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I’ve been trying to cut down on my sugar consumption lately. I’m done having babies so it’s time to attempt to reclaim my body… hasn’t been nearly as easy to bounce back as it was pre-babies. So… I’ve given up one of my favorite things. Honey. Not for good, but until I feel more like myself again. Cue search for alternative sweeteners…

I like honey because it’s a whole food. No processing (I use raw unpasturized). Even Agave nectar is processed. Stevia is a chemical and tastes awful. So I was at New Season’s and asked the nutritionist for some help. She steered me to Yacon syrup. It’s a whole food and in 2 TBSP there is only 40 calories and I only ever use 1 tsp max of any sweetener. I tried it last night with some black tea. It tastes pretty decent, but can definitely overshadow the tea. Kind of a cross between molasses and maple syrup, but with a kind of nutty flavor to it.

So last night I was thinking of teas that yacon would mix well with and I thought my flavored matchas would go well and I was right! The cheesecake matcha mixed with the yacon syrup is so friggin good. Kind of nutty cheesecake flavor. 1 tsp yacon, 2 tsp matcha, 12ounces of water. YUMMMY. So creamy without any need for milk, which I normally add to matcha. This will definitely be turning into an afternoon ritual! I’m anxious to try it with the caramel or the creme brûlée or the caramel popcorn!!!! So fun!

p.s. I know Dr. Oz did some kind of special on Yacon. I’m not into all that stuff, simply like it for it’s sweetening effect. All of the miracle pill/syrup/diet stuff drives me crazy.

Another tea from my J-Tea order. Very impressed with his teas. I’m super sick right now, but wanted pu’er and since I have plenty of this, I’m not too worried if I can’t taste it in all it’s glory.

This tea is delicious. That’s all I can say for now. Super glad I added it to my order. This will be the first tea I have when my taste buds are functional again cause if it tastes this good when I can barely taste it, I anticipate some mind blowing when I can actually taste it!

Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha (Verdant) + Special Dark (Mandala)

I wanted puer blend this AM, but all my blends are cinnamon ones and that didn’t sound like what I wanted. So I looked through my cupboard and saw the most obvious of pairings in the whole wide world.

So dark and rich and chocolaty with some earthiness to balance it out. I didn’t get the proportions quite right, but I don’t think I could really go wrong either. If you have both and want a rich treat, this is for you!

I’ve been looking for something interesting to include in the BBB and landed on J-Tea based in Eugene, OR. The owner, Josh, has an interesting selection of teas and I’m excited to try them all! I ordered 4 for now and this was one of them. As I’m a born and raised oregonian, I had to give this a try! Oh, and I placed the order late wednesday day night and got it first thing this morning. Granted, I’m only 1.5 hours away, but he packed it up right away and the USPS was at it’s finest!

On to the tea…The leaves are not pretty. More like leaves you that you’d sweep up. Some are large, some are small, broken and whole, all different shades. I was intrigued. I brewed up a cup in my test tube steeper so I could see the leaves. They floated. All of them. Right up at the top the whole time. I waited for some to drop and it never happened. When I poured it into a cup all I could smell was honey. Super sweet and fruity honey. Very nice. Not bitter at all and full of flavor. Overall a really nice afternoon cup when you need a sweet treat.

Terri and Sil this is coming your way! And a couple more from J-Tea in the next round.

Grabbed this one at random from my steepster box and kind of groaned. I don’t love oolongs, but it’s what I grabbed so I made it exactly per the instructions on the bag.

The first thought upon sipping it, “holy crap, this is tasty!” It tasted like a burnt hazelnut caramel. Seriously delicious. I’ve had other red robes and they are just roasty, like hojicha. This one has some seriously yummy flavor to back up the roast. Would definitely order this if I could. Can I?

Had this again tonight. Added a scoop of cacao shells into the steeping basket. Yum. This is definitely my favorite herbal, but there’s a flavor I can’t place that’s driving me nuts. I guess I’ll have to make some more!

Very slow getting around to my steepster select box when I’m backed up on my BBB box and my million tea swap with yyz, but I decided that I need to start drinking these as another box from steepster is on the way. So I reached in the bin and grabbed one to try it out. This was winner!

I’m not really an oolong kinda gal. The roasted ones just taste like hojicha to me. But, I need to try all the teas, so i’ll give it a go. This one is surprisingly good. A definite roasted quality to it, but also very sweet and coconuty. I may have to try a few more Dong Dings. Maybe my tastes have evolved again! Keeps happening lately.

Enjoying some afternoon tea in the afternoon. Not sure what makes something an afternoon tea as I would definitely consider this a good kick you in the ass morning tea to get you going. Added some honey and cream after I tasted it straight. It’s somewhat sweet on it’s own so it only needed touch of honey. I went on a long run this morning so I’m glad this is a robust tea to give me a little boost to get through till the kids are in bed and i’m on the sofa watching the season 5 premier of dexter. That season 4 finale pretty much kept me up all night. So unnecessary. Ugh.

Thanks Sil! Been enjoying many of the teas you and Terri have sent, although i haven’t been doing a good job of logging them!

Woah!!! I put off trying this cause the smell was bit intense for me, but I love it. The cinnamon and the rice are soooooo good together. Really happy with this tea. Like cinnamon rice crispy treats. And plenty sweet on its own. Staple for sure.

I like this one a lot more than I expected to! I’ve made it gong fu style style and am on something like my 5th steep and it’s still going strong. Chocolaty, sweet, malty, not hay-y like I was expecting. This is a great cup. Thanks Terri Harplady!