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From TheLastDodo a while ago, thank you!  I never wrote a note for it yet and it’s almost gone.  Also no other tasting notes for this one, sadly. This is one of the teas from the wholesale seller of Della Terra, but not sure if Della Terra ever carried this one.  There are actual rice krispie cereal pieces here, which is fun.  The black tea is extremely light when brewed up (as Della Terra’s teas usually were) but also the age might be contributing to the lightness at this point.  Also, my latest patient steeping probably helps.  The flavor to me is MAPLE.  Very sweet and surprisingly flavorful after all this time.  However, I wish it had been more marshmallow treat than maple.
Steep #1  // 1 heaping teaspoon for full mug // 23 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  3 minute steep

Thank you for getting Steepster up and running again, new team!  I knew that with patience, Steepster would be okay again eventually.  So I will get back to posting some tasting notes that I had written before The Freeze.
Thank you, AJRimmer!  I really wanted to try this – I love fruity, spicy black teas.  This seems a bit muted in the spice and fruit departments, even while using a teaspoon and a half.  There were at least two huge pieces of fruit in the infuser.  Spice, mango and pineapple should be such a great combination for me. Maybe mango never really steeps full of flavor in any tea, especially if it’s only natural mango that 52Teas uses — the mango is too weak here. For Daenerys, I expect a punch of fierce flavor (what do I know – I only read the first book…)  This isn’t what I was expecting, but this also isn’t a brand new tea. 
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 28 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  4 minute steep

One tasting note for now!
A sample from Tiesta Tea!  Thank you!   A lovely, bright summer herbal.  Though the dreaded hibiscus is here, it is a tame beast, not obnoxious in this golden hued mug.  I really couldn’t even guess the hibiscus is here.  So now that that’s out of the way, I can say this is an acceptable herbal!  This isn’t overtly sour citrus as the name suggests, mainly a nice balance of fruits.  Fruity and refreshing, especially on hot summer nights.
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 19 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  3 minute steep
2020 Sipdowns: 66 (Teavivre – Mango Time + 1 sample of Teavivre – Lychee Black)

Testing testing… a backup tasting note to post from the last freeze… no new tasting notes for a while. I’m sure all the Steepsterers are congregating in some tasting note I’m not seeing….

From a long ago order, just never wrote a note yet.  First, for some reason I expect this to be like the rocket popsicles, but no, those aren’t chocolate.  Then I always expect this to taste like raspberry, but then I realized I’m thinking of the David’s tea that has a similar name — I think I only had that blend once or twice, so my memory is a bit hazy there.  This blend isn’t raspberry… it’s mainly black tea, chocolate, yerba mate, and coffee.  The yerba mate is the green rather than the roasted, which seems a bit odd with chocolate and coffee.  It works well enough anyway, but it’s not really a flavor profile I’m ever gravitating towards.  Earthy, rustic, a bit bitter, even with only a teaspoon.  At least it doesn’t have the chicory the David’s blend had.  Maybe the caffeine is supposed to skyrocket me into space or something. 
Steep #1  // 1 teaspoon for full mug // 23 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  3 minute steep

Another from StarFevre!  I’m on a roll with StarFevre’s teas. THANK YOU.  I recently saw a stellar note for 52teas normal version of this, didn’t think I had any, but StarFevre had sent me some of the SBT’s blend. Of course, it probably isn’t as good as the normal blend, but opening the pouch, I was thrilled!  It definitely had the scent of lime marshmallows. YES.  I brewed a teaspoon hot and the flavor was there.  It reminded me a bit of Butiki’s Lime Marshmallow.  Glad I’m able to try this! 
Steep #1  // 1 teaspoons for full mug // 35 minutes after boiling  // 45 second steep
Steep #2  // 30 minutes after boiling //  2 minute steep

Thanks so much CameronB!  I always wanted to try this one when I first saw that gorgeous artwork and photo and description for the tea.  Sadly, I think I like the artwork and name better than the tea.  It’s a perfectly acceptable black tea, but I really expect something special to go with said name and artwork.  It’s a dark cup anyway, which seems only fitting with the name ‘Black Sunshine’.  The dry leaf has a slightly smoky aroma and the flavor is like a high quality assam.  Bright, brisk, strong, maybe a hint of berry on the backsip.  But I really expected special here…   
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 22 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  3-4 minute steep

During the great Steepster freeze, I hit over 500 followers, so a gracious thank you is in order to any and all who are willing to follow along with my tea journey.  I appreciate all of you here on Steepster!
Additional notes: Sipdown!  Not thrilled about it though, as I love it.  The ginger was surprisingly delicious to a person who isn’t usually happy to have ginger floating around in a mug.  But the pluot flavor held strong, over the age of the blend but also over four huge mugs of the last session.  It paired perfectly with this type of unique oolong, which even brewed up the color of the inside of a plum.  Two teaspoons worked best for me with this one (using a big mug.)  How awesome would it be if Anne would do a summer box like the 12 days of Christmas box?  I know the planning for the holiday box starts around summer though, so I doubt that is doable… I’m looking forward to the poll though (did I miss it?)!  There are always so many summery blends I want to revisit…I could easily think of a box of 12.
2020 Sipdowns: 64 (sample of David’s strawberry rhubarb parfait + Bird & Blend’s Tea & Toast)

Additional notes: checking if steepster posts this, as it has now been two hours without a new post. I’m catching up on tasting notes from ten days ago! And I hope Steepster isn’t giving Adagio TOO much trouble. I have other tasting notes to post, but I will let others catch up first. :D
Just a quick note to say that this one is much better if I pick out the hibiscus before steeping this. It lets some of the other flavors peek out. I really only needed to pick out five pieces of hibiscus anyway, but that makes such a difference. Not sure if I should raise the rating if I need to pick out hibiscus.

Additional notes: So I finally tried mixing this with some ripe pu-erh!  Teavivre’s loose ripe pu-erh.  A teaspoon of each.  What I SHOULD have done was only add some of the pu-erh,  rinse it, then add a teaspoon of the Alphonso to properly get the pu-erh started before steeping the Alphonso at all.  I’m hardly tasting the pu-erh on the first cup.  And I didn’t want to steep this a long time so that the mango flavor had already disappeared on the first cup.  But the mango flavor is still as lovely as can be, as if I were drinking it without the pu-erh.  The pu-erh adds a nice depth while not overpowering, and this basically worked like I wanted it to.  Even the third steep has some lingering mango while the puerh becomes more prominent.  I swear I had a very starchy mango tea but I’m not sure which one it was now… maybe I’m just thinking of actual mango. But I’m REALLY glad I tried this combination.  Should have went for a fourth steep.
Steep #1  // 1 teaspoon of this + 1 teaspoon Teavivre’s loose ripe puerh for full mug // 20 minutes after boiling  // 1 1/2 minute steep
Steep #2  // 10 minutes after boiling //  2 1/2 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled // 7 min

Additional notes:  This is my ultimate of hoarded teas.  I do believe it was one of the two teas I ever gave a rating of 100. I thought I only had one serving remaining, BUT NO… there is another steep session left.  Of course there was so much nuance in this when fresh, the most nuance of any tea, so maybe this is the tea that was just ME if I needed only one tea that really was for me, or spoke to me, or whatever.  The nuance might be gone now (of course) but it is still surprisingly AMAZING in flavor. Better than I expected. Brisk enough, but bright, dark, fruity, chocolatey enough but thirst quenching.  I really wish I could find a replacement for this.