Popular Tasting Notes
For those of you who haven’t been reading my notes over the past year, I’ll repeat a couple of things that some long-time Steepster friends already know (patience).
Other than trips to my tea shop Happy Luckys (where everyone knows my name, kind of like ‘Cheers’) and Church (where I can sit in the back away from bright migraine-inducing-light), I stay by myself and am afraid of people. (Terrified is a better word for how I feel.)
I’ve been working on this ‘terrified of people’ issue, and Steepster has been a big help to me.
My Priest (Fr. Evan) noticed that drinking tea and writing has changed my interaction with people. I’ve become gradually more sociable hanging around after Church longer to chat for a few minutes.
My fears are associated with forgetting words mid-sentence, the sudden onset of migraines with dizziness, and brain-fog from fibromyalgia. I gave in to the terror and it took over my life.
Finally, a few weeks ago, I’d had enough!
After Church one Sunday, I invited a Doctor and her 72 year old mother ( who was an Industrial Chemist in Romania) to tea.
These women weren’t even tea drinkers, they were coffee drinkers!
With no idea what to do with the time, I decided to share my life in the tea world with them (and I invited my granddaughter Schey to join in as my back-up).
I set up a tray with several kinds of tea to pass around. A beeng of puerh, some black pearls, fragrant oolong and lapsang souchong.
For tasting, we began with Wild Oriental Beauty Gonfu Style which they enjoyed very much.
The next tea was a large pot of Chocolate Phoenix Chai slowly steeped in milk with local clover honey. (I’ve written about this tea before, and the richness in milk with honey is the only way I drink Chocolate Phoenix Chai!)
The Chai was a hit! My guests had never had Chai before!
They commented on the chocolate flavor and gentle spice which I paired with a baked cheese and crackers and Dutch waffle cookies.
We had a good conversation about the health benefits of tea, life under Communism in Romania and immigration to the United States. I gave them a gift of Chai and made plans to meet at my tea shop in the near future.
Reading this is probably one of the most boring reviews to read that I’ve ever written….but to those of you who know me, it’s a real victory story!
If I failed to write about it here on Steepster, I wouldn’t be sharing with all of you who made it possible for me to break out of my shell!
THANK YOU!
It is the kindness of TEA PEOPLE that has given me confidence!
Wow, Steepsters. Just wow. Garret very kindly sent me a sample of this, and I am completely floored. This is a 2012?! I’m not getting any bitterness from this, even at 205f. I’m certainly not a puerh expert, in fact I think I barely qualify as a “newb”, but I would be very excited to try this tea again in 5 years (and 10, and 15…). It’s subtly sweet, smoky, and almost creamy. Slightly reminiscent of a vegetal green but the smoky element really sets this apart.
Preparation
Do you know where the tea comes from? Lincang and Yiwu produce ‘ready-to-drink’ Puerhs that match your description. Sounds nice!
JC – I bought the material made in to this cake when I was touring dehong area in April 2012. Was enamored with it and for days I kept coming back to the samples of it and got continuous confirmation to do a pressing of it. It just made me feel good. Lincang was also an area where I spent several days and got the material for the “hear of the old tree” pressing that I did. I’m working on another pressing which will be a blend of several leaves from various places I visited in April. I’ve tweaked the combo of leaves over the last couple of weeks and the pressing should happen in the next week or so!
“heart” not “hear” of the old tree.
Thanks for the answer Garret! That makes sense. Those areas produce very nice and ‘ready-to-drink’ Puerh. That new pressing sounds interesting!
JC… I don’t know if you are into ripe teas at all, but I am totally pumped about a ripe blend that I completed since my April trip. It is a combination of 4 leaves from Yong De (love it there) all picked and processed in 2011. The pressing finally happened and I am so pleased that pressed over 400 cakes of it. Also got 150 pounds to have as loose leaf here in the shop. I’ll have the loose leaf up online in the next week or so. The cakes are not ready to ship out of China yet so we will not see the bulk of them for some time. But… I had 10 of the cakes airmailed to me and they arrived yesterday. Fantastic! The clarity of the liquor and the lack of post-fermentation smell is boggling my mind. I am so happy about it that I am seeing if I can possible squeak anymore of the same batches of leaves to make one more pressing.
Sheesh, I get too excited, hit send and find out I should proofread… I meant to say “see if I can possibly squeak out anymore of the same…”
Edit Version
Hahahaha! I was just thinking about Yong De, all that area (refering to Dehong/Lincang and vicinity) seems to produce a Burgundy ripe tea that is incredibly clean looking. I wonder if that is the reason why usually has some ‘juiciness’ to them.
I don’t have much experience with Puerh… yet. lol I’ve been drinking both ripe and raw for about 3-4 years now and I’m just amazed on how with some experience you can begin to understand the traits the tea will/might have just by knowing where it comes from. The way around as well. Puerh is a world of its own in my opinion.
Same here I had to edit my comment and if I read it again I will find many other things to edit. New found and true loves are like that, they get in your brain.
In your brain, for sure, and more importantly, the heart :)
Yes… pu’er is a world unto its own… raw pu’er – one world. ripe pu’er – another world. I keep diving deeper and deeper in to each, a daily pilgrimage… you know what I mean, I can tell!
You are very right indeed. Honestly, tea in general, but specially puerh has sparked all sorts of interest in me. As well as pursuit for knowledge. Puerh, in my experience so far, is very humbling. You slowly start to form an idea of what ‘composes’ the traits of a ripe/raw and then comes along a new one you haven’t tried yet to shatter (in the greatest of way possible) that ideal. It is like the teacher that presents you with a challenge and keeps you forever interested in a lesson.
Thanks to Claire for getting JC and I together in a conversation :)
Late night tea session here in MN, complimented by the musings of a fellow lover of the leaf! Tea keeps bringing great folks together!!!
I drink to that! (A late night session in DC). Chá Dào
I hope you all don’t mind my evesdropping, this has been an interesting conversation! I’m still new to Pu’er myself, but am loving it. Thanks for the review Claire, this sounds like one I’d like to sample as well. Garrett, the tea you’re describing sounds exciting, and I’m checking out your website!
Hi Terri! Eavesdropping… always an interesting word to me. And I’m glad you eavesdropped in! I’m glad you are getting interested in pu’er tea. I drink anything of camellia sinensis (if it’s good, that is), but pu’er is definitely my 75% of the time drink. Thanks for checking out the site, too… lots of changes coming for Mandala Tea as we move our headquarters to another city in a few short weeks, bring on a new biz partner and gear up for website changes, more travels to China for finding more raw material for or private label pressings and work hard to help others discover the joy of all things tea! I see you are a musician! Me, too! I have played drums and percussion and also voice for many years. Music and tea make for incredible companions!
Hi Garret! Nice to meet you! Music is my life, and Tea has been a big part of that life. Between gigs, students, & CD sales I manage to make a pretty good living, and have lots of free time to sip tea in the process. I even wrote a song, “TeaMind”, (I also sing), that’s on one of my CDs.
I’ve had some really interesting experiences with Pu’er, which initially freaked me out a little, but I’ve been reading a lot of things, and am developing an understanding of Chaqi. I’m not new to energy work & movement, but I had never experienced the kind of sensations I was having from Tea! I’m looking forward to sampling some of yours!
I wandered away from the PC for a few hours and came back to some great comments and conversation. I love this community!
I’ve been sipping on the wild monk for most of the night now and it’s still fantastic, very calming for me. Perfect end to a long and tiring week.
Some day i’ll need to get in to pu’ers…
Yeah, Claire, see what you started? You’re like a little tea socialite, getting people together like this :)
Sil… pu’er is great stuff, but it is not everyone’s cup of tea. I’ve got so many friends and customers who never really get into it. Pu’er tea is definitely interesting stuff, but it is no king/queen of tea. Tea is no monarchy, rather it is a democracy and each person elects their favorite each time they reach into their personal tea vault. I love that I get to hold several elections every day!
I just encourage everyone to practice joy, no matter what tea they are into. With joy in mind, any cup of nice, well-prepared tea can take us on a journey deep within, get us closer to our friends, closer to the perfect and inspire our future successes.
white, green, yellow, wulong, black, pu’er – all are merely different paths up the same mountain. Drink up and LOVE what you love :)
Best of health to each of you!
Ill have to but you when I get into them garret and see what you recommend from your store :)
I love Rayn’s little “reviews” of teas, and I forgot to add his from last night! He took a sip and said “hay…smoke”. One more sip and then “a burning barnyard”.
I’m thinking I received this in a swap from VariaTea, but I’m not 100% sure. It just says “Creamy Eggnog” typed on it, along with some steeping instructions. No company name, so I’m assuming this is Butiki, and assuming this was from VariaTea just because this was with other samples she sent me. I hope I got that right!
I may have underleafed this accidentally. It still smells and tastes creamy to me though, although I’m missing anything eggnog flavored, such as nutmeg. Didn’t get anything else out of it sweetened, other than, well, it’s sweeter. Light, creamy, lovely. Just not eggnog to me. Not rating because I think I have some on the way, and because I’m pretty sure I underleafed the sample.
Thanks to whomever sent this to me! :)
Preparation
Nope this was not something I sent. I am sorry to hear it was not as flavorful as you thought it would be though.
I really enjoy this with a 2 tsp. of leaf to 10 oz. ratio – but taste wise it’s more like vanilla ice cream to me…
Hm. Now I’m really curious as to who sent this. Perhaps JustJames? I know it wasn’t Allie. JennyFur?
Rowell, I definitely underleafed then. I think it I used the entire sample at 1.5 tsp for 16 oz. It’s okay though, it’s yummy enough for me to get more (if there isn’t any in the box I pickup tomorrow in the US… honestly drawing a blank).
I know JustJames prints out labels but he included steep times and company names on all the ones he sent me.
He did with many of mine too – this one was a smaller bag and different font though? I’ll wait for Monsieur James to chime in.
Ooooh, box pickup tomorrow? Teas this week some time? :) I’m busy Wednesday “after work” but my schedule is fairly flexible.
Sounds lovely to me! I’ll let you know once I’ve successfully grabbed everything tomorrow.
Yay!
I’ve planned my day poorly and now need to pickup Wednesday evening. I’ve got some time Thursday during the day to get it to you?
pardon moi? someone mention me? scan read…. scan read….. NOPE! i print labels because i can’t write worth sh** with the wrecked hand. really big printing, yes, like 1 inch minimum, but that doesn’t work on baggies of tea samples so well, lol. never even tried this blend either.
sorry, twas not i!
Haha. If we can arrange it so I can get to work before 10am, yes Thursday. Boss is back, so I have to be here at a “decent” time.
Or, you know, “after work” kind of times. I usually work 10-5 or so.
I’ll likely be after work kinda time, and prior to a comedy show I’m attending… I’m quite the night owl. :$ Getting me up before 10am is rare, although I can if need be!
Sure thing. I’ll message you my number. :)
See that “Add to Cupboard” I clicked there? That’s because this isn’t a sample! No sir, this is part of my birthday gift from my eldest daughter! She emailed Laurent and they went back and forth putting together a gift box of four small tins and one large for me, and Laurent helped her choose my teas. The tins look beautiful together, and red is my accent color in my kitchen and there are little pops of it in my Williamsburg blue living room, so these are a nice decorative element as well. Here is a photo I took yesterday of the small tins. I hadn’t opened the large one as yet.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24998856@N06/8561345077/
I decided to drink this because…well, I got it yesterday, and Demain means “tomorrow” so I thought I would drink it…tomorrow which is today! Got that?
I was having a quiet morning as everyone slept in after a late night watching movies and playing games. I got out my lovely Lady Carlyle cup and made a whole pot of this. The liquor is so lovely in the cup. It is a bright, clear, medium yellow color, really I would call it golden without a hint of orange. So pretty! I drank the whole pot before doing yoga with my son.
This is a bright and refreshing green tea flavor, yet not astringent or puckery. It is a good one for waking up!
Thank you, Superanna and Laurent!
My other morning tea, which i sorely needed given how insane my week has been. I just need a day to breath and that just doesn’t seem to be happening lately. I also decided that i’m just going to drink and enjoy my teas and wave goodbye when favourites leave haha. :) Still one of my fav chocolate teas. Dark chocolate mousse indulgence.
Drool drool and drool some more!
Wow how have I never heard of this before
haha
Where did you find this????
i did a swap with shmiracles, and then made my parents go get me another tin when they were in france haha
Aw shoot! Worlds away!
Yeah, if they go to france again, I want a tin too :)
I so wish there was an easier/cheaper way to get these to us tea fiends. There’s a French bakery here that will order it for me, however they want $35/100g.
Oh, is that the patisserie downtown? Have you been in, or just contacted them?
I’ve been in it, and they’ve got a lot of Mariage Frères in tins for sale, as well as just to drink in-store for a cup. They’ll order it in whenever they order another batch of tea, it just may take a while is all.
Omg you’ve found a loophole!!!! :D
Ooo. I need to visit, maybe get some tea there. :) OH! Maybe this weekend since I’m downtown a lot. I could go for a walk/tea break.
They have a lot in stock, or did when I was there about a month ago. Only sell it in full tins though, or as a cup of hot tea to take with you. Ah, the chai that I can’t spell, Marco Polo, something Rouge all come to mind. All $35/100g. I’m blanking out on the name, but you know where I mean, right? There are way too many French patisseries in downtown Vancouver. This one is big, gorgeous, open a bit later, and just a few blocks up from Burrard Station.
Take me to Vancouver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I know which one. Across from the art gallery? Faubourg or something? $35/100g is super steep for the basics, tho. Wow.
Faubourg, that’s it! Yep, which is why I balked at grabbing anything when they told me the prices.
Gosh, I’m so behind on comment replies it’s not even funny! I’ll get to it eventually! I promise! I’ll try and get it done at some point this week. I’ll be home alone for the rest of the week, as Husband is on his way to the UK right now, so suddenly I’ve got a lot of time on my hands. (He’s going to the funeral of the friend whom we lost recently. Unfortunately there wasn’t time enough for me to get my new passport in time that I could go too. Yeah, in theory I could have got one of those temporary emergency ones that you can use for just the one trip, but you know what they cost? The same as a normal passport! Which is none too cheap to begin with. I’m not made of money! O.O So I’m staying home.)
This one also came from Auggy and that alone makes me very excited to try it. Apart from being my taste twin, Auggy is, in my opinion, the Keemun Expert, just like JacquelineM is the Vanilla Expert. I don’t know if either of them will agree with that label, but that’s one of the major things I associate the both of them with tea-wise and I consider them more experienced than me in these fields. So when Auggy shares a Keemun with me, I stand up straight and pay attention! (Or sit and learn at the feet of the master. Which ever you prefer.)
The aroma of the leaves seems fairly strong. It’s smoky, which is a good sign, and has something to it that reminds me of leather and tobacco. I don’t like tobacco or anything to do with it. I think it’s a filthy disgusting habit which makes the smoker reek to high heaven, and at work I’ve seen lungs blackened and with tumors the size of my fist, but the smell of the actual tobacco leaf when it is pure and not mixed with a myriad of other chemicals, that is nice. When I was little, my grandfather smoked a pipe, and I suppose the smell of the tobacco leaf reminds of that. So it’s more of an association thing, I suppose. It still reminds me of him even though I haven’t seen him with a pipe for 25 years.
After brewing isn’t the strongest I’ve ever met, but I am catching a whiff of grain down there as well as something both slightly smoky and slightly floral in just the right balance. Nice! Hold this thought!
The flavour makes up for the fact that the aroma isn’t very assertive. It’s got a lot of grainy body and there is also a pretty good caramel-y note to it, which is running through and under the entire flavour. It’s just there and I can’t really tell where it starts or ends, permeating everything with carameliness. I think this is the first time I’ve had a Keemun giving me that caramel note for absolutely sure and certain. I have heard tales of this beast, and I’ve had a tentative brush with it before, but it’s definitely here in this cup. Towards the bottom of the cup it’s a really strong note and the last, lukewarm mouthful is very sweet.
The whole thing is topped with that note again of slightly smoky and floral, although instead of being exactly balanced, it’s leaning more towards the smoky side of things. Getting this bit right is for me probably what makes or breaks a Keemun more than the body of the tea. There has to be some, obviously, but smoky versus floral is really the very most important thing for me to REALLY enjoy a Keemun.
All in all, this was a very smooth experience. Not a hint of anything rough or prickly about it. Not even the smoky note, which frankly seems a little bizarre, but is true all the same. I should have thought the very definition of smoky would include pricklyness in some form or another, but even so this does have a clear smoky note, and it isn’t prickly. I can’t puzzle that one out. It just is that way.
I think I like it.
I should have liked the aroma to be a little bit more assertive, and I’m thinking that’s probably something I can adjust with temperature and leaf measurements, so it’s a very small beauty flaw. Probably especially the former, I think. I wasn’t too quick about getting the kettle after it finished, see.
So is it the Perfect Keemun? No. And no amount of adjusting in brewing can make it so. Why not? Because I can’t go out and buy it!
And so, the hunt continues.
ETA: Turns out the aforementioned beauty flaw was definitely something to do with temperature. The kettle was only set to 70°C. DUH! Second steep, at proper temperature, went down a treat. :D
I enjoyed your discourse on Keemuns!
Turns out the aforementioned beauty flaw was definitely something to do with temperature. The kettle was only set to 70°C. DUH! Second steep, at proper temperature, went down a treat. :D
I’m with you on the tobacco stuff. I can’t stand it. I’m glad the tea tasted good though :D
I remember when my Dad used to smoke a pipe…I loved the smell of it. Much better then the cigarettes. Smoky flavored tea…not sure if I would like that, but of course willing to check it out.
How funny – this one leans much more floral for me. Orchid all the way! (But I agree – it’s quite lovely!)
Bonnie, thank you. Finding the Perfect Keemun would be a lot easier if I hadn’t already worked out what I want it to taste like…
Helena, I know, right! I just don’t understand what makes people want to do that to themselves.
Lynxiegrl, when my grandfather smoked a pipe I was probably too young to form any opinion on it. It was just something that he did. I probably believed it had something to do with how to be a grandfather. :p Smoky tea is awesome, but then I’m biased. How do you feel about smoked food? Fish, for example? If you like that, do give the smoky tea a try as well.
Auggy, how odd! I’ll have to try it again and see. It may have something to do with it not really developing fully what iwth my kettle mishap. I’d forgotten to set the temperature, so it was made like a green tea. Hardly the best conditions. :p
I love smoked turkey and salmon. and I definitely want to try it out…I mean plenty of things I didn’t think I’d like I ended up loving. And other things that I thought I’d love, I detested! lol. So it is an adventure.
I imagine temp didn’t help. But hopefully at a black tea temp you’ll still like it! I find it super-pretty. Not quite oomph-y enough to take over as my favorite Keemun (CTG’s still has that) but I like it enough that I’ll probably buy it again!
I don’t think I’ve had it done properly yes. I had the second steep on the correct temperature, but wasn’t paying too much attention to it. Which indicates that it was good, because I think I would have noticed had it been thin. :)
Funnily enough, I’ve had this one a couple of times recently and picked up more smoky prickle. Still very orchid-y, but a bit more balanced. I kind of blame you for influencing my subconscious. ;)
Sorry for the massive tasting note spam, guys… I was drinking tea and writing notes offline this evening because my computer wasn’t playing nice with Safari and Powerpoint open simultaneously. Of course, it didn’t much care for Powerpoint on its own either…
Ohhhhh man. Does this one ever smell AMAZING! I just selected it since it was at the top of the box, and later realized that it would be good to compare against Plum Oolong from New Mexico Tea Company. No comparison at all, though. This one is strongly grape in aroma… and flavour too! YES! Oh wow, this one’s delicious. And I guess it should help me figure out the difference between ‘grape’ and ‘muscat’; it doesn’t taste like, say, Welch’s grape juice the way I seem to recall Butiki’s Grape Oolong tasting, but it definitely makes me think grape anyhow. I actually prefer this flavour though… oh man… super delicious! I can’t put down my cup! Which kind of sucks because now I’m out of all the tea I brewed… perhaps it’s a sign to put the computer away and go to bed. I’ll be more productive tomorrow…. right….?
ETA: Second infusion (3 min) is still pretty good; muscat flavour gives way to more oolong flavour. Not unexpected.
Preparation
More productive…….I would say, Yes! Especially after a few cups of tea. :))
I’m trying to figure out whether you’re awake insanely early, or just live on the east coast… It’s absurdly early (5:30) in the morning here again, whoops…
I was extremely tired after dinner, and fell asleep for 3-4 hours. Now after having three early morning cups of tea and posting a review, I just caught myself falling asleep. I need to lay down ASAP, and get a couple more hours of shut eye. :))
Oh both by the way…….early & Eastern Time Zone [OHIO].
Good morning & Good night…….
Ahhhh, that explains it. And belatedly, thanks :)
Kittenna, Has there been problems on Steepster?? I’m following 342 people,and I have one review above yours. Wait…….that’s odd. I thought TASTING NOTES were posted chronologically, with the more recent ones posted above onee another, so the more current ones are posted first. I have a bunch of Tasting notes that are in that order below this one-that seems strange. I wonder why this note is out of order [so to speak]??
Sorry to butt in, but just to answer your question, when you edit your tasting notes, they get bumped up to the top again. This seems to be a new feature from back when Steepster did some updating of their site. :)
Oh, thanks Mercury-I thought that might be the case, because it wasn’t like that before.
Yeah, and I really apologize for continually bumping mine to the top – I preferred when I could silently add my ’ETA’s. They’re mostly for my benefit.
What does ETA mean?
Oh and SO happy you loved this one! :)
Edited to add :)
Estimated Time of Arrival. :))
Oh! Like Scott,I kept thinking it meant Estimated Time of Arrival…and I never could figure out how that applied to the tea tasting!
Thanks for asking Azzrian;)
This tea sounds really yummy, Kittenna!
Ah got ya thanks :)
Hahahaha, sorry guys! I know it has a dual meaning, but figured it would be obvious. Clearly not :D
Alright – I really did NOT want to love this tea. I mean first of all its limited which it should not be. This should go into the permanent stash ASAP!
I need to get more of this. MORE MORE MORE.
Okay so seriously. It is better cooled. I have not had it cold brew yet – its in the fridge now. But I do like it more when I let it cool some. More of the flavors come out.
It is not overly sweet either so if you are thinking it would be TOO Sweet for you – its not.
So I started with my cup hot of course, took a sip and thought, nice black base. Good call Frank. Then another sip and thought, hummm pretty good but not a POW flavor, then another sip and just kept sipping. Somewhere toward sip 7 or 8 the tea was cooler. Then it was like BAM oh yeah! I re-steeped – got to cup 4 before the flavor was gone.
Made another cup.
Yummm a rific!
Then another cup.
Three steeps today each with three re-steeps and now a cold brew in the fridge.
I need MORE of this tea!
Preparation
Wow. That’s awesome. I’m so glad you are enjoying it.
Enjoying it!?!? I’m about to start snorting it! Frank seriously don’t run out of this. I just got Pot of Gold from you – I have to make more money now to buy more of this! Auuuggggg
You’re killing me
LOL I have so many teas I still want to get that I don’t already have too! You have two I want, I don’t have my almond cookie from Joy’s … and frank keeps putting out things like this. Do you think when I die they would bury me in tea?
This is making me wish I had some of this to try. It sounds like it would be a fantastic iced tea!
I will know tomorrow :) Will post the cold brew findings!
I might have just broken my “no more buying tea” rule because of this review. I need a good iced tea, and if you can get 3 re-steeps out of it I’m sold!
If you don’t like it I will buy it from you after payday! :) How is that for a deal? :)
Just be sure to increase time with each steep. I think I did 3 minutes then 4 then 5
I hate you for liking this tea and posting a good review. Hate hate hate. I am not allowed to buy more!
But I LOVE you! MUWHAhHAHA
I’m going to bet that if you liked it hot, you’re going to LOVE it iced. Not sure about cold-brewing, but hot brewed, then chilled and served over ice, this is hard to beat.
“I mean first of all its limited which it should not be. This should go into the permanent stash ASAP!”
I knoooooow. moans Frank, if you have too many permanent ones, can we hold a vote on which one to kick off the island?
I second this!
Today was a good day. I was reunited with my beloved PTA. (Note to self: NEVER RUN OUT OF THIS AGAIN!! )
I received a humongous Butiki order….with other goodies inside.
Yes, I was the winner of the free mug and free tea during the contest, yay, and thanks to Stacy for allowing us Canadians participate :-)
So in her honour, I am having PTA in my new butiki lizard mug tonight!
I was so thrilled about the mug, I wanted it so much cause ya know, I am some kind of teaware freak. Oh, yes I am.
It is one of the most unique mug I have ever seen. I don’t know what kind on ceramic it is made of, but it has a mat finish, almost like a clay…and that mini butiki lizard, how cute!
I vote for it to become Butiki’s official mug!!
And the tea…oh this tea. Sour dough bread and chocolate covered raisins, with cinnamon dust. So good i could eat it!
It’s malty and sweet, with that certain je ne sais quoi those famous taiwanese black teas have.
I just love it. And with 6oz now in the cupboard, I feel more relaxed.
Thanks again Stacy for everything.
That’s what I call a great tea day, y’all. Very good for my inner happiness!!
Pic of the mug and tea:
So happy for you with your awesome stash and super cute mug :)
Thanks, me tooooo :-)
Congrats on being the Butiki winner of the free mug and tea!
Thank you!!!
I should have mentioned though that the 6oz of PTA is NOT the free tea!!
I got 1994 Aged Bai Hao for that , yum!
Just awesome! Enjoy TTF ! Cute Lizard!
Thanks sweetie.
LOL did you just say 6oz of PTA?? You did stock up!
Lol, I do drink a lot of tea ;-)
You are so lucky – The mug looks super cool!
Thanks CK, i was very lucky :-)
Stacy from Butiki Thank You for this one as well as the other teas you sent us at Sororitea Sisters!
I didn’t see this one on the website (YET) but if aroma counts I share hope you add it!
It smells hearty like a meal, slightly bready, and malty.
WOWZA! This is a STRONG TEA! I’m glad I actually followed the instructions of ONLY 1 teaspoon – I usually use more because I LOVE strong black teas! BUT this is CRAZY bold, intensely strong, malty, peppery, and an interesting level of crustiness to it!
It should be called Grandpa’s Anytime (You Need A Kick In The Pants) Tea!
I love it!
It does smooth out more as it cools naturally at room temp but it’s still hearty and full of flavor!
A little bit goes a long way with this one and I think it’s DANDY!
oh god.. more new tea from stacy. crap on a cracker!
LMAO @ Sil!!!
teehee
Yeah…I’m super excited about these – then again – I always am!
oh i have money to burn with stacy…she’s the only expception to my "must drink my stash down to 150 teas before ordering more* rule that i’m TRYING to stick to… but not only are we working on the strawberry rhubarb tea from the contest but there are at least 2 straight teas of hers i’d like to try, then there’s the plum tea, the three friends, eggnog, potato applesauce uh…and i think another that i’m forgetting.
Not to mention that I still have an abundance of her teas i’m working through.
Sil – Stay Tuned…I will be tasting most of those SOON :)
this is where i say… i don’t really need you to taste them to tell me i know i’m going to want them hahahaha pretty much almost a guarantee that i’ll pick up at least a half ounce (or an ounce) of almost any of stacy’s flavoured teas that sound like i’d like them….because i always do.
At least I can TEASE you LOL :)
curse you woman! :)
haha
TeaEqualsBliss-This one should be up on our website in about a week. The Potato Pancake, Kamba Berry, and Highland Green will be up either tonight or tomorrow. I’m really hoping to make this one into a special chai.
mmmmm more tea… yay!
Sil- :)
i swear you just make me wait to torment me stacy… just watch there will be “technical difficulties” that prevents the tea from posting lol (i kid i kid!)
I agree with Sil quite tempting us! (see no tea, taste no tea, buy no tea)
Sil & Helena-Hahaha. :) I will say the last technical difficulties were so not fun. My hosting company was hacked when I was trying to upload the new pages. Whoever hacked it also put up service tech numbers that were to a porn number and without knowing that I called the number. So, every 10 minutes or so I was getting a text from a that number. Still to this day like once a week I get a text from that phone number.
lmao ok stacy that just made me laugh…a lot. Not that i’m laughing at your pain but oh man… just teh mental image of you calling a porn number unknowingly… “yes i’d like to report a technical issue with my website” "oh yes baby…i can help you with you “website” yeah anyHOOOOO…. la la la
Oh no, that’s terrible Stacy!! I hope they get sued or spammed themselves somehow. Not cool.
Sil-Hahahaha. I kept getting messages asking if I would like to party with underage girls. Um, no thanks. Hahaha.
Indigobloom-It was amusing at first but very quickly became annoying. Ah well, at least its only once a week now.
This one sounds like a must buy.
I’ll bet.
Just saw the note about Kamba berry?! eeeep, I’m excited!
Indigobloom-The Kamba Berry is a blend done by Royal Tea of Kenya. Its a special blend that is dedicated to the Kamba tribe in Kenya and is their take on a berry blend using the purple tea with a specific focus on using ingredients with a high amount of antioxidants.
I wanted to mention that though Grandpa’s Anytime tea is a CTC tea, it has a ton of flavor and some very nice chocolate notes. I tend to water this one down a bit but I find it very delicious. I never thought we would carry a CTC other than for a chai blend but this is very tasty. I’ve been reading a lot lately about the quality of many CTCs being very high and I feel like this is one of them. This tea will also be used in a special chai blend that we are working on.
Great additional info! Thanks Stacy!
So tempting… so very tempting!!
OMG.
So.
Good.
Thanks, Sil!
Rich dark honey. Carby. Spicy. Mmm…
Preparation
YAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!
you make this sound delicious!
Omg. I’m so jealous…
It is so delicious!!!
Oh man… I really wish I had some of that. :(
I wonder if it’s still available? So tempting to use some of my Christmas money instead of saving it.
WAIT. What am I thinking? I shouldn’t be buying tea…
Sil, I’m confused. This tea is this one, right?
http://www.taiwanteacrafts.com/product/red-jade-black-tea/
Just a new lot? “Just”. I know.
Man, I could get 2 teas, hit their free shipping threshold, and be golden. And also off-hiatus. Hmm.
I still have some of this one…so worse case we can trade! Always happy to swap with friends
Oh, I would love a trade – would you trade with me? I could send you soemthing nice.
I can tell this is an assam now that it’s been sitting (I’m almost done my 16 oz mug! This is unheard of!), and it’s still SO GOOD.
I think I will go off hiatus. But next week, because I just paid for a yoga class with the money on my card. :D
OMG…best way to shop from TTC is load up your cart with samples sizes… then you just have to get to 25$ for free shipping
oh and yes… they cycle through lots.
That’s like.. 4-5 samples! Not much at all. :) Any “type” recommendations, even if they’re a new lot?
sun moon lake assam; red jade black; yuchi wild mountain; and if you like stacy’s Mi xian, they have one that’s nice…
we haven’t tried the golden dragon kind yet..
also TB and Terri liked the oolongs quite a bit…to me though, they were oolongs. :) The one green tea of theirs i tried was pretty good too…if you like that sort of thing :)
Oh man. :( You’re really tempting me to break my hiatus.
But. They’re not on sale right now right? So there’s no reason to do it now?
Their greens are sold out. I was gonna get the sun moon lakes, just because of the name! :D Yep, I have a cart prepared. :)
cavo. exactly. they will still be there (different lots) when you have money/return to buying tea
I still got the $25 free shipping when I had some larger items in your cart. So if you love this tea, you’re probably OK ordering a larger size as long as this is your first order and your order has some samples.
Good to know! Mmm, tea. I might wait as well. Then go all-out for my birthday.
they have a 50$ threshold and a 75 as well, depending on what’s in your cart. sooooo many tea wares that i want. sigh
I just bought some of the Sun Moon Lake as well as some teaware. Vintage Yixing!
jealous starfevre!
That’s awesome, Starfevre!
Oooh. will you post teaware pics when it comes in?
I will try to remember to do that. Currently I am populating a cabinet.
It is our twenty-sixth wedding anniversary today and to celebrate I wanted to…do what we do most Friday nights and get Chinese take out! LOL! i guess I am pretty low maintenance! At least, I hope I am.
I am getting low on this tea, but since the mystery Da Hong Pao from the restaurant was so good with our Chinese take out I thought we would have this again. At first I thought I should use it up since it is getting older, but I have seen some things that say that oolongs often age well, and on eBay they sell aged and pressed cake oolongs that look like puerh. I need to find out more about this.
There are a lot of notes about this one and I don’t have a lot to add other than that I now find it a favorite to pair with meals.
♥HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!♥
26! One year more than my folks. Hope it was lovely.
Awe…HAPPY 26TH ANNIVERSARY!
Congrats!!!
Twenty six years…that’s wonderful.
That sounds like my kind of anniversary celebration! :D Congratulations.
Very happy anniversary Ashmanra !
Happy anniversary!
Happy, happy!
happy anniversary!
Thank you, everyone! It was a lovely evening. And I even got red letters and red HEARTS from you guys! :)
Congrats! Happy Anniversary!!
Yay Happy Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary!
Much-belated Happy Anniversary!
Only one tasting note for this? HOW? I do remember someone on Steepster saying they loved this one, so I’m happy to try this sample. I wanted a nutmeg tea today and somehow this just happened to have it, so I went with it. Apricots even! Mmmm. I love that this blend uses three base black teas: golden Yunnan, Fujian and Assamica. (I’m also VERY glad that the new 52Teas uses the fancy black teas because I always hated the Ceylon in the old blends.) The flavors result in a lovely cup: mostly notes of apricot and hints of nutmeg. Exactly what I had hoped. I’m not really tasting the almond or cakiness. But that is completely fine, I like what I’m tasting!
Steep #1 // 1 1/3 teaspoons for a full mug// few minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 3-4 minute steep
Is steepster broken?
I have made several posts on teas that I’ve posted on before and my new posts have disappeared—-no longer showing up on Dashboard but now buried in the thread under the tea name, not showing up in new posts.
In fact, this post, ie. Gramma’s Spice Cake, has been at the top of Dashboard for almost 24 hours with no new posts added. Highly unlikely that no one else is writing about the teas that they are drinking on the weekend.
And also recent activity scroll is broken and not updating either.
Yes, it’s broken. This happens periodically. I would send a note, but lately I’ve not gotten any traction when I’ve sent bug reports.
BTW, yesterday I could post notes; even though they weren’t showing up in my feed they showed up in my Tasting Notes. Today I can’t post notes either.
Yesterday I posted a Tasting Note but it never appeared in my Tasting Notes feed, on the tea page, or on my Notices feed. I also updated the tea in the process but the tea still appears in its pre-updated form in the database. It seems everything is just “locked in time” and I’m hoping all that data will be released at some point; if not, at least I write all my notes externally on a NotePad first so I have a backup!
This has been the first post on my dashboard for over a day now, lol. I tweeted @Steepster to let them know the site’s frozen.
Yay, well-done, Tabby. And yes, mine too.
I posted here because iirc there are several active journallers who could potentially do something about this.
hmm, I didn’t see any of these comments on my tasting note in the tealog until I clicked on the dashboard (so also no e-mail alerts to comments), so yes, there is definitely something going with steepster. Hope it fixes!
Also, I hope this tasting note didn’t break steepster. haha
This is all your fault!! XD
One Gramma’s Spice Cake to Rule them All!
haha :D
If any of my posts are gone or broken I wouldn’t even remember what I wrote or for what tea. O.0
What’s odd is I posted a tasting note after this one and it did go just to that tea page like Evol mentioned, and not to the dashboard or my tea logs.
The one I posted didn’t originally show on the tea’s page, but is now. It took a while for the updates to the tea page to appear. Dash/Activity/Notices/Logs/etc. still have been frozen for two days.
And the cupboard, too. I added like 5 teas, and it shows them as in my cupboard on the tea’s profile, but not in my cupboard page.
Oh boy. I wonder how complicated this is going to be to fix.
Wow… I can’t ever remember it getting this bad or taking this long. Even to hear anything back from Jason & team. :(
It is very disheartening that there hasn’t even been so much as a Tweet sent out or anything with some sort of status update…
Ugh. I just bought a bunch of teas at the tea festival. Was so excited to add them all and post reviews. Now I won’t have time to do them all at once (I took yesterday off work). Hmph. Steepster… come back!!
Steepster come back! Gah!
Sorry guys we’ve had an issues where the background processes that handle all of the site activity updates had died and we were having trouble getting everything restarted. Things should be coming back online now but there could still be a lag.
Just as long as Steepster doesn’t disappear completely — thanks so much, Jason!
Thanks for updating us, Jason!
Cold Brewed.
The flavour of this one has really deteriorated over time, which is pretty sad but to be fair this is also more than a year old. At least I’m almost out of it – just a little sad that my last cups of this beauty wont be the best cups of it.
The honeybush base was very, very strong with the rootbeer actually being the second strongest flavour overall. Didn’t get any sort of “float” aspect at all. At this point I only have enough leaf left for one more cold brew, two hot cups, or possibly one Tea Soda? Might make that soda today and if it still comes out weak just add some Rootbeer Schnapps…
Unofficial Steepster Survey/Data Poll
A few days ago in chat we were talking about our ages (for whatever reason, can’t remember how it came up) and now I’m curious what the “average” age is of Steepsters users. I’m also curious who the youngest and oldest Steepster users are – so if you’re comfortable sharing would you guys mind commenting with how old you are?
I’m 19 – can anyone hear “beat me” for youngest user on Steepster?
I’m 32.
32 also :D
My guess is that the majority of Steepster users are late 20s or early 30s (Like, 27 to 33).
Shh, Roswell. I’m 35. Don’t make me older than average! ;)
23 right here :) I joined when I was 21 though
I’m 35 too.
36.
39
Aww, sorry OMG! PS. I joined when I was 18 :P
I’m 24. :)
omg…we can be OOOOOLLLLLLLDDDDDDDD together lol 35 Here haha
147… not really, but at 58 its kind of the same thing. I got socks older than most of you ;)
Woo! Age-twins with Stacy and Sil!
KS, I have IRL friends your age. :) I’m right in the middle of my extremely widespread social amoeba.
36
30
39
22
This is kind of neat to see. I tend to assume people on the internet are around the same age as me, unless there’s good reason to believe otherwise, and I’m pretty sure I’m wrong a lot of the time.
So far VariaTEA and I are the youngest; but yeah, this is fascinating! I didn’t realize so many of you are in your thirties. @Anlina, I think I must do the same thing as you because in my head I “aged down” a lot of you :P
Roswell Strange-I would have never assumed you to be 19. I always assumed late 20s-ish.
Yay for 35 club!
Oh gezus. I’m 40.
@Stacy, I guess I’ll choose to take that as a compliment ;)
31
We’re all young on the internet! ;)
I just assumed that everyone was in their 20s and up here-I just turned 20 in October though. When was your b-day?
Mine? March :)
I took a trip to India, Sri Lanka, Morocco, and Spain, all in one afternoon…went to the spice boutique and smelled some of the most tantalizing and unusual blends. I’m almost as addicted to spices as I am to tea!
Among a bunch of stuff I just couldn’t say no to, I bought my favourite cinnamon sticks, highest grade available from Sri Lanka.
The first time I tried it, I felt like I’d never really tasted cinnamon before. It has nothing to do with the stuff you find in grocery stores. It’s sweeter, more refined and sophisticated.
Every now and then, I like to add a stick in shou pu’erh.
This is how I’ve been drinking Noble Mark this afternoon. I stir the stick in my cup and leave it in as I drink. The flavours are just phenomenal.
Cinnamon is like a pu’erh enhancer. It pairs so nicely with its earthiness and its natural cocoa feel.
Having said that, Noble Mark is absolutely fabulous on its own, and doesn’t need anything added to it. It is smooth, with brothy and savoury mushroom notes, chocolaty and silky. It has non of those leathery or marine notes sometimes found in shou.
I just love it, another big Mandala winner!
Noble Mark is superb
I too love cinnamon with shu pu’erh – I haven’t tried it with Noble Mark – I normally reserve this treatment for my “just ok” pu’erh – will have to try it with some of my favorite ones…
Glad you had a good time at the spice market.
Loooove Noble Mark
Stephanie, it totally is!!!
Thanks dexter, it was fun :-)
Cinnamon and pu’erh are fabulous together. But I normally don’t do that, I was just too excited about my new spices!! Lol, Maybe some curry oolong on the menu tonight?
MzPriss, i think I equally loved Temple Stairs last night, as a matter of fact, I’m craving again tonight!
This sounds wonderful :)
I love the idea of the cinnamon stick. I have to try that. I think the Temple Stairs is a sample I got from Garret that didn’t have a name for yet when he sent it. But yeah, Mandala makes my life a wee bit better every day because I always have a big fat long steeped cup of Special Dark in my baby-sloth-doing-yoga mug to start off my day – it’s yin-yoga in a cup. I have all the love for Mandala.
OK, so after going back and forth trying to decide what to have for my middle of the night tea between this and Golden Orchid – I chose this. I did the cinnamon stick thing. TeaFairy – you’re a freaking genius! Cinnamon Noble Mark is full of win. This is just so perfect. And you’re right – it doesn’t need anything else – it’s so so good on its own, but dang it’s good this way. Thanks for this idea.
Lol, MzPriss, you are so funny :-)
Our “middle of the night” tea choices are crucial, they MUST be worthy, I’m really glad this works for you!!
Yes ma’am – they are crucial and this was just so good. After this cup, I saved my cinnamon stick for later and put a big ole heaper of Mandala’s Back Beauty in with the Noble Mark leaves and steeped for 5 minutes and it was equally worthy. I <3 Mandala so much.
I’m so glad you are liking this. Now you know I will try the Black Beauty thing right? Creativity of the night ;-)
I need more black beauty!
Heads-up! Saw this thread and wanted to let you know that I am going to announce the loose-leaf ripe pu’er sale Jamie just made. All our loose-leaf ripe pu’ers are going to be 50% off through 7/2. Thought you all should know first. Jamie is crazy to do this, but he’s the online guy!
Oh yeah… sale link: http://shopmandalatea.com/sale-items.html
Huh, what??? Hmmm, me think it’s a good time to stuck up…but, but, I JUST ordered!! Oh well, i’ll be ordering again, lol, that’s the story of my life!
And Thanks for the heads up Garret :-)
I’m hoping the sale goes well. It gives people a chance to get some great ripe pu’er at a steal and we can gather some cash to keep more teas coming out of China. It’s one big wheel, isnt’ it? :)
Garret, I’ve sent you an email with my order. Woot, woot!!! What a great deal!!!!
Good luck, Hope your sale sky rocks, you guys are the best :-)
TF! I just checked my email and no message from you, my dear! Did you send it to [email protected]? Will you resend it and I can get your order ready to rock for your sweet self!
Yes, that’s the email I’ve used, it’s in my sent box. I just sent it again using my gmail account instead, maybe they go to your junk mail?
@TeaFairy – YES try it with the Black Beauty, it is well, a thing of Beauty
And Garret – a lot of people have sampled some of your loose pu-ers recently in the unflavored TTB I started – so I bet your sale will do great.
Yesterday I played a wedding. I still have limited mobility with my right hand, I’m still wearing a splint, but I can use 3 out of 4 fingers (the broken pinky is never used for plucking harp strings anyway). The wedding was for my daughter’s sister in law, & I was scheduled to play it, but when I broke my finger I made arrangements with another harpist to play instead. The bride didn’t care what music she had, so it was just going to be your typical classical wedding at a winery about an hour out of town.
On Friday everything fell apart.
The Bride called the Harpist with a list of songs she wanted, such as One Love by Bob Marley, Stairway to Heaven, & tunes by Billy Joel, Sting, etc.
The Harpist said,“I am a Classical Harpist, I only play classical music.”
Also, the wedding had been moved outside on the patio (at sunset).
The Harpist replied, “I can only play outside if the weather is above 60 F”
The Mom called me in a panic.
I’m the only Harpist that plays stuff like that in St. Louis.
I’ve been playing a little bit this week, & so I did it, provided that I could be placed near the outdoor heaters, & my son in law had to move my equipment for me, because I still can’t lift anything. The other harpist was glad to get out of it, LOL.
I was glad to make some money, & it felt good to play.
Plus, I wanted to play this wedding, she’s a sweet kid.
So I’m back in business!
This is a wonderful cup of yum, sweet & milk chocolate, becoming maltier as it cools.
On one hand, that’s ridiculous that the bride changed her mind at the last minute and expected everyone else to comply… However, I’m glad it worked out well for you! Keep healing and feeling better. :)
So happy you played again ;)
I knew you would figure out how to play before you were all healed up. Congrats on being back even if not quite 100%.
Cam, if you met my in laws, you’d understand, LOL. I had tried to get her to come over to plan the music, like all of my other brides do, but she never did.
The truth is, she had no opinion as to what music she wanted up until the day before her wedding, & then all of a sudden she had ideas.
Boychik, me too! I have a wedding & 2 hour reception next saturday. I’ve already arrangements to have someone help move my harp, & the only really hard part will be doing the classical pieces during the ceremony, because I have to rework them to leave out the 4th finger. Those are pieces I’ve played for years, with the fingering totally ingrained, but I should be able to pull it off. The reception is jazz & classic rock, stuff I play from lead sheets, so I fly by the seat of my pants on that stuff, it’s a little different everytime anyway. :)
Sooooo happy to hear you were playing!!!!
nice to read you’re healing Terri. I am curious about stairway to heaven played by an harpist…really it should be something !
I keep planning on making more videos of myself playing for my website (right now there is only one). Maybe in January I’ll finally get back to the video project.
Videos would be so cool! I’m glad that this event worked out for you. :)
Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge Saturday, October 9th: National Chess Day Tea#3
additional notes: Then I wanted to have a white tea with “white” in the title. And it’s a sipdown! I can’t really expand on my last note. It’s a good white! Still tastes like white paper (in a good way) which is a weird note from me.
2021 sipdowns: 129
White paper is not such a weird flavor note for this tea. Wuyi white tea always has a chalky mineral note to me.
Oh, and your note made me recall that one of my best friends from college used to eat paper napkins when he got stressed. He also had a pet named Steven that was a moldy loaf of bread that he kept in a bag on his bookshelf. My friends are weird.
A moldy loaf of bread! Well, I guess the mold IS alive.
He doesn’t have Steven the Mold Loaf anymore, but he still eats paper. We’re still friends. He’s a doctor now. He’s also one of the more normal of my friends. My best friend from college exists in a towel, boxers, or a bathrobe when he is not at work. He’s very McPoyle-like in that respect. He has to be completely nude, or he can’t go to the bathroom. If he gets excited, he starts dancing and yelling. He does this everywhere. He’s never grown out of the toddler-like tendency to investigate the world with his hands and mouth either. He will put things in his mouth that I will not smell or even look at. I have literally stopped to look out the window to see this person with his arms out spinning around to make himself dizzy. Another of my friends runs a Neopagan and occult supply store and makes components for cosplay outfits. Her nickname is “Nerve Pills.” She’s married to another friend of mine who decided to take up leather tanning and blacksmithing as a hobby, enjoys drunkenly throwing axes at trees, and if what she says is true, has to be prevented from wearing a fursuit to work on his car, because that’s just what you do if you’re going to work on your car in the driveway at 2:00 pm on a Sunday. I have another friend who drinks ritualistically, chainsmokes like Bill Hicks, does everything in his power to avoid acknowledging that anything after 2005 has ever happened, frequently declares tequila to be the cure for the human body, and enjoys wallowing around in the snow in his underwear. My best friend is obsessed with horror films, heavy metal, and professional wrestling and decided to become a plumber’s helper at the age of 34. To say my friends are odd is an understatement.
Have you ever had to drop what you were doing because your boxer clad friend got his head stuck in a heating vent? Have you ever had to go looking for one of your friends at a ski resort in West Virginia and found him walking around barefoot in 18 degree weather wearing only jeans and a t-shirt eating handfuls of artifical snow? Because I have had both of these experiences.
Have you ever been taking a shower and turn around to see one of your friends watching you and eating popcorn? I have had that experience too. He wasn’t even trying to be creepy either. He was hungry and lonely, made popcorn, and thought I might want some, so he decided to bring popcorn to me in the shower. We had to have the boundaries talk after that.q
My eyes grabbed McPoyle and I laughed because I was just thinking of that show. Your buddies sure keep things interesting and unique. haha.
I guess that you can look at it that way, but if I can successfully manage to present myself as the most normal person in a group of people, that might be a problem. Okay, there is no might to be to it. That is a problem. I’m a very odd person. I should never be the most normal person in any group. I have been described as a more athletic combination of Frank Reynolds, Carl Brutananadilewski, every Christopher Walken character ever, and Will Ferrell’s take on Harry Caray with an occasional bit of Larry David thrown in. I have also been told that I’m like if Philadelphia were a person who bizarrely never lived in Philadelphia yet inexplicably just is that way.
@easyteaguy, Ok – I love your thorough, technical tea tasting notes but these personal stories & experiences are entertaining.
Maybe Steven would enjoy wuyi white teas?
Probably not. Steven’s favorite thing was lounging in the sun that came through the window while stinking horribly. It was alleged that he enjoyed peanut butter and pretzel sticks, but I never saw him eat any.
Steven deserves a book or tv series. I’d read it lol
Also, sorry for the name typo, eastkyteaguy!
I didn’t even notice the typo. Sadly, Steven is mo longer with us. We forgot to remove him from our dorm during a break, and cleaning staff threw him away. There were a couple of other Stevens, but they didn’t last as long.
I think we had one named Andrew as well.
Whoa, very specific comparisons for you, eastkyteaguy. haha.
tea-sipper, I have been meaning to ask you this for a bit, but you describe yourself as always being in search of teas from Hattialli. Why that estate in particular? I’ve had a couple Hattialli teas prior to the last one I reviewed, but so far, I’m having trouble getting into their products.
I think we all needed a laugh :) People are strange.
And yeah, I get limestone with this tea. That could come across as papery.
My roommate is one of those handsy-mouthy people. It makes her a good glass artist. Yes, she ate a piece glass a few days ago. A simple mistake, no?
Eastkyteaguy, your friends make me feel better about some of my stranger habits. :) I don’t have a mold loaf, but I’ve unintentionally cultivated mold in some of my teaware.
Derk, I hope your roommate is okay. I’m not sure glass is one of the food groups.
I don’t watch much TV but I binged hard on Curb Your Enthusiasm several years ago. This winter would a great time to wallow in It’s Always Sunny.
Leafhopper, I don’t know if she’ll ever recover. RIP Kiki.
Yes, I had a beautiful mold colony in one of my teapots during first year – it flourished unbeknownst to me for a few weeks on the dregs of Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice Herbal. I felt bad ending so much life (which was green-grey but smelled of cinnamon). Never drank that brand again.
I hope it was a dull tiny glob of glass! :O
Eastkyteaguy – I just really loved the Hattialli from Butiki and haven’t really had many other Hattialli… I haven’t seen many available.
I’m halfway through It’s Always Sunny and I’m still wondering how I find these screamy people who work in a bar so endearing (everyone except Dennis anyway).
CrowKettle, mold grown from PG Tips doesn’t smell nearly as nice! :P I also recently dumped some almost spent leaves of a beautiful Shanlinxi oolong from Ethan into a mug, then forgot about them for two days and wondered why they smelled off. Into the garbage they went, along with the budding mold colony, and the mug got a good scrubbing.
Derk, I’m not sure whether “death by glass ingestion” would make a good epitaph, but I’d miss Kiki’s tasting notes!
Thanks so much to Raritea (and Indigobloom?) for grabbing a gift box of this tea for me!
I’m pretty sure that I’ve had roasted cacao shells in tea before, but I haven’t ever had an infusion of JUST roasted cacao shells. I had no idea how this was going to taste (but I had high hopes!)
Anyways, so I was brewing up a bunch of teas, and noticed this intense, delicious chocolate smell wafting over. Like an amazing dark hot chocolate. Sometimes this happens in my kitchen (random smells), so I didn’t think a great deal of it until I went over and noticed that the smell was emanating from this cup! (You’d think I might have figured this out sooner, given what I was infusing!) So yes, cue SUPEREXCITEMENT to try this tea!
So as soon as it was cool enough, I took a sip… and HOLYCRAP! This is so incredibly good! Looking for an authentic chocolate flavour in tea? Well, here ya go! This tastes like unsweetened dark hot chocolate. But it’s not bitter, it still has a sweet edge, making it super drinkable. Seriously, this stuff is amazing! I’d drink this over hot chocolate any day, because it has got to have far fewer calories (I’d assume zero, but it’s way too delicious to be zero… but that would be so awesome…)
I am going to have the boy try some of this sometime this weekend, as he loves hot chocolate. I expect he won’t really like it, because it won’t be sweet/creamy enough, but I still am going to have him try it, haha. I really need to get some more of this delicious stuff…
ETA: Second infusion still has enough flavour to be enjoyable. I still can’t get over this tea (ok, tisane). It’s literally like drinking liquid chocolate. Liquid cocoa powder, I guess, but without any of the nasty powderiness (that said, I wonder if an infusion of cocoa powder would have essentially the same flavour? Would have to infuse it in a VERY fine filter though, to prevent sediment.
Preparation
Hmm…
Be careful…it has a laxative effect in some people. (You just gave 100% to a non-tea might be a first.)
Sil – I don’t have enough of this to share, since I want the boy to try it and only had enough for 2-3 cups to begin with. However, we need to find a source of this! If not Chá tea itself (Raritea/Indigobloom can shed more light on where we could get more, I’d imagine).
Bonnie – you’re right, 100 to a non-tea! I think it’s because I have been dying to find something I could use as a replacement for hot chocolate, and no “chocolate” tea I’ve tried has come close (except for a tisane I had from LiberTEAS, which I’m quite certain contains a good amount of this stuff.) Also – I didn’t notice any laxative effect, but did only drink a single cup, so probably not enough to cause any harm. Good warning though, because it’s tasty enough that I could go through quite a lot of it…
I like this used instead of artificial chocolate flavoring by far!
I tried one of my samples with milk and a dash of sugar…. heavenly! Glad you like it!
I wasn’t super clear on where you guys got this – as in, I want more……
We got this at the opening for Cha, sortof like Amoda but for nebwies. BUT the guy who runs it also owns Herbal Infussions and he sells it there to. I’ll see if I can grab some for you!
No hurry! Just wanted to make sure it was locally available. Whew :P
kk! I want some for myself to so its an excellent bulk purchase opp!!
Ok, good to know! If you could find out cost that would be great :)
It’s 14.95 for the tin with the sachets….can’t easily see if they sell it loose but I vague remember that they do. I can always go down there this weekend and get some so ppl have it for next weekend
No rush, really! :P
Another one from the massive LPdT order, and another one of the ones that I was very excited about trying. Just the name!
Taste the word. Toffeeeeeee. It’s an onomatopoeia (look it up), that word.
The aroma of these leaves! I- it’s- they- I’m- SWOONS!
They’re all chocolate-y and vanilla-y, and all in all it turns into, like, super-caramel, even though it doesn’t actually say anything about there being caramel anywhere in this at all. But there must be, mustn’t there? Or how could they call it toffee?
After steeping, it’s the same picture of super-caramel. It’s smells all rich and butter-y. It’s like a vanilla fudge! It smells like a sweetie shop! Even if I find I don’t like the flavour I might still make it now and then just to smell it.
This is either really really REALLY good, or it’s unbearably cloying. I’m concerned now. pokes it
OH my CEILING CAT!
You! Guys!
There are NO WORDS!
First some cocoa, then vanilla and then a soft, fudge-y, butter caramel-y finish.
You know how I always said that Kusmi’s caramel black was my perfect caramel? Let’s just say it suddenly has competition.
I’m in no state to be more detailed than this. I’m so blown away, I can’t think. Socks are well and truly knocked into orbit.
I love reading your tea notes. They make me feel better when I am feeling blue. Especially this one. I picture you to be a hyperactive kitten. Must be the ceiling cat.
Well that one just went on my list. :D
I am going to have to borrow “oh my ceiling cat.” I burst out laughing, I love it!
I just ordered some stuff from them yesterday. :)
I have been thinking about ordering from them for ages!
You’ve got me drooling. Luckily I have Banana Oolong to comfort me. I really need to start poking through the offerings of other tea vendors…
I don’t see this on their US website, how sad.
Kamyria’s review yesterday about the forest inspired me to go have a long walk today and write this review.
By now, you probably know that the forest is my backyard. I’ve written many times here on Steepster about my little adventures and how lucky and privileged I feel when I look outside my window or go for a walk, it never gets old.
This lifestyle is Nature’s gift to me, and that gift keeps on giving as long as I care for it in return. It’s pretty simple and yet, I wish more people could fully grasp that concept. The tea I’m reviewing today also keeps on giving…
I tell you, my snow shoes really get a run for their money this winter. I made my own trail and I try to go as often as possible. There’s a spot that we always stop at. It’s on top of a small hill and a huge rock stands there, under the trees. it is shaped as a loveseat, I call it my rocky chair.
I take a break as I watch my dog Dexter chase squirrels, his favourite sport. They like to tease him and sometimes, I think they’re playing with him, knowing full well he’ll never catch one of them!
The day is magnificent, sunshine coming at me from all directions, immaculate snow everywhere you look at, pine trees with heavy arms from all the snow weighing on them…
When I got back inside, I was freezing and seeking warmth, I love that feeling. My head still felt clear and peaceful from all the beauty I had just laid eyes on, and of course, the right tea amplified that feeling and made it linger a while longer.
I was waiting for a special moment to choose this sheng pu’erh, sent to me by the generous and wonderful Dexter3657. She read on a post that I wanted to experience more with shengs, and offered to send me this one. She wrote that this tea is the highest rated on Steepster, so I read nothing about it, not wanting to be influenced by other reviews.
I used 7g, 5oz yixing pot. The piece of cake is tight and compressed. Quick rinse. Already the aroma brings me somewhere, but I don’t want to go there yet, I want to take my time with it.
I pour the very light coloured liquor, close my eyes and smell, have my first sip.
Instant Nirvana!
Sweet sugarcane is what I notice first. Then, a feast for the senses. The smell that comes out of the pot can’t be ignored. I can describe it easily, cause it’s leading me there. If you’ve done camping in your life (most of us did), you have to think about the next morning, when you get out of the tent.
The smokey scent from the firecamp is still in the air, but it’s just a shadow of what is was the day before. It mixes with fresh morning dew, humid grass and moss. Earthy and smokey tones, fresh menthol. Take all these “ingredients”, gather them in a cake, and later, when you hit it with hot water, the memory trap is released and you experience that moment again.
I choose not to describe more. As it happens when I drink something really special, I give in to the tea, not wanting to think anymore but just be in the moment and feel the pure energy. Cha qi. The best thing that can happen. I’ve had these moments before, but not often enough. I plan on having a lot more in the future…
Thank you so much Dexter3657 for wanting me to discover how special your beloved Mandala truly is. You were right :-)
(Cough, Implacinganorderscrewthehiatus, cough, cough)
Preparation
Lovely note.
So lovely!
cough waituntilyou’vetriedsomeoftheothersbeforeordering cough
Thanks Morgana and Caile!
Dexter, cough, okbutitwillbereallyhardtowait, cough.
Wow.. that was a beautiful note! I’m honoured to have a mention in it too! :) I have to have this sheng… I hear too many good things about it to ignore it for much longer. I feel it… the order will be happening soon.
Beautiful note!
I’m really happy that you liked it. Mandala teas are special to me, and it makes me happy that you are experiencing some of that.
I’m not saying to wait until you’ve tried ALL the tea I sent you, but IMHO you will like the Milk Oolong. As much as I love this one, I think Noble Mark is better – different but better. :))
Kamyria, thanks, I loved your review of yesterday:-) and yes i hear you about the order happening real soon, lol!
Keychange, thank you:-)
Dexter, yes, I will refrain just a bit longer!! ( gee, I wonder if I can handle better than this one, lol)
That’s so awesome that you have snow shoes! I always wanted to try them out.
that sounds really nice I’ve always been curious about Mandala teas. I’m so jealous of your forest backyard…Y-a-t-il un plus joli jardin ? certainement pas.
Fjellrev, snow boots are awesome, and very useful around here!!
Ysaurella, I’m lucky to have other samples to try, I have a feeling an order will be placed very soon once I got to try a few more… Shipping seems to be very reasonable too. And yes, to me it is “le plus beau des jardins”, you got this right missy:-)
(I meant snow shoes)
I wish we got more snow here. That sounds so awesome! Man, I need to skip out of work early one day this week and go for a trail run. :)
So excited that you enjoyed this tea! I had a lengthy gong fu cha session with it on Sunday afternoon and I was more enamored with it than ever before. Always interesting when I find myself wanting to keep the rest of a stash rather than sell it :)
I loved your review of this. Thank you so much for taking the time to write it.
I have a new pressing of this tea happening right now in China. I got the leaf from the same farmer but it’s autumn 2013 versus spring 2012. I’m looking forward to trying the new one, too. The mao cha itself is darned good and already going through changes since it arrived in the pu’er vault. Yahooooo!!!!!
Listen Garrett, please don’t make it even more tempting than it already is, lol!
Thanks for sharing it, but wait for me, please don,t lock it in the vault all to yourself!! I’m browsing your website and will be placing an order soon, how can I resist???
1200 tasting notes! woot woot! I thought i’d save it for something special but man every tea is special!
No real sipdowns coming up soon but i’ve resigned myself to that fact, especially in light of the fact that it’s THURSDAY! woot woot! only 2 more days until the fun is here haha. actually it technically starts on friday night but what the hey.
I am once again “helping” my friend drink her matcha down. At this point it’ll be forever until i can drink my own matcha again given that she’s got about 10? flavours that need help. I suspect that she’ll be off of tea for a while but maybe not. I’d forgotten how much i enjoy the mocha matcha, though i do prefer it when i can add a spash of coffee matcha to it to make it just a little less sweet. Of course today i added a splash of caramel matcha….i mean why not!
I need to get me a friend like that!!!
haha she’s knocked up :) so all her tea is living at my place because the smell of it in her cupboard was making her throw up. haha
Man, I probably have a pregnancy in my future this year if things go as planned… i REALLY hope that doesn’t happen to me :/
I was worried enough because you hear things about how you have to avoid certain food/drinks when knocked up and I’m sure I read something about tea, just not sure what kind. I’m hoping only peppermint. But I know doctors say different things. I had a paranoid friend who avoided ALL tea but that won’t be me! I hope I can drink matcha……….
haha I’ll bring my Espresso matcha to compare! then we’ll just be missing Kona :)
I’m going to have to stop ordering tea a year before i think i’m going to try to get pregnant lol. It’ll take me that long to drink my stash down.
I have that SAME FEAR about tea with pregnancy. How will I give it up?
slowly…. lol
I have a friend who is pregnant and gave up coffee + tea + soda and all caffeine all at once. It was UGLY.
Wow! Congratulations!
When that day comes…yowza! It will not be good :)
It’s all about moderation in pregnancy as long as it’s not making you sick. You don’t have to give up ALL you tea. Maybe just not as much a day :-)
During my first pregnancy (30 years ago) I gave up tobacco & a variety of illegal substances. I didn’t give up coffee, but I did cut back (I loved my coffee back then). I drank herbal teas during all my of my pregnancies (4, in total), especially raspberry leaf, which is so good for women. After my lovely daughter Jessica was born, I had to give up coffee because it gave her a rash! I never got into drinking it again, & in fact, was even caffeine free until 20 or so years ago, when the addiction re-surfaced…
I should probably stop ordering now, crap.
There are wonderful natural blends to begin to incorporate into your stash and get used to like mint and ginger and chamomile. Basil is fine also. Always check with the Doctor or labels because even herbs (not these I’ve mentioned) can be bad for pregnancy. I have a stash of things like orange peel, cinnamon nibs, dry ginger, rose petal, tulsi, mints and chamomile that I make blends with or add to what I have like dry fruit (cranberries for instance or lemon).
Good luck whatshesaid! I was a first time mom and I gave up all caffeine because I didn’t know what was safe, and then I gave up tisanes because I was worried about herbs. It was most likely unnecessary but luckily I was just starting exploring loose leaf teas so it wasn’t unbearable.
I wish I’d known about rooibos…
But Tastybrew is right. It’s all about moderation. A few cups a day won’t hurt – just don’t drink strongly caffeinated tea all day.
After the baby was born I rebounded hard and am now… well on Steepster. And my daughter is 10 months and sipping rooibos with me at night. <3
Nice, Cavo!
Well. Who am I to resist a Keemun? You will never find the perfect Keemun if you do not try all the ones you come across. No need for samples here, as I have never met a Keemun I could not drink. The whole 140g tin for me please!
This company has some funny amounts for sale. Rather than setting standard amounts for their products, they have a standard container and then see how much they can get in there. With Keemun, 140g. Wtih the Ceylon Galle only 120g in the same tin. The tins look nice enough. Metal, wrapped with paper and with double lids. But they have shoulders. I get the purpose of this, making the exposed area of leaf whenever the tin is opened as small as possible, but I hate a shouldered tin. It’s such a hassle reaching when you get to the bottom of it and it’s difficult to empty completely. And it’s a good thing we have a dishwasher, or I wouldn’t have bothered trying to wash it at all. For anything else than leaf preservation, shouldered tins are not very practical at all.
However, Chaplon sells tea in these tins and they also sell tea in refill bags! So here’s to hoping this is the Keemun I shall find myself wanting to refill! That would make most of my complaints about the non-practical tin moot. (I definitely think I might want to refill the Gâlle, even if Husband didn’t find it as spectacular as I did. That’s why I bought two Roy Kirkham pots after all)
The leaf has a floral sort of aroma to it with just smidge of smoke in the background. It doesn’t come across as particularly grainy either, although there is some of that too. Mostly it’s just the floral and maybe a little leathery. Hmm. I was hoping for more grain and smoke, really. Still, it doesn’t mean all is lost. The aroma of a tea rarely translates directly into flavour for me. Usually there is a difference balance between notes.
After steeping, it seems much better. It’s got a good, round grainy body topped with that floral note with a smidge of smoke. I could have wanted it to be a wee bit more smoky than floral rather than the other way around, but I can deal with this as well. It does actually smell very good and very very promising. On the whole, it’s a thick and smooth aroma, which comes very very close to being Just Right.
The top note seems right on the balance between floral and smoky. At first I can’t seem to decide if it’s more one or the other, but then, as I’m ready to swallow, I think it’s mostly smoky. And yet, a floral aftertaste is lingering right on the tip of my tongue, which feels kinda funny. So far so good! All I need now is a good, strong, grainy body that makes me think of rye bread.
Well, it’s not traditional Danish rye bread, but it’s actually almost better! It’s all sweet and brown sugar-y. Like a slice of rye sprinkled with brown sugar. I’ve even brewed it a little stronger than I usually would this morning and now it tastes all dark and a little bit sinister. It’s totally swirling a theatrical theater cape in my head right now.
“This is not the Perfect Keemun,” says Ang’s brain.
“Well, what would you change?” asks Ang’s tongue.
“…” gapes Ang’s brain.
Yes, I think I’ve come closer than ever to it. Closer than ever! I can’t tell if it’s the One True Perfect Keemun for me yet, I need to have it some more times, but we are definitely very close to it. Close enough that for now I will say the search has at least temporarily ended. Like Auggy said of a Keemun not too long ago, “I’m sure TeaSpring has a Keemun that could wipe the floor with this one and make it cry for its mommy”, but this particular one is available from inside the actual country and therefore not expensive in shipping, and it’s affordable in Srs Bsnss amounts. Those two are major factors when calculating the Perfection Score!
And to think I just added it to the order as an afterthought because, hey, Keemun, why not? Why exactly is it I haven’t shopped here in years and years and years?
(Oh yeah, and this is another one where I need to translate the vendor’s info for you lot. I’ll get around to it soon, I promise. I’ve put it on my to-do list so that I don’t forget.)
Hmm, need to go out and hunt myself some Keemun, apparently. There can’t ever be enough smoky teas in our household and my favorite tea shop is bound to have some of this type. Sounds very intriguing.
Oh, Keemun is a favourite of mine, along with anything black out of Fujian, particularly panyong. Be aware, though, that sometimes they’re not smoky at all but rather very floral. I think it depends on how you experience that particular note. For me it’s mostly a mixture of floral and smoke, and on lower leaf grades primarily smoke. That’s also why I tend to prefer lower leaf grade over the really fine stuff. Aforementioned panyongs can also sometimes have a smoky note to them, but they can be a little more difficult to locate than Keemun. TeaSpring has an excellent, but pricy one. The ♥♥Tan Yang Te Ji♥♥, which as you can probably tell is tolerable. ;)
I’ve only tried a Keemun by the Metropolitan Tea Co., and it was very decent. Do you have access to an Asian market? The one nearby me has a huge selection of teas. Definitely an experiment in quality. :)
Those aren’t very common in Denmark, Amy. We haven’t got super-many Asian immigrants. Middle-eastern markets are much easier to find. I’ve seen a few small Asian shops, but I’ve never gone inside. From the outside they look primarily food related, though, and none of them are very large. I do need to get around to looking inside eventually, as there are a few food items that I suspect I might be able to find there and which I haven’t been able to find in regular supermarkets.
Floral teas are alright as long as the flavor isn’t too sweet, I think I’m able to find a very well suited tea for me from the ones you described. Preferably several splendid ones, of which I have no doubt. Thank you very much!
I don’t care too much for floral myself. I hope you find one you like. :)
I figured that I’d better try this tea before my swap partner ends up getting it in the mail and trying it before me. Not that it’s a big deal but it would make me sad to have not had it before them lol.
So let’s recap here. White teas make for boring teas for Sil. :)
With that in mind, i picked this up from stacy anyway because a) half an ounce of tea is never too much to go through. b) i’ll try nearly anything that stacy creates at least once. and sometimes more than once if it’s a damn tea that i really really really want to like
This tea? It’s interesting. I actually prefer the mango cilantro blend that Stacy created for IndigoBloom over this one. This does remind me of pineapple for sure, and it’s a nice enough tea but it doesn’t rock my rocks the way that most of stacy’s other blends do. I’m fairly certain that’s the subtlty of the white tea in this baes. I do really enjoy the pineapple and cilantro flavours but i keep wanting a stronger flavour. So while this is a tasty enough tea, it is not the tea for me.
ah you see I loved this one very much :)
Ok, this is the other white tea that I can’t taste. No tastebud activity whatsoever. I’m a freak!
noooo you’re not Bonnie !
Bonnie – yeah this one is a really subtle taste. Creamy eggnog i get more from. Typically it’s why i’m happy when 90% of the blends are black teas haha
Thanks Ysaurella! Is it raining? You’ve had lot’s of rain recently according to my map.
yes absolutely today it rained a lot and it’s so cold (2° C….yes I know it’s not cold for my Canadian Friends ;) but it is for Paris )
Ysaurella – 2 degress in france when it’s raining IS cold lol. There’s something about the rain that makes is feel colder.
It’s the darn dampness. Raining all day today, it may have hit 4 celcius. Brrrr
I’ll have to try this one next to IB’s version, which hopefully hasn’t been contaminated.
I found this one much creamier. In a good way!
I am surprised to be the first reviewer of this tea (and pleased at the same time since I have great respect for Stacy and Butiki Tea!)
I first noticed this Black Tea at the end of the list of on the Butiki Website and the notes describing floral,chocolate and pecan flavors were intriguing. I’d also learned that Stacy likes to steep her tea for a long time…really long. I sometimes do the same (although she wins) and I thought that if this tea tastes that good with a longer steep, I wanted to have some for my own cupboard.
The leaves were small, curly and a 50/50 mix of gold and black leaves from Yunnan, China.
The steep time was 5 minutes
The comments for this tea were correct when they said the tea is mildly malty. I wouldn’t have guessed that. Usually chocolaty tea’s have a hefty amount of malt as a supporting base but not here, and there was a definite cocoa taste.
Honey flavor was easy to pick up but the nutty and floral taste came in after the tea had cooled and lingered in my mouth.
This was a smooth and mild black tea but one that wasn’t flat. The flavors were rich and thick enough for adding milk and sweetening which I did for my morning cup.
This day marks a year since I traveled with my granddaughter Schey to Alaska, Canada and Washington State. Today was our last “Cruise” day before a week in Washington. We were heading to beautiful Victoria, B.C. (Wow did Victoria look beautiful at night!Lit up like Christmas in September!) and believe it or not, our two week trip was sunny!
What a wonderful time!
Every day there was a ‘tea’ on board ship. We went to a big Indonesian Tea one afternoon, and in Victoria we went to the Empress and bought more Tea. I bought some Canadian Maple Tea in another shop.
Now remember, I had never heard of Steepster. I had never tasted ‘loose leaf tea’. I was almost blind because I needed operations on both my eyes. EVERYTHING was different in my life a year ago!
This morning when I drink this Butiki Tea and discribe how it looks…I can SEE it! It’s beautiful. And I am writing a review on
Steepster with all my new friends! (Unbelievable!)
I am reviewing tea and enjoying it with a knowledge that makes me laugh…I mean…how can this be? It’s been less than a year since I’ve been on Steepster!
For me to say, “I think this is a grand Black Tea” with some knowledge about it is humbling. I’m fortunate that everyone on Steepster has taught me so much (including Stacy) and shared in swaps fine tea’s so that I know that this is indeed a fine tea.
Awesome!
I have a Zhen Quo that is a little sentimental for me! My tea friend Sandy here in steepster drove me to a tea shop in Durham and we bought some and shared it. It was one of my first “Fine Tea” purchases from their wall and I still love it and keep it around. I sent some to Doulton in our last swap, and she loved it, too!
How wonderful to look back on a happy memory and find even more to be happy about! In one year, I hope there will be even more great things to recount! :)
I have been to Victoria (SO lovely!)
But, I have always dreamed of going to Alaska…hopefully someday:)
This tea sounds de-lish!
I spend some time in Fairbanks in early Sept. and Nov/Dec. (death in family in the Winter and -20 degrees with no sun…twilight). I saw the Northern Lights in Sept. and we drove far out towards Valdez and hardly saw anyone else. It was massive…beyond picturesque…huge…the largest ‘quiet place’ I’ve ever been in without the sound of even a bird.
Almost spooky quiet. When the birds fly South, there isn’t any sound if the wind is still.
That was a beautiful review and story! So wonderful to hear about your sight. Wishing you an abundance of blessings and many more happy tea experiences :)
Thank you. I had my eye operations in Feb/march this year. What a difference! Now you guys are stuck with me!
If we are stuck like glue, I hope its super glue! Loved the story with this one.
I always love your stories, Bonnie! In fact, one of the things I love most about Steepster is the stories, the openness to share ourselves. This is really my kind of community!
Oh Bonnie, how blessed WE are to have you here! so glad you discovered tea, and that your life is grand! :D
Thanks. I know I sound goopy sometimes but I don’t want to leave life with things left unsaid and stories untold.
@Terri if we could put a likes under a reply i will click on it for that one simple review can be found anywhere on the web story from people who are good with word is what make steepster so special
and give hope to people like me to someday be good with word :P
@Bonnie keep the stories coming you didn’t force anyone to read it so the one of us who do is because we like them
Zoltar, never be afraid to be just as you are. (I really like your name ZOLTAR!!!)
Bonnie, I love reading your reviews! It’s nice that you share the back story of your teas and sips. Also, I’ve got to try this tea – it sounds amazing! :)
Aww Bonnie, I am so pleased to hear how much of a positive impact tea has made on your life, and how you’ve come so far in only a year. I can definitely relate because I’ve always had serious self-esteem issues which has made it difficult to socialize too, but when I started working a lot with one of my favourite things, essential oils/skin care, this allowed me to open up and not be so hard on myself.
Bonnie, Thank you for sharing your story. It is so delightful to hear how tea has improved your life. Thank you for all that you give to this community.
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you kind friends!
Congrats on your giant step towards victorious living!
your words are a gift to us and a liberation for you
I am so happy for you Bonnie!
Awesome – way to go Bonnie! Congratulations on your personal & interpersonal growth journey – quite a breakthrough! – Excellent!
Spreading the tea love, you are a champion Bonnie, and I love that! This was in no way a boring review… I quite enjoyed it :)
Definitely not ‘boring’ – quite uplifting. Didn’t previously know that bit of background you gave, so, congratulations on a very real achievement. I’m sure it means you have better weather ahead you, figuratively speaking.
Thanks to you all! Group effort,pat yourselves on the back!