it doesn’t taste how it’s supposed to at all.

Thanks so much to amandastory516 for the swap! This was the first one I tried because I love horchata, and I would love to find a tea that accomplishes that flavor. Surprisingly, the main flavors I get here are a light pineapple/coconut along with some nice toastiness. I can say that it mildly evokes horchata, but really, it’s delicious regardless. It’s so light and tasty. The resteep tasted like plain genmaicha. I’m glad I have enough for more cups!

Tomorrow is my birthday, and some of you probably know that I have a birthday tradition where I drink a cup of every tea in my stash with “cake” in the name – this year that’s seventeen teas so I decided to break tradition and split the teas up over two days. Part of that decision was the fact that last year I organized a tasting of all the teas w/ my coworkers in the lab and I wanted to do the same this year as well but we have a meeting tomorrow that will run through the lunch hour so today was the best alternative…

I did organize the tasting, though I wont do a write up specifically for it, but if you want to see a bit more about it I have an instagram post capturing some photos from it:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9pToqTgns0/

I’m still committed to doing full cups of each of the seventeen teas though, and I started with this one first thing when I got into work.

It’s not too bad, more on the roasted side of flavour notes – both in terms of the coffee notes but also a more roasted houjicha and nutty profile as well. A little bit bakey, additionally, with a finish that almost borders on metallic. I smell cheesecake a lot from the dry leaves but it doesn’t translate in the taste. This would probably be more accurate to its namesake with milk, but it’s still fine.

Drank this one over lunch.

It’s not bad at all but definitely not my cup of tea, if you’ll pardon the pun. Same cheesecake note as what’s used in On Wisconsin – or at least it tastes like it. Just maybe a bit toned down? It’s nice, definitely works well with the coffee and cream notes. I thought the coffee was actually much more subdued than expected, but very clearly present. That’s the main reason I didn’t love it – I just don’t do coffee flavours that well. I really liked how roasted it tasted though, and the oolong base here is very roasted and mineral tasting (also really present in the cup) and that goes together BRILLIANTLY with the roasted coffee notes, so compositionally I think it all goes together really well.

Maybe I’ll finish this off as a latte?

Drank this one in a travel mug on my commute home/grocery shopping.

I vaguely recall describing it, the last time I had it, as tasting basically just like a sweet cinnamon blend with no real tomato/pastry notes at all and, once again, that’s exactly how I felt about this brew. However, I think I liked it better this time because I was expecting it to be more of that intense “red hot” cassia/cinnamon flavor.

Tomato is the cool/interesting part of this blend – but it doesn’t taste anything at all like tomato. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not!? I’ve had a few tomato teas, and a little bit of the taste is nice but a lot of it is just weird. So what does this tea taste like? Cinnamon.

A lot of cinnamon.

It’s the same very distinct and intense cinnamon that I’ve observed in a lot of AQ2T blends – somewhere between the woody/bark-y type of cinnamon and the heavily sweet “red hot” sort of cinnamon taste. The blend that immediately comes to mind from AQ2T with this type of cinnamon is Gingerbread Latte (which I did like), but I know I’ve experienced it in several of her blends. I actually like the cinnamon taste she uses a lot but I just find it so ridiculously overpowering that in the blends that use it most anything else flavor wise just gets swallowed up…

Had this one right when I got in to the office today, and it was pretty nice in the moment but the type of profile that will certainly be a bit more forgettable long term. Hints of soft stonefruit a top a more peppery black base, but nothing intense/rich to the flavour or dynamic in the juxtaposition. Nothing off either, for what it’s worth. Just more of a smooth, easy to sip on tea that kind of “fills space”…

Sort of an interesting tea – I was intrigued by the idea of the combination of apricot and black pepper and I wanted to see how that came out in the flavour. Initially I was a bit disappointed by the tea – it was pretty heavy/dense and full bodied and very black tea forward, but the black tea was quite flat/dull and the apricot is incredibly subtle with more of a dried apricot kind of taste. However, this is a tea that builds over time and as the tea cools I was getting a bit more of a cooked down dense but slightly sweet apricot note and the finish is more peppery/tickley. I’d have to revisit it to see if I have a consistent experience, but this was much better by the end of the cup than it was when I started it!

Got a sample size of this with a previous order which was at least a year ago now. As I was steeping this I wondered… what makes a breakfast tea regional? I’ve had French, English and Irish breakfast teas. They are all malty, heavy, go well with added cream, but what differentiates a French from an English one? Is there a different base used in each? I’m going to have to consult the googles and see what info I can find.

This tea follows the breakfast tea profile; malty, heavy, goes well with cream. There is a sweetness to it. The finish is almost a barley like flavor. It’s good and mildly interesting, but probably not something I’d put on my shopping list.

Bumping my rating for this one up a bit. The buttermilk/bready flavor that I’m getting is a bit strange, but there’s something about it I’m really enjoying. I have enough for one more cup, and I’m sad for it to be gone.

Apparently I had tasted this before, but I have no memory of that. There is a bit of a brandy note, as well as a slightly synthetic chocolate flavor. It’s slightly creamy, but not nearly enough for me to consider it reminiscent of cheesecake.

Cold Brew Sipdown (1076)!

I’m sad to see this tea go because it was super refreshing and had one of the nicest fresh lime flavours I’ve seen in a tea in a long time. The body of the black tea but the refreshing elements of the bamboo were such a genius combination and it’s the coordination of ingredients mixed with the perfectly executed flavour concept that really reminds me why it was so easy to fall in love with AQ2T…

That said, I’m proud of myself for continuing to focus on my sipdown goals for the month!!

Iced!!

The dry leaf for this tea smells so heavily of sweet, bright lime zest but after this was steeped up the rooibos actually was the thing that I was noticing the most in the flavour. Still sweet, but more of a honeyed wood with some minerality. Aside from that strong flavour, I also got refreshing and crisp vegetal bamboo and then a quenching lime. Not nearly as sharp as the leaf aroma; but still good.

Currently sipping on this, and working on my tasting note queue, while watching the BBCan live feeds – it feels nice to be getting back into BBCAN again after two years of not watching it, and having the live feeds on in the background is a really good backdrop for writing…

I like this blend a lot, and I hope I manage to not sip it down before the summer because I’m practically drooling picturing it as a summer cold brew or iced tea. As it stands, this is sweet and refreshing with a really juicy bright lime note that punches through hints of malt and wood from the black and rooibos bases!

Mmm!

Had this one a few weeks ago but forgot to write anything for it…

It’s got that familiar and very bright and high lime note that I recognize from other AQ2T blends – I’m guessing it’s just the same flavouring shared between the blends. I actually enjoy it a lot though, I find it really fresh and I like the level of sweetness balanced with a slight puckering quality. It works really well for a Margarita inspired blend, and the concentration is excellent. I think pairing it with bamboo is smart – not only does the bamboo add a nice visual to the dry leaf, but it’s also really refreshing and hydrating and that’s exactly the feeling you get when you drink a really good, well mixed margarita. The rooibos works for a similar reason – it’s just very hydrating/thirst quenching. I actually don’t taste the rooibos/black tea all that much though – I think they’re probably just adding some overall body? If this was just bamboo and lime flavouring the cup would feel very thin.

Overall? Big fan!

Sipdown (228)

As I was pulling out 2018 teas to go into my focus box, I noticed this just had one teaspoon so might as well finish it off. It’s about time apparently because while this smelled delicious and flavorful, it’s mostly just floral from the oolong. Green/grassy and floral with a touch of savory.

Is it weird to say that this tea tasted like some kind of citrusy/lime peel and vanilla fondant mix to me!? It also reminded me of another AQ2T blend that I think I’ve had relatively recently but I just couldn’t put my finger on it while I was finishing the cup. It’s hard to fully enjoy a tea when you have that weird, nagging Deja Vu feeling…

To be revisited.

Latte Sipdown (707)!

Welp – I was under 700 teas but then I got two tea packages yesterday so now I’m over again. So, time to get some sipdowns in! Starting with this one, which I got in that sample haul from AQ2T when they announced their hiatus – it’s a heavier blend because of the popped rice and nut pieces in it, so I had just enough leaf to make it into a latte and polish it off. Going all in, y’know?

It was pretty damn nice – not the most robust and flavourful tea ever but lots of subtle notes that came through in the taste to create something a little more nuanced and sophisticated feeling (but still delicious)! The soft roasted note of the popped rice was the most noticeable taste, and then hints of cashew/nuttiness and oats – with just a hint of salinity in the finish. So, all the major titular flavour notes were there to convey the overall concept of the tea – just in a mild way.

Still loved this though – and don’t regret using all the leaf in one latte!

Sipdown (227…I think)

Thank you Kittenna for the share. While this had potential for me, there was something about it that was off that I just can’t put my finger on. Probably for the best since I can’t get more of this.

I drank this but barely have any recollection of it. Nothing wrong with it, but definitely not memorable, or at least the cup of it I had wasn’t! Will of course try it again while paying more attention.

Well, it’s certainly limey. But it’s bordering a tad on cleaner-like, and I’m not tasting much else. I probably just want it to be creamy lime, which margaritas aren’t. It’s fine; not a favourite.

Cold Brew!

Finally cleared out enough fridge space to start cold brewing again, so I set this one up yesterday night so I’d have something to drink during the commute today. Easter is probably going to be a pretty sad holiday this year, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still enjoy some Easter teas this month!

This was really delicious, and exactly what I needed! Very light/delicate and super creamy, it was like drinking a liquefied lemon and coconut marshmallow peep! Without the crazy sugar overload you would get from a regular peep, of course. Sweet and creamy is basically the ultimate in comfort profiles right now, so it was really relaxing.

A bright moment of sunshine on a grey day!