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NOPE. Nopity nope. This one is just far too brisk for me. There is a hint of maybe stone fruit or honey underneath the metallic astringency that’s nice but it’s all so much copper and bleh. I have about a 16 oz serving of this but I really don’t want it again so it’s going into the swap box for someone who enjoys more brisk black tea profiles.

This reminds me of Peppermint Marshmallow Melting in Hot Chocolate…but its not as good. Now, in fairness, I rated Peppermint Marshmallow at 100 because I love it that much so that’s a tough sell to be better than. With that said, this is still a nice tea.

I think both the candy cane and chocolate come through strongly. They smell of chocolate hits you as the cup reaches your mouth. The sip starts off minty – candy cane mint, of course – and then sort of settles into a mint chocolate vibe. It is more truffle than chocolate bar and not as sweet as I expected/hoped this would be. That could be again because I was thinking Peppermint Marshmallow where the marshmallow adds sweetness.

Ultimately, it delivers on what the name promises. Am I in love? No. Will I have trouble finishing this? Also no. I just think if a tea were to be reblended in the future, Peppermint Marshmallow over this.

Next time, I think I will try this as a latte…

This tea has a more medium body but is so smooth. Smooth, malty, and with honey. It’s not particularly special but I like it since it seems like an easy drinking tea. Plus, it oversteeped and no bitterness so that’s a plus.

Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing this with me. It was randomly selected for today’s #septembersipdown and I’m honestly so grateful it was a flavoured puerh and not a straight one. Gotta ease my way in.

This actually isn’t bad as far as puerh teas go. That’s due in large part to the mint which covers up the muddy/mushroom/umami qualities of puerh that I don’t really like. I don’t get much in the way of lime or rum if I’m being honest. Mostly this is a mint tea that coats your mouth like puerhs do with that thick/dense mouthfeel.

So, as far as puerhs go, this is great. As far as teas go, this is meh. I’d probably just have a mint tea on a different base instead of this. As such, I won’t be seeking it out again but I’m also not looking to toss the rest of the sample. So thanks again Roswell Strange for finding me a tolerable puerh :)

I made this tea this afternoon as a tea lemonade and intended to take it to my room and drink it while I listened to my income tax law lecture for this week. Then a lot of stuff happened around the house in preparation of something for my nephew that is happening tomorrow and I didn’t get a chance to drink it…or listen to my lecture.

So, it’s now 10:15 at night and I am finally drinking it. Still have not listened to my lecture, which is bad since I need to listen to it for tomorrow afternoon. Instead, I am listening to Roswell Strange’s podcast, Geek Steep, which is far more interesting! I am really enjoying it and definitely recommend it for all! I might be biased but it’s a lot of fun!

This tea is so awesome as a tea lemonade. Just juicy mango and great lemonade flavor…from the lemonade.

Sipdown (274)

My hope for this was the mint would hide the petrichor quality of the mate. It didn’t. Instead the two flavors came together and made this super medicinal and just not for me. With that said, it did give me a touch of energy so yay for that! And thank you Roswell Strange for sharing this with me but alas mate and I are still not friends.

Thank you Roswell Strange for sharing this one with me! I’d been starting to think I was a fan of rose teas again but this was not very good. It was bitter and tasted like potpourri. I have a little of the sample left and my hope is that it was my steeping (the recommended parameters) that messed it up. We shall see.

Sipdown (275)

I don’t love this one. I think it’s something with the mint aspect. I expected it to be more crisp but it was a bit of a muddled mess. I had high hopes for this one but it fell short. It was fine but not a favorite.