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Urgh, backlog…

I’ve been really busy lately; maybe I’m actually progressing towards having a social life here in Saskatoon.

Anyway, yesterday night was my first ‘date’ with James, and I made this for myself right before I left to meet him (mostly, I think, because I had just finished packaging up about 25g as a gift for him). I love peppermint tea, and it just seemed like the perfect gift thing/idea/whatever… He’s told me he gets headaches, and peppermint is great for headaches and upset stomachs; plus, since he doesn’t drink tea it’s a perfect “starter tea” to get him trying things, and it was inexpensive and therefore not overwhelming or ‘too serious’ for a first date or anything, but still personal because I’m really interested in tea (which he knows) and it ties in to him… Plus, it ‘earned’ me a really sweet hug.

But the tea was great, and so was the date. For anyone who cares, we went for a walk and then over to his house (but only after he’s made sure I was absolutely comfortable with it). We watched the first Pink Panther movie (and I mean first – the one from the 1960s with Peter Sellers), and then I picked out You’re Next to watch since it’s my favourite horror movie currently and I wanted to share a movie I love with him since he’d shared the Pink Panther movies, which he loves, with me.

Then I got to hear the music (‘beats’) he makes, and they were really cool! My favourite was one called Aquamatic. And we sorta cuddled? Sorta. Then we watched some South Park and both wound up practically crying from laughing so hard. It was awesome. By the time I left it was past midnight (and I only left because I was working at 9 in the morning) – so I was there for over 7 hours.

So, I made this as a Soda today…

I brewed up 2 tsp. in boiling water, but only used about and ounce and a half or two ounces of water, so it was very concentrated. After letting it cool to about room temperature, I mixed it with a full can of club soda.

Actually, it was pretty good. I think maybe I enjoyed this tea as much this way as I do iced or a hot beverage. The melon flavour really shone through, but the hibiscus was quite tart and it didn’t seem to mix too well with the carbonation of the soda. It was an odd experience.

Anyway, I don’t know if I’ll have anything to add tomorrow. It seems like I’m going to have a fairly busy day: I’m going on a first ‘date’ (though, not a date – since we both agree that dates are too high stress with too much social expectation to live up to for either party) with someone I met using an online dating site…

Originally I was just looking to meet a few friends here in Saskatoon (since I know my mom used a dating site when she was looking to meet people, and it worked very favourably with her) but this was actually a nice and unexpected surprise. So, I hope it goes well – and fingers crossed?

I think I’m going to bring him some peppermint tea, since he said he finds my tea obsession “cute” (I don’t think he understands just how much I love and drink tea – and even that is nothing compared to many of you all) and he was complaining about getting headaches – which peppermint tea is good for. Also, since he doesn’t drink tea often it’s a good way to sort of ease him in to it? I don’t know – what do you think? Cute or corny?

Mmm! Perfect Thanksgiving tea is perfect. Happy Thanksgiving to all the fellow Canadians on Steepster! It’s a lonely Thanksgiving for me – Tre went back to Regina to see his Dad and Grandma, Robyn and her roommate Casey are both with family and out of town (I’m not even sure when they get back), my new friend James is probably going to be busy this evening having supper with his mom and sister, even our landlord Rob and his daughter Maria are off at their cabin celebrating, and all my family is back in Regina…

I could have gone to visit for a few days, but I thought I’d be working so I stayed in Saskatoon. However, I ended up with the day off so it’s just me, but I’m making the most of it! Instead of turkey I’ve made myself a yummy tofu chicken burger sandwich with cucumber and some Pumpkin Chai tea instead of Pumpkin pie. Plus, I have ANTM episodes to catch up on, and Pokemon Y to keep me company!

For anyone currently playing through X or Y right now, this is how my team stands: I’m using a Farfetch’d (Churro), Frogadier (Ebonezer), Fletchling (Jaqcuimo), Dunsparce (Chinoko), and Floette (Titania), all of which are currently level 23. I just passed route 5 and anticipate that I’ll be facing the second gym leader soon. Also, kudos to you if you can get any of the (relatively stretched) references for my nicknames!

But anyway, back to the tea! I added some milk and honey since I really enjoyed the last cup I had of this which was prepared that way. I steeped 1 1/2 tsp. for the full 6 minutes. I’m finding this cup to be a bit more spiced tasting than I’ve had in the past, but it hasn’t reached an undesirable level of spice, so that’s good. Maybe it’s because it’s Thanksgiving and I’m finding myself waxing nostalgic for some actual Pumpkin Pie, but I’m really wishing this was sweeter with the pumpkin taste just a touch more prominent. If I had vanilla creamer or flavoured agave, I bet I could really replicate the taste of Pumpkin Pie and vanilla ice cream, minus the flakey crust. Oh well, this is still really good and hitting most of the right buttons today.

I’m not sure whether the follow up tea to this should be Cantaloupe and Cream since I have leaves to resteep, Goji Pop which is nice and melony also and which I’d love to try as a soda or S’mores/Minty Cow because I could go for chocolate right now too… Tough choices.

Finally done work! I had a seven hour shift today, and it just stretched on and freaking on. Seriously, I don’t know if I’ve ever had a shift at any of my jobs that seemed so slow. I basically sold nothing, and there were two of us working when it was completely unnecessary.

On the plus side, I’m home now! I’ve got myself all curled up with a cup of tea, my phone to text James, Pokemon (beat the first gym last night, so tonight’s goal is to be the 2nd gym), James’ favourite Peter Seller’s Pink Panther movie, and a plate of strawberry eggos with LOTS of syrup. It’s shaping up to be a perfect evening. I was gonna cook something SOMEWHAT Thanksgiving-y for dinner, and have Pumpkin Chai tea instead of pumpkin pie, but I was tired so I’ll do that tomorrow.

I added some sugar (1/2 tsp.) to my tea because I read on someone’s review or something that it brings out the cantaloupe flavour more. Yeah, I’m not really getting that from this. Not to say that it’s bad – it’s certainly not! It’s just not BETTER. Maybe even? Anyway, I should drink it… It’s getting cool. Maybe I’m just trying to do a little too much?

Nah.

Still, perfect tea is perfect & I look forward to seeing the top 10 ideas from Stacy’s contest!

This was my work tea today:

It started off really good, with such a juicy strawberry taste – but the longer it sat and the cooler it got, the more bitter it seemed. Definitely didn’t hold up well today – and I wish I’d drank it faster.

Also, the more chocolate teas I try the more subtle I think the chocolate in this tea is. Hmmm… Anyway, I think I’m gonna bump this down a bit (not a lot, yet – maybe this tea can redeem itself).

Keeping this short and to the point since I just got home from work and my brand new copy of Pokemon ‘Y’ is sitting with my and begging to be played. Also, I have a bowl of Princess Alphagetti that I’m dying to dig into…

But basically, nothing new to report on this tea. Still brilliantly minty and well balanced flavourwise. It was my saviour, yet again, this morning at work since I had the opening shift. I got to listen to Saskatoon’s Sask. Express perform in the mall all day (they were doing a breast cancer awareness/fundraising concert) – their songs were all good, but they sang a lot of Christmas carols and it’s WAY too early for Christmas carols.

Anyway, off the play my game! Team Froakie!

Urgh, this tea was a mess today – and I’m pretty sure there’s no one or nothing to blame but myself. I hate when that happens – why can’t it be somebody else’s fault?

Anyway, I guess I should explain – right? I made this for work today – and because it’s a black tea I steeped two cups with fresh leaf each time. The only black tea I have that resteeps well (that I can think of off the top of my head atm) is Blueberry Jam. So, for the first cup I used the recommended 1 1/2 tsp. of leaf and 98 degree celsius water – just like David’s recommends. I wanted to use the high end of the steep time so that it was strong – but I also REALLY didn’t want it to be bitter, either.

Anyway, I ended up texting someone while I was waiting – and the text conversation was so good that I lost track of time because I was distracted and I let my tea steep for probably close to 10 min. I took a sip and it was REALLY bitter. Ick. Normally I’d have just tossed the cup but I remembered Stacy saying that when she has a bitter cup she just dilutes it with water until it tastes right.

So, that brings me to the second cup. I decided if I made this one really weak then it would probably save my tea and it’d balance out. However, I got distracted by the same text conversation AGAIN and left the cup steeping for probably 7 or 8 minutes… Another really bitter cup. So, I poured half the cup out filled the rest with water and dumped it all into the thermos with the first cup. I took a few smalls sips and it didn’t seem to bad so I left it like that until I tried it at work.

SO BITTER. It didn’t help at all – and instead there were some really wonky smoke tastes and awful astringency with barely any of the smooth, coconut and butterscotch flavours poking through. I choked my way through the whole thermos though – as punishment for ruining two cups of a tea which could have been awesome.

Stupid nearly perfect boys with their nearly perfect text conversations…

Mmmm… Morning tea!

This is definitely a nice gentle start to my morning – the perfect “ease you out of bed” type of tea. It’s been a couple days since I had a proper morning tea, lately I’ve been too rushed getting ready for work and have only had time to make my work tea.

Not sure what today’s tea for work should be… I think I want something “Autumny”. Pumpkin Chai maybe? Or Chai Apricot…

Regardless, dry leaf smells exquisite. Steeped 1 1/2 tsp. for 4 min. and it’s such a pretty amber colour. It tastes amazing too – but I can’t help but feel like it’s missing something. Maybe it’s the fact I have no butterscotch pudding to mix in his time? Hmm. I wonder if I ruined my Earl Grey for myself by using an additive I’m not always going to have readily available. Bleck.Oh well, this still FEELS like an old friend I’m enjoying catching up with.

Tre went back to Regina for Thanksgiving and wont be back until sometime on Monday, so it’s just me for the weekend. Yay for unabashedly being able to walk around naked without worrying about him coming home for school or something. Too much information? Maybe.

Back to my domestic chores, though… I need to wash the dishes so I have more mugs for tea.

I was craving this last night, so I made it as my work tea today.

I still hate the smell of the dry leaf – it smells super strong and intense and almost alcoholic to me. Yuck.

But, I had about half the thermos hot and half of it cold and it continued to be great either way. Nothing like the smell of the dry leaf, in my opinion. Nice and smooth, and creamy caramel tasting. I can taste the white tea base too, and it’s just perfect. I love that this tea can take hot temperatures and long steep times without getting bitter.

Today at work, I got to mess around with a magic eight ball (I felt like such a little kid – it was great) and had to climb into the chute or a cardboard compactor. That was less fun. I’m just glad I had the door of the room locked behind me so no one could come in and accidentally turn it on. That would have been bad. Really bad. Stupid people not breaking down their cardboard boxes and clogging up the compactor…

Also, I was gonna make myself tea when I got home but it appears all of my mugs and in the dishwasher, which is currently running. Boo. No tea tonight, I guess. At least Tre made me supper to compensate.

Took about 10 oz. of this to work with me today. It’s definitely going to become a habit of mine to take a thermos or water bottle of tea with me every morning. I feel like tomorrow is gonna be a white tea day – I feel like I’ve been neglecting my Gold Rush from DAVIDsTEA so I’m gonna show it some love.

Gah, I love peppermint tea – and this turned out to be a good choice because the hot sauce I had with my Mexi Fries today made my tummy feel all weird, so nice soothing/calming peppermint tea was perfect.

I’ve mentioned I like my peppermint tea strong before, right? Because holy mint – I used 2 1/5 tsp. for 5 oz. and then resteeped the leaf for the second 5 oz. (both steeped for approx. 5 minutes). Even when it was hot, the mint made it seem cool. That’s the perfect kind of mint tea, imo.

Also, I have hiccups. Blah.