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Additional notes: The flavor in this is sadly already fading… It’s certainly very spicy yet! It’s already four years old though?!!? Yikes. I’m very proud of myself for hardly buying any teas this year. The collection will never get this out of hand ever again. Fresh fresh fresh is key. But I do enjoy the older blends anyway. Next time this is a sipdown which will be sooner rather than later…
Merry Juneteenth!

From StarFevre a while ago!  Thanks so much.  This was actually on my wishlist long ago from one of my favorite tea shops I was only able to try a couple of teas from (LIKE CINNAMON SWIRL BREAD!!  I wish I had stocked up.)  I can tell you right now, I love any tea that leaves those little specks of vanilla on the rim of the mug.   This is a black tea with cranberries, jasmine, and… hibiscus.  At the top of the mug I’m definitely tasting vanilla.  But then the hibiscus takes over… I wish it wasn’t there, as usual… Just cranberries and vanilla would have been fine!  I’m not sure if this was ever at any point flavored with any other type of berry?  No other tasting notes for this tea, so I guess I’ll never know.  I like this now, would have loved it even more fresh. Sipdown next time!
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 19 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  5 minute steep
2020 Sipdowns: 45 (Bird & Blend – Mascarpone & Sour Cherry)

Additional notes: I once said long ago that this was one of my favorite herbals… which is a good thing since StarFevre happened to send me 100grams of the stuff! Thank you! It has aged now (it has the Tealux packaging, which is how I can tell) but two solid steeps are delicious… must have had the right proportions of ingredients. Many herbal blends have since surpassed this one… taken the crown this one never quite grabbed, but I’m very happy to have this blend in stock. Very citrusy!
2020 Sipdowns: 44 (52Teas – Anne’s Gone Bananas & a little (Coco)nuts too! + ONE pouch of 52Teas – Chocolate Marshmallow Spicier Chai)

Thanks for the samples, Octavia tea!  I’m trying to get to the last couple!  This is an oolong that I would guess without knowing the name is a very long leafed black tea, mainly because I’m not usually drinking this type of oolong, so it would be at the back of my mind.  But Octavia sent it along and I’m happy to try it!  The dry leaf has an aroma of very tangy peach and after a rinse, that is exactly what it tastes like.  Very tangy peach.  The second steep is much less peach and more of a roasty earthy mineral flavor with an aftertaste of peach.  The third steep is almost a combination of the tangy peach first steep and the roasty second steep.  The first steep was my favorite.  I’m glad I used two teaspoons.  If I had to compare this to another tea, it would be Teavivre’s Nonpareil Yunnan Dian Hong Ancient Wild Tree Black which is one of my favorite teas, so that is saying something for this tea, though this oolong might not be on the same level as the other.  But this is very good if you’re craving this kind of tea!
Steep #1  // 2 teaspoons for full mug // 19 minutes after boiling  // rinse // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // 15 minutes after boiling //  2 minute steep
Steep #3 // just boiled  // 2 min

This was calling to me lately!  I’ve had this a while from a grab bag sale, never wrote a tasting note for it, and now it’s gone.  I didn’t realize this had sunflower seeds and realized it was mostly sunflower seeds and honeybush remaining in the end of the pouch, rather than anything else in the blend, so I wanted to aim for a sipdown.  It ended up being about 2 1/2 teaspoons after I removed the stale sunflower seeds.  There is certainly a bright orange aroma, even without any orange wedges left.  The flavor is almost like bubblegum, but I think that is simply the combination of the flavors of orange, honeybush, maybe even the cardamom. A nice comforting flavor from the cardamom. There is still a hint of nuttiness from the sunflower seeds but it adds a unique layer here rather than ruining it.  A unique yet tasty combination of flavors here.  However, I don’t think I ever tasted pistachio… The honeybush brew looks almost like a black tea on the second steep.  I don’t think I’ve had many orange teas from Anne’s 52Teas?  But this is really good.  For a four year old tea, the flavors really held up more than I expected. It tasted like this when it was fresh. Possibly the 2 1/2 teaspoons is the ideal amount for this tea.  I’ll have to remember using this much leaf with teas I’m not initially thrilled with.
Steep #1  // 2 1/2 teaspoons for bigger full mug // 20 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  4-5 minute steep
2020 Sipdowns: 42

This was from a LONG AGO teabox.  The only English on the packaging says “Fuding White Tea” but the packaging is so lovely — I never wanted to cut the package open until now!  The packaging is  royal blue, with a teapot on the front and a clear cutout of a maple leaf on the back.  Anyone come across this particular tea/ know what the brand might be? The packaging is the size of a teabag, and in fact the tea itself is pressed into the size/shape of what a teabag might be. Very flat shape!  It takes some unraveling over the steeps.  The flavor is a typical white tea – with maybe a sweetness and actual leaf flavor reminiscent of that maple leaf on the back of the package.  Four solid steeps. Seemed to be a high quality white tea — the leaves were huge when they unraveled — I can’t imagine the leaves being squashed into teabag size.  I’m saving the packaging anyway…
2020 Sipdowns: 41

Thanks again for the swap, AJRimmer!  This was intriguing despite being from Tazo… but it’s less disappointing than I expected it would be.  I’ve never had what you might call a butterscotch blondie but this is certainly a sweet tea and tastes something like butterscotch or brown sugar with a different layer of flavor from the seemingly misplaced chicory root.  Why might that be in a dessert?  The other flavors fit though.  It’s sweet, it’s black tea.  The second steep was weaker in the tea itself but still some sweetness.   I also drank some of derk’s What-Cha Four Seasons oolong but I have no idea what is going on with me and oolongs lately… they just taste like OOLONG to me and I’m tasting no specifics… so I don’t want to write a note for that one yet…
Steep #1  // 1 teabag for full mug // 18 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // 4 minutes after boiling //  3 minute steep

From StarFevre a while ago! THANK YOU for that epic package. This won’t be an extravagant note, because the flavors here are mostly faded now (Frank’s blend). But there are hints of raspberry, no cream. I would have really loved this one fresh. Wasn’t one I tried when it was first released. Just wanted to write a note that I’m drinking it/ who sent it!

I have a list of teas that will be sipdowns NEXT time I drink them and right now that list numbers at 70.  So that counts for something, right?  I just have to stop hoarding last servings. The last one to review from my Silver Tips Tea order!  This tea has been holding up really well, now that it is almost a year old (I think the mango chai I bought at the same time has somehow lost much of its mango flavor – what the heck, so why not this one too?)  There is certainly a sweet fruity aroma from the pouch!  Huge chunks of mango, so I try to get at least one in the infuser each time.  It looks like there is at least two types of black tea in the blend – one of which is CTC.  The flavor is certainly fruity on both steeps.  I’m not sure if I could distinctly call it mango – but I don’t know what else I would guess the flavor is.  There is a mangoish starchiness to the second steep.  The black tea is brisk enough!  I like the fruitiness (whatever it happens to be) with the dark tea.  I’m just crossing my fingers the flavor doesn’t fade for a while. Great for summer and I don’t even have to try it iced — it would be great iced.
Steep #1  // 1 1/2 teaspoons for full mug // 20 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  4 minute steep

Additional notes: If you’re looking for a fruity Gunpowder, this is THE ONE. It is the ultimate fruity green tea. A great mix of fruits. I bought some more a couple months ago because I loved my sample so much. I’d say this batch looks like it has slightly less fruit pieces than my previous sample, but it’s still plenty fruit flavored. So so good for hot days. The second steep is also amazing. Probably a third would be too.

Edited to add: A third half cup steep was still plenty fruity+delicious. I probably could have done a full mug and it would have been fine and full. SUCH a good tea.