768 Tasting Notes
There are so many decent straight black breakfast teas out there, but this one honestly is one of the very best. I love the smooth, robust flavor. NO bitterness or astringency at all. Just rich wake-me-up tea. I don’t do cream, milk, or sweetener in my teas. This one has enough body to support milk, but it doesn’t need it. Truly, one of my all time fave teas.
Continuing with the Calm Tea sampler a friend gave me. There are 6 herbal teas in cute little tins like the ADvent calendar teas come in, but these are pretty blues and purples. I will hang onto these to carry loose leaf tea when I travel.
I tried this one tonight for my relaxation tea. Definitely not one I would want to drink a lot of. A bit too floral for my taste. Not terrible though. Glad it’s not 50 grams, but I will certainly will be able to drink the rest of the tea down.
My weekend guest from Winnipeg brought me a sampler of de-stress teas as a gift. She said she knew I was going to be stressed about moving to Mom’s at the end of March. She’s right. I do not want to go back to the childhood home. But mom is in her mid 80s. She has dementia. My older brother lives there as her primary caretaker with power of attorney. But she doesn’t want him washing her hair etc, and doesn’t want a stranger to come in and hel.. So my stuff goes into a rented storage cube and I go to Mom’s. Yeah, my friend is wise: I am stressed.
I am not generally a fan of chamomile, but it’s not prominent in this one. I wouldn’t have classified this one as a dessert tea. It’s not, really, but neither is it a medicine tea. The coconut flavor comes out pretty well in this one. Also something a bit sweet, like caramel or brown sugar. I don’t think I catch the valerian, which is strange. That has a very strong and repugnant (to me) scent. I’m glad it doesn’t come through.
So I can and I do recommend this tea. A nice way to end a busy, windy day.
Flavors: Brown Sugar, Coconut
Preparation
If you need to talk now or later, you can PM me. I understand. Be kind to yourself. It is hard to lay everything down to be a caregiver. You are doing something few will do. Many here have walked through this, and will lend a kind and listening ear. Everything you do for her will be a beautiful act of love and kindness that came through sacrifice, and that is an awesome thing. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, whether it is a listening ear or someone who can do the dishes and give you some time to sit and read. You’ve got this! Hugs from afar…
Thank you, ashmanra! I will keep that in mind. My city offers a “Train the Caretaker” workshop which I am signed up for. At least my brother will be there and we can share the load. And as of now mom can still dress herself and use the bathroom etc. Since I’m a telecommuter I will be in the house while my brother works. We’ll see how it goes. I will certainly take you up on your offer of a sympathetic ear when I get stressed.
Ditto on everything ashmanra just said. It isn’t an easy road. Will be praying that your initial transition goes smoothly.
Thank you, gmathis.
I had a whole pot of this today. Still love it. It is my traditional tea for a writing marathon. I don’t know what i will do when it is gone. Luckily I still have a good bit. :)
Hurray for hoarding! (except when it goes poorly, of course. but then, some of us like to live dangerously that way)
That is a concern, and that is why I think I should drink more of it. Hate to see it go, but it’s already almost two years old. And surely there are a million other teas that like as well.
That’s another thing. When I get obsessed with one, I need to remind myself that I am possibly overlooking all sorts of other lovelies.
Since I like this one so well, I did not brew it during the David’s 24 days of tea. Instead I saved it for a cold evening of writing. This is that evening. ( or afternoon, since I got an early start on writing.) It’s been below zero (Fahrenheit) all day with windchills in the negative 30s. When the wind is light my apartment is quite warm. but when the wind is blowing, it doesn’t seem able to heat up. Not that I’m complaining! I have tons of nice warm things to put on to keep warm.
I know this tea isn’t everyone’s favorite but I really like it. A friend from Winnipeg picked 50 grams up for me and she’ll bring it when she comes to stay on the 26th. Since this is turning out to be a much colder winter than what we’ve had the last few years, I am enjoying drinking hot tea again. :)
Went out for dinner in a private room at a restaurant. felt a migraine coming on. so I left early to try to beat the nausea home. Oh, god, if it weren’t for the pain the shimmery circular rainbows around all the light would be pretty. I mean all the lights. Street lights. Stop lights. Tail lights. Once I was safely home with meds taken and a cold wash cloth plastered over my eye, I decided a mild tea might be good. I chose this one for its convenience and anti-nausea properties.
Ugh. Awful. It is peppermint, but with a gross sick flavor at the end of the sip. By sick I mean vomit-like. I didn’t throw up so it’s not from me. Poured it out and am now making some ginger tea.
This one sounds like it should be so good, but it’s just not. maybe it’s just me though.
A day ago it was quite warm and nice. Then that winter storm crashed through.And now, at least, my apartment is delightfully chilly even with the heat turned up to 75. (There’s a whole story about the maintenance insisting I keep my heat at 75 to prevent burst pipes. They pay for heat, so I have grumblingly complied while wearing Tshirts and shorts and sleeping with just a sheet)
Anyway, I brewed this one up this morning. I’ve been drinking mostly flavored dessert-y teas lately, but this morning I was eating my coconut lemon cookies and I decided I needed a straight black to contrast with the flavor of the cookies. The tea is aging. I’ve had it more than three years. But the flavor is still mellow and full. It was a perfect foil for the cookies. These cookies really are good. Here is the recipe if anyone is interested: https://www.shakentogetherlife.com/2016/03/lemon-coconut-sugar-cookies.html
I would love a tea with the flavor of the cookies. There is a sweetness followed by the tang of lemon. Not much of a tang, but enough to contrast with the coconut and vanilla.
Have you tried DT’s Lemon Pound Cake Oolong? No coconut, but pretty good.
Your maintenance people have a point. My pipes have burst more than once because I prefer to sleep in cool surroundings in flannel with heavy covers.
Yeah, I certainly don’t want the pipes to burst. And it’s pretty darned cold again. Sigh.
This was my evening cup. I enjoyed this one the last time I had it, but this time I could really smell it. Yum. Completely yum. The maple of the syrup comes through very clearly, with coconut second. This time I didn’t get cardamom, but I got a hint of the eggy-ness of French toast. I have a friend that I think would love this, but I don’t believe I will share. This one is mine.
Some things are just too nice to share.
For Christmas, “Santa” got me a new thermos-type of travel mug and this is the tea that I put in there this morning. The mug is fantastic – I pour the freshly brewed tea in the mug in the morning before I leave to go to my daughter’s place, and then by mid-afternoon, when I’m ready to start sipping on tea (I am not a morning person and nothing helps this … not even tea) the tea is the perfect temperature.
I have never had genmaicha before. Not very adventurous here, which is why a sampler like the 12 Days of Christmas is good for me. It gives me a chance to try something I normally wouldn’t in a small quantity.
My sense of smell is slowly growing, so I got a nice whiff of banana when I opened the pouch, along with a sweet scent which must be the marshmallow. My sense of smell died shortly thereafter so I can’t tell you what the brewed tea smells like. I prepared it exactly as instructed to. After two minutes I hesitated because the tea was so pale. But since I was new to genmaicha I followed the brewing instructions to the letter. Surprisingly, it darkened as it cooled.
The flavor is tricky for me since I lost the smell before I could drink it. I think I can kinda get the banana at the start of the sip. The sip ends for me with a slightly bitter after taste. I don’t know if that is just me or not. So I’m not rating this tea yet. I’m going to try another cup later this week and see if it works better for me then.
